So last night I decided it was time to start the preliminary stages of packing. It has been an ongoing concern of mine that I would get over-excited, as I tend to do, and bring waaay too much and all the wrong things. So I've been doing some research.I've been asking everyone I know, "what the heck and i going to NEED?"

The problem with this system is... everyone travels different!

Yes I'll be taking a backpack and be 'roughing it' a bit, but we're also going to be living in New Zealand, likely for an entire year. I'll be working, playing, relaxing, missing home.. there are a lot of items that could assist with each of those activities. However.. I am NOT going to be that girl who has the backpack, the suitcase, the travel bag, etc, etc, etc.

My goal with packing... pack light and enjoy a minimalistic lifestyle!

Living in one place for an extended period of time, with lots of space in your home for decorative pieces, extra items, etc, it makes it very easy to continuously accumulate more and more stuff. But in the end.. it's just that.. stuff.  No one really needs any stuff.

So.. with this trip.. I will take myself to a more simple lifestyle where all I need are some good comfy, useful clothes, my laptop, and my man! :)

Just over a year ago I found myself at a crossroads in life, not feeling as though anything was compelling me to stay in the beautiful city of Victoria, but also not sure if packing up and travelling around by myself was the right move. Lucky for me I had a mentor that helped me see through the urge to flee and I stayed put for one more year. In this past year I have learned an incredible amount about myself both professionally, and personally. I knew a trip was in my future, I just didn't know when or where. So I took those few dollars I had been saving and put them away, continued adding to them, with that thought that one day, they would be necessary. 

that day has come :D and I couldn't be happier. 

There is one major component to this trip that I didn't realize I was missing a year ago.
And I learned this at the Noodle Box. 

One lunch hour I was pleasantly greeted by my boyfriend at work and we decided to go for lunch at the Noodle Box. After waiting for food, casually chatting about life and work and how our days were going, we sat down to chow down. In between mouthfuls, as is usual, I was jabbering and nannering on about everything and anything that popped into my head. I went off on a tangent for a bit about how I was going to go to New Zealand.. this was my destination.. I could feel it.. it was coming, and sometime soon! Then it occurred to me... If I were to go to New Zealand and embark on this vast journey on my own.. Luke wouldn't be with me. 

So then, without really thinking it through, out came the words "come with me!"  

Luke hesitated a bit, came up with a few weak reasons as to why he shouldn't and then *poof* we entered planning mode! When could we go? How long could we go for? What would we do? How much money would we need? and on.. and on.. and on..

This was the beginning of the trip sweet dea and dukey take on the kiwis
and it all began at the Noodle Box.

I'd say the very beginning of our actual trip planning began on a Saturday morning, sipping coffee and silently giggling to ourselves about the prospect of actually embarking on a move across the globe. Luke set out to call his boss and break the news, I browsed every and any New Zealand website I could find and we continuously passed glances of excitement between each other. Life couldn't be more exciting.

Than it dawned on me... to leave the country, one must have a valid...

PASSPORT!

So, we both enjoyed one more calm sip of delicious weekend morning coffee and *poof* we turned on Extreme Dea and Dukey  mode. I grabbed every piece of identification I could find, we piled into the car, grabbed Luke's information, and then searched and searched and searched for parking downtown Victoria on a Saturday. After finally finding a spot, we literally ran to the mall, searched out the passport office at the top of the building, got told very rudely that we are 'no exception and everyone must wait in line', took a number and *poof* sat down to wait. dum de dum de, tick tick tick... we really began to feel the morning caffeine going to waste at this point. 

So after hours of waiting, filling out the paper work, waiting, re-filling out the paper work, and waiting some more, we finally were able to complete our passport renewal applications. Lucky for us I trusted my intuition that it was worth it to wait all day and hand the application to a person, rather than fill it out, likely wrong, mail it off, and then have it returned a few weeks later learning that you now must do it all over again. This played a crucial time-saving role when it came time to apply for our New Zealand Working Holiday Visas.