Welcome to my World

I was born in New Zealand, in a small rural center in the middle of the North Island. My parents took my brother and I on extensive trips within the country, teaching me first-hand the true value of travel.

In the mid-'70s we moved to the Marlborough Sounds, valleys flooded by the sea that are located in the north of the South Island. My parents worked at New Zealand's Outward Bound School for the next six years, and I led an idyllic life of hiking, exploring the bush, camping, rock climbing, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling and swimming in the sea during my adolescence. My formal education was taken care of at Linkwater School, a one-room schoolhouse four miles away, and then at high school in the more distant town of Blenheim. We eventually moved to Blenheim, and I later attended university in Christchurch, some 200 miles further south (making the ride up and down the beautiful Kaikoura coast many times on my motorcycle).

In 1987 I left New Zealand for the United States...one of the things that I miss is the incredible coastlines of New Zealand — it was not a paradise, and had its share of environmental and social problems, but it was a place where one could find a perfect stretch of tar-free beach and be alone on it. In 1997, I was finally able to go back there for a month, and confirmed that the countryside of New Zealand is not only a great place to grow up, but is a worthy destination for travelers (and has become much more traveler-friendly than ever before, and certainly moreso than the United States). It's perfect for everyone from adventure travelers to those taking bus or group package tours, and everyone between. I found the country to be more Americanized than when I left, provoking some cross-cultural "where am I?" confusion (not helped much by the fact that I had just spent two months in Papua New Guinea), and it was exceedingly weird to be running around the places that I once knew so well with trusty Lonely Planet guide in hand. I've since been back twice, for short visits while on my way back from Papua New Guinea, and I look forward to a lengthier trip before too long.

If you have the chance — and New Zealand being a long way from anywhere is both a blessing and a curse — the odds are good that you'll enjoy the country. There's something for everyone, from bungee-jumper to nature-communer, in a nice little package.