"Dear God, HELP...!"

It's just over four weeks until I leave Uncle Sam and travel down under to the lands of the Aussies and Kiwis. I'll be traveling on my own for the first six days while the rest of the Northern Illinois Friendship Force group tour NZ's South Island. I'll be backpacking solo again for about four weeks in NZ after the FF exchanges end. How, you might ask, do I travel by myself?  How do I handle the challenges of traveling with only God and "the lady in the mirror" to depend on?  First, I PRAY! Then, since I have traveled solo before, I'll remember some of the pitfalls. In Costa Rica, I arrived at the airport one day early for my flight home because I'd lost track of the days. In the Old City in Jerusalem, I had to defend myself from an aggressive seller by yelling "Liar!" right back at him because he had repeatedly and loudly called me one. In Ecuador, I had my brand new camera stolen the second day I arrived because I was not  vigilant on a city bus. In the Galapagos Islands, I attended a Saturday mass, offering paz (peace) to others in my pew, humming along with the guitar praise band, giving an offering and enjoying the service until I looked closely toward the altar and saw... a coffin! I stood up and slowly backed out of the chapel feeling pretty stupido for not knowing more Espanol!

Now I'm planning to travel solo again. From all the books I've read and all accounts I've heard from previous travelers there, I am very fortunate! My mom, my brother, Keith and his wife, Yvonne, (above photo dancing at daughter Karli's wedding) and some neighbors here in Fernandina have traveled there and all of them absolutely loved it!  NZ is an English speaking country (perhaps in name only, though, if you read my previous post!). Tourism is their number one industry and the country is full of friendly, tourist loving people. They have transportation, hotels, hostels, Wwoof-ing, homestays, tours and adventures expertly set up for all travelers, including solos.  I have spent hundreds of hours on the internet to find the best, yet cheapest ways to travel, places to stay and destinations to experience. There are many choices in the NZ islands of adrenaline!   Many nights I went to bed with computer eyestrain from Google-ing, linking and choosing what to do. But now I'm almost ready! I've got my backpack, Magicbus pass, hostels reserved, day tours and treks set. It feels good!  And as prepared as I am for this trip, I can't help but remember my first backpacking adventure. It was  a seventy-seven day hitchhiking/hosteling "fly by the seat of our pants" trip through Europe that  Tillie (Linda Tilton Preston) and I shared almost forty years ago after college graduation. (other photo)  The only reservation we made in advance was for the charter flight that flew in and out of Heathrow! After that, a wing and a prayer is what guided us around the continent on $5 a day.  It was fun and I'll have fun on this trip, too. Oh, and one other thing won't change.  I'm sure many of my prayers will still be started, "Dear God, HELP..."