the motorcycle blogentry

The end date of my health insurance coverage is fast approaching, so I thought I'd celebrate with my very first motorcycle ride (haha, just kidding about the insurance part, Mom - I actually even have one day of overlap with the new policy!).

I'd been hoping to kick off my 'retirement' with the 2-day MSF beginner's motorcycle course sometime this month, but scheduling didn't work out. Fortunately, I have awesome friends, which meant there was a way for me to get my first motorcycle ride in before NZ even without the class. Pete took me on a great ride way out River Road on his bike in between the thunderstorms tonight. It was incredible – even made me consider changing my 'must-always-live-someplace-near-power-boatable-water' requirement, since it's a similar feeling. I really didn't need another expensive potential hobby especially right after quitting my job for a year though – scuba, digital photography and of course travel in general would have been enough!

Today was a big day in other regards, too – I sold my car and remaining furniture, although I still have the car until tomorrow and three pieces of furniture until Sunday. The whole thing still doesn't feel real yet...

baby jetta

I listed my car for sale today. Getting rid of my stuff hadn't bothered me yet - even all my matching 'grown-up' furniture I'd bought with my first few paychecks, or those clothes I'd saved for years in the hope that I'd be able to fit into them again someday and they'd also be back in style whenever that happened. I let go of all those pretty easily.

But hitting the submit button on the craiglist ad for my car was harder. First, it made me realize I really am doing this - moving halfway across the world. And I know I want to, but I'm still scared. And second, I've put 84,000 miles worth of memories on that car in the 5 years and 2 days I've owned it.

'Baby Jetta' is only my second car. My first was a 1989 Dodge Spirit, really more of a tank than a car, with overstuffed dark red velour seats and a self-installed sound system (yes, including a powered bass tube...) more valuable than the car. The Spirit met its demise on a highway near Kings Dominion on the way back from my summer internship orientation after we hydroplaned into a construction van, and a Neon completed the sandwich.

So there I was, car-less and in need of a way to get to work every day. The dealership ad for the black automatic '97 Jetta with a moonroof and trailer hitch (...?) just seemed to be calling my name. Sure, it had over 96K miles on it, and fewer features than some others in the same price range - but it was perfect! I headed to the dealership with my brother Charles, who had kindly volunteered to come down for a weekend of car shopping, and there it was - I had to have it! Unfortunately, I'd somehow forgotten my license, and we'd driven far enough to get there that turning around seemed like it would be a waste, so the test drive was up to Charles. I surveyed the car from the passenger's seat and - ooh, look, there's an extra pedal! Fun! What's that for? Awkward silence. You mean the clutch? Charles asked. Clutch? What clutch? It's automatic. It said so right in the listing - right here, see?

I had somehow wormed out of my parents' requirement of learning to drive stick before I got my license, and now I was stuck. The listing was wrong, but this was meant to be my car. I inherited stubbornness/hard-headedness from both sides of the family, so I wasn't going to let a little thing like not knowing how to drive the car stop me. I got a quick tutorial from Charles and the salesman, who had said that anyone could learn how to drive a manual transmission car, and we took the car out on the road. And then the salesguy decided maybe he was wrong - um, yes, well, it can be harder for some people than others - want to go look at some of the others?

No - it was the Jetta or nothing. That week, I got up at 5 o'clock in the morning each day to drive the car, which had been delivered to my apartment, over to empty Innsbrook parking lots to figure out exactly how to drive the thing. I spent most of the time on the way over stalled out or in first gear, so I taped a hand-markered sign to the rear bumper: Please be patient, I'm learning to drive stick. Thanks! The sign helped me make friends with pretty much anyone who was out at that hour - unfortunately, people liked to honk and wave, which is not helpful when you're trying hard to concentrate.

I learned to drive the 'real' way on this car, I drove it 9,000 miles cross-country and back, took it on countless shorter roadtrips, moved into/out of 3 apartments with it and drove it to work nearly every day for the past four years. I guess I understand why it's a little harder to part with it, but hopefully someone else will get good use out of it now.

the eight-oh-four

I'll miss this place. Richmond has surprised me - there's a ton of interesting stuff going on, you just have to figure out where to find it. That part took me a while, but I still racked up some great memories.

Here's just some of what I'll remember:

New Experiences
Roller Derby - Mechanicsville Ruritans' Tractor Pull/Oyster Roast - Hot Rod Nationals - Outdoor rodeo - The circus - NASCAR - Genworth Tennis Classic - Monster Truck Jam - James River Adventure Games -

Richmond Classics
First Fridays & Culture Vultures - Hollywood Cemetery - Friday Cheers - Innsbrook After-Hours - Lazy days at West End pools - Greek Festival - Lebanese Food Festival - Irish Festival - VMFA - James River Cellars - Reading at Byrd Park - Childrens' Hospital Casino Night - Photo safaris at the Richmond Zoo - Belle Isle - Carytown shopping - Tacky Lights Tour - Monument Avenue 10K - Carytown 10K - Byrd Theater -

Food & Fun with Friends
Cafe Gutenberg - Lazy days at West End pools - Havana '59 - Kuba Kuba - WAKA Kickball - River City Kickball, Dodgeball and Football - Tubing, kayaking or just hanging out on the river - James River Cellars Fridays on the Patio - Oktoberfest 5K - Millie's - Veggie Fest - Girls' nights - Vegetarian Dinner Night - McLean's big breakfast - Jean Jacques pastries - Dairy Bar - Tarrant's tomato soup - Comfort - Croaker's Spot -

tucker

Tucker is my rambunctious 4-year-old border collie, seen at right in his favorite 'swimming pool.'

Although he'd love all the sheep in New Zealand, he's not big on transportation (it took us 15 minutes and lots of trickery to get him in the car to leave my parents' place on Friday night; I can't imagine his reaction to an airplane cargo hold), so he'll be staying stateside for the year.

Tucker will be living with my parents, keeping my dad's pitching arm in shape with endless games of fetch, and giving my mom (who's the one who will end up actually doing the work to take care of him) something to worry about aside from/in addition to me. Mom and Dad have really been enjoying their empty nest for the last eight years, so they agreed only reluctantly to this temporary addition to the household. But when I started talking about finding an adoptive family for Tucker, Mom said I couldn't do that because "no one would understand him as well as [she does]" - I know Tucker will have a good time with them, and even though they might not admit it, I think they will enjoy having him around!

james river scramble

I did the James River Scramble, a 10K Xterra trail run, this morning - so much fun!

The 'obstacles' (lots of stairs, a ladder, the 'Mayan Ruins,' hopping across river rocks, makeshift bridges) keep it interesting, and about half the course is shady which is great for a June event.

Now I need to do Muddy Buddy when I get back in '08...who's in?!?

the (un)plan

Not surprisingly, I get a lot of questions whenever I tell someone I'm moving to New Zealand in the next few weeks. I don't have answers to all the questions - that's part of the fun! - but here are some FAQs and associated answers, if known, about the upcoming year...

When are you leaving (variation: Wait, you're still here?!)?
I leave Richmond on July 1, Virginia on July 9, the U.S. on July 12, Rarotonga on July 18, and arrive in New Zealand July 19 - the day before my 26th birthday.

So...what are you doing until then?
Craigslist-ing, eBay-ing and autotrader-ing nearly everything I've accumulated over the past four (25?) years. I'm not putting anything in storage, although my brother & parents might take issue with the accuracy of that statement. I'm also getting everything else in order - trip stuff, converting all paper files to electronic, slowly learning how to use Blogger, etc. Also, most importantly, trying to catch up with everyone before I leave.

Why New Zealand?
It's English-speaking, I can get a work permit and a job easily, and I've heard it's a beautiful country with friendly people and lots of outdoor activities.

Why one year?
It's pretty arbitrary, and could change - right now, it seems like long enough to get a feel for what it's like to live somewhere else, but short enough that I won't get off track from savings and career perspectives.

Will you be in New Zealand the whole time?
No. I'm planning to use NZ as a 'home base' for a lot of other trips - Australia, Asia, islands in the South Pacific. Also, if/when I've figured out the whole living-abroad thing, I might move to a non-English-speaking country so I can try to pick up a new language.

Where will you be living? Do you have an apartment?
I don't know, and no - not yet. I've heard a couple of votes against Auckland, and a few for Wellington and Queensland. Anyone else want to weigh in? If possible, I'd like to remain pretty mobile, so I'll probably stay in hostels for a while and look for short-term leases/sub-lets, and hopefully get to live in a couple of different cities/towns along the way.
I do have the first couple weeks of accomodations planned out - beginning July 9, it's 2 nights in Vegas, then off to L.A., with a couple of airport/plane/internat'l date line nights, then five nights in the Cook Islands, and two in Auckland hostels. Oh, and yes, I did finally buy all the plane tickets.

Do you have a job there?
Not yet - I plan to find 'casual employment' with the help of BUNAC, the organization sponsoring my work permit and providing various other useful services. I'll be looking for short-term jobs so I can earn money to live and travel, but I want the flexibility to pick up and travel anytime, so I'm not looking for a 'career-job.'
My plan is to just break even for the year, excluding the round-trip plane ticket and, of course, lost salary/savings from my 'real job.'

Are you traveling with anyone else? Do you know anyone there?
Yes, and no - not directly, although I'm collecting 'second-degree connections' if you have any you'd like to share!
Sabrina is going for the first six months or so. For those of you who don't know her, we met when we were RAs together at UVA, she was my roommate in Richmond for the first two years, we traveled to Ghana in December '05, and we've had all sorts of other adventures over the past six years. Sabrina's also the only person who told me I couldn't/wouldn't move to the other side of the world for a year, and, well, if you know me well enough to know about my competitive side, you know what that means.

And the big question - why?
That's the subject of a whole other future post. But really, why not?