red tape

Dammit, more hoops to jump through. Bloody Dutch bureaucracy! I went to the Dutch consulate thinking that I could just pick up an application form and continue on my merry way. But no, that would be far too easy. I have to take: my old passport, my father’s passport, my parents’ marriage certificate and my passport photos and fill in the form whilst I’m at the embassy. During their opening hours of 9:30 am to 1 pm. Fume. Still, what can ya do?

gadget lust

I gave in and bought an iPod last week, and I’m in love! I’ve been coveting my friends’ iPods for a while, and when the 40 GB models went on special for $600 (runout special?), I just had to do it. It is such a great item for travelling – it makes so much more sense than lugging around all of your CDs. It is the coolest gadget – I love having my entire music collection literally at my fingertips. The downside is that I now want an iBook or PowerBook to go with it. Apple’s almost unerring ability to make cool gadgets totally perplexes me.

losttogether/togetheralone

I’ve been thinking about the relative merits of travelling alone and with another person. Travelling alone allows you to see everything you want to see, and nothing you don’t, but it can be lonely, and there is no-one to support and motivate you to carry on. Travelling with someone allows you to share the experiences (which somehow makes them more valuable) and shows you things that you wouldn’t normally see, but things can get tense if you don’t see eye to eye, especially when money is involved.

I loved travelling with Victoria as we had very similar interests, so we had the best of both worlds – it was like travelling alone with someone else. The only thing that irked me a little is that she was so prepared that I could just sit back and enjoy the ride, rather than actively seeking out things that I wanted to do. Now I have the opportunity of travelling with a friend around western USA, which I was a little apprehensive about – will we want to see the same things? Will we get along in close confines for weeks on end? I’ve given up worrying now, as it’s all part of the adventure, and as the song says: life’s what you make it.

blog you, you blogging blogger

I wonder how long it will be before 'blog' gets an entry in the OED...

I’m not sure exactly why I enjoy reading travel blogs so much. I guess I'm living vicariously through their stories, and the more detail that is given, the more involved I become. The popularity of blogs is perhaps another symptom (like reality TV) of our growing fascination with other people’s lives. I hate reality TV. Except perhaps The Amazing Race. Maybe it stems from the belief that everyone else has a more interesting life than our own. Blogs are like a personalised reality show – if there is something that you are interested in (Latvian nose flute music perhaps) doubtless there is someone who is writing about it right now. Apart from the voyeuristic and vicarious aspects, blogs can be a great source of information (for travellers and otherwise). They illustrate just how much there is to see out there. I have learned a lot from those I’ve read, and I hope that people will get some inspiration from mine.

I guess I’m just excited about my own impending departure. One of the reasons for creating this blog is that I don’t think that there are enough travel blogs around, especially ones relevant to Kiwis. A number of blogs stop shortly after the travel actually starts. I’m sure motivation to keep a blog up to date does fade once you are seeing and experiencing new things, and time is at a premium.

Some of the other blogs I’ve been reading recently are:

Don’t Forget the Dot - Peter’s blog is an interesting, and endearingly unhinged travel blog in Australia and England.

FunkyPancake – A photo blog showing oddly compelling images of ordinary things in London. Good captions. Not strictly a travel blog, but well worth a look.

The Underground Tube Diary – is a blog about life underground in London’s undersround railway network. The Tube has fascinated me from the first time I used it (at four years old), so I found this quite absorbing. This is part of the Going Underground website which is scattered with invaluable Tube information.

London Leben – A blog in German about life in London. I wish I could understand more German.

Edit: 'Blog' and its derivatives were added to the OED (online at least) in 2003. Blimey.

tickets please

A couple of weeks ago I went to the House of Travel show at Alexandra Park. I didn’t expect much, and I wasn’t disappointed. The show was mainly a vehicle for tour package companies to relieve potential tourists of their money, and there was very little of interest to an independent traveller. The tour brochures have been a great source of inspiration, however. In particular, the VisitBritain stand was very worthwhile - they had stacks of free literature that wasn't full of advertising and was incredibly useful and informative. Down the road the Flight Centre was also holding a travel show, so I had a look around (more of the same). However, I had a chat with a very helpful woman from the Newmarket Flight Centre, and now my wallet is $1300 lighter, and I’m the proud owner of a one-way ticket to the UK. I leave Auckland on the 27th of May, and arrive in San Francisco the same day. Unfortunately my friend in San Fran is flying to Spain on May 25th, so I’ll have to make other accommodation arrangements for the first day or two. I’m in America for a month (including a week in Baja) and I fly to London on the 29th of June. It's made the whole thing seem so much more real.

fight or flight

I checked out possible flight scenarios the other day at Flight Centre. The possibilities given were on AirNZ or Air Tahiti Nui. Air Tahiti costs $200 less, but adds 6 hours or more to the flight, which could send me absolutely mental. On the up side, I could spend some time in Tahiti, but that would rocket the cost back up to the Air NZ price, and then some. The death knell for Air Tahiti was the fact that they only flew into LA. I really need to fly into San Francisco so I can see Mark.

On that note, the itinerary has changed somewhat of late. Now it looks like the best order is to travel with Chris, then see Mark afterwards, which would allow the best travelling opportunities. Things on the agenda to see are (in no particular order): Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, San Diego, Los Angeles/Hollywood, San Francisco, and Baja California. I had a quick glance through a Baja travel guide and it looks very cool - definitely a week's stay required. Real Mexican food!

Addendum: found a cheaper flight on FlightsDirect NZ. It is a KLM codeshare with Air NZ, which is cool. Both my nationalities get a workout on one trip!