Victoria Edwards is a seasoned traveller and a friend I met while backpacking in Australia. Here I talked to her about moving to New Zealand and finding work while travelling. Each experience is unique and Victoria’s travel tales are quite the page turner.
How did you go about moving to New Zealand?
It all started in the local pub with my friend, we were both bored working at home and entertained ourselves by planning a hypothetical ‘if I could go anywhere…’ travel plan. Fast forward a few weeks and we booked our flights out to Auckland that coming winter. Plenty of time to save the money but not long enough to overthink and doubt ourselves.
We got travel insurance for all possibilities, it’s easy to get travel insurance covering every possible thing imaginable, rather than upgrading it later. We only organised the first two weeks there. We both have family friends that we could stay with until we got everything sorted like a phone, bank account and job.
What did you love about your first location?
My first location of where I worked was Franz Joseph Glacier, it was hell and my friend and I literally RAN away! Then I arrived in Wanaka and loved it at first sight. It’s a small town where you know your neighbours and you bump into everyone on a night out. Great in the summer around the lake and it’s meant to be even better in the winter.
Any initial struggles?
Not particularly. I’ve been away before for work and rarely got home sick. I only struggled when it came to disagreeing with my travel buddy, we don’t shy away from it now, we had MASSIVE fall outs. When you’re not used to spending so much time with each other and are suddenly inseparable 24/7, it will take its toll and that is okay; it will happen.
Do not deny the fall out. It has made us more aware of personal limits and subconscious behaviour. I now know that if I don’t get enough sleep I’ll turn into a bitch, she knows that if I’m being a bitch it’s not because of her but because I haven’t been sleeping. We turned into an old married couple.
What road trip would you recommend in New Zealand?
I drove from Wanaka to Milford Sound, beautiful stretches of road with a stunning destination (time it with the weather as the Sounds are better to see after it has been raining, but I wouldn’t want to drive in the rain). Milford Sound is a fiord grouping of rainforest, waterfalls and sea creatures, plus the only one in New Zealand accessible by road.
I wish I’d driven from Nelson, oldest city in the south island, around the top but I didn’t get the chance.
Are you planning another trip and where?
Well. I was going to plan a trip to the Philippines, a country that I have always wanted to go to but with the 2020 lockdown it’s been put on a back bench!
Do you prefer booking a tour or making your own itinerary?
Okay, I have sort of done both. In New Zealand we booked and planned everything ourselves.
- Pros: It’s cheaper; you can do what you want, whenever you want and however you want.
- Cons: It’s exhausting; every time we arrived at a new destination we had to spend the first hour organising the next place until we could relax. That is mainly because we would never know how long to stay in a town, many days were wasted because we planned it wrong.
In Australia, a group of us went to Base hostel where they organised tours and got someone to book it for us, the outcome was amazing. He booked all the hostels that we wanted and if we didn’t know what to choose, he recommended the best options.
- Pros: We were given recommendations on everything from hostels to bars, and we got discounts that we wouldn’t have if we booked it ourselves. Everything was paid upfront, which meant all the money we were saving after was for fun on the trip (DEFINITION OF FUN: ALCOHOL AND FOOD ONLY). We didn’t have to worry about not being able to afford something we might want to do in the next town as it was already organised and paid.
We could relax as soon as we got off the bus. We didn’t have to worry about wasting time as we knew precisely where we were meant to be every day. As we knew exactly where we were going to be it made planning to see someone easier. We could send them our itinerary and they could jump in and out when it was convenient for them. - Cons: Slightly more expensive in the short term as you pay for everything upfront but then the pros outweigh this. Also, you can’t change your plans easily if something comes up, like getting ill or missing a connection.
I have never done a full tour so I can’t comment on that, but I do recommend getting someone to book it for you.
What is the one item you took to New Zealand and never used?
A sleeping bag. I took it so we could go camping and if I rented a camper I could use it. I never really needed to use it. You can rent sleeping bags for practically nothing and it took up so much valuable space!
Where did you last travel to?
The end of my 2 years away finished in Melbourne, the place that still has a little of my heart.
Is there a single item you wouldn’t go travelling without?
My iPad was a lifesaver. It saves you from boredom by suppling films and it’s an easy tool to book trips, tours and accommodation. Plus, it’s lightweight and hardly takes up any room, easy to slip in and out of your bag while on the move.
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