A Method to My Madness

A Method to My Madness

You’ve probably seen the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s been a long time since I have seen it, but I remember John Candy trying to get somewhere (for Christmas?) and he has to take all these different methods of transportation. I can relate to that! I thought I would go over a few different weird ways to get around that I have come across in my travels....

...Want to hear more? Head over to Women Rockin' The Road, where I talk about huge mountains, strange animals, hitchhiking, fearing for your life and more! You can also read stories from other women travelers and you can contribute your own!

 Also, if you haven't seen it before, check out my post about 10 Interesting Things that I've seen on the road!
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 In honor of different methods of transportation, here are a few examples! 

Egypt - the true MINI van
India - Waiting for the train. 


India - Rickshaw Taxi

India - Fancy Bike

India - "Sleeper" train

Africa - Things you can buy from the bus


Nepal - The porters carry EVERYTHING on thier back!

Nepal - Yak power

Italy - Gondolier
 What is the weirdest method of transportation you have ever experienced? Have you ever ridden on a bus with a chicken? What IS the weirdest animal or thing you have shared a bus ride with?
Uncomfortable Nights

Uncomfortable Nights

Buy this pad from REI.
So we slept in a campervan for a while, and let me tell you, they say that the best way to get to know someone is to take a long car ride with them. How about a three week long one, is that long enough? Well, yes, yes it is.

But that is not what I am going to talk about. What I was going to say is that the campervan is also a little bit cramped. I mean, if you slide the bed out, you can’t get to anything underneath (there is storage there) and if one person is putting on their shoes, the other has to step aside. It’s not all bad, but it is a little tricky to manage at times.

The other thing that is a little hard is the sleeping situation. And when I say HARD, I mean hard both literally and figuratively. The bed is not very wide, and for a person who sleeps on their stomach with their leg thrown out to the side (me) it is not enough room for that. So you have to lay pretty much straight, if on your stomach. Or you can lay on your side. However, like I said before, it is hard. The bed is made of wood with a small pad over it. So you end up laying on one side until your hip is numb and your back hurts and your hands are asleep (yes, this happens to me a lot) and then you roll over until it happens on the other side.
However, the good news is: this is NOT the most uncomfortable place I have slept in the last year.

The worst was the tent.

The good thing is, we traded it with these nice people for a used Lonely Planet Europe (about a 30 dollar value new, so maybe 15 dollars used). The bad news is, and it’s not the tent’s fault (or S&Rs!), the ground is hard and it’s cold and my sleeping bag, which is supposed to be good down to 40 degrees, isn’t.
We went through a few stages of uncomfortable tent camping.

(1) THE WORST: No padding/mattress. Rocks beneath me. Can’t curl up in my too small sleeping bag. The wind was blowing hard. It was about 33 degrees outside.

(2) RUNNER UP: Bought an air mattress. Did NOT buy an air pump. Tried to blow up mattress with lungs. Did not work. Slept on little air. Every time one person moves, the other gets rolled off the mattress.

(3) THIRD WORST: Bought an air pump. Blew up mattress. Heavy wind and rain at beach turns tent into a swimming pool. (we slept in the car that night)

(4) BEST: Blew up mattress. Bought an extra blanket. Finally got a good(ish) night’s sleep. Still worse than the campervan.

I have decided that the main problem, since normally I don’t mind camping, is the gear. You HAVE to have good gear. Buy a sleeping pad (I have one at home). Thermarest makes a good one. Spend the money to buy a GOOD sleeping bag, down to 15 degrees (F). It is worth it. Buy a WATERPROOF (3 season) tent (I also have one of these at home). I guess what you could probably add to me is: AND BRING IT WITH YOU. But carrying all that stuff around for 6 months is not always feasible. But you will be more comfortable!

So, where is the most uncomfortable place YOU have slept? Do you like camping? Have you ever slept in your car?

U is for Uncomfortable.
To My Mother

To My Mother

Today I was born. Okay, that's not the complete truth. Actually, I WAS born on Mother's Day. However, Mom's Day changes every year; it is the second Sunday of May, and therefore each year is different. Well this year, it is NOT my birthday. However, the day I was born WAS on Mother's Day. That year. I don't need to tell you WHICH year that was. However, here is a picture of me and my Mom. Happy Mom's Day Moogle!

In New Orleans on a Bright Day
But. This year is not the day I was born. This year Mother's Day is the day I arrive. Back home. I fly into the LA airport on the 7th at 8 pm and then fly to Sacramento and arrive at 12:20 AM. I will have arrived home. Happy Mother's Day Mom.

Note: I am writing this in advance, because once I arrive I will be tired and sore and grumpy and I will meet up with friends and not have time to get online.

Of course, now that my vacation is over, it is time to get back to work. First off: a little fun. I meet up with my friend and her family (my second parents) for Mother's Day brunch. I will be wearing my scrubby backpacker's clothing, because that is all that I own. It will probably smell a little (or a lot). But it won't matter, because these people are my family.

Next, I will go and visit with my brother, who will hopefully serve me dinner and beers as I lounge on the couch watching his Tivo (catching up with Top Chef). Then we will FINALLY go to a Giants game (I have REALLY missed the Giants) with my friend Jack from work. We used to get free tickets from our company, back in the day when we worked together (2002) and we used to always have A BLAST. It will be great to reminisce with him and watch the game, drink a few overpriced beers, have a gross (yummy!) nacho and enjoy the game.

After that, I meet up with my grandma and together we will drive up to my parents' house, which is about a 4 hour drive from San Francisco. I can't wait to go home. The area where my parents live is beautiful and it is going to just be starting summer and it is going to be great! Everything green and flowing water and blue sky. Yum.

After that, the to do list begins. Sorry, that should be The To Do List. It's THAT important. Not only is it my To Do List, which I have mentioned before, and is forever getting longer and longer, but my Dad has one for me as well, which will also be long. However, with him helping me with mine and me helping him with his, we are a force to be reckoned with.

So, getting home is a blessing. It will be great to see friends and family. But it is also a "curse". I have so much to get done (including getting a job) and so will be very busy (and maybe even a tad stressed) over the next few weeks.

To top it off, maybe you haven't heard about this, but Mr. Lovely lives Back East and I live in California. So we will each go back to our own (parent's) homes for now. But who knows what will happen later. But this is another story all together.

Another A-Z. T is for To. You can see more here.
Some Great Australian Places

Some Great Australian Places

Have you been to Australia? Although there are many cool things here, like Koalas, Kangaroos and The Most Deadly Snake in the World, The Black Mamba (spoken in a Steve Austin accent, as he shoves the snake in his face). BUT. They have a lot of other cool things. So. Let me talk to you about what we have done and liked...so far.

First up, and everyone should do this, is the Great Ocean Road. You drive along the coast and it IS beautiful. There are weird stone formations, blue blue water and the drive itself is (windy but) divine.

The Twelve Apostles
Next up, was some Lebanese food. I know, you thought, LEBANESE? In Australia? YES. And it's great.

Falafel, Kibby, Tzatziki, Hummus and more!
Then we went to Melbourne to meet up with some friends I had met in Argentina. And we walked around town. And we ate. And ate. AND ATE. Yum. I had heard there was great food in Melbourne but I had never experienced it. Well.... it was great!

Melbourne Grafitti

Swanston St

Yarra River

Dinner with Friends!
We also went to the Healdsville Animal Sanctuary, where we saw all the usual cuprits that I spoke about the other day: koalas, kangaroos, echidnas and emus. It was so fun! One more example:

Echidna -- bad photo

You can see a better example of an Echidna below. By the way, it is another egg laying mammal. Weird.

source
Next up: Sydney!

Then we go home...I can't believe it has come so soon. It seems like it's been so long...and I can't believe it's over so soon.

S is for Some. You can find more A-Z blogfest posts here. 

Have you ever been to Australia? What were your favorite places?  

PS. I have been here before (it was pre-blogging) and will post some other great things in a future post. Some things I won't get to this time, but I know are worth seeing!  
Really?

Really?

Did you know?

In Australia, they don't have the Easter bunny, they have the BILBY:

In Chocolate (source)
Normal View (source)
They also call a walk around the block a BLOCKIE.

A TRAVELER is when you take a beer to go on the walk to the next place.

Your SUNNIES are your sun glasses.

BREKKIE is breakfast.

An ESKIE is a cooler/ice chest.

SUSS means something that is suspect.

A STUBBIE is a small or short beer. 

To say "hello" they say "HOW YA GOIN'?"

They really do say G'DAY and MATE.

If you SHOUT a round of drinks, you are buying a round.

Of course there are still the "normal" sayings like "Do you reckon?" and "I have to go to the loo".

We got into a long discussion with my (Ozzie) friend about "BISCUITS". In the US, they are served with gravy; in Australia, this is the equivalent of a cookie. Their equivalent of our biscuit is a SCONE. (our scone is another matter entirely! Not the same as their scone!) You can find Australian biscuit recipes here.  

So, I guess that after having BREKKIE, you can get a TRAVELER out of the ESKIE, put on your SUNNIES and do a BLOCKIE. 

But I reckon that is a little ambitious. 

R is for "Really". You can see more A-Z blogfest here.  
On Being Frugal

On Being Frugal

source
I believe I am mentioned before that I am frugal. Okay, some may call it cheap. But frugal sounds better, doesn’t it?

To be honest, I never really thought of myself as cheap. I like to save money; I have a budget; I put money away in my 401k every month. I am money conscious. I am savings savvy. I save enough to have fun, go on trips like the one I am on and still put money away for retirement. I think I am being intelligent with my money.

But. And there is always a big but, right?

When you travel with a “why not have fun and spend your money now in case you die tomorrow - you can always make more later” kind of person, you seem like less of an “organized saver” and more like a tightwad.

EXAMPLE: We go to the grocery store and buy (perishable) supplies of food for the next couple of days. We drive past a McDonald's.

He says, “Let’s stop and get a hamburger”.
I say, “We just bought lunch meat. Let’s stop and make a sandwich”.
He says, “But I feel like a hamburger”.
I say, “But the lunch meat will go bad.”
He says, “So we will buy more lunch meat tomorrow.”

Sigh.

Another Example: We rent a campervan for three weeks in order to drive around (and camp in) New Zealand. We decide to stay in City A. I check the camping ground booklet. Aha! There is a camp ground; it’s 6 dollars a person. We arrive in City A.

He says, “Maybe we should just get a hotel”.
I say, “But we rented a campervan and there is a camping ground right here and it‘s only six dollars a person”.
He says, “But I don’t feel like staying in the campervan.”
I say, “But we didn’t budget for a hotel. A hotel is 60 dollars.”
He says, “But a hotel would be nicer”.

Duh.

Oh the joys of travel. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. And sometimes you spend more on one night’s accommodation than you planned on spending for three day’s budget.

It's hard sometimes.

Are you frugal? Does your significant other agree with you when it comes to money? If not, how do YOU deal with it?

The A-Z blogfest is over, but I am still plugging on anyway. O is for "On". Stay tuned for P!
Many Happy Trails

Many Happy Trails

I am a bit biased, I admit. I am from California and am proud of the fact. We have everything you could ever want -- beaches, mountains, small towns, cities like San Francisco. What do you like to do? We have it. You like picking mushrooms, deer hunting, swimming, diving, surfing, hiking? We have it. So, when I say that New Zealand reminds me of California, that is a good thing.

We have been hiking almost every day. It has been great. First we hiked near the sea, then in fern laden forests, over mountains, and through gorges. We have seen every different kind of terrain and climate. It snowed on us a few days ago. We went swimming a few days before that.

If you like hiking (tramping in NZ terms) you will love New Zealand. If you like beaches, you will love NZ. If you like skiing or mountains, you guessed it. You will still love New Zealand. It is actually smaller than California; it is about the size of Colorado. There are only 4 million people. The largest city is small by our standards. It is great. As I mentioned before, there are 10 sheep for every one person.

A couple of things we have enjoyed besides hiking.

Meat pies.(and beer!)

Tiny horses (or ponies). 

Seeing where the hobbits live. That's me being Gollum (in the rain).


Awesome Beaches.

 Strange mushrooms. 

And of course....a couple of hiking pics!



So, I know I sound like a Chamber of Commerce ad for New Zealand, but I love it here! I have a lot to say about it and although this post is short and photo heavy, once I get back into "real" internet land, I will talk more about WHY I love it so much. Until then, Happy Tramping! 

Oh and a very late Happy Easter to everyone! I have been out of blogland lately, but am looking forward to reading everyone's posts once I get home!
Keep Coming Back

Keep Coming Back

Where My Parents Live (And Put Up With Me Occasionally)
You know how it is when you go on a two week vacation from work? You get home, you go to work the next day and you feel like, ug, you don't want to work, you know that YESTERDAY at THIS time you were _______________ (sipping cocktails, laying on the beach, exploring Mayan ruins...fill in the blank). You have to get back into the swing of things, even though it was really only a couple of weeks that you missed.

Imagine now that you have been gone for a year. I know. YES, I have been gone for a year. Granted, I DID go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it's not quite as extreme as it seems, but man, this time, at the END, I've got it bad! I have the oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-it's-almost-over-ITIS. We have about 3 weeks left of a one year trip.

First, I don't want it to end. I have been to so many fun places. I want to see more; I want to do more. I know, I sound like a spoiled child, right? Nothing is ever good enough; nothing is sufficient. But seriously, how does one go from one mindset to the other? It is difficult.

Today, I went hiking in New Zealand. Soon, I will be at home trying to find a job. How depressing is that? I know, real life really comes at you sometimes, doesn't it? But for some reason the last week it all hit home all at the same time. I have to go back to "real" life. I have to get a job. I have to figure out how to pay my bills. I have to figure out my life.

Do I want to go back to school? Do I want to find a permanent job, where I don't have to move around all the time (it's looking better and better)? Will I live on the West Coast, the East Coast, the Middle, Abroad? Will I buy a house? Will I rent? Will I have enough money? Am I smart enough? Should I start over? Do I even want to?

So many things run through your head. It is going to be hard to get back into the "groove" of things. My friends have all forgotten who I am; they know I am never around. I am not always the first one they call anymore (especially since right now there is NO way to get a hold of me!) They are used to me being gone. Will I fit back into their lives? They have kids and jobs and families and homes and....where do I fit into all this?

However, it will be SO NICE to be home! Being in one place for more that two or three days will be absolute heaven. Being able to CALL my friends and family will be a joy. And best of all, I get to hug my Mom. I miss her! (and Dad too...of course!)

Parents are great. They will always miss me. They are always there when I need them, even if I am sometimes not around when they need me. What would I do without them? All my stuff is in storage at their house. They have my checkbook; they pay my bills. My mother is my unofficial stand-in. She makes sure none of my mail is important. If it is she opens it and...pays the bill or whatever needs to be done. It will be nice to go home and relieve her of the duty. She is a superstar.

So I will go home and I will help my dad build something (this is what happens - it's inevitable) and I will cook and bake and make my parents eat "real" meals (they often eat chips and cottage cheese for dinner) and they will put up with me and even pretend to like my food, and then I will go and take a photo journey with my Mom and we will take photos of the same stuff we always take photos of.

It will be good. I will have arrived. I will be home.

K is for Keep. See my other A-Z posts HERE. 
I'm Not An Addict, Baby

I'm Not An Addict, Baby

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I have only been on the internet ONCE in the past 10 days. I know. Crazy, right.

Why is this crazy? What happened to normal life? WHY do I have to check my email every day?

Because it's become a habit, that's why. I mean, I don't need to check it and half the time, nobody, except Walgreens and LinkedIn, have emailed me anyway. So I waste my time getting online to see that Yay, there's a sale on Prell at Walgreens. What a waste.

I also subscribe to a lot of blogs on Google Reader. If you do too, you KNOW how hard it is to ignore! You would rather knock down your Reader total from 798 to 100 (yay, what an accomplishment! and I didn't even have to leave the house!) then....Mow the lawn, pay bills, hang out with that girl from work who keeps asking you to go for drinks, study....you know what I mean. The list goes on and on. Why am I not outside?

And then there is blogging. Why DO SOMETHING when you can blog about it? Or maybe it's "Why do anything UNLESS you can blog about it? I bring my camera everywhere and I document Every.Last.Thing so I can post pictures later to the internet. In fact, right now, what am I doing? I am blogging. When I should be completing the 189 things on my "To Do" List (100 of them which I can probably do on the internet).

So, I would rather live my life. A hike: yes. A drink with friends: sometimes. A book: often. I am an advocate of going outside. I am a firm believer in children NOT watching TV when they can go ride their bikes, run around, play dress up or build a fort. However, as an adult, I am a hypocrite.

So this week, I am going outside. I am going hiking. I will read more. I will spend more time playing board games with my boyfriend instead of ignoring him while I interact with people I've never met. So if I am not around, I am sorry. I am outside in the sunshine, enjoying the environment, soaking it all in.

I will be back in a couple of weeks (addictive personality! cough!) to read all of your blogs and make sure I don't go over 1000 posts in my Reader (obsessed! cough!). Also, for those of you who are visiting from FTLOB, I will eventually go and check out every one of your blogs. Please be patient. It may not happen for a little while.

Does anyone else get this - this angst to get away from the internet, yet the desire to go back to it? How much time do YOU spend on the computer a day? (ps. when I am at work, I am on the computer probably 12+ hours a day. Now, it's more like one[+] hour[s] a day)

Post title credit: Fiona Apple

This post is part of the A-Z Blogfest I am (kind of) participating in. I is for I'm! You can find others of this ilk HERE. 
How To Peacefully Coexist

How To Peacefully Coexist

So, I think I mentioned that we rented a camper-van and are driving around the North Island of New Zealand. 

Have you ever been in a tiny box with the same person for a very, very long time? You sleep in it; you (sometimes) eat in it; you put your dirty socks in it; you drive everywhere in it. It is not self contained, aka, it does not have a shower or a toilet or a power supply, so you spend a lot of time with your head light strapped to your head, playing rummikub inside the van (down by the river).

You also spend a lot of time fighting over who's going to drive, directions/where to go, why so and so's stinky socks are sitting on so and so's backpack, why so and so forgot to plug in or unplug the fridge, where did so and so put the cups.....and so on.

And there is no place to go. You can go and sit in the front to "be alone", instead of sitting in the back. We have made a joke about it -- the front is the study, the back is the living room.

The problem is compounded by the fact that it gets dark around 6, so there is not really anything to do after that. Also, the camping grounds often close their gates around 6 (it is going on winter here), so you can't even leave and go do something. Also, some of them don't even have lights or a table or anything! So you have no choice than to...you guessed it...sit in the van!

We have also only had one place with hot showers, so not only is it dark in the van, but it's pretty smelly! So, why do we subject ourselves to this, you are wondering. Well, despite all above statements, it's FUN! We can go wherever we want, whenever we want to. We can even drive till we drop and then sleep pretty much wherever! We have spent the night near the beach, in prime forest locations, with great views and...even in a parking lot. We have all our food with us -- I can have a ham a cheese sandwich ready in a jiff, no matter where we are! We don't have to carry our backpacks or find out when the next bus is! We can go to all the nooks and crannies that public transportation doesn't go to! It's GREAT! Such freedom!

Anyway, it's been 7 days so far -- we have 15 to go. We haven't killed each other YET (keep your fingers crossed for me). I will check back in a week or so and we will see how it's going then, shall we!

Today's post is part of the A-Z blogfest. H is for How. You can find the rest HERE. 

I leave you with a photo:

Snell's Bay



PS -- Deirdra over at A Storybook World just awarded me this. Thanks Deirdra!