Of Kiwis and other such New Zealand oddities

I’m sorry to report that Sheri and I didn’t see any kiwis in the wild…at least not of the bird variety. What we did see was gorgeous landscapes, much of which is quite unique to this part of the world. Throw in some movie sets, a few good hikes, a great road trip, and it’s easy to see why people want to live here. In retrospect, we should have spent more time here, but New Zealand is expensive and more time meant higher overall costs. The time we did spend here was already budget busting, but I think we saw and did quite a lot for what it cost us. I foresee another trip in the future to see all that we missed this time around.

Our New Zealand adventure was only 7 full days when you factor in the travel days. We only spent 2 full days on the North Island and 5 full days on the South Island. To see and do as much as possible, we decided to rent a car instead of relying on public transportation; more about driving later. Here’s what we did with the limited time we had. Continue reading

Oregon to Patagonia, by Bicycle

This is what it’s like to be truly alive; to experience something new each day; to shake things up in your head; to make the short time we have on this earth seem like so much longer. This is why Sheri and I travel and why we are going to do more.

The Thousand Year Journey: Oregon To Patagonia from Kenny Laubbacher on Vimeo.

I hope that this film is a healthy nudge for people to shake up their lives a little bit. Jed’s radical choice to quit his job and ride his bike across the world is a perfect challenge to the rest of us to get out of the routine and make some scary decisions. If you’re afraid of a decision ahead of you, you’re probably on the right track. Choose it!

Follow Jed’s adventures @jedidiahjenkins
My Instaspam @kennyjamez