Beginnings

Hello family friends and followers!

I am blogging from the Nomads Fat Camel hostel in Auckland, New Zealand. Esack and I arrived yesterday, me from San Francisco, and Esack from Perth. Our flights went smoothly and we found each other relatively easily in the airport, although we each described moments of panic when we frantically searched for each other, looking wildly suspicious in an airport I'm sure. But we found each other, hugged for a solid 15 minutes, then hopped on a bus for downtown Auckland. It was only 7:30 am when we arrived and unfortunately check in wasnt til one. So we walked around downtown, got breakfast and coffee at two different cafes, and still had two hours to kill before check in. We napped in the hostel common room for awhile and then finally it became one o clock.

The hostel is interesting. We have a tiny, windowless room on the sixth floor for 50 dollars a night. We splurged. There are people from all over the world. We haven't really made any friends yet. But that's ok. We are only here for one more night. Today, we are going to check out this Asian food hall place, where apparently you can get any kind of Asian food on the cheaps.

Tomorrow morning we leave for queenstown, on the south island. From there, we'll be doing a 5-6 day trek called the greenstone trek, same one my dad did several years ago (shout out!). I've heard great things about QT and we're really excited. Bungee jumping and other things that make me nervous are alo in discussion.

Most of you know that Esack and I are doing this trip for fun after spending way too much time getting our degrees from the university of Iowa. Here is what we have planned so far:

April 17-27 queenstown
April 28-may 3 Auckland again, didn't have a choice about it. But we're thinking of checking out a hostel away from downtown, in a more relaxed suburb. And maybe some day trips to volcanos!
May 3- may6 Singapore
May 6- may 22 shanghai, china to visit the famous Trevor smith. You should read his blog. Www.gristlehedgeunderground.wordpress.com. I think.
May22- may25 Moscow
May 25- June 1 st. Petersburg
June 1 - July 22 Europe!
Finland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, spain, France, etc etc maybe maybe it's all up in the air! But we will figure it out.

So, after only one day of travel, I already feel like I've been gone forever. But my lack of jet lag is great! I feel energized and excited. Esack and I have a huge adventure before us and this blog is a way for you to come along with us. We wouldn't have been able to put it together without everyone's support, and at times, financial help :)

It's about time we start our day but thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the blog. I'll update as often as possible. Feel free to email anytime at gougejk@yahoo.com but if you call or text I can't respond.

I love you all!!!