Considering I wasn’t planning to be in Oregon a few weeks ago, this is slightly crazy. But it happened and is real and wonderful and I’m loving it here already even though I’ve only been here half a week.

So how did this all happen?

Well, on May 3 I was fed up with my situation living at home and felt the need to get out of what was a toxic environment for me. I posted on Facebook a flippant comment about figuring out someplace to live for just two months. I wanted to leave but wasn’t really sure that I would make the commitment to leave since it wasn’t a long period of time.

My former college roommate from my freshman year who lives in Oregon replied saying that she needed a roomie. I’d been trying to move in with her for the past year but something always came up – going to Vermont, going to New Zealand, etc. When she asked I thought that it sounded like the best idea ever. I’d finally get to live in Oregon and experience the West Coast. We talked about it and she ended up getting another roommate but still wanted me to come and crash at her place. Since I’m a fan of air mattresses and will sleep/live almost anywhere I decided to still go.

I decided on a Tuesday and left for Oregon on Saturday morning. I packed up my car, printed off directions, bought some food for the trip, and set off headed West.

I drove 12 hours the first day, 7 the next, and then another 7 the day after that. I stayed with bloggers in Fremont, Nebraska, and Salt Lake City, Utah. I spent an extra day in Utah hanging out and meeting several other bloggers in the area. I loved my stay in Utah and had a ton of fun there. The day I left Utah I drove over 14 hours to get to Salem, Oregon.

And that’s where I am now. I love it so far and I can’t wait to explore the city further. It’s going to be an interesting month or two up here.

Haven’t seen a sunset in New Zealand yet that hasn’t been beautiful.

Once we got to the island we had to decide what to do. Our choices were between sea kayaking, riding a scooter, or riding bikes around the island. We chose the bikes because it would be a fun way to see the island and provide a little bit of exercise.

It was a lot of exercise as the island is hilly, so we were going up a pretty steep hill ever five minutes or so.  We biked over to this beach and took a little water break underneath a tree.

In the end we cut across the traditional loop they had for bike riders.  We shortened the route due to sunburn and fatigue on my part, and missing the first turn we needed to keep going the marked route.  Instead of back tracking to get back to the normal loop we just picks a street and cut across… missing another turn, but in the end reconnecting with the correct streets.  Might not have gone the right way but we still had a fun time on the roads we did decide to take.

Since we cut it short it turned out to be a fun time. I did end up with a decent sunburn and super tired muscles, but all in all the next day I feel fine. I’m glad we did it! And next time? Next time we will do more and I won’t be so tired/unprepared.

I LOVE it here.

What’s not to love?

It’s a really great city.  Clean and green, that’s the New Zealand slogan, right?  Totally fits.  Even in the city there is so much green space it’s amazing.  And you are just minutes from water and beaches in every direction.  In my book that constitutes a beautiful place.

I’m enjoying visiting a place with a built in tour guide.  Traveling for the sake of seeing new places and having new experiences is fun and all, but I think I enjoy the experience of having friends show me the city from their perspective.  I like seeing someone else’s favorite spots and seeing what makes them appreciate the city they live in.  And since I’m staying here a month it’s much more like I’m living here than just visiting.

Next week I’ll be going to Taupo and Rotorua, so there will be a little touristy goodness during my stay here.  And on Saturday I’m hosting a health/fitness blogger meetup in Auckland.  That’s the niche of my other blog and I’m quite excited to meet some other bloggers and discuss things.   Meeting other bloggers is one of my favorite things to do because I enjoy blogging yet have few friends who do it, or at least do it consistently.  So this weekend’s meetup should be fun.

Alright, I’m off to enjoy another beautiful day in New Zealand. ;)

Looking back the only thing I wish we had done was got a picture together.  Not sure how I managed to miss that particular thing.  But the rest of the photos are great and we had a really awesome time in the mountains.

Love the smoky mountains. One of my favorite parts of my home state and most definitely one of the prettiest.

But I’m going to leave it on Wednesday.  Headed to Brisbane, Australia for a day to hang with a blogging friend and then on to Auckland, New Zealand.  More on this later, but let’s just say I am super freaking excited!!

Yeah, I’m going on another trip.

This other trip is much closer and much shorter.  It’s a 4 day vacation in Gatlinburg, TN, with my mom for her 60th birthday.  While it might not seem as flashy as a trip abroad I am very excited about it, especially since I leave in three days.

I’m also excited because my mom is coming on this trip.  Actually it’s her trip entirely.  I’m just planning and financing it.  Since she never takes vacations and it is her 60th birthday in January I told her we could go on a vacation anywhere in the US.  She went back and forth between a few places but ultimately decided on Gatlinburg because she loves the mountains (and partly because she knows my budget isn’t that big).

Still I’m not sure exactly what we will be doing in Gatlinburg.  I know if it was my trip I would be snowboarding, but I don’t think my mom has the same kind of ideas.  More likely it will be a relaxing trip with nice meals and walks and maybe spa day type stuff… which still sounds pretty good to me!  And from what I hear there is plenty of things to do in Gatlinburg.

I’ve been to Gatlinburg once before, but was with a group for a conference and had very little opportunity to see or do anything.  It will be nice to visit without a real agenda and with the chance to do whatever comes to mind.  Most of all I’m excited to be traveling to the other end of Tennessee.  I love the mountains in my home state and miss the chance to see them more often, as I live in the very flat world of West Tennessee.  I can’t wait until Wednesday when we hit the mountains!

It is quite pretty in Gatlinburg this time of year with all the snow.

After I get back from the Gatlinburg trip I have three more days until I get on a flight to go hang out in Australia and then head to New Zealand.  January is going to be a freaking awesome month of travel!

So where am I traveling?

I AM GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!!!!

I’ve wanted to visit New Zealand for years.  I had almost saved up enough to move there a few years ago but those plans fell through as did my plans to visit the country.  But now I’ve got the plane tickets purchased, a place to stay, a few friends to meet up with and a whole lot of excitement.

But I don’t leave for another month.  Darn it.

So I’m going to use my month to plan a little bit more.  What do I want to see?  What do I want to do?  What are the best things in New Zealand to experience? I’m planning on making some lists and figuring out exactly what I can’t miss on this first trip to New Zealand.

I will be staying in Auckland and mostly hanging out on the North Island.  I’m staying with my boyfriend (for more on that, read a little weight loss blogging love story) and we are going to Taupo and a few other cool North Island places.  I have two or three people I will be meeting up with for sure in the Auckland area and maybe even someone from Australia.  I’m excited to meet all of these people that I’ve befriended online.  It’s going to be an awesome travel adventure!

Have any of you been to New Zealand?  Do you have any suggestions for things to do/see/eat/experience while I am there?

I love this park surrounded by the huge skyscrapers. The guard in the park took her job seriously, telling kids not to mess with her flowers or ruin her park. Green spaces in cities still always surprise me despite knowing they will be there.

The Bean:

Outdoor concert:

Chicago at night.

Chicago was a lot of fun mostly because of the people I met while I was there. I met a lot of the women I interact with on my other blog. It was awesome to meet people for the first time that have been reading my blog for months. They already felt like part of my life and meeting them wasn’t awkward at all. I also ran across a lot of self-promoting, self-important mommy bloggers that weren’t of any interest to me… but I will stay away from that topic.

After waiting YEARS to visit Chicago, I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t overwhelmed either. It is a nice city but not a magical one for me like I thought it might be. Maybe if I go back and experience more of the city and less of the conference atmosphere it would be better.

ROADTRIP!

We left Chattanooga this morning around 8 and we have been driving all day. I’ve spent a wonderful time in the backseat of Burt, Dana’s car, reading, typing up blog posts, and completely messing up my iphone. (I pulled the screen cover off somehow and let dust get into it so that now it is bumpy and unpleasant to view. Now I have to get someone to fix it.)

It’s been an interesting drive. We’ve had gum thrown out the window that came back in to land on the thrower’s shirt (Ashlinn) and stalked a trucker Ashlinn thought was her uncle.

I’m not sure yet if we are stopping in Virginia then driving the rest of the way tomorrow or if we are going all the way to Pennsylvania. I’m trying to be okay with staying in Virginia even though I’d rather drive all the way through to PA. Regardless, I am excited!

Excited to see my friends get married. Excited to see all my other friends that I haven’t seen since graduation. Excited to be out of Tennessee and seeing new things and old friends at the same time.

Next stop Pennsylvania! (Then D.C. Then Chicago! Then hoooome to Memphis.)

For more pics you can check out my flickr photostream.