Thankful for cassette tapes

Use right hand for directional…no for the 5th time the directional is not on the left side of the steering wheel, but yes every time you act on that belief the wipers will kick into motion, and laugh at you as they scrape across the dry windshield.  No matter how hard you stomp on the accelerator the car will undoubtedly lurch forward at a snails pace until you take the e-brake off…but all I ask is that please remember to drive on the left side of the road…the rest can be worked out as I go…oh and I hope you brought your cassette tapes for listening pleasure on this  six-week journey across New Zealand because there appears to be only one FM radio station (two if you count the fuzzy Christmas jingle one).

Picking up on the ‘journey of a lifetime’ after a month’s hiatus proved a formidable task as our life back at home attempted to intimidate us in an effort to get us to stay… with a traditional New Zealand Haka challenge (or in our case amazing times spent with family over holidays, a memorable night at our friends’ wedding, enjoying the company of friends over breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, seeing our furry friends for the first time in months, and some unanswered questions resulting in what appeared to be loose ends in need of tying). 

Our commitment to return prior to ‘pausing’ our travels certainly was a contributing factor to our ‘pressing play’ again on this trip, but more importantly maybe, it stems from the true feeling of joy and gratitude that enveloped us as a result being able to spend quality, uninterrupted time with friends and family.  This expression of appreciation to those that we did have the opportunity to see, or even those that we did not get the chance to see, but reached out nonetheless, is absolutely warranted and in no way a side effect of the thirty hour journey that Laurel and I just went on…but I certainly have no problem placing the blame of signaling for a turn with my windshield wipers on sleep deprivation. 

Seriously, so thankful…

for a 9:07pm sunset

P.S. when booking your tickets to come visit us take Air New Zealand, and finagle your way into one of their skycouch seats…really cool concept