The Secret Life of Kimi and How She Does it: The Danger of Internet and Social Network Sites

The Secret Life of Kim Boes and how she does it

What is my secret? How can I live the way I do? How can I be everywhere and nowhere and change destinations every 2 - 3 months? 

Graduation Speech 

First, during my studies I already 'taught' finance to several people. I absolutely love finance (one of these rare people) and really wanted these people to understand it as well. Nothing in this world makes me more happy than making other people happy, make sure they succeed and they understand something after I explained them. Why should I keep the knowledge to myself if I can help other people understand it better? Second, I happen to have written an excellent thesis with some very nice research that I will present on the e-Tourism Brennpunkt in Salzburg, Austria next Monday. Along the way I noticed that my academic writing in English is not so bad at all and therefore I am consulting and assisting on various academic papers at the moment. Third, what I also noticed is that with understanding three languages perfectly I can translate Dutch/German text to English without any problem. Fourth, something else is that I do not have a problem doing work you do not need a degree for, therefore, I am, next to all the activities I am doing at the moment, also Delivering The Mail in Hulst. 

Tour Map of our 'Get Lost' Tour in NZ

The Secret of Living Life the Kimi Way

• Work Hard in something you love
• Take all small jobs cause they will give you the base to future success 
• Have a goal, in the not so far future, to work towards
• Take a temporary job to make extra money (even if it might not be your dream job, its only temporary!) 
• Do only what you enjoy doing and never give up no matter what other people say
• Be realistic but always on the positive side of things 
• Luxury is not everything. Remember, that with this way of living you might not have heaps on your bank account but are living the life you always wanted 
• Never give up believing in yourself! 

Best Practise 

• Cried for some weeks because I didn't find a job
• Thought about what I love most and do best and how to combine these two 
• Founded Bacon and Eggs
• Spread the word about what I am doing got me
• Ghostwriter job
• Consulting 3 dissertations 
• One translating job 
• Invitation to present my research at eTourism Brennpunkt conference 
• Awesome website and a big network for Bacon and Eggs Tours 
• Leaving my apartment to work as a temporary postman in The Netherlands
• Buy a ticket to NZ to have a 'not so far in the future' goal
• Do a TEFL course to Teach English as a Foreign Language as Volunteering Work next year
• Brainstorm about the 'Trip of my life around the world without a plane' 
• Have a permanent smile on my face even if I worry or feel sh*t 

Temp Job in AWESOME Berlin! 

This sounds like a lot and it is a lot, I work 7 days a week but believe me, I enjoy every single second of it and I could not imagine a better life than I have now. If this makes people think I am a dreamer, a liar or untrustworthy than I feel sorry for them. Having an awesome life your way is possible, just get out of that comport zone and start living. It might not be easy at first but I guarantee you, after a while you never want something else again!

Ode to Social Media

Again, I have to communicated my thoughts about people that attack one another on the internet. Social Media are there to share information (in the amounts you feel comfortable with) and help each other with anything possible. Please think twice before spreading rumours, negative worth of mouth or accusations. Before you hurt somebodies feelings or effect a company contact them personally. Public attacks might only bother outsiders and you might even negatively effect yourself in the matter. 

I am happy I found a reason to tell something about myself, my life and my company again. Thank you 'forum person' for providing me with some nice content on my blog!

Life Around...The World?

'Home is an invention on which no one has yet improved' 

- Ann Douglas 

The Netherlands vs The World

About a month ago I decided to go 'home', to The Netherlands, where my parents live. I am not entirely sure if this is my main 'home' as I have had many places that I called this over the last years. Also Austria is home and Berlin and I even sometimes consider New Zealand as my home. But basically: For me 'Home' is where my teddybear and my pillow are. These two items are, at the moment, located in my bed in Hulst so I guess The Netherlands is 'Home' for now. 

In order to understand this post better I will have to give you some background information. Hulst is the city I was born and went to school till the age of 15, after that I decided to change and finish my high school in Terneuzen (a city 20 km away from Hulst). After my graduation I lived around many places in The Netherlands and Belgium but moved to Austria about 6/7 years ago. As you can imagine I left many people behind, friends and colleagues, and learned to be a World Citizen. The longest period of time I have spend in Hulst, over the last years, has been about 10 days. I guess you can imagine what a change it is, being here now for 1 month and staying for another 2 months. I went from a World Citizen back to an 'Abandoned by Young People City' Citizen.

Back to the 'Normal' World

Being back in the city I was born in is interesting. Let's say; I enjoy the conversations with my parents and the temporary work in doing next to Bacon and Eggs Tours. Apart from that; Being back here made my think about my life more than ever. And the thought are, sometimes, shocking and there have been many moments I thought: Kim, seriously, what did you do with your life!

Being here confronts me with the people that stayed here, with their marriages, their children, their relationships, their homes and houses... It confronts me everyday with all the things I do not have and makes me wonder if I did the right thing. There has never been a stronger moment in my life than now where I can't help but wonder: Is my life how I really want it? 

Yes, I do not want to swap my life with any of my former class mates that have all the security of a  family, home and job. I admire them for being able to cope with it, to take care of their relationships and all the things that come along with it but I, no, Im not ready for that. I might not be made for that, at least.... not now.

An Alternative Lifestyle

I have chosen, myself, all the paths I went over the last couple of years. Of course I sometimes  wish I had it done a different way but I am happy with all the things I did, the choices I made because they made me into the person I am today. I might have chosen an alternative route, an adventurous route, a challenging route which sometimes worries me. But I absolutely love my life at the moment!

Bacon and Eggs Tours

Bacon and Eggs Tours represents everything I am. A relaxed company, made out of love for Travelling and New Zealand, made for all those people who want to learn about this countries culture and nature and are, just like me, a little adventurous. Having your own company is for sure not easy and I experience that everyday. It worries me, stresses me and gives me sleepless nights BUT it also makes me laugh, makes me happy and very proud of myself for getting through even if when it gets tough. Being back in Hulst, back 'Home' makes me fight more for my company and my lifestyle and every time I have to listen to the question marks about my life from the people around me it makes me want to fight more, and never, really never, wanting to give up the awesome and amazing life I have. It might not be a secure way but it for sure is an awesome and adventurous way! 

Never give up your dreams, they might be 'weird' to the world around you but they are your dreams. Admire them & never let them down!   

Travel Mate or Horror Companion

'It's easier to find a travelling companion than to get rid of one'

- Art Buchwald

Two might be one to many: Backpacking & Travelling Companion

Im selfish, I want to do what I want to do, I want to see things I want to see and if I have the opportunity to travel alone, I will travel alone. This first sentence sounds like I am one of these socially awkward people, an 'Einzelgänger' and impossible travel companion. But nothing could be further from the truth. I enjoy both, I love both and like to combine both. During my stay in Thailand, about a year ago, I travelled alone around this country and it was wonderful. After a couple of months in New Zealand with travellers and backpackers around me 24/7 it was just delightful to be on my own, to enjoy the silence, the beauty of my surroundings and living my life and only my life. I did notice the easiness of meeting travel buddies, travel companions or travel mates which seems, in my opinion, way less complex than when you are travelling with somebody already. It's like you send out a scent, a sign for people to detect, the indication of solitary. And suddenly you are not alone anymore, your solitude is over..... you find a travel bud.

Travel Companions, Travel Buddies and Travel Mates: Online and Offline

As I said before, I have the feeling that solo travellers send out a message to fellow travellers and suddenly contacts are way easier made than at home, than in every - day life. It might be the fact that all these people do the same thing, are in the same boat and therefore become 'friends', travel friends. For me this is a well known phenomenon as I have seen this happen many times before, but for many 'beginning' travellers and backpackers it is a nightmare to even consider travelling alone. It is therefore good to know we have something called the internet, a connecting people network where 'soon-to-become' travellers can find other backpackers and arrange trips and meet-ups months or weeks before departure. As I am searching for travellers that want to join my three exclusive and affordable bus tours in New Zealand I have found some good websites although one website developed itself as my favourite.

Find a Travel Companion: Find My Travel Mate

For me it was sad to see that many websites ask money for contacting fellow travellers. The sign up is for free, the searching as well but as soon as you find the perfect person to travel with these websites poor rain on your parade. Good to know that there is one website My Travel Mate that does not do this. This start-up makes it possible for you to create your trip, with all details included, and promote this trip on the My Travel Mate website. As I am searching for some 'travel buddies' I signed up, created a trip, added some pictures and tried out if this could work. And yes, it does. I am not one of these people that goes around to promote other websites, except my own, but My Travel Mate is something that makes me happy in a virtual world, with 100000 travel buddies websites and forums make it impossible for me to find one that has it all. My Travel Mate does this and therefore I would like to thank this website for making my life easier. And of course I recommend this platform to every traveller who wants to meet people, its easy, its fast and even better.... for free!!! 

Are you looking for somebody to travel with? Go Bacon and Eggs Tours for New Zealand and check My Travel Mate in any other case ;) 

Dutch Bacon and Eggs

'When you're in my house you shall do as I do and believe in who I believe in.

So Bart, butter your Bacon!' - Homer Simpson

A couple of weeks ago I informed you about my 'poor' job situation in my 'motivation' post. Today I am proud to tell you that a lot of changes occurred and that I have a plan, as far as plans work in my life, but that's another story. 

So, what am I doing? What is my secret to eternal happiness, millions of euros on my Swiss bank account and international fame.....? Mmmm, I have to disappoint you here, no secret and no heaps of money to make me a 'forever traveller'. No. 

• I started my own company: Bacon and Eggs Tours 

Yes, I am allowed to put that in the middle of this post. This is my 'plan', the next best thing, the man in my life, my love at first sight.... my way to become a professional traveller. 

Apart from the fact that I absolutely love, love, love Bacon and Eggs and believe this should be the only legal breakfast around (at least on Sunday), this is the name of my baby company that has absolutely nothing to do with this awesome food. Bacon and Eggs Tours will organise and guide small group tours in New Zealand and Europe. 

Bacon and Eggs Tours

What will Bacon and Eggs do? Aren't there enough tour companies around already? Of course I did some research on this to make sure I have the opportunity to provide a product that is not around already. Nowadays this is quite difficult as every person with an idea has the opportunity to register this and start a new company. Therefore, I have another motto: Fun, Personal Service and an Awesome holiday experience! 

As I have been working for one of these 'bigger' tour operators in New Zealand I have seen the commercial side of it. These tours are great and cool but have 45 people on a bus with fixed photo stops and hostels in destinations where all the other bus companies go to as well. All good and well but this is not what I want for my 'fellow-travellers' all the time. Bacon and Eggs will have a maximum of 10 people and 2 guides that will show New Zealand in its most purest and most awesome form in a 25 days tour. With the start in Auckland we will travel to the Bay of Islands, down to see the North Island, go South from Wellington and stay in some crazy beautiful places. 

Tour Map New Zealand

As I stayed in hostels and have seen many travellers camping on the best places in the country I decided that Bacon and Eggs will have a combination of hostels and camping places. New Zealand is a wonderful country with a very rich culture most tourists do not see anymore. I decided to go camping as this is an opportunity to sleep, and even more, wake up in a breathtaking environment that will make your day just wonderful. With 45 people I would never have been able to give them a personal experience and information about the country. 10 people will give me the possibility to individualise the tour and make it an unforgettable experience. My love for this country is my motivator in this all and I just want the people, who decide to travel with me, to experience New Zealand just a little different. The whole story on how Bacon and Eggs came to life in the lovely city of Berlin you can find on my website www.baconandeggstours.com. So, now I have revealed my secret, my way to live an awesome life and travel with amazing people in my favourite country. 

Will I get rich from this??? To be honest: I Do Not Care. This is not the reason I am doing this, I am just not willing to give up my dream to combine the two things I love most: New Zealand and Travelling

My Berlin Kitchen

In my creative hour I decided to check various dictionaries on the definition of 'Kitchen'

Mac Dictionary

kitch.en |ˈki ch ən|

noun

a room or area where food is prepared and cooked.

The Free Dictionarykitch-en a. a room or part of a building equipped for preparing and cooking food
The Cambridge Dictionary kitchen a room where food is kept, prepared and cooked and where the dishes are washed
Why in the world would I check the definition on such an 'object'? 
Cause I have been living in my new apartment in Berlin for three weeks without a kitchen and today I received a happy phone call that tomorrow my kitchen will be installed :) I am definitely a disaster in the kitchen but having a place to wash the dishes, except from the bathtub, would be nice :) 
To be continued....

Motivation....motivation

'If you think you have things under control, you're

not going fast enough' - Mario Andretti 

It's raining down, poring down, on my parade... Literally. Since I moved to Berlin it has been raining, a LOT! I haven't been properly dry since I arrived on the 12th of July in this awesome city. Which is almost seven weeks now! What happened to the sun? What happened to the summer? .....

Ah well, guess most people have been complaining about the weather. I am not going to be one of those people, I don't want to go mainstream here. Therefore my topic for moaning: Motivation.

What happened to my motivation? Where did it go? I can't remember sending it on a holiday though I start to question myself these days... where did I put it... ? 

For being a dedicated writer and person who always wants to learn more, know more and read more I have been doing nothing much over the last months. Since I finished my studies I have been sleeping, or so it seems. In July I started my internship with Wimdu. I won't spill more words about this, just one advise: Do not EVER start ANY internship with this company. I worked here for a month before I quit and, thought, I was going to start a new job. Berlin has been nice to me so far, however, this company let me down in the last minute due to my 'poor' German skills. Rain poring down on my parade again. Since then I have been looking for an awesome job which, till now, did not really provide me with any exciting offers. I stay positive, or I try to stay positive and believe in the awesomeness of this international city and hope it stops raining down on my soonish. 

In the mean time I am trying to work as a ghostwriter and get into any research jobs. My friends know me as the social media person and 'nerd' who likes research. As I am dedicated to start a career in research, writing and consulting I am interested in any project in combination with any of these features. Working as a ghostwriter keeps my writing skills up and conducting research keeps my mind busy. I came across various research Masters which prepare me for a PhD but, as usual, I am too late to apply for this year... therefore I need to wait till next year. 

My status at the moment:

• No Job
• No Master
• An Awesome Apartment
• An Awesome City
• Three Ghostwriter Assignments 
• Creative Freelancer for The Buzz Agency
• Disastrous Motivation Level ;) 

I thought I had everything under control, which is for me quite unusual. BUT, nothing is less true. Chaos, absolute chaos I could once again embrace into my world. It's my love hate affair because: After absolute chaos there can only be order...

Decisions and choice, words who rule my world

'For my part I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake.

The great affair is to move' - Robert Louis Stenson

Where to begin? Choice, opportunities, challenges... Questions, plans and endless conversations without an end. Circles, running around in circles... and time... time who pores down rain on my parade. 

New Zealand is the country of my dreams. I can be myself, have nature around me and am able to have sand and snow on the same day. It is legal to go out the door on jandals and wear board shorts, hoody and have messy hair at any time of the year. The internet and smartphones are still a thing of the future and planning or worrying are words not to be found in the New Zealand dictionary. It is the country of relaxed people where 'cuz', 'bro' and 'sweet as' are not considered as ghetto slang. I am in love with this piece of land floating around at the bottom of this planet however... can I stay here? Or better, shall I stay here? 

Now the end of my studies is getting near I should probably make some decisions on what to do after, after my 'student' life, after the years of hoovering around the world. New Zealand is the country of my dreams but opportunities lay in Europe and, unfortunately, so is the salary. Torn apart between two worlds which cannot be further away from one another. 

At the moment I am tired, tired of travelling and living out of a suitcase. A different place to sleep every night, I long to a place to call home. Because, where is home? After living in different countries over the last seven years, building up and taring down foundations I am here, 25 and at a point I want to choose. I travel around to go, to move, to have a new adventure and I tend to do this every couple of months, years. Of course I can keep continue doing this and I am sure I will be a happy camper but where will home be? I want to be a pink princess, a handbag (inside joke) let somebody else make the decisions for me cause I am too tired to do it. 

Where to begin? Choice, opportunities, challenges... Questions, plans and endless conversations without an end. Circles, running around in circles... and time... time who pores down rain on my parade and takes over my life at the moment.... 

Who Moved My Cheese

What would you do if you weren't afraid? - Dr. Spencer Johnson 

In 2006 I started a relationship from which I knew it was not as it should be. However, I did not stop it. I put in more and more effort to try to change this person. In April 2010 I finally ended it and did not understand why I hadn't done it earlier. Of course I was devistated, cried for days and thought it was the end of my life! This person, this place, this house had been my life, my solid ground. 

Today, I understand why I kept doing it for so long. I was afraid of change. 

The funny thing is that I have been moving around the world quite a lot over the last couple of years. I tried many different things. Worked in restaurants, did a snowboard instructor course and worked as one for five seasons, studied different things and lived in five different countries. Apparently, I am not afraid of change. However, in this relationship I was. In April 2010 I decide to go to New Zealand even if I was afraid. I tattooed 'What doesn't kill me makes me stronger' on  my back and went for it. Today, I found 'New Cheese', good tasting 'Cheese', interesting Cheese, Cheese that makes me happy and I would not have found this 'Cheese' if I didn't decided I needed change. 

However, I see many people around me staying at the same place, hoping to come back to the same over and over and over again. But life changes, people change, jobs and university change and we shouldn't stick our head in the sand but face it. Be honest to yourself and think for one minute what you would have done if you hadn't been afraid for change. Maybe change job a long time ago or end the relationship you are in? Even small changes can make you feel fresh again or give you new energy.

When I came back to Austria in October after three months of being in New Zealand and an awesome trip to Thailand, my friends told me I had changed, and I did. I see things different now, I am far more relaxed and see new possibilities and found new interests. Today, I am working hard to start my own company, I'm enrolled in a Master in Digital Marketing, smile way more, enjoy life much more and have an awesome boyfriend! 

Of course I have been thinking about my life a lot over the last months but it really made me realise how it all developed after reading this awesome book. Some of you may know that I am a book worm and love to read. I am also aware of the fact that not the whole world shares this passion with me, however, the next book you have to read! It only takes about an hour, is easy to read and will change the way you think. Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

Go for it and let me know what you are planning of changing ;) 

Working in Auckland, New Zealand

'A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving' -  Lao Tzu 

I'm Back.

I'm back in New Zealand. I arrived four days ago and it feels like I've never been back to Europe.  Everything is still the same, only the temperature has gone up with about 20 degrees :) 

After some awesome days and nights (due to my friend called Jet lag) in Wellington I went back up to Auckland on Sunday to see and move in again with my amazing friends Kate and Menz, Bernie and Spalding. It's like I never left and the bullying started the minute I walked in, good to be home again and enjoy such a warm welcome :)

Although I wanted to leave my friend/foe called thesis at home, he somehow managed to slip into my backpack and follow me to the other side of the world....mmmm....Guess I have to deal with him here now, as well. He is kind of demanding and likes to take a lot of my time and energy but I can't keep avoiding him. I tried to leave him behind in China, as my backpack stayed there a little longer than I did but he managed to track me down anyway. 

Of course I did make some plans before I came here (I tried to) but did not manage to find a job that actually fits my thesis writing and researching schedule. Therefore, I am in Auckland, plan less, job less and broke :) Welcome to my world! I checked to regular websites and did apply for some jobs. My socialising helped as well and therefore, I hope to get a job soonish :) I'm a positive person and it will be all good in the end. 'What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!'. 

From now on I will be writing more on my blog again and keep you up to date about the second part of my awesome New Zealand journey :) But let's get a job first ;) 

Travelling New Zealand

At the moment my life is all about my studies and my return to New Zealand. However, the last one is causing some sleepless nights... 

It is 11pm and I'm in bed, I want to go to sleep but there is this little person running around in my head, bouncing. It keeps releasing opportunities, challenges and difficulties of where to go, what to do and how to do it. 

For the lucky ones that already had the opportunity to travel to this beautiful country, they may know how hard it is to stay at one place in New Zealand. It may seem so small when you have a look at a map of the world, but, believe me, it's huge! There is so much to see, so much to do and I want to see it all again, and on a (very) low budget :) The plans I made, or had to made, already changed numerous times and I really don't know anymore why I should have a plan before I go.

Why do people like to plan everything before they start travelling, why not just go and see how everything will be. By doing so you keep yourself from being disappointed and sad. As I wrote in my previous post, people are not fond of uncertainties, we like to plan and avoid the unexpected. I wanted to think I'm different but can't fool myself anymore. I am like this, I am a (little) Dutch 'control freak'.... and I'm not amused by it! 

So, on the 15th of December I will fly back to my favourite country, I will get on a plane with a max. of 15kg luggage, fly for 30 hours and be happy! Whatever comes after that I will see there... 

Hoilday Expectations

'When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable' - Clifton Fadiman

I like surprises, I like to travel to the unknown. In September I visited my friend in Thailand after an amazing winter in New Zealand. Totally unprepared. The only thing I was sure about was my flight. And you know what? I like to be in situations like this. However, this is not true for the majority of the European population.

Before we go on a holiday we want to know every single detail. We feel it is necessary to plan our trip by the minute. We expect to know how the weather is going to be and are frustrated or disappointed when the weather God decides to throw around his schedule. Google is doing over hours in order to provide us with the latest images of the accommodation, restaurant, beach, the palm trees and the colour of the water. YouTube shows us beautiful videos of the destination or resort we are planning to go to. Trip Advisor gives us the possibility to read the opinions of previous visitors, however, we only tend to check the negative reviews. 

Isn't it sad that 'bad' weather could possibly spoil the holiday feeling? I believe holiday is an experience, a feeling, and this is going to be as perfect as I will make it.  The weather, the accommodation or the activities can only increase my happiness but will never be the main reason for it. The disappointment which arrises when the pictures on the website differ from the real thing is amazing to me. How could snow possibly influence your skiing holiday in a negative way, and believe me, people are moaning about this. Of course going on an holiday costs a lot of money and we want to have the best of it. Although, I think we start to expect too much.

If we stop having these high expectations and 'go with the flow' a bit more, holidays could actually be fun again. Sometimes we have to live with these uncertainties in order to keep us from being disappointed. We could do that 20 years ago, why shouldn't we be able to do that again? 

Employee treatment, work experience

How much should you tolerate when it comes to making money? This weekend I had the opportunity to finally set my boundaries when it comes to this. 

As I am a poor student, longing to go back to New Zealand in exactly 65 days, I need to scrip and save to keep the wolves from the door and should definitely make some money. Therefore, I signed up for any random gastronomy job in Salzburg. As I have some years of experience in this field I thought I had seen it all but it took a turn for the worst. 

I had to work in a congress center from noon till ten in the evening, all good for me, no problem. However, the moment I stepped in to this building I felt you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. I got this lovely first impression of what I thought was the manager, when his first words to me were 'Didn't you listen to me, I just explained you that!'. And, as you may expect, it didn't stay with this one amazing friendly sentence. We had to set the tables for about 900 people and this other, I think, manager just couldn't help reminding us that if we didn't work harder we would not get a break. This went on and on all day. I have never experienced something like this in the 24 years I have been on this planet. I wont go into further detail, let me just say, I have been treated better. 

The point I want to make is that I think people that sign up for a, maybe stress full, job like this should be able to work under pressure. Of course everything has to be perfect although if you are not able to threat your employees with respect I believe you have chosen the wrong career. If I should gain any knowledge out of this day then I can only say that these two gentlemen gave me the perfect example of how you should NOT treat the people that work for you. This will only give you a bad reputation and negative worth of mouth in the end. And believe me, I have spread the word. 

Facebook is DOWN!!!

'Breaking work tip: Don't be the first one in your office to announce Facebook is down' 

Facebook has been down, it's world news...online. What to do without FB? Is there a life without our favorite social network? It is amazing how the world panics when the website is down. Unfortunately this happened twice over the last month.

How are we going to tell the world we just went to the toilet or just ate a sandwich? How are we going to tell our love ones we miss them, love them? What are we going to do with the news? Where do we see what happened in the world?! What do we do with our online time when we can't FB stalk our boyfriend's ex-girlsfriends?! It's the end of the world as we know it! The apocalypse... Armageddon all over again! 

New questions appear...How did we communicate before FB? Wasn't there something called e-mail? Well, we can still use Twitter. But then I can't upload the pictures of my last drunk poses! 

More stress, the heart rate goes up...pounding...wet hands...PLEASE FB! Don't do this to us again, we might not survive next time...

AJ Hackett

Heart pounding...wet hands. A smile, though a bit exaggerated. Goose bumps  and a short shiver. Feeling totally in control....for one second. Look over the edge to seem brave. Put on the gear and feel your heart pounding even more. Say out loud 'Mum, I love you'. Feel really happy you are not doing this on your own (in my case). See your hero getting all geared up. Put on yet another, less secure, smile. Hear this far away voice telling you to step down. Try to pretend you are NOT nervous by having a random conversation with this person. See your hero loosing his smile... Try to cheer him up by putting on one last happy face. Let the gear be wraped around your legs. Feel the heavy weight on your feet. Stand up, walk forwards, smile in the camera, smile in the camera again. Feel your hero's arm around you. Put your arm even tighter around him. Take really small steps to the edge. TRY NOT TO LOOK DOWN! Look down...Hear '3,2,1'...say 'no,no,no'.... Feel 'your not so hero anymore now' pulling you with him on 1. Scream like a girl and forget to open your eyes. Get this amazing feeling in your stomach which is ruined by the cold water splash after about 40 meters. Kiss your 'again' hero. Hang on your head for too long. Get lowered into a boat for a pretty 'the moment after' picture. Smile... and keep smiling :) 

I got thrown of the Kawarau bridge. The bridge where AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch started the first commercial bungy jump in the world! 

Best activity ever! Great feeling to never forget and I will bring you there to watch you jump of this bridge, feel your own heart pounding and come up to me with a smile telling me this is the best thing you did in your life!

• Bacon and Eggs Tours will make it possible for you!

New Zealand travelling south

As you may know I am travelling the south island of NZ at the moment. I got myself a Stray pass, hopped,last Thursday, on the Intercity from Auckland to Wellington, got on the ferry to Picton after a good night out in the hostel where I stayed, slept a couple of hours during the crossing and jumped onto Daisy's bus in Picton. Surprisingly, I managed to crump all I wanted, or needed, to bring down south in my small backpack. I decreased the amount of shoes I thought I might need from five to three and did not bring, I think, unnecessary clothes. Have to say that till now I haven't even used a third from what I brought but let's not get of track here.

So, I got on Daisy's bus, with 17 other backpackers, and the first thing we were going to do  that day was.....wine tasting. Awesome activity for an hangover day! I needed about five different wines and only 2$ to get me into that nice half drunk phase again. However, this was going to be a long day on the bus and I knew I was going to be hit by Daisy if I would fall asleep while he was driving. So, I got myself together and managed to stay awake all the way to Marahau, Abel Tasman where we were going to stay the next two days. We decided to cook a group meal this night which resulted in awesome mussels, thanks to Daisy, and amazing spaghetti coordinated by nobody else than myself (I am not kidding here) and lots of help from other people on the bus. Cooking spaghetti for 14 people in a small hostel kitchen is kind of a challenge which we, as an awesome team, managed very well. I called it a night early and enjoyed an outside hot tub before I went to sleep.  

Next morning we woke up with the news about  the earthquake which had hit Christchurch early that morning. As we were in Abel Tasman, about 500km away, some had felt it whereas others didn't. I contacted home as soon as possible to let everybody know I was doing good. However shocked by the fact of this 7.1 earthquake we got the car and drove to a very cute salmon farm where we were able to catch our own salmon which was then going to be cleaned, smoked and eaten. As an, very, inexperienced fisher I followed Mike. I hoped he would know what he was doing....After 20sec he proved me he knew exactly how to catch fish. I was shocked, not even ready, still looking at the water in the hope to SEE a fish. But there he was standing, getting the fish to the shore where I was suppose to catch it in my net. I tried to pretend I knew exactly what I was doing, got the net, walked to to shore, managed to not fall into the water and surprisingly got the salmon out of the water in no time. A bit proud of myself I let Mike convince me of throwing in the line as well. After following his instructions I caught the, second, fish in my life! (there was this one time back in the day, when we didn't had the Euro yet that I happen to go fishing with some of my family). Some pictures needed to be taken so I posed with my fish, kissed it and let Mike kill it. After 20 min of fun (Mike managed to catch yet another one in the following 10 min) we let them clean our salmon and smoke them for us. The taste was amazing! I was never a big salmon lover but catching them yourself suddenly makes them much tastier :)

We drove around some more and I even got to drive a manual car on the left side of the road heading up a mountain with some crazy turns in it. I bet Mike was scared as hell however he keeps denying it. Next day was Barrytown day. All Nations backpackers, well known for the dress up parties. As I grew up with carnival I like parties like this and thought about my outfit for the rest of the day. Pirates and ninjas was the common thing I heard so I, as some people may know of me, needed to be different. As a persons who doesn't wear make-up or owns a proper dress I decided to kill with... LOVE! I let Mike wrap me into a plastic bag, I tied a bow (think this is the right word) around my waist and head and here I was, ready to destroy with love and cuteness. Have to say it was a really funny evening with some interesting gossip afterwards :) Don't we just love it being on an holiday, hooking up with everything and everybody and let the gossip go around the bus the following morning :) Or other things referring to one of my previous posts.

However, being sort of a backpacker at the moment I am not able to access my Twitter or Facebook account very often. I told you in my previous post that I am a Facebook addict and I have to admit that it was very hard not being able to post anything on Twitter or Facebook. However, the sweating and shivering is over and I am very happy to say that I am still able to live without it. (Although I prefer with).

I will continue my journey through the south tomorrow where I will take heaps of pictures to post here and on my Facebook account next week. I just love New Zealand and all the people in it!

Role of social media in my travel life

After spending the last two days on expanding my knowledge on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn I came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, the news and your friends know where to find you. 

I remember opening my Facebook account only because of my friends. What is this Facebook, I don't need this I have Hyves. Who needs Facebook when you have Hyves? But I surrendered and opened my first Facebook account. It didn't mean much to me in the beginning but now, I am ashamed to tell you this, it rules my world. It is the first thing I open when I start my computer and I am brave enough to admit that I can spend a whole day behind my computer checking my account every five minutes. I know this sounds pathetic though it is time for me to admit this to the world. Yes, I am an Facebook addict. 

And it even gets worst. Since I decided to write my thesis in regard to social media I had to dig deeper. I need to know what is going on in this fast changing, never sleeping world of unlimited information. Therefore, I opened my first Twitter account yesterday. Till 30 September 2010 I could stay out of the hands of Twitter though had to bend my back to it finally. I keep telling myself it is all for my thesis, all for the good cause. However, I saw myself totally getting sucked into the world of Twitter, Facebook and Hootsuite over the last, what, 48 hours! It's ridiculous how much information is out there! So many things you can and have to do to get the attention of the people around you.

I noticed that it does not matter where I am on this planet, if I promote myself in the right way everybody can find me. As my parents live in Holland, I study in Austria, live at the moment in New Zealand and have many friends from all over the world, this is very convenient. With one post on Facebook everybody knows what I am up to. Or even better, I go into Hootsuite and post the same in Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all at the same time. It opened my eyes to a very interesting and easy way of staying in touch with everybody I know, or who knows me.

Over the last 48 hours I opened my Twitter account and posted about 20 tweets, got 12 followers and started following 24. I posted a new post on my blog which my friend Kate posted on many different websites. In only 2 days my posts was watched twice as much as it had been over the last 6 months! If I am out there, on the web, interacting with many different websites, people will find me. It's scary to know that it is so easy to post all your personal information out there although it feels so good to see that people are actually interested in you. I checked the Stats for my blog and discovered that, although I am from Europe and have never even been to the US, my largest group of followers is from the this country... Now new questions came to my mind. Why are these people reading my blog? It must be interesting to them. Now I need to keep this level up and start writing interesting stuff all the time, or most of the time. 

I don't want to say that being, suddenly, out there changed my mind although it feels like an addiction. I suddenly want to increase the number of followers on my Twitter account whereas I normally wasn't interested in this at all. Start posting some serious links on my Facebook account   and not just status updates. I feel the need to have more people reading my blog. Where does this come from? Why does social media intrigues me so much? It is a world I never was really interested in although now I am in it I wish I started this earlier. With me travelling around the globe, living in different countries all the time, it makes it so much easier to keep up with everybody... and everything. 

Social media is not a fad, it's a trend! It is amazing, fascinating, fast, alive and booming! Thank you Twitter and Facebook for opening my eyes! 

To be or not to be..... a backpacker

I was just sitting on the patio at the lovely house I am living in knitting yet another beanie and could not help thinking about the reasons why people decide to go backpacking. I could only come up with some of them.

Why do people motivate themselves to cram their life in a 23kg backpack to travel around the world, live on pasta and soup, sleep in noisy, smelly, hostels with snoring or sleep talking drunk people, wear the same clothes till they look like something the cat dragged in, wake up next to somebody you cannot remember the name from, make hideous pictures, post them on Facebook and call it 'an amazing experience', call your parents cause you need more money to expand your cultural knowledge of the different kinds of beers you hostel bar is selling, add heaps of 'friends' on Facebook, go to every party where you can get free beer by playing games you would not even consider doing at home, apologize to your boyfriend the next day for the shocking pictures your 'friends' added you in on Facebook, jump from a bridge cause you suddenly have the courage to do so.

Snog numerous other backpackers from the other or same sex, take photos from this as well and explain your friends you try before you buy, fall desperately in love, ditch your travel friend, take off with the love of your life, discover he is not your knight in shining armor, spend more money to go back to your friend, make up with yet some more beers, jump on another plane to an even more exotic destination, get bitten by insects you cannot pronouns the names from, try to explain the doctor you are not an alcoholic you just need to wash your clothes, fall out of the bunk bed while having sex with your new catch, wake up all the people in the room by doing so, invite them for a 'Im sorry you saw me naked' beer, find a new hot guy, sleep with him in the lower part of the bunk bed, embarrass yourself in the pharmacy while answering the questions to get the morning after.

Fall asleep on the street, wake up at the police station, explain yet again you are not an alcoholic, call your parents again for more money to spend on more cultural experiences, pretend to be a lesbian with your friend to shock guys, get into mud wrestling, feel guilty of not contacting home, try to post something serious on Facebook, drink more beer but do not forget the local beverages, jump out of a plane cause you are forced to do it, get drunk before you jump out of the plane, blame it on the guy who took you out drinking the night before for the lovely, sick photos of your jump, get really cold, curse every day about something ridiculous, get an extreme sunburn and tell everybody you always get that red before you gain color, complaint about the sunburn in secret to your mum.

Tell everybody you will catch up with them later, forget who you promised to catch up with, take more pictures of hot guys, get into a wet shirt contest, post serious stuff on your blog to keep the home front happy, decide you are not going home again, let your friend convince you of hunting a sheep, hook up with locals to get a free accommodation, tell your parents they should send you money if they want to have you home again, get on the plane and come back home completely broke, tired and with a weird sexual disease.

But this are just some of the reasons I could think of....

And there was joy, love and happiness

My first weekend here I went on my Famil trip with Stray. Holly put me on the TOM pass which meant that I was going to see a large part of the north island. Saturday morning the bus picked me up at the hostel where I was staying. Gollom was going to be my driver for the next days and everybody told me that he, for sure, was going to take good care of me. Remember, I will refer to this sentence later.

So, I left on the 3rd of July on my way to Hahei. A small town on the east coast of NZ. Some of you may not be aware of the fact that it is winter down here, so we where really fortunate to have such beautiful weather. This was the first time since I arrived here that I actually left Auckland. It amazed me that within thirty minutes you have a completely different landscape. No skyscrapers or endless neighbourhoods with one house after the other. It looks green out there, even in winter, with hills and small towns popping up once in a while. We drove east, stopped in Thames to do some grocery shopping, and continued our way through the Coromandel Forest Park. Somewhere, on our way to Hahei, we stopped to enjoy this amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. This was my first time to see this beautiful blue endless reaching surface on a incredible day. My holiday started here. All the pressure from the last months was falling of my shoulders and it was the first time I realized I was in NZ, I was on the other end of the world no chance of going any further. In Hahei an astonishing kayak tour was waiting for us (with a really good looking guide). We went to Cathedral Cove where we had a lovely cappuccino (made by our lovely guide). Even if it is winter around here it felt like summer. Board short, t-shirt, flip flops. Life is beautiful.

This evening we stayed at the Hahai Holiday Park, a camping which had some lodges as well. Gollom made us a great barbeque dinner which made me feel so unbelievable tired, as my jet leg was still holding on to me, that I (boring me) went to sleep very early. Although, this resulted in a very early wake up where I had to force myself to go back to sleep. At 8AM we were all back in the bus ready to go to our next destination. Raglan.

Love at..... second sight

Just to be honest, I didn't like Auckland at all the first days I was here. Boring, big, unattractive, grey city. This may have been caused by the horrible flight I had from which I will spare you the details. During my first days I stayed at Nomads Fusion, Fort St., where I got to know some backpackers. Some loved the city whereas others were happy to leave.

I was confused. This should have been my dream country ,the country which would take away my sorrows,which would put the biggest smile on my face ever! But.... no....it was not...I felt lonely, abandoned by a country I longed for so long. Desperate to leave again I got myself together and went to the office I was going to work in for the next couple of months.

Stray Travel & Space Ships in Penrose. I was on a mission. This was my second day in New Zealand (which I will refer to in the future as NZ) and my jet lag just started to get a hold on me. I dragged myself there as I wanted to make a good impression and appear a day before I had to start working. Introduce myself and get familiar with the transport system which turned out to be easy as pie.

In the end, my second day in Auckland, turned out to be fine. Not great but fine. I had a walk around the harbour and a good day and night sleep. From this day on my NZ adventure just got better and better.

New Zealand, my new home

As you may know, at the moment, my home is New Zealand. Aotearoa, 'The Land of the Long White Cloud'.

I flew down here in June to work for a company called Stray Travel. I will do an internship with them for the next three months in order to finish my Innovation & Management in Tourism study in Salzburg, Austria, next year.

Over the last five years I travelled around Europe although, as many of you may experienced before me, this became to small for me. I needed to leave Europe. Therefore, I decided during a (too) lonely evening in April on my couch in Rohrmoos, Austria, that I was going to New Zealand. I have to say this would not have been possible without the help of the best parents in the world. I think I owe them a huge thanks for all they did for me. Therefore, 'Dank je wel papa en mama!'

Since I was twelve years old I always wanted to go visit this country. Back in the days we had this travel program in The Netherlands which my parents and I always watched. At a particular summer Sunday New Zealand was in this program. I remember the presenter traveling through the South Island, visiting all these wonderful places. At that specific moment I told my parents this was the place I wanted to go when I was older. And look where I am standing (sitting actually) now. Im working for a great backpacker bus company called Stray. Living together with the greatest roommates ever, 10 min away from the center of Auckland, and working together with fantastic colleagues! My life is awesome!

Over the next period of time I will inform you about my (awesome) life in NZ. The thing I am doing, or did already, and the activities I am looking forward to do. I hope this will encourage everybody to visit this wonderful country and bring back memories for the ones who already visited 'The Land of the Long White Cloud'.