Author: cockneykiwi15

As long as I can remember I have wanted to travel. I am happiest talking about travels, planning travels and of course travelling. I have already travel to all seven continents and 75+ countries and I truely believe that travel bug only gets worse the more places you see! A Kiwi born and bred, I have spent almost as long living abroad as I have back in Aoteoroa but am now back living in Christchurch and making the most of the amazing scenery we have here. I am lucky to be able to call this place home. I have always writen journals on my trips in the days before blogs, moving to an online format in 2007 when I left the UK on what turned out to be a 6 year journey back to New Zealand. One day I may get around to uploading those old blogs, but for now I am focusing on an upcoming 4 month trip to South America. I hope you enjoy my updates.

Pre-holiday blues

On May 12, 2018 By cockneykiwi152 Comments

Of course everyone has heard and/or experiences the post-holiday blues, but what about the pre-holiday blues?

Is it odd that the last few days before a big trip for me are full of angst and worry rather than excitement? First I start to question what am I doing … questions like ‘is it the right time?’ … ‘should I be spending all this money on one trip?’ Of course I always manage to push these aside as there is never a right time … actually, no, any time is the right time and you can’t take your money with you when you go so why not enjoy it!

Then there is all the goodbyes … work, friends, family. It never gets easier but thankfully with the wifi of today, keeping in touch is so much easier than when I startd travelling!

Something else that never gets easier for me is packing!

For those of us who love to travel, packing is a necessary evil and despite the many trips I have done – ranging from long weekends to a year, it is probably still my least favourite part of the travel experience. My biggest issue is always the desire to take too much – there are just so many items I will not be able to live without, or so my pre-trip mind thinks.

Packing for me can take weeks and despite my dislike for it, it is of course an important part of any pre trip routine. A week out from the trip and I find myself with a room full of piles – everything I would like to take finds its way to in to one of these piles! Next up the cull beginnings – how many t-shirts do I really need? What do I need to take when my 4 months will see me travel from the tropical Caribbean to winter in the Andes?

I’ve watched all the YouTube views and read all the tips – rolling vs folding, using packing cubes, take 50% of what you start with out … I just can’t bring myself to do it 😔 and so I leave home again with a bag that is way too full in the hope that I don’t want to buy any souvenirs and believing that it will magically get lighter and emptier.

Once on the road, it always takes a few days to get my travel head back on – it all seems so uncomfortable at first, but I guess one of the reasons we travel is to get out of our comfort zone isn’t it?

Four days in and I have reached Bogotá and am ready to truly hit the road. My basic Spanish has managed to get me food and water and get transport to/from my hostels and I am sure there are only great things to come.

AirNZ lounge

Not a bad way to shake the off those pre-holiday blues (c/o the Koru Lounge)

The Journey Begins

On April 28, 2018April 28, 2018 By cockneykiwi15Leave a comment

As I set off on another stint of travel, my mind goes back to my very first trip. Five days out of university, green and naive as you come, I sold the few possessions I had, and I set off with a one-way ticket to Australia with very little in the way of money or plans.

It was a simpler time, no Facebook or Instagram, no hashtags to be found, no product placements or blogs to fund my travel. Still, I made it work. Working it all out as I went along and since then I have gone a long way … a really, really, really long way. I have lived in worked on four continents and travelled to all seven, totalling 70+ countries.

I kept diaries on my travels for the first few years before graduating to a fairly basic online blog which I updated when I was lucky enough to find a decent internet café. As much as I remember most of what I have done, the places I have been and the things I have seen, it’s the little things you forget and it is always fun to read them back. Online blogging has given us the opportunity to share our travels with friends and families and beyond – maybe it will inspire others the way others have inspired me.

Sadly (or it is probably more apt to say gladly), this travel bug is a potent disease, once caught it can lie dormant for a while but will always return, as strong as ever. It is fuelled not only by my own desire, but by all the readily available photos and stories of other peoples’ travels. Some from similarly afflicted people I have met along the way, others from complete strangers who inspire me on a daily basis.

Bear with me as I get this up and running, which hopefully I will have more time to do when I am on the road. The big trip starts on May 9th and right now I am in full on prep mode and trying to wrap up everything at work.

Over the following 18 weeks I will be travelling through Colombia, Ecuador (including heading back to the Galapagos Islands), Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

Thanks for joining me!