I've been having bad luck with airlines this week. While waiting for my Christchurch-Rotorua flight on Air New Zealand, the flight was canceled. Before I could curse under my breath, they announced that we'd be moved to a Quantas flight. While waiting for my flight, I called United to cancel my Wellington leg, as mentioned in my previous blog, but I was informed that the charge was $150 for cancellations, $125 for changes. On top of that, the guy helping me on the phone was extremely rude. United, you're really working on my last nerve, dude.
On the bright side, the weather is lovely in Rotorua at the moment so I've gone ahead and booked my skydive in Taupo. Fingers crossed, if the weather holds up, I'll have jumped from a plane from 15,000 feet by this time tomorrow. Forecast says rain though.
As I was landing in Rotorua, I smelled something foul in the airplane, as if someone had a full English breakfast and their rear end was sharing it with the rest of us. It wasn't until I stepped out of the plane that I remembered hearing that all of Rotorua smells of sulphur due to geothermal activity. Fun stuff.
I've been feeling really frantic lately. I'm trying to pack in as many activities as I can in the last 12 days of my NZ trip. I'm looking at the skydive, a 10 mile hike through the Tongariro Crossing (said to be one of the most strenuous and rewarding one-day hikes on the N. Is.), and all sorts of things you may get a kick out of. Yes, if I'm able to do any of it, it'll cost a fortune and a half but this is the home stretch man, go big or go home... I'm going to go big AND go home.
A couple weeks back, the saying, "your days are numbered" kept running through my brain. Well, that number is 17. In seventeen days, I'll be in San Francisco waiting for someone to take me back to reality. The uncertainty of what awaits me in the States makes me more nervous than jumping from an airplane. Seriously.
I've racked up a debt higher than I ever imagined. The trip may have taken me around the globe but I still feel like I haven't done everything I wanted, I haven't seen everything I wanted. With no money left, I fear that I will have to return to the confines of an office cubicle.
On the the other hand, I have hope, I have ideas. I'm still accountable only to myself (and the Visa corporation). I still have the freedom to follow old and new dreams. Much of my fate is in my hands. I've gotta be fearless, embracing the unknown.
I saw this on a t-shirt the other day: "You can't be old and wise without being young and stupid first." We're in the age of longer living and I've decided that I have plenty of years ahead of me to be young and stupid. Ha!
Have I reached the point where I've stopped worrying about what others think? Will returning to the U.S. thrust me back into conforming to society's expectations? Let's hope not. This trip has put me as close to the fringe as I've ever been and having met people who've already crossed this line, I can say that it's not a bad place to be.
Balance. That's all I've ever wanted. With my mind open to new possibilities and perspectives, it'll be a challenge to find a new middle ground. You work and you work and you work at it. That's living maybe.
Always help others. We're in it together.
\end rant
P.S.- I'm in Taupo now for two days before I start a four day tour. I may lock up my computer gear and travel light for my Kiwi Experience East As tour so this may mean a lack of updates for a few days. But you never know, maybe the Maori people have cheap internet cafe's in the maraes.
Labels: New Zealand
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