Or if you happen to be in Texas, that would be “bidness.” But, we aren’t in Texas, we are in New Zealand and I am grateful for that.

After we bought our house, it marked the end of the Grand Adventure—a two year nomading journey through the western US and New Zealand. It was an amazing experience but I think we both were ready to nest for a while. I also lost the drive to continue the blog. I was tired; it was tired too. I needed a rest; it needed a rest. We both needed to recharge our batteries and find some new direction. So we hugged each other, said a lot of thanks and parted ways. We did not say goodbye, but rather my more preferred Spanish term “hasta luego” (see you later).

A lot has happened since the last blog post, most of which I will not go into now. We have settled into our life in New Zealand and feel like it is really becoming home. We have been working like crazy on our lifestyle property and enjoying both the work and the results. We even have 4 new members of the family—the Dixie Chooks. They are great fun and we love their eggs. I even get a chicken parade in the morning!

We even got all our stuff from the States. It was quite an emotional experience opening up all the boxes and unpacking. We hadn’t seen our things in 2 and 1/2 years. Although I was glad to see some it, the overwhelming feeling I had was “where did all this S&%* come from?!” That is what 2 years of nomading will teach you—you just don’t need that much stuff. I will say, we were both a bit irritated that garlic press got lost somewhere along the way.

We’ve done a lot of exploring around the Tasman Bay area since the last post. Between that and all our other travels in the country, we have tried to help visiting friends design their New Zealand experience. It has been great fun thinking about it. It was this process of describing the area to our friends that motivated me to start the blog again.

Mostly, though, I want to stay true to the blog’s original purpose:

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“Capture images, stories and Experiences, large and small, which allow me to maintain a connection to them over my lifetime”

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“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

I love that quote. Life is a journey we all travel. I hope you find the stories, images, information, opinions and general stuff interesting, fun, and engaging. Reach out, let me know what you think!

Cheers,

Roger