Today, Chris Guillebeau’s new book The Art of Non-Conformity:  Set your own rules, Live the life you want, and Change the world hits real and digital bookshelves across the country!

I’ve stated many times before (and it’s still true) that Chris is one of my favorite online personalities and his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, is by far my favorite blog.  Simply put, no single source online has had a greater impact on my life and work.  So, as you can imagine, I was extremely excited to get my hands on an early review copy of the book!

I’ve decided to celebrate the launch of the book by giving away 5 free copies here on launch week! That’s right.  I’m purchasing these in order to both support the book and to give back to the audience here!  Win-win-win!  :-)  At the bottom of the post, you’ll find details to enter to win a free copy!

Note: There’s absolutely 0% chance that my thoughts below on this book are unbiased.  I’m a ravenous fan of Chris’ message and I consider him a personal friend.  Not to mention that our (Courtney and I) story is featured in the Personal Finance chapter of the book.  So if you are looking for an unbiased review…  sorry!

The core message…

In his own words, Chris’ core message is this:

“You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to. You can do good things for yourself and make the world a better place at the same time. Here’s how to do it.”

Chris sets up the book to nail home this message from the beginning.  The majority of the book jumps between tidbits of his own personal background and journey, examples and features on other examples of people living intentionally, and advice (with specific tips) on how to execute your own deliberate plan.

I devoured the book in two separate sessions and after I put it down, I came away with the following…

I can really do this.  No, seriously…  *I* can really, freakin’ do this!

You see, this is almost always the affect Chris’ message has on me.  He has the ability to take what seems to the majority of people to be extreme (visiting every country in the world… selling everything you own and moving with a young family across the world…) and making it seem… feasible.

I guess he sort of grants me permission.  His message validates those core feelings and passions that the rest of the world is set up to “keep in check”.

While the majority of the world is saying “You probably shouldn’t”, this book is suggesting “Why the hell not?”.

And, for me, that’s exactly what I need.  That’s why I love the online communities I’m a part of.

Comparison to the Four Hour Workweek…

It’s nearly impossible not to compare The Art of Non-Conformity to Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Workweek. It’s not exactly a fair comparison, as even though they are both fruits (life design books) they are drastically different fruits.  Still, I’ve talked to half a dozen people about the book in private and every single time a discussion/comparison of the two has emerged.

In my life, The Four Hour Workweek completely shattered my world view.  It drastically changed my perspective on what was possible and led me down a rabbit hole that eventually turned me onto much of what is a core part of my life now.  It’s because of 4HWW that I started thinking unconventionally.  It’s because of 4HWW that I searched and found blogs, communities, and online businesses.

But, I needed more than the 4HWW to influence me.  Everyone does. The 4HWW’s brash and sometimes confrontational style can chip away at the years of conformity that has covered your brain.  It left my belief structure in pieces, which I’m very thankful for!

But, for me and for many people I’ve talked with, the 4HWW didn’t put Humpty together again.  It shook up how we approached the world, but we weren’t able to piece together a purpose or a mission for ourselves.  For me, a dogged pursuit of hacks, systems, and automation didn’t quite connect.  I just wasn’t able to apply it to my own life.

And this is the one area, above all others, that Chris Guillebeau excels at.  He has a gift for making abstract concepts, seem tangible… seem doable. I can relate to the examples he uses… I can see myself in similar positions.

The Art of Non-Conformity puts Humpty together again…

If you are at a place where you know… you just know that there is more.  That you should be doing more.  That you should be living more intentionally, more… awake… unplugged from the matrix… whatever you want to call it.  This book will help you make the unknown, known.  It will validate, dust you off, point you in the right direction, and show you the steps to make it happen.

My Biggest Takeaways…

Here were my biggest takeaways from the book:

Traditional security isn’t what it’s been built up to be.

In the middle of the books, especially Chapters 5 and 6, Chris spends time reflecting on the notion of security.  For decades, the traditional notion has been that going to college, getting a flexible degree, and obtaining a bi-weekly paycheck was the secure route. And, for decades, it really was.

But the times they are a-changing.  No longer is there much security in any traditional job.  In fact, if you want true security you have to develop the skills, the network, and the ability to go out and conquer it yourself.  You’ve got to make your own security.  This part of Chris’ message that resonates deeply with me!

Chris also spend time driving home a comparison of how his college experience compared to his launching a blog experience.  He calls it “Traditional Experience” vs. “Alternative Experience” and makes the case that there are much cheaper, faster, and more powerful avenues for many to gain experience and education.

Note that I said for many to gain, not for everyone.  Chris is quick to point out that for some, college is a necessary or even a preferred track.  He simply encourages people not to assume it’s the best path.  Not to default to it for default’s sake.  As he points out, far too many of us college, especially graduate school, as a method of life avoidance.

This leads me into my next takeaway…

No path is holier than another…

Blogging isn’t better than becoming a lawyer.  Going to college isn’t automatically a lesser option to real world experience.  Working a day job isn’t the devil.  You don’t have to travel to feel alive.

Chris makes it clear that he loves to travel.  He also bluntly states that he gained more expertise and experience blogging than he did in college and he’d probably never really feel like himself in a traditional day job.  But he doesn’t force his life model down anyone’s throat.  Frankly, that’s pretty rare these days.

The Art of Non-Conformity simply sets out to empower you to live intentionally.  To not go with the flow, just because others tell you to.  Not to follow a certain path, because society laid it out before you.

For some, this means creating or finding the perfect day job.  One where they feel alive and filled with purpose.  For others it may be traveling the world working from their laptops.  Some may need to go to 8 years of college and others won’t need to finish High School.

Chris’ well-rounded approach in this aspect makes his message insanely approachable.  He’s not afraid to share his choices, nor is he afraid to provide his opinions or even his preferences.  But the core message is only exclusive of those with a closed mind.  And I dig that.

Your Legacy Starts Now

The most powerful concept in the entire book for me was one of the last.

The concept is simple, so many of us wait until later in life to think about our legacy.  The older we get, the more our focus shifts to the people, ideas, and impact we’ll leave behind.

But why do we have to wait until we get older? We don’t. It’s so simple… yet, so powerful.

Chris urges us to not only start thinking about our legacy in big terms, but to actually focus our daily work on those activities which contribute to our legacy.  It’s a powerful tool for time management!  Ensure you are spending the majority of your time on those actions, activities, or items that will impact your legacy the greatest.

I love it.  I’m not a huge time management person.  I’m actually terrible at it.  But whenever I think about my day in terms of legacy, it becomes much more clear just how much of the routine crap doesn’t matter.  I spend more time with my family (my most important legacy) and more of my working time on creating and sharing.

How to win a FREE – FREE – FREE copy!  :-)

One of Chris’ final points in the book is a call to action:

Wake up in the middle of the night with good ideas.  Share them with the world.

Well, this book isn’t my idea… but that’s not going to stop me from sharing it with the world.  I believe in it’s message deeply and as a result, I’m buying and giving away 5 Free copies via this post.

• Leave a comment on this post!

In the comments section below, leave me a brief message on why you should win the book and how you will use it’s power for good!  :-)  I’ll pick my favorite 10 or so (some funny, some serious) and then randomize 3 winners from among those ten.

• Comment on Man Vs. Debt Facebook Page!

Visit the Man Vs. Debt Facebook Page and leave a comment on the main thread I started for this giveaway.  Not the post thread… it’s a separate wall post… you’ll see it.  I want to know what you’ll do with the book after you are done with it!

• Tweet out the launch or giveaway on Twitter!

Simply tweet out (copy and paste into Twitter) the following message:

The Art of Non-Conformity Book launches today!  Win a free copy via @ManVsDebt’s review –> http://bit.ly/c1a74k – #MvDAoNC

You can edit the tweet to your preference.  Make sure to include a proclamation of the book launch and the hashtag #MvDAoNC – so I can track the entries!

You Should Buy This Book…

Seriously, it’s well worth it.  Did I mention it’s only $9 right now on Amazon?

$9 freakin’ dollars!  Are you kidding me?

I still can’t believe the price point, but I’m incredibly happy.  So happy I’ve ordered several to give to close family and friends and 5 extra to giveaway here.

Buy this:  The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau

This post is going to serve a couple purposes.  I want to update everyone on our travel “situation” (especially those who don’t follow me on Twitter or on Facebook).  And I also want to shed light on a tough crossroads that Courtney and I have found ourselves.

For anyone who doesn’t know, we are currently back home in Indiana. We’ve been home for a couple months now.  Undoubtedly, this yields two questions…

1. Why did you decide to come home?
2. When/where are you going to go next?

Unfortunately, neither of these questions have a single sentence answer!  (I know, right)

Why we decided to come home…

From the beginning, we had designed our initial overseas adventure to last a year.  In the end, we cut it a couple months short of that when we chose to leave Thailand early and fly back to Indiana.

Our decision to come home was prompted by two factors:

1. A private issue in our family that, while it didn’t require that we come home, encouraged it.
2. The fact that we were incredibly burnt out.

It would be convenient to say that #1 played the largest role…  that it was out of our control.  But that’s not the case.  The reality was that we were burnt out and looking for the first justification we could.

Our international travel has been divided up into three distinctly different experiences.  When we first arrived in Australia, we had no clue what we were doing and were frequently changing locations.  We were running on pure adrenaline, having just set forth on something we had previous thought to be impossible.  There was stress, but everything was new and interesting and compelling.

As the weeks wore by, we started to encounter our first real troublesome set of problems with visas and finding jobs.  In other words, it only took a couple weeks for our new fairy tale to turn back into real life…  it happened quickly.  Admittedly, we lost some of the “living in the moment” attitude in our quest to make the lifestyle more than a month long vacation.

As many of you know, our search led us to New Zealand where Courtney landed a teaching gig.  This entered us into the second clear phase of our travel.  We spent right around 6 months living in one location in downtown Auckland.  Courtney worked the 9-5, as I played stay-at-home-dad and poured nap time and evenings into this blog.

This was our true first taste of living abroad.  Really living.  We were spending less than we earned (while stationary) and if we had wanted, we could have stayed indefinitely (Courtney was offered to stay another two years at the school).  It felt good to know that we had “accomplished” a big part of our goal, but it was far a fairy tale.

After saving a little bit more money, we then entered into the third phase.  We spent two weeks driving the South Island of New Zealand.  To be honest, this was my absolute favorite part of the entire experience (I think Courtney’s too).  We had spent 6 months rather stationary and were ready for another adventure.

But we didn’t stop there. Looking back I don’t regret our decision to head to Thailand.  Part of me may have chosen to either stay in NZ or come back home for a pit stop if I had to make it again.  But missing out on Thailand would have meant missing out on a lot of new experiences and growth, not to mention missing out on meeting several amazing people.

For starters, we found out that Thailand really wasn’t for us.  We didn’t dislike our experience and it seems like an amazing fit for a decent portion of people.  It just didn’t speak to us.  We didn’t connect on a deep level.

To be honest, the cards were stacked against Thailand. We were on more limited funds by this point.  We had just spent two weeks camping and driving.  We had unreasonable expectations on what it would be like (and how cheap it would be).  On top of that, we were experiencing a new “phase” with Milligan.

When we started traveling, Milligan was just 13 months old.  She could walk, but wasn’t interested in that form of transportation for too long.  When it was time to nap… she napped, whether that was in a hostel, a backpack, or a bus.  Most importantly, she hadn’t yet realized that screaming in a foreign place, surrounded by strangers, got her a boatload of attention very quickly.

Towards the end of our stay in the apartment in New Zealand things were different.  She wanted to walk everywhere.  She only liked her backpack about 20% of the time.  If there were cool things going on, she’d want to be up and exploring… not napping (missed naps are never a good thing).  Oh, and she quickly realized that screaming on a completely packed, completely silent rail train in the middle of Bangkok got everyone’s attention… quickly.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Most of the time in Thailand was actually spent in a private, pool-side Bungalow, across from another location independent family.  Milligan quickly made friends with the all female staff and genuinely had a blast.  But the on/off nature of her journey into the “terrible twos” weighed on Courtney and me.

Looking back, I don’t think that Milligan was the problem.  I think that self-generated stress on my part clouded my perception of what was going on.  Under stress, I only concentrated on her tantrums and not the 80% of the time she was smiling, running around, and saying Thai phrases like “thank you” and “bye-bye”.

I think my short comings were in my failure to be fully present, because of the stress of this blog (specifically monetizing all my hard work) and the stress of ongoing travel.  I think very little of it had to do with the environment or our schedule, both of which found decent grooves.

Whatever the cause, we were presented with an opening to come home… and we took it.  It wasn’t a snap decision.  We thought out the pros/cons and just decided there was nothing wrong with cutting the trip short a few months.  We did incur extra cost, but were able to mitigate a lot of that by finding a deal on airfare.

We ended up dipping into our emergency fund to make it home (on the flights), but it was a decision that we deemed worth it.

Since coming back to Indiana…

After two pit stops (including a weird one in Hong Kong) we finally landed in Chicago a full day after we boarded the plane in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.  As we went through customs, I handed our passports to the guy working the incoming arrivals section.  He scanned all three passports, checked our faces against our photos and then looked up at me and said…

“Welcome home.”

We still had a short flight from Chicago to Indianapolis, but I actually teared up after hearing those words.  It may be hard to understand the situation and I fully realize there are thousands of people whom spend much more away on much more important causes (military, international volunteers, etc…).

At the time we were under plenty of stress, had minimal sleep on 24 hours worth of flights, and knew our families were waiting for us after our 35 minute flight to Indy.  I just felt… relieved.

After a couple weeks of staying with family, Courtney and I reevaluated what we wanted to do.  We knew we needed a break, but weren’t about to sign a year lease somewhere.  A year just seemed way too long to commit to anywhere on the planet.

Ultimately, we found a three bedroom house for rent and negotiated no deposit and only a 6-month lease.  We knew this would give me time to finishing launching a product that had been in the works for months and months and would let us weigh some of our future options.

Well, we’ve been here going on 2.5 out of 6 months now. As you know, I finally did finish and launch Unautomate Your Finances (thank you again!).  Courtney decided to take a two-month maternity opening at a local school (actually one we both attended in elementary) and for the first time in her life Milligan is going to daycare with a local homeschooling family.

So that’s the update. It’s not as sexy as some of the past, but we are already feeling recharged.  It’s awesome to have the support of our family and I know they enjoy having Milligan around.  I’ve been able to make some big strides with turning this blog and my writing into a full-time business.

Coming home was a fantastic decision.  That said, we are itching at what to do next.  We are at a crossroads.

What’s next…  where… when… how long…

We don’t know.  We don’t know where.  We don’t know when.  We don’t know for how long.

Well, we do know we have a little over 3 months left here at least.  Courtney will be finishing out her temporary teaching gig in 5 weeks and I’m diligently working on product number #2 (“Sell Your Crap” guide). 

But in 3.5 months we have a really, really big decision.  One that has been weighing on us.

First, I firmly believe we could do anything. That’s a good feeling to have, but at the same time, not one that helps with the decision making process.  We’ve consider going to South America, RV’ing around the U.S., staying in Indiana for another year, and even staying permanently and having babies and houses (I know, right).

To be honest, there is no clear choice.  Both Courtney and I feel that it still isn’t the right time to plant our roots.  And even if it was, neither of us is fully comfortable with Indianapolis as the choice.

The only reason in the entire world we’d stay in Indiana is our family.  Problem is, that’s a big reason.  We are really blessed to have an overwhelming amount of support while we are here.  Not a weekend goes by where we aren’t visiting family in some fashion, sometimes 3 or 4 locations every weekend.  It’s something we really missed while traveling.

But is family, and only family, reason enough to stay in Indianapolis? It’s tough.  Every other day I waiver, but it doesn’t feel right.  At least not right now.

The longer we stay here, the more the area is drawing us to make it permanent.  We are accumulating more and more stuff, despite trying to keep things minimal.  Courtney is slowly being pulled to consider a more permanent position and I’m even having thoughts of real estate and property management again (part-time).  It’s like an unidentifiable life force that gets stronger and stronger each week we stay.

But we just spent the last 2 years fighting against a very similar life force that was taking us down a path we didn’t necessarily want.  In fact, the core of this blog… the core of our philosophy and journey has been not to allow those life forces to pull us in a direction we didn’t want to go.

As it stands, neither Courtney or I want to stay in Indianapolis longer than another year.  We’ve decided that.  But staying another school year (until next summer) has a lot of benefits.  Courtney could get a full-time position and with the projected success of my business/writing income over the next 3-6 months, we could likely attack a BIG portion of our student loans.

At the very least we could once again buckle down and save tens of thousands of dollars if we wanted.  It’s not only possible, it’s likely… if we chose to stay another year.

But I’m scared.

I’m scared that staying that extra time will generate even more excuses.  I’m scared the life force will catch up to us and we’ll have a mortgage, and a bowling league, and a big screen t.v.

In addition, staying a year, but knowing you are leaving is tough.  We’ve done it the last two years in different spots.  You want to join a church, but know you will be leaving.  You want to deepen relationship with local friends, but know you’ll be ditching them in less than a year.  There are countless activities where you say…  well, this would be nice to do if we weren’t leaving.

So you end up living a half-assed, gimped life, because you are scared of entering into an experience that will keep you tied down.  Too much thirst for not being tied down, means you suddenly find yourself living with single-serving friends, in single-serving social settings, pursuing single-serving passions.

I’m not sure there is a way to have both.  I’m not sure there is a way to live “in the moment” and as passionately as if you planned on doing something the rest of your life, but then pack up and leave it.  Lots of “lifestyle designer” and “travel hackers” claim to have found it.  But I’m not sure I believe any of them.

I know one thing.  We are neither “lifestyle designers” or “travel hackers” and we certainly haven’t found the sweet spot.  And honestly, the spot is going to be different for each and every person/family.  A female solo-travler, a male solo-travler, a young couple, a retired couple, a young family of 3, or a family of 8 roaming the countryside.  They aren’t even all fruits, let alone the same fruit.

Ultimately, I think that we still want to have travel as part of our permanent lifestyle. But I think it looks different from our first trip out into the world.  I think it involves having a home-base (wherever we decide home is) and traveling for 6-month on/off.  Maybe 3 months in one location, 3 months in another.  Staying in one place and really getting to experience one culture.

Let’s get an apartment in Argentina for 3-month and then hop over to a cabin in Alaska for another 3, before returning home for the summer/winter.  Something like that.

We’ve not even touched 95% of the world and I’m not o.k. with getting hit by a bus tomorrow and knowing that.  The older Milligan gets the more of the world I want her to experience.  That’s the real priority for me.

So here we are.

I know there isn’t a right answer.  And I know a lot of you may not be able to relate to the specifics.  But our journey, both the ups and downs… the impulses and the hesitations, are a core part of this blog.  And sharing our experience, not only captures it, but helps me reflect on it.

I don’t want “do what you love” to just be a saying in the banner of this site.  Courtney and I both deeply believe in it and want it to be a core principle of our life.

But how can you “do what you love” when you have no idea what you… love?

Heck, maybe I’ll just throw up 10 options and have you all vote on it.  That seems unlikely to backfire…  o.O

Note:  If you made it this far…  thanks.  I’m pumped to have you along for the ride! 

photo by monkeywing

Episode 3 features Benny Lewis from the fast-growing site, Fluent in 3 Months. Benny, who speaks 7 languages fluently, has spent the last 7 years of his life traveling around the world studying language and culture. We got to spend an amazing weekend together in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand a couple months ago. Follow Benny on Twitter!

Benny is one of my favorite people we met the entire time we were traveling abroad. His positive attitude and fun-loving nature is contagious. He’s optimistic, intelligent, and extremely passionate. We had such an engaging discussion (at least from my perspective) that we went on for 40 minutes! As such, I had to break down the video into two parts to preserve the High Definition beauty of Thailand.

Episode 3 (Part 1) Content Guide:

• [1:00] - Benny’s background in Engineering and Education.
• [2:25] - How Benny got started speaking languages.
• [3:45] - The single most important decision that allowed Benny to learn and speak 7 languages.
• [4:48] – More information on Fluentin3months.com and the “missions”.
• [5:30] - Why you already know 10,000-20,000 words in French.
• [6:50] - The definition of a “polyglot” and the list of languages Benny speaks fluently.
• [8:30] - How Benny has earned money to travel full-time the last 7 years.
• [14:16] - Benny’s concrete tips for me to learn Spanish in 6 months.

Episode 3 (Part 2) Content Guide:

• [0:00] - How to make time to learn languages (overcoming the time excuse).
• [2:40] - I clumsily share how I memorized a common Thai phrase…
• [3:30] - Why the academic approach to studying languages is a waste of time.
• [4:30] - Gaining confidence early. Getting to the point where “you know”.
• [8:00] - How to build momentum when you start learning a new languages.
• [12:05] - Why I read Benny’s site even without speaking multiple languages.
• [12:55] - How Benny designs and executes his “missions” with tips on goal setting.
• [17:14] - Benny’s question for the Man Vs. Debt Militia.

Benny’s question for you!

What are the reason and/or circumstances in your life that would make it EASY to learn another language?

What resources are available to you?

Let Benny know the answer to those questions below!

Note: For me, Courtney already speaks Spanish fluently (with a little sprucing up). Also, we are currently in Indiana which has a decent sized Mexican population. I could easily find influences both inside and outside my home to immerse in Spanish if I wanted!

This post is a travel update of our two-week driving tour of the South Island in New Zealand.  We have some serious catching up to do around here! If you cannot see all the videos, click here to visit the post directly!

At the end of Part 1 of our NZ driving tour, we left you heading towards the city of Wanaka through the Haast Pass.

The drive was less up and down and more huge sweeping left to right curves.  Less craggy mountain and more dominating, in-your-face hills.

Camping in the Haast Pass

Tired, we decided to stop around 3/4 of the way through the drive, which left us around an hour or so outside of Wanaka.  As soon as we left the car, we quickly found out the sandflies were not exclusive to the previous parts of the island we had traveled.

Courtney bravely fought the swarms of insects (which were like an annoying version of gnats … if you can imagine) to cook dinner on our small, single gas burner.  I opted for the incredibly frustrating task of setting up our tent.  Little did I realize this would involved also tearing it down and re-setting it up three more times, as my stubbornness got the better of me.

After over 30 minutes, I came to the conclusion we were missing some pieces, let loose a few choice words, and gave up.  Finally dinner was done cooking, so we literally sprinted to the tent with our plates and huddled inside to enjoy the meal (without becoming one ourselves).

Being in the pass, between two hill/mountain peaks on either side, the sun set.  It got very cold, very quickly.  It had been slightly chilled the previous night camping, but we still had to shed our sleeping bags part of the night.  Not this night.  Milligan was tucked tightly into Courtney’s bag and I actually made an extra night run down to the car to get socks and extra layers of clothes.

As I took down the tent in the morning, I was still a little surprised to see a layer of frost on the outside of the tent.  I made a mental note to my future self:  Next time you have an hour left, go ahead and make the drive out of a mountain pass before pitching the tent.  Wind chill makes a difference.

Lake Hawea and the Blue Pools

While this section title sounds like a bad 80′s band, it was actually two of the coolest features that lined our last bit of the morning drive to Wanaka.

Lake Hawea is a fairly long lake that stretches out along the road (actually I guess the road stretches along the lake). We stopped at least 3 times along the lake to take scenic photos.  What I remember most about it was the intense blue of the lake.  While the above picture doesn’t do the effect justice, I actually commented to Courtney how the lake looked photoshopped.

It was the first time, I had actually referred to a scenic view in real life as looking …  well, fake.  But it wouldn’t be the last on our trip.  I just wasn’t used to seeing that rich of colors next to each other.  Maybe some of you scientific types can tell me a reason for this.  Is it the air?  Something in the water?  An illusion?  Unspoiled terrain?  Either way, it was really neat.

The “Blue Pools” is a patch of water (there may be more than one, but we only could find one) that feeds into a river, where the visibility is incredibly transparent.  Even standing on a swing bridge at least a couple dozen feet above the pools it was easy to see fish spurting by and the detailed contours of the rocks at the bottom of the shallow pool.

It’s only a short hike, maybe 5-10 minutes, off the main highway, but offered a great morning break from the drive.

Wanaka, New Zealand

Taken by Courtney Baker with our trusty tripod and a 10 second timer!

Wanaka was the largest town (at least from our experience) since we had left Christchurch.  We spent the first couple hours running some routine errands.  We used the internet a little, restocked on groceries, filled up on gas, and finally played at the lake-front public park.

Suddenly Courtney turned to me and said, “You know what?…  This is a perfect little town with a perfect little view”.

And she was right.  Honestly, it was the first town since Townsville/Magnetic Island in Australia that we immediately could see ourselves wanting to ‘settle down’ in.  Obviously, there’s much more to a city than you can experience in just a morning/afternoon, but that gives you an idea of it’s instant charm. 

In the late afternoon we headed up to Puzzling world, which is located on the outskirts of Wanaka.  While it’s hard to fully explain, it’s basically a museum of sorts for illusions and puzzles.  It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind place and in my mind a must-see if you are ever in the area.

Just a couple of the features included:

• An ‘Ames room’ – which is a room which looks normal but is actually slanted to where one side of the room is around half the height of the other.  When two people stand at the opposite ends of the rooms on looks nearly twice as tall (or Milli looks half my height) .  This effect was widely used in the filming of Lord of the Rings.
• A 35 degree slant room - not sure what the actual name of this room was.  But the floor was literally at around a 35 degree slant.  The trick was the room was painted and had all the features hung so that they looked as if the floor was flat.  Hard to explain, but take it from me.  Every step you take feels normal, but is really on a huge slant.  It actually made me sick to my stomach (there are warnings against pregnant or sick people entering).  It really messed with your mind.
• A full-size human maze – out back there was a large, human-maze built that you can walk through.  There are four tours and tons of tricky turns and dead ends.  You can a small section picture below:

As with most things in my life, I was waaaay over confident.  I laughed when it said that the average time for doing the corners in a specific order was 60-90 minutes.  So Courtney and I pledged to do the ‘hard’ mode at a normal walking pace (with Milligan) to see how we could fare.  Here’s the result:

First, it was much more difficult than I expected.  The real trick was doing the towers in the specific order.  Embarrassingly, there were several times when we got completely turned around and had to stop and say, “ummm… wait a sec.”

When compiling the video above, I realized that I didn’t take any just average footage in the middle of the maze.  Oh well, you can use your imagination. 

Drive to Mount Cook

After our afternoon at Puzzling World, we decided to go ahead and make the drive to Mount Cook.  Mount Cook is the tallest mountain on the South Island (actually I think it’s the tallest in New Zealand overall, too).  We’d be traveling through yet another pass, the Lindis pass.

In true New Zealand fashion the drive was only a couple hours, but contained short, brown tussock landscapes (reminded me of Arizona), full pine trees, dry scraggly scrubs, and snow-capped mountains.  Once again, maybe someone smarter than me can point out why the terrain changes so drastically in so short of distance.

Geek Note:  Most of the drive reminded me almost perfectly of Rohan.  Sure enough, many of the scenes involving the Riders we filmed in the hills of that area.

Before it got too dark, we were pulling into the campground just outside of Mount Cook Village.  It’s as close as you can get driving and/or camping (well…  in a campground) to Mount Cook.  We were convinced that this would be our coldest night, however it wasn’t that bad at all.

First thing in the morning, we decided to take a 4-hour hike down the Hooker Valley Trail, which left from our campground and walked towards Mount Cook until it met the start of a glacier-fed river.

The hike took us across a couple swing bridges and by a memorial to everyone who has died on Mount Cook over the last 100 years.  After just under two hours, we reached a murky lake of sorts where the glacier slowly melted in the river that had been running along side of us through most of the hike.

Hungry, I turned to Courtney, “Honey, can I have a peanut butter bar.”

“Um…  Milligan just ate the last one in my bag.”

“You only brought ONE PEANUT BUTTER BAR on a 4 hour hike?”

“I thought YOU were bringing the peanut butter bars”

Now even more hungry (which tends to happen when you realize there isn’t any food), we slowly turned around and prepared for the 2 hours of backtracking.  Milligan having just ate a pretty big snack was ready for her mid-morning nap.  And when Milligan is ready for a nap … she takes her nap.

I don’t know how many of you have backpack carriers, but when the little ones go out, it’s nearly impossible to keep carrying them in the pack, especially when you are trying to jump from rock to rock to cross a stream.  So we took Milligan out of the backpack and traded carrying her on our chests, 15 minutes at a time, all the way back out to the camp.

We were sunburned, hungry, and exhausted.  Finally arriving back at the car, the day old, left over Subway never tasted so good!  Here’s some video of the Mount Cook experience:

As we drove away from Mount Cook Village, Courtney astutely noted that it looked exactly like the Other’s camp from Lost.  I couldn’t help but nod my sunburned head.

A little backtracking and some riverside camping…

We drove back down to Wanaka, where we let Milligan hit her favorite Dinosaur for a few more slides (or thirty) and Courtney went to the Information Center to book her Bungy Jump for the next day.

The older lady behind the counter issued a warning, “Now, before I book this for you, I have to let you know it’s NON-transferable and NON-refundable.  So when you get to the top, if you choose to back out, you’ll lose out the money.”

It seemed less ‘legal jargon’ and more ‘I’m speaking from experience here, lady’.  Courtney confirmed she understood, but after forking over the money gave me a look with a tiny hint of nervousness.

Baker: “For $250 NZD, if you don’t jump, I’ll shove you down the next cliff we encounter.  Just remember that.”

Don’t worry, I was half-joking.

As the evening settled in, we drove just a couple minutes outside of Wanaka to a riverside campground site in Albert Town.  For the first time on our trip, the site was free of swarming insects.  I figured being beside the river would actually make it worse, but I’ve already admitted not being smart enough to figure out this island.

We took the opportunity to actually eat our dinner outside of the tent or the car, picnicking on the bank of the river bend as Milligan gave angry stares (and grumbled) at the various ducks which ever so slowly inched closer and closer as she ate her sandwich.

The absence of howling winds even let us open the front flaps of the tent to take in a new-to-us orientation of stars gleaming off the slow running river.  Ah…

The Cardrona Pass towards Queenstown…

In the morning, we packed up and set off for the famous adventure destination of Queenstown.  The Cardrona Pass (as if we needed another pass right about now) closely mimicked a narrow river as it carves its way through a winding valley.  The drive featured plenty of “Check Brakes Now” signs along the way, which I will admit made me tap the breaks each time I read one.

Even though the European settlement of New Zealand is relatively young compared to most other countries, some of the first towns were built along this pass.  We were provided with ample opportunities for small historic towns with one-of-a-kind claims to a range of ‘firsts in New Zealand’.

Our first and most immediate goal was to make it to our lakeside cabin where we’d be spending two days, including Christmas Eve.  At $120 NZD (~80 USD) per night it was a planned Christmas splurge/break for us from camping.

As we pulled into the driveway at the edge of Queenstown, we knew something was wrong.  First, Courtney noted that the house looked nothing like the photo.  Second, there was two cars in the driveway of a supposedly empty holiday rental home. Third, and most convincingly, there were wet clothes hanging up on the close line.  Awkward.

We double and triple checked the address both on Courtney hand-written notes and then by digging for a copy of the printed e-mail the homeowner had sent.  We were in the right place.  But obviously, it wasn’t the right place.

Courtney tried calling the homeowner (no luck) as I drove us to find internet in Queenstown.  Once inside, we pulled up the listing of the house again.  Definitely not the house at the address she had sent us.  With no luck on the phone we started to look up back-up options as Courtney bungy-jumping time grew closer.

To our joy, fortune sided with us this time, the homeowner ended up returning our call and realizing that she had accidentally mistyped the address in her e-mail.  It was 917 not 971.  Sort of makes a difference.  Around 2 hours squandered, but it didn’t dull the warm showers and decent beds we were looking forward to.

The view from our cabin … once we finally found the right one.

Jumping 440 feet…

Before we had any time to settle in, it was time for Courtney to jump!  Here’s her story of what happened after Milligan and I dropped her off in Queenstown:

There I was, sitting in the A.J. Hackett bungy station listening to the pump-you-up music overhead and watching the footage of previous jumping victims replay over the monitors. I can’t claim that I was horrified yet (that would come later). At this point, I was just kind of detached from it all.

Our driver arrived and herded us to the shuttle bus for our forty minute ride out to the site. Joking along the way, we passed the first commercial bungy jump ever the Kawarau Bridge jump which is 43 meters. My jump today would be a 134 meters, three times the distance of the one we were driving by.

Finally, we reached our destination. We shifted from the shuttle bus to a 4WD bus that hauled up a steep gravel road. As we scaled Mt. Everest (at least that’s what if felt like), I couldn’t help but look over the cliff edge and notice there were no guard rails. This is the moment I first felt horrified.

At the top, they harnessed and strapped us inside a pod that was attached to a high wire. The pod scoots across the high wire out to a landing pad that swings in the middle of the high wire over the valley. This is the first time I really saw what a 134m looks like from above.

It’s far … really far. At the bottom is a rocky riverbed which appeared to be ooh… 0.4 inches deep!

My instructor informed me that the river bed is actually several feet deep and not to worry because I shouldn’t get more than 10 meters away from it. This was not the thing I wanted to hear as I headed to the ledge. I didn’t want to hear that once I jumped I would be falling all the way down to that water, all the way except for 30 feet!

Here’s the thing about jumping. It’s hard to take the first step of the ledge. After that, you have nothing left to do but enjoy it. So 1-2-3, I took a deep breath and dove off the ledge. The whole way down I was staring at the blue water, and I’m convinced that I was closer than 30 feet. Watch the footage; you tell me.

While Courtney was jumping, Milligan set out to tackle some task that were long overdo (and others that were just relaxing):

• Cleaned the bits of trash, smashed food, and heaps of maps/brochures out of the car.
• Tried to eliminate the smell of wet tents, dirty diapers, and less than daily showers from said car.
• Reorganized and properly packed all the camping gear.
• Grocery shopped for 2-3 meals.
• Actually cooked a meal (curry of course) in a real and private kitchen.
• Rented two movies.
• Started a load of laundry.
• Showered.
• Watched two movies (this one was later with Courtney).

Doesn’t sound like a compelling travel itinerary, but it was an extremely welcome combination of events.

Camping with Frodo and Sam in Glenorchy

After spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning relaxed in our comfortable cabin, it was time to hit the road again.

This time we’d only be making a short drive outside of Queenstown through Glenorchy (a.k.a. LOTR Heaven) and to the aplty-named area, Paradise.  This whole area (and the specific drive) is scattered with set locations from the filming on the Lord of the Rings.

Here are a variety of pictures and videos of the region:

An Ominous Transition…

After our short time in the wonderful region of Glenorchy, we needed to hit the road yet again.  This time we’d be driving to Milford Sound, a place that carried a hefty reputation as one of the best sites in New Zealand.

We make a quick pit stop in Queenstown to stock up on gas and food.  As we started to drive away, Courtney realized she was missing her small camera, which was just in the car.  Retracing our footsteps, we realized the only likely place for the camera:

The trash can back at the gas station.

Borrowing some gloves from inside, Courtney shifted through the trash (it was raining, of course) and after several minutes of pulling out wet, nasty (insert random item) she located the camera.  It was covered in Ketchup, but after being cleaned up still shows no sign of any damage.

Getting back into the car, Courtney turned and said, “Well at least it can’t get much worse than that!”

Actually, honey, it turns out you were wrong.  And if you remember right, we are about to prove it…

This post is a travel update of our two-week driving tour of the South Island in New Zealand.

If you cannot see all the videos, click here to visit the post directly!

After spending months in Auckland anticipating our upcoming two week driving tour of the scenic South Island, the day was finally upon us.

This time our adventure started a day early as we had to fully check out of our apartment, fill out bond return forms, and turn over the keys.  With the formalities out of the way, we took a 45 minute bus ride out to the airport where we stayed at at the “Best English Manor Replica Motel in New Zealand”.  I love titles like that.

We got very little sleep as we boarded our 4:30 free shuttle (a van driven by the only person who worked the desk) to the airport for our very early flight to Christchurch.

I quickly fell in love with the domestic terminal of the airport as they had genuinely free internet kiosks scattered all around.  Courtney and I laughed as we noted that not once were our I.D.’s checked.  We didn’t even pre-print our tickets.  We simply went to the counter and stated our names.  Not during check-in, through security, nor when boarding did they confirm or ask for any identification. Not sure if this is standard or not, just something we talked about as we boarded.

Couchsurfing Christchurch

After landing in Christchurch, we gathered our bags and headed past the taxis and shuttle to catch the public bus into town.  We had to catch another much shorter connection in the downtown area to get to our host family’s neighborhood.  Our growth in understanding how public transport works (and Courtney’s great planning ahead) made this go much more smoothly than anytime before.

Apparently, though, our Google map reading skills could be slightly improved as we turned a 15 minute walk from the bus stop to our host house into a 40 minute walk mostly by me insisting that west was east (as we walked in the wrong direction half a dozen blocks with all our possessions).

Alas, we finally did find our target house and met our wonderful host family.  Just like our Couchsurfing experiences in the past this one exceeded our expectations.  Helen, Darren, and Maddi (5 years) were terrific hosts, with Maddi paying special attention to act as Milligan’s “big sister for the day”.

Helen and Maddi drove us into town where we explore the plethora of free museums, exhibits, and art galleries.  Most uniquely (at least for us) were several older school buildings which had been converted into artist studios.  You could walk the halls and talk with different types of artists in action, from weavers, sculptures, painters, jewelry makers, and basically anything else you could think up.  I’m assuming that the artists pay a fee to rent the rooms where they can go to work and occasionally sell a piece of their art to people who meander through.

After a day exploring Christchurch, we returned for dinner which included lentil patty burgers with lettuce, tomatoes, and mushroom picked straight from their garden (we picked up some buns, cheese, chips, and cookies biscuits for dessert at the local supermarket).

The kids eventually made their ways to bed as Courtney and I stayed up to chat with Helen and Darren about everything from traveling (they spent 6 months traveling Australia when Maddi was only 5 months old) to real estate differences, parenting philosophies, different types of schools, and funny talks about accent difference from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and different parts of the U.S.

They had also spent a couple years living in Melbourne, so they advised us on their favorite parts for our short week-long stop coming up.  Here’s a video of our ‘couch’ where we slept:

As I mentioned in the video, while many people only view Couchsurfing as a free place to sleep, we would gladly pay motel rates for the experience.  It’s not about money as much as meeting great new people, learning a little bit from each visit, and getting a first hand perspective of the city. We are looking forward to returning the hospitality once we settle down (wherever that is). 

A Quick Reverse-Hitchhike & Rental Car Issues

In the morning, we said our goodbyes as Darren headed into work and Helen escorted Maddi into Kindie on their bikes.

As we were walking out of the neighborhood we had a car pull up beside us and ask us if we needed a lift to the bus stop.  It was probably only another 10 minutes or so by foot, but with our packs full and our stomachs empty we decided to accept.

Our impromptu taxi driver was an overwhelming nice New Zealand woman whom had traveled herself with her son.  In her own words, “No worries!  It’s the holiday season and it just as easily could have been me walking with wee Daniel.”

As we made the short drive to the bus stop, we noticed the bus was getting ready to pull away from the stop.  Oh well, we thought, it wouldn’t be the first time we waited another 30 minutes for the next bus.

But our new friend driving the car, wasn’t as willing to let the bus pull away before we could get there.  Heading the wrong direction, she pulled along side of the bus driver’s window…

“Hey, do me a favor and hold up a second!  I’ve got Americans in here!”

Blushing with embarrassment, we quickly unloaded our bags, unhooked Milligan’s car seat and scampered onto the half-full bus of people who had waited several minutes on us while we turned around and unloaded.

Luckily, the rental car place was a quick jolt away from our downtown bus depot.  Pulling up to the counter to check in, we were excited to pick up our car and tent we had rented for the trip.

Unfortunately, we were informed by the guy at the counter that they had just ran out of the tent/camping packages and didn’t have one to fulfill our reservation.

Baker: We reserved this several weeks ago.  How does this sort of thing happen?

Attendant: Well, it must of been a mistake on someone’s part here.  The only option is for you to drive over to the airport and pick one up from our other location.

Baker: Ugh, that’s not exactly convenient for us.  We have very limited time to drive to and see Kaikora tonight.  I guess we have no choice, though.

Attendant: No sorry, it’s our only option to get you a camping kit, today.

Baker: Well, I guess we’ll have to do that then.  Being that we rented this nearly a month ago and now we have to detour over to the airport, can you knock off a chunk of the price for us?

Attendant: Yeah, I can do something for you.  Again, I’m sorry about this.  [pause] How does $25 sound?

Baker: Can I be honest? I know this all isn’t your fault, but I was looking for a little more.  We paid an extra $150 to get the camping kit.  It just all seems like a hassle at this point.

Attendant: Umm…  well, hold on one sec.  [Pause for 30 seconds or so while continuing to type and fill out registration details]…  I guess I could get you $50 off.

Baker: That’s sound very reasonable.  I appreciate your help, man.

On one hand, I’ve been told by several people that New Zealanders are not used to giving discounts or negotiations of any sorts, so I felt a little more awkward than normal.

On the other hand, I know how they likely run out of tents they have reserved.  They probably rented it out to someone else who decided to add it on at the last moment.  Either way, we still paid $100 bucks (after discount) to rent a tent and camping gear for two weeks, so I doubt they aren’t still turning a profit on that exchange.

Kaikora and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.

I’m not ashamed to admit I was a little cautious about driving.  I didn’t know what to expect and hadn’t driven anything since being overseas, besides a glorified golf cart back on Magnetic Island in Australia.

The tension only lasted about 3 minutes in terms of driving on the left side of the road.  After my first couple roundabouts (they seem to be everywhere here), driving just became automatic again.  The only consistent issue (it still catches me even after a week) is turning on my turn signal.  At least the first 15 times I went to signal I turned on the windshield wipers. I’m about 50-50 now after a week. 

The drive to Kaikora is one side of the Alpine Pacific Triangle, which in my mind there can’t be any better way to start the trip.  We quickly found out what driving through the South Island was going to be about.  100 km speed limits embedded with dozens of hairpin and s-curve signs with 15, 20, and 30 km suggested sharp turns.

The first couple of hours kept me on the edge of my seat driving, which I thought would wear off.  Well, it hasn’t. I’ve driven over 2300 kms at this point and I still haven’t gotten tired or needed music while driving.  The roads do a great job of keeping you on your toes and the constant scenic views negate the need for any other form of entertainment.

The path led us through the Waipara Valley Wine Region, up into the mountains, and finally along the stunning ocean coast line.  We arrived in Kaikora, an old whaling town, which is still famous for it’s whale and dolphin sightseeing trips.

A formal whale-seeing tour wasn’t in our budget (re: expensive as all get out), so we opted for a free walk through the small town and over to the rocky Point Kean to see the common seals of the area.

As it turns out, a couple of the seals cooperated with our travel plans.  We carefully jumped from rocky outcrop to rocky outcrop to make our way out to where the seals were playing.  Milligan giggled at the large seals, although I’m fairly sure she still thinks they a just really fat ‘puppies’.

It was getting late and we still had over an hour drive to our first campground of the trip.

Hamner Springs and first night camping.

We arrived in the small town (every town was smaller than we anticipated) of Hamner Springs right around 7 p.m.  Which just so happened to be just in time to catch the yearly ‘Santa Parade’ with what seemed to be the entire population of the town either participating or watching.

We sat on the side of the short street as Milligan danced to the group of about a dozen bagpipers.  By the time the parade ended, it was time to drive just 5 minutes outside of the town to our first campground.  It was sort of a camping ‘light’ experience as the campground was really just an open field at the edge of some housing.  We didn’t mind, though, as it was a good trial run for some of our more rural sites to come.

As soon as we exited the car to set up the tent, though, we were swarmed. I believe they are called sand flies around here, although I’m still not sure.  We would have called them gnats, however the gnats in Indiana tend not to bite you every .5 seconds.  Either way, Courtney and Milligan took shelter in the car as I desperately tried to set up the tent as dusk approached.

I figured out, either I’m a complete idiot or we are missing some pieces to our ‘camping kit’.  Either option is completely reasonable.  The end result, was a great demonstration on how NOT to set-up a tent.  For those of you, who would like a laugh, I even snapped a photo:

Taking the Lewis Pass and even more seals (much more).

We survived Milligan’s first night sleeping in the tent (it actually went very well once we shut out the insects).  We grabbed a couple kumara and cashew quiches for breakfast and set-off to drive through the mountain range via the Lewis Pass.

It was raining at this point, which at first seemed like it might ruin one of the projected best drives of the whole trip.  In reality, it was just the opposite.  The rain fully fueled the spectacular waterfalls on either side of the road and provided a great ‘haze’ to the mountains are we curved around and through them.  It was an awesome added effect.

After the mountains came the rich forest of Victoria National Park, which again were augmented by the drizzles and haze.  We made a quick pit stop in the West Coast hub of Westport, before driving to the Tauranga Bay Seal Colony.

Here a 15-minute walk enabled us to overlook a ‘harbor’ of sort for the seal colony as they avoided the rough seas.  I would say there was at least 3-4 dozens seals around the rocky outcrops, with plenty of young pups (are they called pups?) waddling amongst the rocks.  Check it out for yourself:

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks & a 3-hour search for a bed

As afternoon approached, we drove a little over another hour (again through amazing scenery, this time more of a tropical coastline) to the famous Punakaiki Pancake Rocks.

Our plan was to camp out after viewing the natural landforms, but after we were finished with our quick walk it was still very wet and rainy.  Without a ground tarp or much experience with how cold or wet Milligan could get, we elected against camping and searched the small town of Punakaiki for accommodation.

As it turns out there was a local wedding for the next day, so almost every single bed in the 4 motel/hotel/cabin options in the town were taken.  Of all four potential locations, only one had any openings:  a single $55 cabin left.  We quickly jumped on the opportunity.

As Courtney reached for the ‘Accommodation Envelope’ we noticed one big problem… we had ran ourselves out of cash!  Doh. We had our EFTPOS card (sort of like debit), but to our despair they didn’t accept EFTPOS.  The clerk said we could put it on our Mastercard (our American debit account) or run down the street to the ATM and he’d hold the room.  Since we had to get cash anyway, we decided to make the trip to the ATM.

Courtney grabbed a receipt from the clerk for the room saying he would hold it.  We made the short 5 minute drive into town to search for the ATM.  The information center told us it was in the tour booking shop.  The touring booking shop said they thought it was in the diner next door.  And finally, two people in the diner assured us that, “I’m positive there is no ATM in all of Punakaiki, we get that question all the time…”

Ugh.  No worries, we thought.  We drove back to the motel, ready to use our U.S. debit card.  You can probably see where this story is going. In the 20 minutes we were gone, they had rented away our room (despite our receipt and promise).  I decided it was best for me to go to the car, before my ‘hulk mode’ came out.  Courtney asked about other options, but there were none.

The next town was another 60-90 minutes away.  So we sucked it up and hit the road again.  Luckily, the road was awesome, which helped ease the pain of our stumbles.

I’ll save you the gory detailed, but let’s just say we found a place to sleep 3 hours and 4 small towns down the road in Franz Josef (which was our next destination, we were just around 15 hours early).  The only option that the hostel had left was dorm rooms, however one of there 2 bunk (4 bed) rooms was void of any other travelers.

It was approaching 10:30 p.m., so we decided to take it.  The bartender (whom also was checking people in) assured us he’d do our best to “put the other stragglers in bunks in the other dorm rooms.” We noted that we’d appreciate it as Milligan would be less than happy to be woken up at 2 a.m. by a drunk backpacker (and the backpacker may be less than happy to share the room with an angry Milli).

Man Vs. Glacier

No stragglers were brought to the empty bunk in our dorm room and we got some decent sleep.  As it turns out, I would need it as my morning/afternoon would consist of some good ‘ole fashion glacier hiking.

Throughout the trip, Courtney and I have decided to split up many of the more adventurous excursions that Milligan wouldn’t be able to participate in.  While we’d love to do them together, it’s simply one of the sacrifices we have to make when traveling with a toddler.  I’d hike up Franz Josef glacier and later Courtney would get to Bungy Jump in Queenstown, etc…

The morning guided tour (you have to use a guide to go on the glacier) had one spot left, which was perfect.  I got suited up in my heavy duty boots, trousers, waterproof jacket, sock cap, and gloves and boarded for the short bus ride to the walking path.

After the short ride, we walked for about 15-20 minutes to get to the basin of the valley carved out by the glacier.  The valley is actually now 2.2 km long, but only 100 years ago the ice filled past the point where we entered. It was a great visualization of how quickly (and massively) the glacier was retreating back into the mountains.

Rather than try to describe the entire experience, I spliced together some of the videos I took along the way.  I was unable to tap many parts of the climb, but this video gives a nice selection of what it was like.

Standing only 1km up the the glacier wall (it actually goes up 6 km, but that takes around 3 days), it was an amazing feeling. There was a slight drizzle of rain which created a light haze to view the beautiful valley below.  The stark whiteness of the ice made the greens, blues, and yellows of the terrain appear so vibrant they almost appeared to not be real.

Off to Wanaka…

With sore feet from climbing in spikes over rocks and through ice, I met Courtney and Milligan back at the tour office.  Our next campground awaited us halfway through the Haast Pass (yet another mountain/hilly pass) toward Wanaka.

We thought the best scenic views may have been towards the beginning of our trip.  After all, we had seen an amazing variety of beaches, mountain cliffs, dense forests, and sheep-filled hills.

As it turns out, though, we were wrong.

It was only going to get better and better…

photos by Courtney Baker, to see all the videos click here to visit post directly.

I’m excited today to announce a new series I will be putting together.  Most of you have known this was in the works in varying forms, but I’ve finally put together a rough guideline.

It’s going to be a ongoing series of unscripted, live, part-interview, part-conversations between myself and people I meet on the road or at special events.

The interviews will focus on different parts of ‘doing what you love’ and the intricacies of balancing work, life, and passion.  Obviously, this is a big part of my own life and thus a major part of this site, as well.

I’ve decided to call the video series… The “Do Shit You Love” Show.

My plan is to have 2-3 interviews a month, the far majority of which will be live and range from 10-20 minutes.

As with all projects on the site, you’ll see the evolution as I learn and grow (with video and interviewing skills in this example).

Ep. 1 with Karol Gadja from RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com:

[If you can't see the video click here to visit the page directly]

Episode 1 was filmed at a park in downtown Auckland.  Unfortunately, we waited a tad too late to start filming and it got pretty dark.  I had to add just a touch of brightness effect, but once again am impressed with the Flip’s ability to take decent video even with limited light. 

Episode 1 Content Guide:

• Karol Gadja from RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com
• [01:10] – Intro to Karol and the goals of Ridiculously Extraordinary.
• [02:30] – Why Karol ditched most of his hugely-profitable internet marketing business.
• [04:50] – How we are both exploring balance through travel.
• [05:20] – Karol’s lightweight traveling set-up and gear (Vibrams, quick-dry, etc…)
• [06:45] – Why selling his dream car (BMW) was one of the best feelings of Karol’s life.
• [07:40] – Blenders.  Everything you wanted to know about them.
• [10:15] – I ask Karol if traveling has lived up to his expectations.  [Good discussion]
• [13:30] – Karol asks *me* about traveling/pursuing passion with children.
• [16:40] – Karol actually pronounces his name (the real Polish version).
• [17:50] – Karol’s question for you! 

If you didn’t have debt in your life, what would you do differently?

Go back to school?  Travel?  A specific hobby? Invest it all? 

For those of you that are already debt-free, is there anything that you do know that wouldn’t have been possible with a bunch of debt?

This is the 4th or 5th major time we’ve had “Baker Family Packing Night” since we’ve been traveling overseas.  It consists of pulling out everything we own into one spot, creating a travel list, and selectively choosing what to pack where.

This ended up being more than just a small update to our ongoing stuff page.  We realized there were a lot of changes and additions this time around!

Our goal this time, is to only have the two backpacks and the car seat.  In the past, we’ve had to also carry around a pack-n-play (which we’ve ditched now) and another couple reusable tote bags with miscellaneous items.  In other words our hands were full in addition to our packs.

Not this time. We’ve cut back even further and want to ensure that our hands are free (except for the pesky car seat…  no way around that one).

Here’s a video (featuring Courtney) showing what everything we own looks like when spread out:

As you can see.  We aren’t elite travel packers.  We have a lot of normal and bulky stuff, especially this time around.

Since we’ve been stationary the past 4-5 months, we slipped back into buying a couple less travel-friendly items.  We obviously don’t want to waste them now, so we are going to deal with a little extra clutter and cut back down as we use them up.

There are also several items that we are waiting to buy more of until we get to Thailand.  Milligan has outgrown just about everything she has and both Courtney and I could use more basic clothing like undershirts, sock, and so on.

I’m actually leaning towards investing in some quick dry fabrics, especially for underwear, undershirts, and towels, etc…  This kind of blurs the line of needs vs. wants, so we’ll see which side of me wins that battle. 

Finally, although we track this in a widget on our Stuff page, here’s a full out list of what we are taking this time:

The Important Stuff (11)

• Wedding Ring
• Wedding Ring
• Wallet
• Wallet (Courtney)
• Passport Holder
• Essential Documents Folder
• Travel Information Folder
• Car Seat
• Car Seat Cover
• Kelty KID 2.5 Child Carrier Backpack
• High Sierra 29″ Compass Backpack

Household Stuff (18)

• 2 x Pillow Cases
• Towel
• Black Reusable Bag
• Pink Reusable Bag
• Strawberry Tote Bag
• New Zealand Lonely Planet
• Lonely Planet: Queensland & Great Barrier Reef
• Thailand Lonely Planet
• Change of Heart
• New Zealand artwork
• Phase 10 Card Game
• 2 x Pens
• Pocketbook
• Journal
• Scrapbook
• Scrapbooking pen

Baker’s Stuff (25)

• 9 x Underwear
• 4 x Undershirt
• 2 x Pairs of socks
• Red T-shirt
• White T-shirt
• Black collared shirt
• Blue Dress Shirt
• Khaki Shorts
• Reversible Belt
• Swim Trunks
• Athletic Pants
• Running Shoes
• Keen Newport H2 Sandals

Courtney’s Stuff (24)

• 5 x Underwear
• 3 x Pairs of socks
• Bra
• Sports Bra
• 5 x Tanktops
• Swim Suit
• Jean Shorts
• Jean Pants
• Dress
• Workout Pants
• Northface Jacket
• Pink Jandals
• Running Shoes
• Keen Venice H2 Sandals

Milligan’s Stuff (25)

• 2 x Shirts
• 2 x Skirts
• Jeans
• Black tights
• Purple onesie
• Pink Jacket
• Swimsuit
• Panties
• Pretty Pink Hat
• Sandals
• Monkey Backpack
• Pooh Bear
• Blue Puppy
• Sippie Cup
• Bottle
• Blankie
• Blanket
• Beach Ball
• Small Orange Ball
• Wooly Lamb Book
• Cathy the Calf Book
• Changing Pad
• Diapers (lots of disposable ones)

Bathroom Supplies (22)

• Toothpaste
• 2 x Toothbrush
• Nail Clippers
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• 2 x Deodorant
• Hair Clippers
• Q-tips
• Floss
• Aloe
• Sunblock
• Off
• Mousse
• Facewash
• Shaving Cream
• Hair bands
• 2 x Razors
• Medicine Container
• Small baggie

Technology/Electronic Stuff (23)

• Toshiba Satellite Laptop
• Laptop charger
• Mouse
• Plantronics 750 DSP Headset
• Flip Ultra HD
• Flexible Tripod
• 2 x Power Converters
• 2 x Jump Drives
• External Webcam
• Sony DCR-SR40 30GB Handycam
• Charger/USB
• Canon Digital Rebel XTi SLR Camera
• Charger
• Samsung SL202 Digital Camera
• Charger
• SanDisk 12 in 1 Reader
• Cheap MP3 Player
• Headphones
• Watch (Courtney)
• Cell Phone
• Cell Phone

Down to ~148 items!

Obviously, this list is for our own goals.  We aren’t competing with anyone.  We can debate minutia about the way we count ‘items’, but at the end of the day we are pleased with what we’ve cut down on.  We’ve got a decent grip on those areas we can cut even more and those which we need to beef back up.

We’ll continue to make minor updates to the stuff page as we go along, which should now reflect this new list!

By the time this post is published, we’ll have around 24 hours before we move out of our Auckland apartment.  Our rag-tag schedule looks like this:

• Next 2 weeks driving, camping, and hosteling the South Island of New Zealand.
• First week of the new year in Melbourne, Australia (working and visiting).
• A minimum of 9 weeks in Thailand.  Probably the first in Bangkok, but after that unplanned.
• Rest of our lives?  Still up for debate after that. 

Only in the last day or two has it really started to sink in.  As we go about the normal routine of canceling utilities, re-minimizing and packing our stuff into backpacks, and double-checking flight itineraries, we’ve had some time to look back on our experience thus far.

Over a month ago, when we first revealed we were heading to Thailand, reader Kevin M. wrote:

I can’t believe no one has asked this, maybe it’s premature, but do you think your time in Australia & NZ has been worth it*?

*By “worth it” I mean spending time and money to move across the world, not being able to pay down your debt other than the minimums, losing potential income while traveling, and being away from your friends and family for a year?

Maybe I’m reading into it, but it seems like after all the preparation and effort that went in to moving you’re giving it up rather easily. Perhaps it wasn’t the experience you hoped for?

These are just the kind of things we’ve been pondering the last few days.  I think at one point or another any one who devotes time to long-term travel is confronted with the same question.

Is Travel Worth It?

There are only two ways for me to approach this question.  The first is strictly what my gut tells me.

My gut tells me this is the single best decision we’ve ever made.

I think I’ve grown more as a person and we’ve grown more as a couple/family than I could have ever imagined.

This doesn’t mean that it’s been all roses and skipping down sandy beaches.  There have been some extremely trying times.  Both Courtney and I (me longer than her) spent nearly 5-6 weeks in a rut a little after we had come to New Zealand.  The only one who has seemed to remain consistent and strong the whole time has been Milligan.

But the point is we did it.  We proved to ourselves that we could do it.  It may seem like nothing to some, it may seem borderline heroic to others.

But we got on that first plane.  We showed up in Cairns with no job, no connections, and not knowing a single person in the entire country.  We hit hurdle, after hurdle, after hurdle throughout the last 8 months.  But, we found a way over each time.

Sometimes we went to bed angry.  Other times it took a chunk out of our wallets.  Some decisions took hours of research, while other much larger ones were made in mere seconds.

But you know what?  We’re still here. We still have a little in the bank.  We’re still together as a family.  We’re still excited about what the future holds.

We’re the same family we were just a few months ago.  We’ve just picked up a few new international friends, a slideshow of lifetime memories, a shit ton of flexibility and patience.  You know what, I’ll take that.

That’s what my gut says.

But I don’t want to totally ignore the specifics of what Kevin brings up (the second way to approach the question).

Giving up on what we had ‘hoped’ for.

If I haven’t already been clear above, let me be so now.  This has been nothing like what we had in mind when we left.  So, as far as being the experience we had hoped for…  definitely not.

It’s fallen far short in some of the more shallow visions we had.  But I truly feel it’s been much more rich in ways we had never anticipated.

I guess we had kind of honed in on the naive view that we would just find a couple minimum wage jobs in the tourism industry and work somewhere on the beach.  After all, our expenses were low.  Our stuff was minimal.  We didn’t mind taking a break and working some basic jobs for some fun and relaxation in the sun.

Um, well…  it didn’t work out that way.

Like I pointed out, we didn’t know anyone.  Plus, a couple months before leaving we found out that we were ineligible for working-holiday visas that would make this sort of arrangement much more realistic.  No beach-side Scuba store had any reason to sponsor a work permit.  They have a million people wanting to work already on legit holiday options.

After the second day it hit us.  All the pre-trip planning in the world wouldn’t make up for just having one friend or connection in the area.  If we were going to last more than a glorified tourist-filled month, we were going to have to learn to adapt.  And fast.

Monetary sacrifices

Of course, given the nature of the blog this was a big one for us.  I’ve written about finding this balance many times, so I won’t regurgitate everything.

I think almost all of our tangible monetary sacrifices have been a trade off.  For example, we could have stayed home, worked two jobs, put Milligan in daycare, and been debt free in towards the the summer/fall of this coming year.

I’m not sure what our debt levels will be like towards this time next year, but I’m confident they won’t be at $0.

At the same time, Milligan would have had less time with one of her parents being home.  There would be no Man Vs. Debt, as this was started after I sold my Real Estate business and before we left.

Even ignoring the benefits gained from travel (flexibility, growth, experience, etc…), I strongly believe that Man Vs. Debt alone will eventually make up the tangible monetary sacrifices.  I’m far from proving that.  But if I were you, I wouldn’t bet against me.

Sure, we’ve made some costly errors while traveling.  Also, being cheap-asses has led to unnecessary stress on several occasions.  So money plays its role, I wouldn’t claim otherwise.  But this is another area where I feel the trade offs have been worth it.

Hopefully the next 6 months will prove this to be true. 

Time away from family and friends

And here we’ve come to the kicker of this discussion.  If there is any one single part that would make me second guess myself, it would be this one.

We drastically underestimated what it would be like being away from our family and friends.  Especially from a social standpoint.  Back in Indiana, we’d commonly drop by family and friends. I dramatically miss spending my Sundays watching football at each of my own parents homes, playing cards once per month with Courtney’s extended family, or staying up all night playing board games with our old friends.

It’s been really lonely on the road so far.  Couchsurfing stepped up early on to help a little.  I’ve been blessed with many new and surprisingly close friendships with other bloggers and readers.  Courtney’s gotten a little bit of a fix from other teachers, who went out of their way to welcome her.

But there’s a big gap from home still left to fill.  Much bigger than we anticipated.

Have we missed out on having ‘real’ travel experiences?

There’s yet another side to this coin.  As Tyler K. commented on a more recent post:

Meanwhile, for all your travel emphasis, you’re posting about the X-Men and losing weight. I don’t mean it to be insulting, although like I mentioned at the top, it’s obviously critical, but it just seems that you’re missing out on the part of travel that makes it travel. You seem to just be at home, but in a different city.

…

Why go to Australia and New Zealand and Thailand to “be settled” and “not travel” and not write about travel? Doesn’t that feel like a bit of a missed opportunity to you?

The short answer is no.

I don’t feel like we’ve missed out on anything, because for me, in order to miss an opportunity it has to be within your grasp.  You can’t miss a free throw, if your standing on a baseball field and there’s no basketball in site.

When we started we simply didn’t have the means to travel long-term without tackling it from a more settled standpoint.  We could have made it 2 or 3 months.  We could have traveled even more cheaply than we did trying to experience all the deep, cultural, life-changing, ‘religious experience’ type of travel events you hear people refer to.

Frankly, we have had some life-altering experiences so far, but it’s been far from a daily or weekly experience.  We’ve had to tackle things from a more practical approach for the time being.

Courtney leaves to catch the train at 7:30 a.m. and gets home at 4:35-5:00 p.m.  We try to spend some time as a family of three before I start writing and working on the blog and online ventures you see pop up.  I usually work from at least 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. to myself.

Did I mention that Milligan was only 13-months old when we started this little detour?

During the weekends, we’ve tried to get out and meet some people.  Going to school functions, barbeques, picnics at the beach, and the usual landmarks you hit in a new city.

Is that the adventurous, scuba-dive-instructor-in-a-small-hut-by-the-beach life we had dreamed up before we left? Nope.  But does that mean it can’t also be part of the experiences that make travel, travel?

Regardless of that answer, now it is our time to take center stage.

We get our two weeks of renting a car and driving the scenic South Island.  We have our tent ready to test camping in the countryside with a soon-to-be two year old.  Courtney’s camera is warmed up, my Flip will be by my side, we’ll be bungie jumping, glacier climbing, and celebrating Christmas in a town we’d never heard of 4 months ago.

We’ve both worked our butts off to have the chance to be more mobile now.  To experience a little more of a variety for the next couple of months.  But it’s all part of the give and take.  It wouldn’t have been possible to last this long without 4-5 months of living a more settled life abroad.

My response to everyone is…  why not?  Why pay rent in Indiana when you could be paying rent in Auckland?  Maybe not the rest of your life, but at least for a little while.

That’s how we presented the question to ourselves.  We could have sat on our asses in Indiana the rest of our lives.

We could have plotted and planned, waiting for the perfect time to really be able to travel.

We could’ve waited til we paid off our debt, saved for Milligan’s college, started our retirement, and had a down payment for a house.

We could have done all that…

But we didn’t.

We chose to get on the plane.  We chose to fight to stay.  Its not been perfect, nor will it ever be.

But you know what?

Tomorrow, while much of the U.S. bitches about the cold weather, we’ll pack our bags and catch a plane to what is widely considered one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

Had we not made the sacrifices we did, I’d most surely be scraping the ice off the window and trying to start the car to head into work.  When I think about it that way, it’s hard to even consider this topic a real question.

And it’s summer, here.  So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Milligan gleams at the pretty fishies.  Photo by Courtney Baker.

It’s almost surreal to think that our time in Auckland is winding down to a close.  Didn’t we just get moved in?

In a week and a half, we’ll be fully packed into backpacks again and catching a plane to start the next leg of our mobile lifestyle.

Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium

Early this past Saturday morning (while Daddy slept in), Courtney and Milli headed over to Kelly Tartlton’s Antartic Encounter & Underwater World.  I believe this is the third aquarium we’ve been to in our travels, but apparently I missed out big.

Courtney pointed out that this blew away the other aquariums.  First, there is a huge van that makes free trips from the city center out to the aquarium.  The cool part?  It’s shaped like a huge freakin’ shark.  Pretty funny to see actually.

Milligan’s favorite part was the penguin exhibit, which you actually get to board into an enclosed antarctic vehicle and ride through.  The penguins actually come up to the vehicle and peer curiously inside to the delight of all the kids (and grown-ups alike).

Of course, I go to the two crappy aquariums and sleep through the good one!  Just my luck. 

A picnic with Craig & Linda Martin

Yesterday, all three of us made the 15-minute bus ride over to Mission Bay on the east side of Auckland.  There we met Craig and Linda Martin for a picnic down by the beach.

Craig and Linda are the brains behind The Indie Travel Podcast, which now features regular audio and video travel podcasts, in addition to a blog and even a magazine.  They are busy folks!

We chatted about personal finance (they sacrificed several years before traveling to pay off their debts), our upcoming travel adventures (they are setting out in February again), and about podcasts, blogging, and the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

After Craig and Linda had to leave, Courtney and I capped off the afternoon with the best ice cream we’ve had so far on the trip at Movenpick (swedish).

The coolest street performer yet…

One of the fun things about living downtown (I assume this is the same everywhere) is the abundance of random street performing acts.  We walk up and down Queen street here almost everyday which is one of the most popular spots for musicians, mimes, artists, etc…

I’ve only so far given spare change to two performers.  And one was yesterday on the way home.  I only caught the very last part of this performance on video and it’s at a horrible angle to get a clean shot.

Almost all of the acts we’ve seen dozens of times by now (there are only so many), but this was the first time for these guys.  Somehow we’ve missed them up until now!  It was really neat.

[If you can't see the video of the street performer, click this link to watch it]

Man Vs. Debt Updates

The only major MvD update this week is the announcement of the winner from the Unclutter Your Life in One Week book giveaway.

After tallying 120+ comments, 100+ Facebook and Twitter entries, and another 100+ Militia entries, I threw pulled up Random.org which spit out…  23 (out of 343 total).

23 is mapped to comments (they went first) and represents:

Earl who commented “It’s amazing what you find in Twitter.”  Yes, Earl it is.  Congrats!

The week ahead…

I have a busy week planned as I prepare for my first extended time away from the blog later this month.  This week includes working on a slight site redesign (don’t worry not changing too much).

On the agenda before I leave are a tribute to Jim Rohn, a in-depth reflection of our time in Auckland, and a detailed update of our stuff as we hit the road (probably a video of what we are packing, etc…).

Oh and I should be running one more giveaway/interview, which I’m expecting to be just as popular as the last.  Once the details are finalized I’ll let you know!

Xoxoxo,

Baker

Today, Courtney and I wanted to share the next leg of our adventure:  Thailand.

After being faced with a very tough decision, we’ve finalized the following schedule:

• Courtney will finish out her teaching through Dec. 16th.
• We will be flying from Auckland to Christchurch, NZ on Dec. 17th.
• Dec. 17th -> 30th, we will be touring the South Island of New Zealand as planed.
• On Dec. 31st, we will fly from Christchurch, NZ into Melbourne, Australia.
• On January 7th, after a week in Melbourne, we will fly into Bangkok, Thailand.

What the…  didn’t you guys just get set-up in Auckland?

Yes, we did.  In fact, we worked very hard to get sponsored for employment, secure a work permit, and adapt to downtown living.

And Courtney’s employment has gone very well.  She loves the school she is at and they had opportunities to offer if we wanted to stay for another school year.  Over the course of the last month or so, we’ve had to decide between three options:

1. Stay in New Zealand for another full year.
2. Return home for the holidays and reassess our situation.
3. Continue to travel to a different country.

All options had positive and negatives.  Staying in New Zealand is only possible if Courtney works full-time in order to have the proper visas.  Continuing to travel is only possible with an increased income and in an affordable country.  And returning home carried a risk (even if small) of not leaving again.

In the end, we decided to rule out committing for another year in New Zealand.  While we’ve honestly enjoyed our time here, there aren’t enough unique benefits to overcome the strengths of being closer to our family, friends, and the increased working opportunities that come from being in the U.S.

But returning to the U.S., even if temporary, wasn’t the perfect solution either.  If monetarily possible, we wanted to try to get a more diverse cultural experience on this side of the world before making the long haul back to the other side.

And so, after much research, reflection, and forecasting we decided to dedicate at least two months to exploring Thailand before returning home or committing another year’s time in New Zealand.

Why Thailand?

Well, it fits nicely for several reasons.

First, it’s a more unique culture experience than either Australia or New Zealand.  Neither of us have been to any part of Asia, so we’d like to see a small slice while we are relatively close.  Thailand appears to be a great gateway to the rest of Southeast Asia.  It’s not too risky, but hopefully will stretch our comfort zone a little.

Second, it’s relatively affordable.  If we needed to (which we may), I could increase my freelancing to fully cover our living expenses (especially in the short-term).  It’s much more reasonable for our mobile income to support our travels there than many other more ‘westernized’ options in this region.

Third, I have some contacts/friends in the area.  For example, Cody McKibben of ThrillingHeroics.com calls the region home and has already spent a considerable amount of time advising me on different issues.  I’ve also talked to a handful of other people who live in Thailand or who will be traveling to the region during the same time.  These connections help us a great deal in making our plans.

How long?  Where to after Thailand?

That’s a great question.  We want to leave it as open as possible as we don’t know what to fully expect.

However, our initial guesses put us staying for two months, before heading to the U.S. in early March.  The visa that looks most desirable last 60 days.  In addition, we are considering heading to Austin, TX for the SxSw conference in March.

Either way, it’s unlikely we stay past April as Milligan turns two years old in the middle of the month.  Those of you that travel with kids know that two years old is a big deal.  In general, she will no longer be considered an infant, nor allowed to fly as a ‘lap seat’.  This will cause our cost for international airfare to increase by a significant amount.

While it’s likely we will visit our family in the spring, we aren’t going to book the flight until we see what Thailand is like.  If we did return home, I imagine that remaining mobile will still be big part of our plans.  We’ve brainstormed what traveling around domestically could look like and have also brought up that neither of us have been to Europe.  Things could get interesting next summer. 

Help us with planning!

For now though our focus is on our self-tour of the South Island of New Zealand in December.  We also have a week to plan in Melbourne (will probably Couchsurf), which includes New Year’s Eve!  Lastly, we’ll be brainstorming potential spots to hit while in Thailand.

So long story short, if you have any recommendations for us… let them fly!

If you live in or have recently traveled to Melbourne or Thailand please leave your tips, tricks, and can’t-miss experiences below. If you’ll be in either of those areas yourself, we’d love to meet you!

photo by flydime