Today, I’m sharing a video post about an important topic that applies to finances, lifestyle, and business.  Actually, I believe it to be the most important element of making any change.

This may just be a personality thing, but I’m starting to hear from others that it’s universal (not just me).  :-)

• [2:08] – How “changing your environment” can be applied in your finances.
• [3:25] – Why the same principle helped us sell 95% of our clutter (and why it’s fighting against us now).  :-)
• [4:38] – My fitness advice…  ironic, yes I know.  (Actually it’s environment-based fitness advice I recently read!)
• [6:37] – Conclusion and questions for you guys!
• [7:00] – I show off my cool new office swag (pictures of media mentions that Courtney framed).

I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this issue.  Specifically, whether you feel the benefit in the same way I do and how you take steps to accomplish “environment change”.  It’s been a very interesting concept for me lately.

[If you can't see the interview with Danielle, click here to view it directly.]

Today, I’m proud to share with you a rare guide I’ll be adding to the “Products I Love”.  (The first of two this month)!

Danielle LaPorte unleashed her much anticipated “Fire Starter Sessions” today.  Danielle, who blogs at White Hot Truth, has been someone I’ve looked up to since my first few months blogging.  She’s directly influenced my levels of transparency and my quest to be as genuine as possible here.

I interviewed her on finding passion, building momentum, avoiding burnout, and the details of her product launch.  Here’s the breakdown of the above video interview:

• [00:40] – Who is Danielle LaPorte?  (Danielle’s 30-sec elevator pitch)
• [02:05] - Danielle’s tips for unearthing your business passions.
• [03:10] - How Danielle defines a strength and a weakness. [<-- powerful]
• [04:25] - Danielle gives ME advice on finding my specific strengths.
• [05:55] - How to tap into the “real” reason certain people inspire you… and what resources/people inspired Danielle when she was getting into “go” mode.
• [08:50] - How to maintain your motivation/drive without hitting “burnout”
• [12:55] - Overcoming urges to conform and why being authentic will explode your business.
• [17:40] - The “features” of Danielle’s new “Fire Starter Sessions“  (What people get)
• [19:05] – The “benefits” of the “Fire Starter Sessions“.  (What’s it going to do for me?) 

My biggest takeaways…

As you can tell when you watch the video, I deeply enjoyed talking with Danielle.  There were at least two “a-ha” moments for me in our chat.

First, I loved how she defines strength and weaknesses (based on Marcus Buckingham’s work).  Danielle explained that true strengths are those things that make you feel “strengthened”… NOT necessarily what you are “good” at.  So many times, I reflect on something that I’m skilled at, or something that people tell me I’m skilled at… and call that a strength.  Danielle’s definition really resonates with me more.

The same is true for weaknesses.  There are some things that I may very well be great at, but that make me feel terrible or weak.  These are not strengths, then.  I get it now. 

The other big takeaway from this interview was Danielle’s approach to burnout. As you hear in the video, Danielle hates the stigma we’ve attached to the word “burnout”.  She talks about how it’s a necessary part of the entrepreneurial cycle and how we need to learn to not only accept it, but plan for it.  This help removes some of the negative energy and guilt that always accompanies downtime!

Since recording the video, I’ve had a chance to really dig into the “Fire Starter Sessions” product.  I’m genuinely amazed. I’m always careful about who I affiliate with and/or share with my audience, however it’s the real deal.  These two points on strengths and burnout are only a couple pages of the 200+ that come in the guide.  There are videos, audio recordings, workbooks, exercises.  It’s an inspiring example of a product/guide done right.

Danielle is one of the top 3-4 people I feed from in my business.  And I have no doubt the this guide is going to have an drastic impact on this site and my business.  I have absolutely no reservations in telling you to check this out.  It’s worth many times what it costs.:-)

[If you cannot see the video above, click here to watch the interview directly]

Episode 4 features Grant Peelle and Alan Ledford of The Ren Men Show. Grant and Alan have built a Real Estate portfolio of 80+ properties, run a vending machine business, own a video production company, and just recently started a used car lot.  Their online video show, The Ren Men Show, is the best produced and edited show I’ve ever seen in the niche.  They go in depth with different issues surrounding their businesses and passive income opportunities and always seem to have a blast in the process.  I never miss a week!

Episode 4 Content Guide:

• [01:00] - A 30-sec introduction to what Grant, Alan, and The Ren Men Show is all about!
• [02:10] - The size of their Real Estate portfolio and why they’ve decided to branch into other business, as well.
• [03:45] - Being able to seize opportunities, a.k.a. how they ended up in the used car business.
• [05:10] - Why the ability to adapt is much more valuable than the ability to plan.
• [06:50] – Grant and Alan’s management styles (they are polar opposites) and how they’ve turned that into a strength.
• [09:35] – Grant’s background and motivation in getting into the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
• [11:20] – Alan’s background and why he feels like a non-entrepreneurial entrepreneur.
• [12:10] - Grant and Alan’s 3 core mentors who have inspired their business ventures.
• [14:20] - The opportunity to leverage offline skills in the online world.
• [15:25] - I ask the Ren Men where they see themselves in 2 years!  (Specific numbers/goals for each venture)

The Ren Men’s question for you!

I forgot to ask the Ren Men for a question for you guys!  Doh!  (fail)

However, I know these guys are passionate about searching out opportunities for true passive income.  While they both possess an intense work ethic, they are constantly pushing for ways to “remove self” from their business.  They focus on building systems and delegating the “busy work” to focus on growth.

Personally, this is an area I can work on a lot more (and Grant is pushing me to do so).  The larger my business grows the more of a “job” I’m building for myself.  I don’t mind putting in the effort, especially in a field that I’m passionate about.  However, there is at least 50% of my day-to-day activities that I could be “removing self” from.  This would free up my time, my energy, and my stress levels to tackle the things that could really add significant growth and satisfaction. 

What are your thoughts on passive income? I like the concept, but haven’t done a great job in aligning myself with it.  Grant and Alan seem to really “get” the concept and use it as the focus of their efforts.  What about you?

Is your ultimate goal some form of passive income (retirement, business, investments)?  Are there ways you could make your current income more passive?  Let me know in the comments below!

Don’t forget to stop by and subscribe to The Ren Men Show.  You’ll be impressed.  I promise.

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!

[Note:  If you cannot view the video click here]

As many of you know, Man Vs. Debt was nominated for a 2010 SxSw Web Award in the “Blog” category.  SxSw is one of the largest interactive, technology, and web conferences in the world.  The Web Awards highlight new sites (started within the past year).

I traveled to Austin, TX last month (as those of you that follow me on Twitter know all too well) to attend the conference and the awards ceremony.  The ceremony was hosted by Doug Benson (very, very funny) and took place on Sunday evening.

Unfortunately, I didn’t win!   However, I was still honored to be one of the five finalist selected and invited to the event.  Luckily, the crew over at MyLocationScouts.com caught HD footage of the event.  I asked them to slice together the small portion from the blog category for you!

Doug Benson makes some jokes about the name Man Vs. Debt and it’s an interesting and quick view.  Check it out!

In case you are interested here are my other 4 fellow nominees this year:

• The Vile Plutocrat (winner)
• Art in my Coffee
• Pets Who Want To Kill Themselves
• TheMoleskin

See you tomorrow (great post coming… watch out!).

Note:  If you cannot see the video book review, <– click here to watch.

First, I apologize for the darkness in the video!  I’m an idiot and recorded in front of an open window.  Doh!  I had to add a couple brightness notches post-filming, which lowered the quality.  Even still, I wanted to share the honest, non-scripted first take.    Enjoy!

How to win a FREE copy of Your Money: The Missing Manual!

In case you didn’t watch the video review (go watch it now!), I’m giving away 4 copies of J.D. Roth’s new book, Your Money: The Missing Manual.

Earlier today, I sent out instructions on how to win two of them to the Man Vs. Debt Militia.  If you are a member of the Militia, check your e-mail to enter to win!  If you aren’t a member, be sure to enlist now to get all future giveaway e-mails!

Militia member or not, you’ll still have two shots to win a free copy.  I’ll make these super easy:

• Leave a comment below (on this post) describing why you deserve a free copy! I’ll pick the 5 most convincing comments (I’ll mix it up) and then randomize the winner among the top 5!

• Leave a comment on Facebook describing what you will do with the book when you are done with it! J.D.’s financial turnaround was started with the gift of a book.  I’m trying to pass that along by giving away 4 books here.  What will you do with the book when you are done?  Donate it?  Sell it?  Give it to family?  Let me know and I’ll choose the best 5 and randomize a separate winner of the Facebook comments!

Two simple comments. One here on this post and one on MvD’s Facebook Fan Page gets you a chance to win a free copy of the book!  What are you waiting for?

You should buy this book.  Simple enough?  More info –> “Your Money: The Missing Manual”

*****

Disclaimer:  If you decide to purchase the book through a link on this page, Amazon will throw me roughly 60 cents.  Whoo-hoo!  Also, J.D. sent me a free copy of this book.  Whoo-hoo!  More importantly, I genuinely enjoyed the book so much that I personally bought 3 additional copies off Amazon to give away to you guys…  WHOO-HOO!

After a larger break than anticipated, I’m excited to bring you Episode 2 of the “Do What You Love” show (formerly the Do Shit You Love show).

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

Episode 2 features Dan and Ian, the masterminds behind the Lifestyle Business Podcast and the Tropical MBA program.  In addition to their web projects, Dan and Ian run a tangible, product-based business from their headquarters in San Diego and satellite offices scattered all over Southeast Asia.  We filmed this episode while spending a weekend together on the beaches of Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.

Episode 2 Content Guide:

• [1:18] – Content covered in the Lifestyle Business Podcast.
• [3:05] – The details on Dan and Ian’s primary business (and their model).
• [4:15] – How they got started and their influences.
• [5:00] – How much work does it actually take?
• [6:00] – Dan and Ian’s advice for “getting started with a product-based business”
• [7:20] – Their #1 business tip for testing markets.
• [8:45] – Difference in Dan and Ian’s traveling preferences for productivity.
• [11:00] – “Freedom” is about much more than just travel.
• [11:48] – Why Dan loves setting up offices in Southeast Asia.
• [13:10] – Background behind the Tropical MBA.
• [16:10] – Where do they see their business in 5 years?
• [18:50] – Ian’s question for the Militia.
• [19:35] – Dan’s question for the Militia.

Ian and Dan’s questions for you!

Ian:  What’s the “next step” in your progression towards you own definition of freedom?

Dan:  What do you love most about Man Vs. Debt?  Why do you come back to read?

Let Dan & Ian know your answers below!

(No, Dan is not on my payroll… I can’t afford him right now) 

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.

Courtney, Milligan, and I wanted to record this quick video from our temporary Queenstown cabin to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

It’s Christmas morning for us and due to the magic of timezones hopefully it’s Christmas day for you as you are watching it! 

Note:  It’s actually Wakatipu Lake (not Waitipu) and we will will of course be on the South Island (not Queensland)!  I’m so silly!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!