It's almost time. This time tomorrow I'll be in LAX, waiting for my flight to New Zealand to board.

I have a couple of things I need to get done tomorrow, but they're little things. And I wanted to make sure to leave myself something to do to occupy my time before I have to be at the airport.

I know I've said it before, but I have wonderful friends. I've gotten so much love, support and help on this, it's almost staggering. I'm a lucky woman, and I know it.

I'll be keeping up here, but I'm not sure how often I'll have easy internet access. I also set up a blog for friends and family at FootstepJourneys.com. (It's my site, not a service.) I tend to keep my Xanga separate from most of the folks I know IRL, so that's where I'll post a lot of my day-to-day experience. But there will be stuff I don't want to put there that will probably end up here.

Have a great day, folks, and don't get taken in by too many April Fools.

So, I'm down to less than a week before I head off to New Zealand. So I'm making the rounds as best I can, visiting with local friends while I still can. One comment I have gotten, over and over, is along the lines of "You're so brave to be doing this..."

Every time someone says this, I feel like a fraud. I don't think this venture is brave at all. If anything, I think it's self-indulgent.

I honestly have almost nothing to lose by taking this trip. It'll drain my savings, but I can pay for my house for several months. I don't currently have a job, or a significant other, or kids, or any other responsibilities tying me to Houston. My biggest fear is that something will happen to my dog while I'm gone – and while that is a major worry for me, my puppy is almost 13 years old. I know my time with him is limited, but if I don't do this now, I won't ever get to do it on these terms because of my age. As it is, I would rather have gotten this type of visa for Ireland, but I'm too old. New Zealand was actually my third choice, but my only option for a working holiday visa at 34, and 35 is the max age for it.

So I honestly don't get why this is brave. Most of those people who make that comment follow it up with something else along the lines of "I wish I had done something like that," or "You're living out my dream." By doing this, I won't ever have that feeling. Even if everything somehow goes wrong, I'll know for the rest of my life that I at least gave this experience a shot. I have nothing to lose, except some money. One, I've wasted my share of money on things that meant a whole lot less than this will. Two, frankly, I'll make more money during my life. Why not spend it doing something that I feel I need to do?

Maybe it's just weird for me to think anything I do is all that noteworthy. And no, I'm not fishing for compliments or anything, but I really don't see all that much difference between this and a long vacation. It's not like I'm going off to join the Peace Corps or some NGO providing aid to refugees or something similar. I'm really just trying to get my career path going in a different direction. I'm not out to change the world, just mix up my life a bit.

First day of freedom

'Cause I'm taking the rest of the week off before I head out on my New Zealand adventure.

But I have modified my "plans" slightly, and I'll probably be coming home in more like 6 months, rather than a year. Of course, I put plans in quotes because I really don't have one, so we'll see how long I'm away. And what all I end up doing.

Breakfast today was an everything bagel and some bacon. (I talked about my bacon-related trip preparations on my other blog this weekend. Tom, if you see this, you might actually have something to contribute to that entry.) And it was good.

My cold seems to be on its way out, thank goodness. Today will involve a lot of housework catch-up, since I have a sink full of dirty dishes - lots of mugs, spoons and bowls from tea and soup. And the trip packing will begin after some quality laundry time. My poor dog really needs to visit the groomer, too.

*sigh* I really need to step away from the computer and get busy. Have a fabulous day, folks!

Two weeks to go...

Finally bought my one-way ticket to LA today. (I bought the round-trip ticket from LA to Auckland before I applied for my visa, because I had to, but I wanted to hold off on spending the money on the Houston-LA leg.) US Air actually had a very reasonable fare - about $115 - unlike Continental, whose fare-determining department is on crack. But that's okay, because I should now be able to get miles from my Air New Zealand flight. (I might have been able to get Continental miles by flying to New Zealand on Qantas, but I couldn't get them last time I took the trip, and I just find Qantas' customer service lacking. I have high hopes for Air New Zealand.)

Naturally, I'm trying to come down with a cold. I think the virus and my immune system are at a draw at the moment, but I'm feeling tired and achy and somewhat sore in the throat. I stayed home from work today hoping a day of rest, chicken soup and fluids will further bolster my immune system. I still feel kinda crappy right now, but I'm hoping for the best come morning.

I got the backpack I bought for myself after using my brother's on the big UK/Ireland trip down from the attic earlier. I'd forgotten how light it is. Now the packing fun can begin in earnest.

Well, my head hurts, so I'm going to stop rambling and take some ibuprofen now. Have a good evening/day, folks!

Quite honestly, I don't think I would for any amount. Aside from the very practical "I need it to work" issue, a lot of where I want to take my life involves me being at the computer. If I'm going to do travel writing, maintain my Web site, create travel videos or even reasonably manage travel photos, I have to have my computer. Or at least access to a computer.

Then there's the recreational aspect. I've gotten spoiled by having basically all my music loaded into iTunes. The best way for me to keep track of friends and family is via e-mail and blog; with the New Zealand trip, it'll also be the most cost-effective. And I do like my computer games, probably more than I should.

It's probably a sad thing, but I can't imagine what my life would be like without using a computer. Heck, I got my first one as a Christmas present when I was five or six, I think. It was an Atari 400 - not the game console, an actual computer running BASIC, complete with educational programs. Granted, I didn't get my own desktop PC until I was in college, but I've always been comfortable in front of the keyboard. I even still have both those machines - the Atari and the PC that I think has a 386 processor, but I could be wrong. I really need to check out recycling options...

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Xanga will no longer be my only blog. (And yes, believe it or not, it has been since I signed up back in the day.) The TripDiva blog is now up and running. Go me!

It's funny, because I've actually been putting in a lot of time and effort -- not to mention some chunk of change -- behind the scenes for the site. (No, it doesn't always show. But I am doing it.) I wasn't sure I had it in me. And I probably should be putting it elsewhere, but I really don't want to. It's not a site that I plan on having make me money - though I do have an Amazon affiliate ID now which I used to build links in the book reviews. It's just something I really want to do. I guess that's what happens when you have a passion for something.

I'll still post here, well, as much as I do these days. Xanga has always been about me just being me; Trip Diva is still me, but a very specific part of me. I won't be chatting there about my crappy days or worries about my personal life or anything like that. And while I'll be linking to there from here, I sure won't be linking to here from there!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Okay, the first version of the CV is finished. It's currently off being looked over by someone who specializes in such things -- Ms. Punky! I know I'm going to need to do a bit of rewriting, but from her first feedback, I don't think it'll be that major. (But hey, I've been wrong before.)

I've also done some work on TripDiva, including a bit of a rework on the home page copy, a new Tip article, new navigation images, and finally adding the "About" page - which I'm surprisingly happy with, since I don't usually like writing about myself, which is probably why the CV took me so long. I'm off to be social with friends today, but I want to get at least one "Trippin'" item up tomorrow, two if I can manage it. There's a position I want to apply for, and in case the hiring manager actually checks the site out, that section would be what she would most likely want to look at.

While I've actually been fairly productive on the writing/computer front, I haven't done any significant packing lately. I have done some sorting, which is good, but I've got to get on the ball in that front. Though it's not the main thing I'm worried about - I've got a little over a week where I'm not working before I leave, and I should be able to get that taken care of in that amount of time.

So things are continuing on apace. It's funny, because I'm not freaking out about this yet, but other people are freaking out for me. I suppose my deep-down belief that this whole experience is the right thing for me is overriding the panic factor - and thank heavens for that!

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

I may never take my resumé for granted again

It's almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I've been working on my CV for New Zealand since about 11 this morning.

Yeah, sure, I've taken breaks (like, say, I am right now), but I don't think I put this much time and effort into my original resumé – and I'm using big chunks of that to write the CV! And I'm a writer, for pity's sake!

Of course, it probably doesn't help that I keep second-guessing what I'm writing. I've done a decent amount of research online about how to write a CV for New Zealand job hunting, and a bunch of it is conflicting. Which normally wouldn't be that much of an issue, but all the sources I've look at I would consider pretty much equally credible. So I'm sort of aiming for somewhere in the middle of what I've seen and trying to be more plain-spoken than I am in my (U.S.) resumé.

I don't even want to think about cover letters right now, since those will have to be tailored to each job I apply for.

Actually, no one did. I taught myself. That probably sounds, well, not right, but it's the way it happened.

I'd had a bike for ages, but never had gotten around to having my folks teach me how to ride. Then we moved to El Paso when I was in the 6th grade, and all the kids on the block hung out on their bikes. So I started taking out my poor unused bike. And I got the hang of riding it.

Funny thing was, not once did I fall while learning to ride. Once I learned how, on the other hand, I had my share of friction burns, scrapes and contusions. That year or so was probably the healthiest I've ever been in my life. Sadly, once we moved from El Paso, I didn't ride my bike any more. I've got a bike now that I've had for I think six years now and have so far only taken out once. *sigh*

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Snap out of it, woman!

Ugh, sometimes I hate it when I have a ton of stuff to do.

I don't want to deal with it. But I know I have to. Which just makes me want to deal with it even less.

I have to write up a CV. Not just a resume. And it's like pulling intellectual teeth.

It's so stupid. I'm a writer, for pity's sake. This is what I make a living doing. Okay, not writing resumes, per se, but I've written my share. I just have trouble writing my own. I even have a decent idea what I want to include. It's just the whole sitting down with the computer and doing it.

At least I have finally started at it. So I don't have to look at a blank document. It helps, oddly enough. I'll end up fiddling with it a bunch of times before all is said and done, but that's to be expected.

I should manage to have a productive weekend, since I've been slacking off this week. Even if I have to make myself do something, anything, to get things moving back in the right direction. I know it's a cop out, but I think part of it may be the time of year. Tomorrow will be the fifth anniversary of losing my dad. I'm not in a major funk or anything, but I do feel out of sorts. Not badly, but enough for me to notice. So hopefully the funk will pass in a few more days, and I can get back to being the gutsy, take-charge kind of gal I've become in the last few months again.

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend!