July 29th, 2010

Christchurch, New Zealand: Top 10 Favorites

After spending over 2 months here, we are getting ready to leave Christchurch, NZ.

It is sad.

We have really enjoyed being in a place that is comfortable.

Will Smith says that being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.  I’d be interested to hear what he says about feeling comfortable.

Being comfortable feels good.  Being in a place where we have felt physically and mentally secure (most days) is necessary for thinking and working, both of which allow for growth.

But discomfort is also necessary for growth.

What keeps us moving, even though it’s uncomfortable, is the desire to explore more, become more, know more, and do more.

That and the fact that our visas will run out if we don’t get extensions on them.

We’ve enjoyed getting to know Matt and Caden, enjoyed getting to spend time with Nicole (Jonathan’s friend of nearly fifteen years), and enjoyed having a place in New Zealand we’ve called home.

Here are our top 10 favorite things about having spent 2 months living in Christchurch, NZ

1. Nice People
The number of just NICE people we’ve met has been amazing.  From the time we’ve spent with Matt and Nicole, being introduced to their friends, to being picked up by a stranger who later invited us to her home to have dinner with her family, people here are just genuinely nice.  And that’s been really nice.

2. Ginger Beer at Dux Delux
They brew this beer with ginger.  And oh, how good it is.  I will miss you my ginger beer.

3. Public Transportation System
http://metroinfo.org.nz makes it possible to get directions (including walking directions to the nearest bus stop) from anywhere, to anywhere, using the Christchurch bus system.  Seriously, the bus system here is on time, well thought out, well planned, and makes it possible to get from anywhere to anywhere in 1 hour or less.  I would imagine there are people here who complain about the bus system, but I don’t really know why they would.

4. The Saturday market at Lyttelton
We had a lot of fun spending many of our Saturday mornings going to the Saturday market at Lyttelton with Matt and Nicole.  If you are here in Christchurch, head over to Lyttelton on Saturday morning for a nice little harbor town experience and a great market with some of the best apples ever.

5. The Saturday/Sunday Market at the Arts Center
The arts center used to be the college here in Christchurch.  When the college got too big for the space they had, they donated the college and it’s buildings to the city.  The city turned it into art studios, galleries, a couple of restaurants, and an arts movie theater.  Every Saturday and Sunday, the arts center is host to a craft market and is filled with foods from all over the world.  All in one place, you can get a homecooked meal from places as diverse as:

• Thailand
• China
• India
• Greece
• Korea
• Hungary
• Lebanon
• Germany
• Italy
• France

There is also fresh homemade bread, and unique crafts on display.  We spent many  of our Sundays at this market.

6. Ginger Beer Soda
Lots of companies here make soda called ginger beer.  Think of it as sarsaparilla or root beer, but made with ginger instead.  This was our second most favorite New Zealand drink during our time in New Zealand, with real ginger beer taking first place.

7. Food Choices
Pick a food you want, and you can have it within 45 minutes of here, usually right within 8-10 blocks of cathedral square at the center of the city.  It doesn’t even matter what food it is (unless it’s Mexican.  Then you’re pretty hard pressed to find it.  Otherwise), any kind of food you want is yours for the eating.

8. Good, Reliable, Fast Internet
Once we finally found a good apartment, we had a connection that was good, reliable, and fast.  This is important to us both

• personally for phone calls and staying in touch, but as importantly,
• for all of the business things we do

We’ve been able to get a lot done by having a good Internet connection we can rely on.  For those of you who are sufficiently geeky and curious, from our apartment we got about 6-7MB/sec downstream and about 600k/sec. upstream.

9. Our Apartment
For you, a

• garbage disposal
• washer/dryer
• dishwasher
• nice toilet
• decent sized fridge
• hot shower
• toaster

might just be every day normal items. But as we’ve traveled around, we’ve discovered that many of these items truly are luxuries.  We’ve loved living in a place that has had all of them, and nice versions of them, in one place, for us to use.

10. Feijoas
Here today, gone tomorrow. These were plentiful one day, and the next, they were out of season.  As a result, we never did make a video of eating a feijoa as the last one we had went moldy.  We ate 3-5 of these/day when they were in season, and will either have to learn how to grow them in a greenhouse in Colorado, or come back to have them again in New Zealand.

Bonus #11. Esquires Caramel Chai Latte
Esquires is a coffee chain here in New Zealand.  We first discovered Esquires because they had a 2 for 1 coupon in the Arrival Magazine.  (Pick up a copy of the Arrival Magazine in Auckland… it’s FILLED with great coupons for all kinds of New Zealand stuff.)  You can find coffee chains anywhere in the world… BUT, we’ve never had a chai quite so good as the caramel chai latte they serve at Esquires (even Bhakti chai in Colorado isn’t the same).

Bonus #12. Hokey Pokey
“That’s what it’s all about!” Hokey pokey is something like a mix between a malt ball and a butterfinger.  We’ve never seen it anywhere else, and it will be sad to leave hokey pokey behind here in New Zealand.

Continue reading "Christchurch, New Zealand: Top 10 Favorites" »

July 27th, 2010

What Carrie and Jonathan Say

Find out what Carrie and Jonathan “say” (apparently).

Continue reading "What Carrie and Jonathan Say" »

July 26th, 2010

Dinner with the Clendons

Two weeks ago, we rented a car to go to Akaroa, New Zealand.

On our way to Jucy car rentals, we got off the bus two stops too early and ended up walking.

We then saw a car pass us by, loop around, come back, and pull up alongside of us.

Barbara stopped and asked if we wanted a ride to the car rental place… it wasn’t far, but she was nice enough to randomly stop, pick us up, and drive out of the way to take us us to the Jucy car rental.

We gave her one of our cards, she checked out our website, and dropped us an email inviting us to dinner.

Dinner was this past Friday night.

It was REALLY nice to be welcomed into their New Zealand family.  Her husband Jeff, and their daughters Alhana, Julia, and Grace were so welcoming and nice.  It was wonderful to get to sit by their fire and exchange stories.

They are really great people, and it was a powerful experience for me to meet a family so willing to share their lives and their warmth with complete strangers, without wanting, expecting, or needing anything in return.

Thank-you Clendons for your warmth and hospitality!

Continue reading "Dinner with the Clendons" »

July 25th, 2010

Skiing in New Zealand: Skiing Broken River With the Nutcracker

Cost to Rent Skis, Poles, Boots, Gloves, and Goggles: $33 NZD (about $25 US)
Contribution to Gas For Carpool: $10 NZD (about $7 US)
Lift Ticket: $60 NZD (about $48 US)
First Day Skiing in New Zealand: Priceless

I awoke at 6:30 AM on a dark morning in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Seeing the sky turning into what appeared would be a rather clear and nice looking day, it was exciting to realize that in just an hour and a half, I would be sitting at the base of a New Zealand ski field (in American English – ski area).

This would be:

• My first day ever skiing in New Zealand
• The third continent I’ve skied on in my life
• Experienced at a ski field called Broken River

I spent the day with 3 Kiwis (what New Zealanders call themselves).

Matt, Jeff, and Case are all snowboarders.  This was also a new experience as normally

Continue reading "Skiing in New Zealand: Skiing Broken River With the Nutcracker" »

July 25th, 2010

How can you afford to travel? — The rest of the story

Picture this:

There’s a sink-hole in front of you. It is bigger than you… in fact, it’s bigger than the house you live in.

This hole is roughly the size of:

• your house
• + your university
• + your car
• + anything unrelated those above items that  you walked by and thought “I have to have that… now”

You know that you need to fill this hole up as fast as you can.

And, you also know that it’s still sinking.

You may think it has stopped, but it hasn’t.  It may have stopped widening, but it’s still sinking.

To fill up this wide and gaping hole in front of you, you have a shovel. Now.

But, for years you’ve had only your hands and feet. You tried to kick and throw in as much dirt as you could to try and fill this hole, but it was widening and sinking faster than you could throw a handful of rocks in.

Now, though, since you’ve found that shovel, you can see that you’re making progress. There’s this bit at the bottom that appears to be filling. Finally.

What is that sink-hole? Debt.

Debt to the tune of: a mortgage, student loans, car loan, and unpaid credit card balances.

What causes it to continue sinking?
Interest on all of those loans.

What caused it to widen?
Your own spending…spending more on credit, or taking out another loan (car, school, etc.).

Nearly everyone has one of these sink-holes.

Jonathan and I do too.

And here’s the good news: We’re paying it off.

Two years ago, Jonathan and I canceled all our credit cards, choosing instead to live a cash-only lifestyle.

This means that if we don’t have the cash to buy something, we have to wait until we do.

We do this by asking ourselves “How can we afford this?”

Then we build businesses and income streams to afford whatever “this” is.

Two years ago, Jonathan and I had the following debt:

• $205,000 Home Mortgage
• $18,000 Car loan
• $40,000 Student loans (darn grad school)
• $22,000 Credit Card balances (from our Kilimanjaro 2006 trip, our wedding, and some from our honeymoon)

That gave us a total of $284,000 that we owed to other people…PLUS interest.

We were paying it, every month, but never felt like we were getting ahead.

So, our first order of business was to cancel our credit cards.

At least that way, we couldn’t spend anything more on them.

Then, we signed up for a program that would work with creditors on our credit card balances.

With their help, our interest rate dropped from an average of 22% to 6%. That’s a huge difference! (Contact us if you’d like to know more about this.)

Next, we took every spare penny we had, and put it towards paying off debt: credit cards first.

I’m proud to say, that after only 2 years, we have less than $6,000 left on our credit card balances.

And we sold the car that had the car payment.

That means that in 2 years, we’ve paid off over $47,000.

We have also had renters in our house for the last year, so for a year, our mortgage payment has been (mostly) paid for by someone else. (We still have some that we pay every month towards it (renters don’t cover the whole mortgage), but what we pay monthly is 1/14th (7% or so) of what we paid when we lived there.)

Still, today, we are putting every spare penny we have towards paying down debt.

In fact, all loans and everything else included we are currently putting 49% of our income towards debt repayment.  Hard to believe, right? (I couldn’t believe it myself until yesterday.)

When we started, about 25% of our income was going to debt repayment, and we weren’t getting ahead of it.

The good news is that in 10 months or less, we will be completely free of consumer debt / credit card balances, which will leave us with student loans and our mortgage.

Then, our sink-hole will start to fill up even faster, because for us, being debt-free (filling that sink-hole) is the most important way to spend our money right now.

So how can we afford to travel?

Hard work.  Really. Most people think we’re on vacation just because we’re traveling.  But the answer to how we afford to travel is that we work really hard.

We’re not working hard in the sense that “working hard” means to many people (being out digging ditches or doing manual labor), but figuring out all the moving pieces and the mental work required takes:

• Time
• Energy
• Willingness to be flexible
• Willingness to learn

Just to reiterate: we’re still working while we’re on our world travel.

That’s why being settled somewhere for a longer amount of time (here in New Zealand) has been so important to us. It allows us more time to work, and get set up to work a bit less for three months… then we’ll settle somewhere again and work really hard.

You may remember that we have about $1,830 / month to spend differently now that we’re traveling than we did when we lived in our home in Colorado. (We save that money on: transportation, phones, and housing.)

That amount is actually less now that we’re living in New Zealand and things here are more expensive than in Central / South America.

As much of that $1,830/month as possibly can is going to paying back our debts.

(Some times it feels like too much is going towards debt repayment. Because we do have to make choices and limit the tourist activities we do, because paying down our debt is more important to us right now.)

And now you know… the rest of the story.

Jonathan’s note: Looking at a mountain of debt is really hard.  What’s even harder is to gauge the size of a mountain when you have no idea how big it is.

If you are in debt on credit cards, a good place to start is by writing down everything you owe, and to whom.

I am also of the opinion that everyone should spend at least 1 month tracking everything they spend, and everything they earn.  Most people want to improve their money situation, but aren’t willing to do something as simple as tracking spending and earning. For whatever reason, it’s actually quite difficult to be disciplined enough to track it in-between 10-25 days.  After 30 days, it becomes easier.  But people freak out about money, without really knowing what their money picture is.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and you can’t measure what you don’t track. (It’s not really possible to improve something if you don’t what it’s basic measurement is.  It’s not really possible to measure something if you’re not tracking it’s actual size.)

If you want to know who we went through to help get our interest rates down, or want to know more about this process (a 4-year process for us so far), please post a comment below.

Books that helped us in this process:

Continue reading "How can you afford to travel? — The rest of the story" »

July 19th, 2010

7 Travel Questions: 7) Best Gems of Advice for Us

A friend of mine from high school asked me a few questions about how we afford to travel and do what we do.  I realized that these are questions Carrie and I get asked pretty frequently.  So I’m posting the answers to her seven questions in a series of posts on our site here.

Every person has to find their own path to getting whatever they want from life.  At the same time, it’s helpful in that path to have the knowledge and experience of others.  Some of this is worded pretty strongly, but as always, take what works for you and leave the rest for someone else.

7) best gems of advice for us, in your personal opinion.

If you’re traveling together:

• Take trial runs.  See if you will be okay spending that much time together.  Go away for a month together somewhere… Canada or Mexico maybe.  When you travel together, you will spend LOTS of time together on buses, trains, planes, boats, etc.  Make sure it works short-term before trying to make it work long-term.

We had:

• 2 Weeks together driving the desert Southwest from Greeley to Denver to Las Vegas to LA to Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon back to Denver (2004), before we had…
• 1 week together in Mexico (2004), before we had…
• 1 week together living on a house boat at lake Powell with my parents, sister, and neighbors (2005), before we had…
• 6 weeks together traveling around visiting family and friends on the east coast (2006), before we had…
• 6 weeks together (honeymoon) traveling around visiting family and friends in Europe (2007), before we had…
• 6 weeks together in a 2 bedroom apartment in Buenos Aires (April 2008), before we had…
• 3 weeks together in a 1 bedroom apartment in Germany (December 2008), before we had…
• 6 months together in a small 1 bedroom apartment in Denver (spring/summer 2009), before we…
• left on this travel (October 2009)

We learned a lot about each other’s habits and preferences in that time.  I recommend trial runs in smaller increments as we’ve met couples who are trying to discover the habits and preferences of each other while going through the challenges of traveling.

It’s better to know those things beforehand.

• Put together a list of the things you want to do in your life.  Put them someplace you can see them EVERY DAY.  Laminate a copy and put them in the shower.  I’m on my computer every day, so mine are actually my startup page in Firefox (rather than Google or Yahoo or something like that).  My friend James Martell has a service that will let you do this called PageLeap.com (it’s free).
• Always, always, always have each other’s back.  The person you’re traveling with has to always know you’re there for them.  No matter what, you’ve got the other person’s back in every situation.
• Listen to your intuition and basic wisdom.  There are things that are in fact true, even though they’re “too good to be true.”  Even though they’re true, and truly good deals, you are better off listening to your intuition and deciding that something “doesn’t feel right” or “might be the best deal on the planet, but still not worth it for the potential risk”.

  If it doesn’t feel right, avoid it.  Carrie and I felt something was off when we were walking down the street in Granada, Nicaragua.  Couldn’t tell what, but I suggested we cross the street.  We did.  If we hadn’t, we would have walked right into the middle of a heated exchange which turned into a shoving match between a couple of drunk guys.  If it doesn’t “feel” right, even though you don’t know why, go somewhere else… do something different.

• Based on our experience, many taxi drivers lie.  Their meters are rarely actually broken, and some will try to charge you different prices on arrival (getting into the taxi) than departure (when it’s time to pay).  The best solution to this is country specific, or maybe even situation specific.  Sometimes it’s best to agree to a price in advance.  In Costa Rica, we found it best to agree in advance. You can sometimes offer 1/ 2 – 3/4 of what they say the price is, not be willing to negotiate at all, but then once you start walking away to a different taxi, they will agree to your price.  In Guatemala, it was best to just pay something fair once we arrived at the destination.  The trick is knowing what’s a fair taxi rate.  This is where Google can be your best friend.  Do a Google search before going for “Fair Taxi rate CITYNAME, COUNTRYNAME”
• On that note, before going to a new country, know what the exchange rate is.  Changing money at the border is fine (there are always people in Central and South America at the borders trying to get you to change money, but you’ll often get the best rate at an ATM).  Factor in a 1-3% commission for the person changing the money for you before going to one of them to change money, and stick to no more than 3% commission.  If they won’t do it for that commission level, get the smallest amount you need at their commission rate to get a taxi to get to the nearest ATM.

Best practices apply… these things are good to do in any country anywhere in the world.

• Leave your passport somewhere safe unless you need to carry it with you.
• Carry your money divided in separate places, just in case something happens.
• If you don’t need to carry large sums of money, don’t.
• Always cover your PIN code with your hand at the ATM.
• Look at the front of the ATM slot to see if there’s some kind of card-reading device on it.

The list of these kinds of things goes on and on, but just basic rules apply… just maybe with a  greater degree of awareness because it’s sometimes more difficult to get things which are based out of the US taken care of when you’re out of the US.

I’m sure I’ll have more nuggets of “wisdomish” kinds of things, but these are the things which come to mind at the moment.

So, where are you going to start your travel?

Let me answer that question for you…

At the bookstore.  Where you’re going to buy Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Continue reading "7 Travel Questions: 7) Best Gems of Advice for Us" »

July 13th, 2010

Akaroa: The French side of New Zealand

Since we had the rental car for an additional day, we decided to head down around Bank’s peninsula and visit Akaroa.

Akaroa is where the French first settled in New Zealand. And, the town is known for feeling fantastically French. But, to me, it didn’t really.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved it there. It’s a quaint sea-side village. It’s got a lovely pier, some fun activities, and great cafes. But is Akaroa French? Well, no. Not unless you count the few French flags we saw flying.

The drive down from Christchurch was about 1 ½ hours. There wasn’t a single spot on the way where I thought, “Wow…it’s not so pretty here.”

In fact the whole drive was filled with ooos and ahhhs about how amazingly gorgeous it is here in New Zealand.

On the way into town there’s a cheese shop (Barry’s Bay Cheese). So we stopped in for a taste. And, of course, we walked away with a lovely hunk to enjoy later as well.

We spent the afternoon walking the town. Jonathan even got his portrait painted.

We walked along the beach, which is gorgeous. But, it was also a bit sad. We couldn’t take a step without breaking seashells. There are just so many lining the beach.

Driving back, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. I can’t even put it into words for you. It was hard to tell where the ocean met the sky.

In looking through our pictures, I want to post them all. So, go check out our album on Facebook. You’ll be glad you did.

Continue reading "Akaroa: The French side of New Zealand" »

July 13th, 2010

Maruia Springs – hot springs near Christchurch, New Zealand

After nearly 7 weeks here in Christchurch, we realized that we haven’t gotten out much. Sure, we took the tram one day, and the gondola too. We even checked out a farmers market or two.

But, our only time out of the city was the day we went wine tasting in Waipara valley. And, while that was a great time, it’s not the only thing to do in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Jonathan and I decided that we would rent a car (gasp) and drive (on the wrong left side of the road). Our destination: Maruia Hot Springs. After a cold and rainy winter here so far, nothing sounded better than a long hot soak in some natural hot springs.

So, off we went. We rented a car through Jucy (and had a great experience – more on that later), and drove the 3 hours to Maruia Hot Springs, which is a bit further up the mountain from Hanmer Springs.

On the way, we stopped at Marble Point Vineyard for a free wine tasting.

Maruia Hot Springs is set among the mountains. And, they have varying pools in a range of temperatures. They even have traditional Japanese Bathhouses (closed when we were there).

But, we did get to take advantage of the private spa for about an hour. And, they provided kimonos and sandals.

It was glorious. The hot springs were hot, the setting was beautiful, and we had a great day.

We booked their package that included a 1 night stay, private spa, and hot springs entrance. With it being so far up the mountain from anywhere, we thought this was the best idea.

And, by staying the night, we didn’t have to worry about being too relaxed to drive.

The next morning when we awoke, a gentle snow was falling. Amazing. Snow in July.

We drove from here to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is known for whale watching and swimming with the dolphins. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really the season for that. So, we just spend a few hours enjoying the scenery and then drove back.

Continue reading "Maruia Springs – hot springs near Christchurch, New Zealand" »

July 12th, 2010

7 Travel Questions: 6) How To Pack and What To Take

A friend of mine from high school asked me a few questions about how we afford to travel and do what we do.  I realized that these are questions Carrie and I get asked pretty frequently.  So I’m posting the answers to her seven questions in a series of posts on our site here.

Every person has to find their own path to getting whatever they want from life.  At the same time, it’s helpful in that path to have the knowledge and experience of others.  Some of this is worded pretty strongly, but as always, take what works for you and leave the rest for someone else.

Question 6.) Are you basically backpacking it, possessions-wise?

Yep and nope.  Carrie has a rolling suitcase, I have a rolling suitcase.

Carrie has a school-sized backpack, and I have a school-sized backpack.

We carry our electronics stuff with us in our backpacks most of the time.  Clothing goes in the wheely suitcase.

If you’re really moving around a lot, I recommend a big (backpacker’s style) backpack.  If you plan to actually experience a place, you’ll want to stay a bit longer.  We’ve found it’s cheaper to travel by getting apartments in various places in the world.  For this, rolling suitcases are much better both for your posture and for your stress level at the end of the day.

Clothing-wise:

Carrie travels with:

• 7 shirts
• two pairs of convertible shorts/pants (zip-off legs)
• a sweater
• 2 pairs of jeans
• 10 each of socks/underwear
• a couple of swimsuits
• hat, gloves, heavy coat (with zipper fleece lining that comes out so it can also be a windbreaker – 3 jackets in 1)
• 2 pairs of shoes (this is the hardest area for Carrie as she loves shoes)

I travel with:

• 10-12 shirts
• two pairs of convertible shorts/pants (zip-off legs)
• a sweater
• 2 pairs of jeans
• 10 each of socks/underwear
• a couple of swimsuits
• hat, gloves, heavy coat (with zipper fleece lining that comes out so it can also be a windbreaker – 3 jackets in 1)
• 1 pair of shoes
• 1 pair of hiking boots

We also travel with:

• a sharp kitchen knife (we like to cook)
• 2 snorkel masks and snorkels
• toothpaste, toothbrushes, bandaids
• deodorant (becomes very necessary sometimes)
• various other toiletries items
• power conversion stuff…

Question 6a.) Doesn’t that get boring wearing just the few clothes you’ve packed?
Sometimes. Yep. But there are always things to do and go and see. Clothing is minimal when traveling, and the less you have to carry, the better off you are.

So yes, we are basically backpacking it, but in wheely suitcases.  The wheely suitcases have always been fine, even for our brief 7-day stint (when we dragged them through mud) deep in the jungle in Costa Rica.

Continue reading "7 Travel Questions: 6) How To Pack and What To Take" »

July 5th, 2010

7 Travel Questions: 5) Banking While Traveling

A friend of mine from high school asked me a few questions about how we afford to travel and do what we do.  I realized that these are questions Carrie and I get asked pretty frequently.  So I’m posting the answers to her seven questions in a series of posts on our site here.

Every person has to find their own path to getting whatever they want from life.  At the same time, it’s helpful in that path to have the knowledge and experience of others.  Some of this is worded pretty strongly, but as always, take what works for you and leave the rest for someone else.

5) how do you handle money? Do you just change banks everywhere you go?

We have our local bank in Colorado.

All of our banking is together (we both have access to our accounts – unless Carrie has some hidden account that I know nothing about.  But if she does, that’s actually a good thing since I’m the spender in the relationship).

Most of our income is based on direct deposit or payment into PayPal.

Visa and Mastercard are accepted most places in the world.

ATM’s are generally good around the world, though the ones we used in Central America were frequently out of money.

Frequently we end up paying a little fee (usually $1-$3) to withdraw money, but that’s not a big deal and could just as easily be happening anywhere in the US.

Since we’re not earning income from the countries we’re visiting, we don’t really have any need to make deposits.

We have an assistant in Colorado whom we pay on an hourly basis.  Our mail goes to our PO Box with EarthClassMail, where it is scanned.  We can view our mail scans from anywhere.  Checks and bills needing to be paid get forwarded from EarthClassMail to our assistant.  We trust her 100% as she’s also a personal friend.  She deposits the few checks we get, and pays the few bills that can’t be paid via debit card.

And that is how we do our banking while traveling.

This is surprisingly simple, but it does help to have people working at the bank who know us by name and voice.  Traveling or not, having a good relationship with a good person at (at least one branch of) your bank is definitely highly recommended.

Continue reading "7 Travel Questions: 5) Banking While Traveling" »