Mass Migration

I cannot get over the amount of people I know who are leaving the green pastures of little old New Zealand to explore the rest of the world. Not that I am blaming them as I am about to do the same thing, but it continues to astound me the sheer number of friends that have just left or are just about to head off overseas. The current count is up to about 10 people having left in the last few months and almost the same amount who plan to head off in the next 6 months or so. It makes it even more exciting for me though, as I am able to swap notes and get excited with them rather than feeling guilty when I talk about my plans with people who are sticking around here.

The thing that surprises me even more though is when people have no interest in travel at all. How could you not want to get out there and see what else the world has to offer?! I know NZ is a beautiful place and it will be the place that I will always think of as home no matter where I end up later on in life, but is it not important to get out there and experience other places just to make us appreciate what we have here that much more?

So putting my guilty feelings aside for a moment, my plan is to leave NZ on the 31st of January and go stay with family in Melbourne for four days. Next stop - Bangkok, arriving on the 4th of February at which point I will meet up with Jessie and we will spend three weeks together taking in the sights (and smells) before she heads back home. I will then be flying solo for the last week in Thailand before flying to London on the 3rd of March. I'll doss down there for 9 days before reaching my final stop (temporarily at least) in Edinburgh to stay with brother Nico and his girlfriend Kelly. The plan is to then camp out at their place in Haddington until I sort out what I'm going to do with myself which at this stage is to head back to London and get a job. Phewee! The scary thing is, it is less than five months away.. and my savings account is looking very, very sad. So, time to get my ass into gear and start saving my pennies!! Any donations will be welcomely received...