Kia Ora from New Zealand!

(“Kia ora” means hello, goodbye, thanks, you’re welcome, ta, have a nice day, pleasure to meet you, and just about any other friendly expression you can think of in the native New Zealand language and culture of Maori).

Actually to be fair, by the time this post goes live, I’ll have left beautiful New Zealand and will be in transit back to my “home” in Australia. Alas, it won’t home for much longer.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out what my travel plans are for this year….they’re gonna be good!

First of all, I have so many stories to tell about my last week of adventures, so many wonderful things to say about the glorious country of New Zealand. Stay tuned for a week-in-the-life of yours truly – while shooting a television show, as well as posts on some of the highlights I experienced on the North Island of New Zealand, including a Volcanic Air Safari, my first experience heli-sledging (if you don’t know what it is, you will soon), visiting a natural – and very hot – creek, and an epic seven-hour adventure in a cave called the Lost World (which started off with a 100 metre abseil, just to get the juices flowing).

But just to set the scene for New Zealand, here are some miscellaneous tidbits of information I discovered about the place during my 11 day visit:

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I’m still in New Zealand, and kicking up one heck of a storm! Lots of pictures and tall tales (quite literally, I’m sure) will come soon.

This reader question comes pertains to how young is too young for the sort of full-time travel lifestyle I live. I don’t think there’s clear-cut answer that applies across the board, as each answer is dependent on a certain degree of context. Here’s what I had to say to our reader below:

“I am really enjoying reading your blog…your lifestyle is what I eventually want to do, so it’s good to hear  that others are doing it (and succeeding in it).

I am a college student about to graduate. I have a good  finance banking job lined up for next year (and I’m also looking  into the CFP program) but I am definitely a dreamer. I want to  travel the world and participate in humanitarian efforts, start a  wedding planning company, etc.- I’m all over the place! Basically, I  think that I am yearning for something out-of-the-box and where I  have a life that I can control.

But now, I’m going into this banking job as a young analyst, which I think would be fine to do for a couple of years, but part of me  wants to just drop everything now and go do what I really want to  do. But I think to myself, maybe it would be better to get some  “real” job experience and some cash before I start chasing all my  dreams. At what point do you decide enough is enough? Am I too young  to drop everything now to travel the world? Realistically? When you  just came out of school, can you see yourself doing then what you do  now?

My Response:

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As this post comes out, I’m either swinging from something huge, falling off something tall, being splashed by something big, or otherwise experiencing one of the world’s only or world’s firsts in New Zealand! Don’t worry: updates and photos will come soon. But it’s an incredibly hectic week, and there’s not much time for breathing.

So…what better time than now for a reader survey! I want to kick The Professional Hobo into a new gear, and in order to serve you best, I need to know a little more about who you are and what you need. This survey will invaluably help me do just that, so I can deliver on what you ask for.

At just seven questions, I’ve tried to keep it short and relatively painless.

And if simply loving my Site isn’t enough of an impetus to complete the survey, here’s the golden carrot: I’m giving away a free signed copy of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget to one lucky reader who completes this survey, shipped free of charge to wherever you are. The winner will be randomly chosen in just over a week’s time on Monday, March 15^th and notified by e-mail. All you have to do to enter is complete the survey!

Please click here to take the survey.

PS – To my e-mail subscribers: you are very important to me! Please click through to take the survey. Thanks!

Sherry has been blogging about her travels on Ottsworld for 3 ½ years.  She quit her corporate job and traveled (primarily solo) around the world to over 23 countries, armed with her camera.  Recently she spent the last year living in Vietnam experiencing the ups and downs of expat life in a very foreign culture.  She then revisited Nepal – this time with her 73 year old father – to hike the Annapurna Circuit. Please enjoy a week-in-the-life of Sherry, starting at the end of her trek with her father.

Monday

I’ve just spent the last 23 days hiking the Annapurna circuit with my father and today we are heading back to Kathmandu.  In a constant effort to save money and experience more of the local culture (ok – it’s really to save money), we purchase $6 bus tickets from Pokhara to Kathmandu.  The bus is called a tourist bus – which basically means that there are no locals or livestock on the top of the bus.  We depart at 7AM for the 7 hour journey; 15 minutes later we’re sitting in the Tata garage with the bus being inspected by mechanics.  I settle in with the patience of a world traveler; recline the seat, put on my ipod, and get out my journal to write about the situation as it’s happening.  I’m calm and relaxed until I hear the familiar sound of power tools loosening bolts.  Minutes later I see the transmission and clutch on the ground.  This is going to be a long day; but quite a typical travel day in Nepal.

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Hello folks! Before we see where I’ve had my words of wisdom published in the last month, I’d like to give you a little update as to my short-term travel itinerary: on Sunday I’ll be on a plane to New Zealand for a whirlwind 10 day tour of the North Island for a nationally syndicated television show called Alive. For their first episode, they had Tim Ferriss (among others) on, so I feel pretty honoured to be invited to tag along for a week and a half of solid adventure. I’ve seen the itinerary, and it’s extensive!

After that, I’ll return to Australia, where I’ll formulate and announce my next round of travel plans. This year promises to be a busy one!

And now that we have that out of the way, please enjoy this roundup of published pieces. There are lots in the hopper…I’ll keep you posted, of course.

Wise Bread

How to Avoid Getting Your Credit Card Canceled

Your credit card could be canceled this year, and quite possibly without any notice either. Don’t get stuck with a canceled card at the cashier; read this article and arm yourself with information and advice to avoid having your credit card canceled just when you need it the most.

Financial IQ Test: How Healthy is Your Budget?

Budgeting is one of the hardest things for any of us to do well – and stick to. It requires discipline, attention to detail, and persistence. But it doesn’t have to be impossible; and effective budgeting can actually be quite empowering. Here’s a Financial IQ Test to help you determine how healthy your approach to budgeting is, with some resource articles to help you improve on identified areas of weakness.

AMEX Open Forum

18 Ways to Save and Go Green in the Office

The office kitchen is an often used yet underutilized resource for you and your employees. It is a gathering place, and one that provides a sense of home in an otherwise sterile work environment. It is also a place of consumption — not only the consumption of food, but also the unnecessary consumption of resources. Create an office kitchen that is environmentally friendly, and not only will you save money, but you will also lead by example and inspire employees to take these sound practices into their own homes. Here are some easy ways you can go green in the office kitchen, and save a few bucks while you’re at it.

Car Sharing for Businesses: Save Money and Go Green

Car sharing is taking off among individuals in urban centers who need a car but prefer not to own one. This trend is also gaining popularity with businesses, which use car sharing services to replace their in-house fleet, or to provide workplace and employee-use vehicles that are otherwise unaffordable. Commercial car sharing can even increase workplace productivity, save money, and of course – help the environment.

Canberra (pronounced more like “Can-bra” with the emphasis on the “can”), gets a bad rap.

“Why would you want to go there?” was a question I had to answer more than once about visiting Australia’s capital city. Most of the people asking this question were Aussies themselves. For many tourists, Canberra doesn’t even make their radar screen.

And although Canberra may not be home to as much excitement and variety as Melbourne or Sydney, I quite enjoyed my time there.

Of course, a good chunk of what made Canberra the awesome place that it was, was the incredible hospitality and company of my Canadian friend who now lives there – whose name is also Nora. Wait – it gets weirder: we discovered while visiting together that we actually went to the same performing arts high school, and we were both drama majors. Thank you, Mr. Yates, for being the cue that we may have shared the same science teacher!

(Cue in Twilight Zone music now)…

Okay, strange coincidences aside, here are a few miscellaneous observations about Canberra, Australia’s capital city:

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My visit to Sydney was beautifully rounded out by staying with some friends just outside of the city. And aside from a chance encounter – or rather encounters (37 in total) – with some nasty spiders, all was beautiful.

First, we took advantage of a gorgeous day (the first that wasn’t rainy in ages) to visit the Blue Mountains. Although they weren’t particularly blue (they’re supposed to have a blue-ish hue to them from all the eucalyptus oil in the air, but it wasn’t apparent on this day – likely because of previous rain), they were indeed beautiful.

One of the towns nestled around the Blue Mountains is Leura, with a small population and a huge collection of boutique shops perfect for window shopping. Stop at the Red Door Café for a wonderful meal if you’re in the area.

On the second consecutive beautiful day, we took advantage of the sunshine and visited Wollongong to enjoy prawns on the beach and to meet some Aussie seagulls. Wollongong has miles upon miles of surf-friendly beaches, and after school, it isn’t uncommon to see hoards of students in their uniforms headed for the beach with schoolbags on their backs and surf boards/boogie boards under their arms.

If you have seen the movie Finding Nemo, you’ll identify with the world-wide call of the seagull: Mine, Mine, Mine! Well here at Wollongong while we enjoyed our delicious prawns, the Aussie seagulls crowded us, looking for handouts in typical seagull-style. But this time, instead of Mine, Mine, Mine, I’m sure I heard their own individual Aussie incantation: Mate, Mate, Mate!

No, really. I did.

And if that wasn’t amusing enough, the oversized and gangly pelican that eventually joined our mob of seagulls looking for food rounded out the fun!

And now, for the spider part of the story.

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Russell Slater is a freelance journalist currently hopping on a bus, eating a baguette and listening to his walkman. It’s no surprise then that he likes writing about travel, food and music. He is a regular contributor to Uruguay Now, Brazzil, Matador Travel and A Different League, writes occasionally for a number of other websites. Please enjoy a week-in-the-life of Russell, as he sniffs out honey in Argentina.

Ever since I first tasted the honey in Argentina, I have been unable to forget it. Honey has always been one of my favourite food stuffs, not least because it has helped me through some horrendous pollen blizzards during many an English summer. It truly is the food of goods, able to make anything taste great (I dare you to try pasta with just honey and cinnamon).

This fascination with Argentinean honey has led me to Concordia, in the Entre Rios province of Argentina. I have come to find out how they make such good honey. I also want to improve my Spanish and get to know some of the locals, but the honey is my main priority. Through some contacts I made when I was last here I have managed to get a phone number for a beekeeper who has agreed to let me shadow him for a couple of weeks and learn the ropes.

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While enjoying Sydney, I decided to explore the 10km coastal Manly Scenic Walkway. And no…the walk isn’t particularly masculine in nature…Manly is the name of the Sydney suburb where the walk begins.

Manly Scenic Walkway Stats, by Nora Dunn

Length of Walk: 10km

Estimated Duration of Walk: 3.5-4 hours

Actual Duration of Walk: 2.5 hours (no, I didn’t run, but I sure did break a sweat with the uncharacteristic humidity)

Lizards Spotted: 18

People Spotted: 8

Runners Spotted: 1 (yes, they’re people too, I know)

Aboriginal Carvings Spotted: 6

Failed Attempts at Catching a Bus in the Pouring Rain: 4

The Journey

While taking the ferry to Manly from Sydney’s main harbour (and passing across the Sydney heads with the open ocean on the other side) we all enjoyed some zero gravity moments and fun waves that soaked anybody standing outside on the first level. 20 minutes later we pulled into laid-back Manly harbour.

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If you want a guide to seeing Sydney Australia, this post is not going to be very fulfilling. But if you would like to enjoy some random observations and tips I have from roaming the streets of Sydney for almost a week, then please, feel free to continue reading. (I’m pretty sure it will be mildly amusing, regardless of educational content).

Disclaimers aside, Sydney has been an interesting trip so far. After meeting up with @frank_in_oz in Melbourne for an iced mocha to die for and engaging conversation that could have lasted for days (thanks again, Frank!), I hopped on the overnight train to Sydney – an 11 hour journey.

Upon arrival in Sydney, I roamed the streets randomly and discovered the following:

Sydney people (Sydnites? Sydneyers? Sydcentrics?) love to run. Even if they’re not decked out in the latest fashionable running gear, you don’t go far before seeing somebody running. As yet I haven’t seen anybody chasing these people, so I must infer that they’re either in one heck of a hurry, or they’re just very fitness conscious.

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