Week 33: Wednesday, May 1st-Tuesday, May 7th
Week 34: Wednesday, May 8th-Tuesday, May 14th
Days of RTW ’24 completed: 42
Total Days of RTW ’23-’24 completed: 252
Starting location: Ella, Sri Lanka
Ending location: Waihi, New Zealand
Foot Miles completed this week: 54.91
Nautical Miles completed this week: .5
Bicycle Miles completed this week: 0
Bus Miles completed this week: 20.6
Train Miles completed this week: 101.8
Car Miles completed this week: 232.9
Tram Miles completed this week: 0
Tuk-tuk Miles completed this week: 20.5
Air Miles completed this week: 5,798.54
Scooter Miles completed this week: 0
Total Foot Miles on RTW ’24: 199.52
Total Nautical Miles on RTW ’24: .5
Total Bicycle Miles on RTW ’24: 19
Total Bus Miles on RTW ’24: 121.4
Total Train Miles on RTW ’24: 101.8
Total Car Miles on RTW ’24: 557.2
Total Tram Miles on RTW ’24: 0
Total Tuk-tuk Miles on RTW ’24: 195.16
Total Air Miles on RTW ’24: 10,362.54
Total Scooter Miles on RTW ’24: 16.7
Total Miles via all transportation modes on RTW ’24: 11,573.67
Total Miles via all transportation modes on RTW ’23-’24: 28,486.03
Over the course of the past two weeks, so many big changes have happened! I’ve spent time in a number of cities, utilized many forms of transportation, formed plans… and then new plans when the first plan didn’t work out (more than once). I connected with some travelers, added new items to my pack, and put more miles than I could have imagined under my feet. Though the past two weeks certainly did not always go according to plan, I landed exactly where I needed to be, when I needed to be there, and for that, I am so thankful.
On Wednesday, May 1st, I started the new month by planning a new adventure of my own! Sri Lanka had been so good to me, but it was time to set foot in a new place, so I set my eyes towards New Zealand! I was so excited to add a new continent to my RTW adventure, Oceania. Upon researching the area, I learned that small, self-contained camper vans are really popular, so I decided to make a plan to rent one and travel at my leisure. The idea of having the same bed every night– and my own space– was very appealing. As an added bonus, it will be late Fall/early Winter there, so there’s a possibility that I might even see the Aurora Australia (Southern Lights).
Before I departed Sri Lanka, I wanted to visit the Pekoe Trail again to get to the Nine Arches train bridge, a famous landmark. There were many tourists, and what seemed like a lot of INSTA pic posers, so I joined in the excitement and got in line for the epic photo spots. I asked a few friendly faces to take my picture for me since I was solo, which they happily obliged. I stayed for the second train crossing and, luckily, the train stopped on the bridge and allowed tourists to pose some more (see cover photo). Afterwards, I went to a Buddhist monastery just outside of Ella. The stupa and surrounding structures were being renovated, which was disappointing because certain areas were closed to the public. Nonetheless, it was cool to see how the temples were maintained with a lot of white paint and special care to wrap the Buddha statues inside of the stupa. I arrived just in time to participate in a meditation session taking place outside on a platform surrounded by clouds. The monk leading the session was very accessible and down to earth. He led two meditations: loving kindness and breathing. I felt so calm and relaxed afterwards! As we roamed around and the evening darkness rolled in, the monks were doing nightly chants. It was such a peaceful and serene way to end the day!
Over the weekend, I traveled from Ella to Kandy via train. The first three hours were exciting and fun– everyone in my second class car were tourists soaking up the vibe of being on one of the most iconic train rides in Asia! It was an old British rail line full of nostalgia, all the way down to the staff wearing white and khaki outfits. The open windows allowed for insta-worthy picture taking, and it was so fun to see the station signs and old architecture. People watching the tourists and locals aboard the train was a real treat! After the first three hours passed, the mountains gave way to towns and the heat settled in. There were fans, but no A/C, and by hour five I was hot, hungry and tired. The breeze as the train chugged along, coupled with the consistent rhythmic engine sounds, certainly helped bring some joy into the situation! After seven and a half hours, I finally arrived in Kandy! I made accommodations at the volunteer house from before, so I knew exactly what to expect. It felt so nice to be returning to a place that felt so familiar!
For a few days, I felt a bit homesick, especially after talking with my neighbor, Marsha. She sent me pictures of my house and filled me in on all of the Parkwood neighborhood news and gossip so I was up to date on the town happenings. I have such a great life to return to, for which I am so grateful, and because of it I miss my home and my neighbors. The good news is that each new destination gets me that much closer to home! I confirmed that while in Kandy, I was literally half way around the globe: the furthest I could be from home on RTW! I also had the opportunity to have a great talk with my son which was bittersweet. I miss him, yet I’ve never felt closer. I feel like we’ve progressed to that stage where we’re both equal adults in the relationship, which I realize at some point down the road will pivot as I age. But for now, it’s a joy to have a son who’s such a great human who loves and respects me!
I spent the weekend getting all of my stuff organized and ready for New Zealand. I was going to donate a lot of warm weather stuff here, but realized I’ll need all of those things when I switch climates after New Zealand, so I hung onto them. It made me excited for what’s coming up– a nice shift from the homesick feeling. Even at this stage, it’s still hard to believe that I’m REALLY doing this round the world adventure!
On Monday, I had to tie up some loose ends in order to get to the airport for my flight to New Zealand. The biggest item on the agenda was finding an ATM to get money out to pay for my taxi to the airport– it was definitely a necessity! In the blazing heat, I walked to an ATM that had historically worked for me without fail. This time, it was a dead end. So I found two others… with the same bad luck. The city streets were crowded and the heat was oppressive, and I found myself wondering if the universe was affirming that it was, in fact, time to leave Sri Lanka for a cooler climate. I loved my time in Asia, and I’m so glad that I picked Sri Lanka as the country for the continent, but I felt weary and ready for a change. I was frustrated and hot, so I returned to the volunteer house and dug through my bag to try and find cash. I managed to find the correct USD bills, which I’d been saving for emergencies, but getting to the airport on time for an international flight definitely met that criteria! I’m sure there will be challenges in New Zealand, but they’ll be new and different ones; all part of the RTW experience.
So, I made my way to the Colombo airport, just in time for a brand new series of events to unfold. As it so happened, I wasn’t able to board my flight. NZ and Aus required visas to fly, and they weren’t showing up at check-in… so they wouldn’t let me board. The NZ one was very confusing– the earliest it could be issued was 24 hours before a depart from a layover… and my total travel time was supposed to be 31 hours. Aus transit visa required so many documents that I didn’t even realize was needed for my layover, which was definitely my oversight. Long story short, I needed a brand new travel plan to get to New Zealand. So, I did some quick research, found that Malaysia doesn’t require any visa for the US, rebooked my flight to there, and sat tight in a new airport waiting for my NZ visa to clear. I felt just like Tom Hanks in The Terminal — living in limbo in the airport, complete with my own little sleeping pod.
I finally set foot in New Zealand on Thursday, May 9th. It was a long few days of travel, and I was extremely tired, but I was so happy to finally be there! The hotel I found was very accommodating and helpful. They walked me through booking the camper van and helped me get the best price. It was really wonderful to have someone help me navigate new waters! My hostel had onsite laundry facilities, and because I had a slight issue with my pod locker not working, she gave me two free laundry tokens AND a free towel rental! After a rough few days, the little blessings and luxuries were so deeply appreciated. I knew New Zealand was the perfect place to land!
On Friday, I spent my first full day in Auckland exploring my new city. Before I could leisurely explore, I had to bring my laptop to an Apple store to be repaired. At some point during my travel fiasco, my mouse pad got cracked, and it needed to be fixed in order to function properly. So, I took the bus to the waterfront, and walked from there to the Apple shop and dropped off my laptop for evaluation. After it had been evaluated, they informed me that my screen was also cracked, so they ordered the parts to fix that as well. I took the laptop back to wait until the parts to fix the screen arrived, thankful that the damage was found sooner rather than later. After the Apple store, I took the bus to the local mall. It was so nice to browse! The biggest challenge was the sizing difference between NZ and the US. Thankfully, I found conversions online, and browsed from there. I picked up a few essentials, and even toyed with the idea of getting a few “homey” things for my camper van adventure! Ultimately, I decided to wait for that until I had the van in my possession so I could gauge what kind of space I had. I had a strong urge to “nest”, and continually reminded myself that whatever I purchased here I would have to get rid of in a month, or carry with me in a pack moving forward. Overall, the day was another one of those “life days”, but I did take the time to look around the city. Riding public transit is such a good way to see how people live, so I’m glad I took advantage of that. I saw school kids taking the buses, and even an older guy with a bike on the train. THere were a lot of nice neighborhoods with cute coffee shops and boutiques. I even found a few Asian neighborhoods, and at one point, I felt like I was back in Sri Lanka. The smell of spices from rice and noodle shops wafted out onto the sidewalk, and if the temperature wasn’t so much cooler, I would have questioned where I was! While exploring, I stumbled upon the Women’s Suffrage memorial. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1893! It was a nice reminder of my heart’s intention for the trip!
As is the case in most of the new cities I visit, I booked a walking tour over the weekend. I learned some interesting facts about the native peoples, nothing to myself that I liked to learn more. I found it so interesting that they had a treaty with the UK which was transplanted int Maori, but one significant word, sovereignty, didn’t translate as intended. This ultimately led to conflict and wars for many, many years. It wasn’t until the 1980-90’s that Maori became an official language and there were policy shifts to achieve equanimity. It sounded like it’s still an ongoing political debate! All of the signage is dual language and our guide, of English descent, gave us an introduction to Maori. Both of the languages are even taught in schools.
Over the course of RTW ’23, I walked a total of 1,1049.86 foot miles, and as of Saturday, May 11th, I clocked 144.61 foot miles on RTW ’24. That’s, approximately, 1,200 miles in total! My hiking shoes weren’t new when I started my RTW journey– they were nicely broken in, as planned. Though not all of my foot miles were in my hiking shoes, at least 800 of those miles were! After giving my hiking shoes a good look, I knew it was time to replace them. As I was taking out the replacement insole, I found red Namibia sand from the Big Daddy Dunes. It was so bittersweet! I was immediately taken back to the hike up the dunes, then enjoying Mama’s french toast and coffee at the bottom when we were done. As hard as it was to let them go, I knew it was time when I found Merrell’s in my size at an outdoor shoe store on sale for Mother’s Day. When I tried them on, and then put my old ones back on, I could feel just how worn and uncomfortable my old ones had become. I hadn’t noticed the shift over time, but the new pair made it very obvious. In addition to the sweet shoes, I found a Kathmandu puffy jacket. I was really ready for winter weather!
When Sunday rolled around, I was eager to pick up my camper van to prepare for my new adventure! I checked out of my hostel and ubered to the office where my camper van was waiting for me. I knew the office was closed, but they told me that my key would be in the lockbox. I opened up the box, only to find it empty. After a few calls and texts, I got a hold of someone from the company to drive to me and check the office. Lo and behold, the key was on the desk! Once we got the key, the guy showed me how everything in the van worked. It’s a real “mom van”, transformed into a small camper. I liked the design, and I was eager to get situated and organized. I fired up the engine, hopped in the driver’s seat, and ventured back towards the hostel to pick up some food I had forgotten in the kitchen. Upon exiting the hostel, I looked at my van and saw that I had a flat front tire! Thankfully it happened at the hostel and not in the middle of nowhere where I didn’t have any service. I can change a tire, but it would have been a real hassle, and a donut only gets you so far! I walked back in, found the travel agent who helped me with the booking, and we brainstormed what to do. After several calls to AA (NZ”s version of AAA) and the rental company, we were informed that the van has no donut or spare… so AA towed my van right back to the office where I had just picked it up. It was disappointing to delay the start of my road trip, but the events were beyond my control. So, I booked another night at the hostel, and made a Plan B. After I had a new plan, I took a very short ferry ride to another waterfront in downtown Auckland to make the best out of my unexpected idle time. It was a little difficult to see all of the moms with families at the waterfront– Mother’s Day seems to be the same in NZ as it is in the US. I did hear from Mike and Corrine, which was great, and reminded myself that I did make the choice to be halfway around the world on Mother’s Day. I reflected on my feelings and realized that though we were so very far apart in miles, this journey has only made me closer with both of them, and that is about the greatest gift I could receive on Mother’s Day. So, I breathed in the crisp air, and settled in my place halfway around the world.
First thing Monday morning, I went back to the van rental and picked up my camper van! I immediately hopped in and drove straight to Kmart Mall to shop for my new home. It was so much fun to pick up a few household things and groceries. It felt like the first time you go shopping when moving into a new place. I wanted to buy more things, like spices and sauces, but curbed it for the sake of storage and stuck to salt, pepper and salad dressing. Savory pies are a huge thing here, and every place, including the camp, recommended where to go to get the best pie. They eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I bought a few from the grocery store to have on hand as an easy reheat option. I guess pies in NZ are the equivalent to rice/curry in Sri Lanka! I’m sure I’ll tire of them eventually, but for now, it’s a novelty that just so happens to be easy to make while camping. After I shopped, I got settled into my van and looked over my itinerary. I’m following a 30-day itinerary that was suggested to me, with the caveat that I need to give myself grace if the plans should change. The first night of the itinerary did not disappoint! I arrived just in time to witness a gorgeous sunset at a black sand beach! My heart felt so good the first night of camping. Staying at a campground isn’t necessary– I have all of the equipment I need– but it was nice to see other people, have a kitchen, shower, use a proper toilet and ease into the big trip. Once I get familiar with my camper van details, I’ll be ready to rough it at a freedom spot. My heart was so grateful to have started the big road trip!
Being on the road, without a schedule outside of a rough idea on where to end up by sundown, felt so invigorating. The scenery was breathtaking! I made time to stop and hike throughout the days, finding new serenity with each path I walked down. The paths were totally silent, less a few birds here and there, welcoming me with each step. I could feel my shoulders drop and my feet glide beneath me. I was so thankful to be in harmony with nature, careful not to disturb anything. My grand van adventure was starting out in such a meaningful way, and with each mile that passed, I settled more and more into the peace that surrounded me, and the gratitude in my heart. As long as I find a place to park, I’m “home”. Until next time, dear friends: stay safe, stay healthy, and always remember to make space for what brings you joy.
Road trips are the equivalent of human wings.
Ask me to go on one, anywhere.
We’ll stop in every small town
and learn the history and stories,
feel the ground, and capture the spirit.
Then, we’ll turn it into our own story
that will live inside our history to carry with us,
always.
Because stories
are more important than things.
-Victoria Erickson
Love the quote about “Road Trips”.
Hi Roberta, so nice to hear from you and know you’re following along with me ! Corrine surprises me with the quote each time , and this one was so appropriate for my campervan roadtrip !
I so admire your perspective as your journey unfolds…beautiful! Sending abundant love, light and prayers <3
Hi Debbie , thank you so much for faithfully traveling with me and Corrine on this incredible journey . Sending love, light and hugs from New Zealand .
Thank you again for allowing us to join in your adventures, learning about all the joys and struggles you encounter (AND overcome)is an adventure in and of itself.
Linda and I just returned to our local sides of the country from our River trip down the Danube. It was wonderful! Almost every day found us in a new city, which we explored on foot (or on bus tours, typically with local guides). We attended a classical Mozart concert in Vienna one evening. We explored sleepy little villages like Weissenkirchen (White Church) and Szentendre, Hungary. We visited an abbey in Melk which was truly fascinating. We climbed cobble stoned streets in Passau-noting how floods over the centuries prevent people from living in ground floor quarters. We spent the last 2.5 days in Budapest which was wonderful too.
Hi Francesca,
Your river trip sounds so wonderful , a beautiful blend of exploring , history and time with a life long friend . I’m so glad you had this opportunity. And thanks for sharing it with me . Hugs
The camper van looks great! I admit I’m disappointed that you ditched your plan not to use modes of transport that weren’t available when women got the vote in the USA, as that was such a great eco-friendly vision. But there we are. Still thinking of you when I drop into that Costa Coffee we spent time in together.
Hi Jo, I was heart broken that I had to pivot when I couldn’t get safe passage without flying. You were one of the first people I knew would be disappointed . It pained my heart a lot , a lesson in making choices when circumstances were beyond my control . I did decide to carry on with my travels rather than abandon the trip. I know you make your travel choices with a very watchful eye on the environmental impact . I admire your dedication.
Much love and hugs , Sharon
Camper vans are the best. My son and I spent 2 weeks in Australia traveling that way and loved it. I haven’t been able to keep up with your whole journey but pop in once in awhile to see where you are. It still sounds amazing and inspiring. xx
Wow. Great pictures. So good you adjusted to the detours and mishaps
Sometimes change is your perfect compass. ‘ Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change” — Stephen Hawking
So.it’s good you are brave and flexible.
Hooray for you, for getting a camper!! I’m certain you will like having your
own space to store your personable items and valuables. Anyway. Stay safe and know we are here rooting for you but hoping to see you sooner than later. Miss you 😔