cheers, new zealand!

there's this really really unfortunate part of me that wants to name this post something like "leaving on a jet plane," but i'll refrain for the sake of both your and my gag reflex. so instead i went for something much better. kidding. apparently, there's no avoiding a little bit of cheese when it comes to saying goodbyes.

which is the point that i'm getting to - i'm officially leaving NZ.  i've know this for awhile now, and so have probably most of the people reading this blog, but it felt weird to write this post when i bought my ticket out of here, so instead i'm writing this on my last full day in the country.  tomorrow at 5:50 pm NZST, i will be boarding a plane to dubai.

it's not quite the assumption i'm falsely leading you to there. i'm not moving my life to the middle east. this is merely a stop over that i'm doing for a few days since i'm flying emirates to meet my parents in copenhagen for a cruise. the big news is, however, that after we disembark at the end of june, i don't have a ticket to return back to the US until the end of november.  and my ticket is leaving from sydney.  which means between now and then, i'll have to find a way to survive in different places and make my way from europe to australia to make my flight back home (which is actually going to hawaii - so still not technically home...)

 as i'm reading this back, i'm kind of hating myself a little bit or at least the way i sound.  i don't think pretentious is the right word, but i'm the first to get annoyed at someone for showing off and talking about my trip does feel a little bit like showing off. it's probably why i've kept it a little bit of a secret from some of my friends.  but this is something i've wanted to do pretty much my whole life, and never thought i'd have the time/bravery/money to do it.  so, i'll be honest - i'm proud that i've been able to manage my money and plan this trip out and that i'm doing something i've always dreamed of (trying SO hard not to use the phrase "living my dreams," but i kind of am).  it hasn't been easy, and i don't think i've faced my last challenge in putting this trip together, but i'm doing it anyway.

given that this is pretty much the ultimate "leap" (was the name of the blog a foreshadowing? was the last time i used the word "foreshadowing" in an essay in 5th grade english literature?), i will still try to keep those of you who read this updated with where i am/what i'm doing.  my access to the internet, however, will obviously be patchier than having my own vodaphone broadband account in my flat, so bear with me if sometimes the updates are few and far between.  hopefully being unemployed will cure the whole laziness having no time to write posts, but you can never be too sure.

anyway, i can't close a goodbye blog post without saying thanks to those of you who have made my time here in NZ so amazing. i've made some great friends here along the way (some of which i'm seeing during my upcoming travels), and i hope this isn't the last i hear from you. you've always got a free couch to stay on when you find yourself in my part of the world...