On the road, I expected to meet lots of people and share stories. What I didn’t expect was to aquire my own little family of nomadic gypsies. New Zealand is a small enough place that you’re likely to run into the same people many times along your journey. And working in a place for a […]
At the age of 29, after much self evaluation and dissatisfaction as to what I’d done with my life thus far, I decided to take a risk. That risk was to quit my job during struggling economic times and leave everything behind to go traveling. As long as I could remember, I’d always wanted to […]
A great option for saving cash, whilst gaining a TRUE Kiwi Experience is to try WWOOFing. WWOOF stands for: Willing Workers On Organic Farms. It’s a network of hosts willing to provide food and accomodation to volunteers in exchange for help in farming, landscape, gardening or hospitality work. To join as a worker, you need […]
Northland’s landscape can be described as seemingly endless rolling green hills, flanked by stunning beaches and dotted with grazing livestock. You can drive for hours through land reminiscent of Montana’s cattle country and suddenly stumble onto some dramatic coastline with turquoise waters and great expanses of beach littered with surfers. It’s a land worth visiting […]
There are distinct differences between vacation and travel… Growing up, I was fortunate to see much of my own country on family vacations, as well as trips to the Caribbean and other close-to-home locations. It served as a base for my future urges to travel to more distant and culturally diverse places. Now that I’ve […]
The waiting is over! Just Jump has been selected as 2010’s Expand Your Horizons Video Contest sponsored by WYSE Work Abroad. The winner was announced and played at this year’s annual convention held in Beijing. Many thanks to Christina Hyson, Hikaru Ono, Skydive Wanaka and all of my new friends that made this video possible. […]
Just Jump from Illuminated Vagabond on Vimeo.
I cut this video as a submission for a video contest about the work abroad experience. The challenge? How to cram in 7 months of footage and experiences into 3 minutes! Lots of good stuff had to be left out, but I think that the essence of our travels, our mentalities and our appreciation for […]
I never thought I’d be cleaning toilets at my age with my skill set. I also never thought that I would ever write, record and then shoot a music video for a rap song. Somehow my new profession sparked some deep seated desire to bust out some rhymes and show my street cred. Maybe it’s […]
It can be a bit of a challenge, at times, to find casual work in New Zealand. With the current state of the world economy, not only are you competing with hundreds of other working holiday makers, but also plenty of locals, who are now applying for jobs that they may not have been interested […]
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