Where it began...

As I settled into a 26 hr stay in the Salt Lake City, UT airport, I opened up my laptop and logged onto facebook. I was met with the usual notifications; so and so is in a relationship (boring), you have been tagged in new pictures (uh oh, wonder what they could be), Nicole Ruggiano has just completed a quiz (hmm wonder what this is about), click. Turns out, Nicole's magical destination was Australia, a place I too have on my list of things to see before I die. A simple comment turned into some facebook chatting, and 26 hrs of boredom and internet researching later, I was set on backpacking around New Zealand and Australia after I graduate. This all sounded great, but I was unsure of where I'd get the money to fund such an excursion, and I doubted someone would be dumb enough to actually buy a plane ticket to go backpacking with me, with no plans of where we were going to stay or how we were going to get there (it's ok parents, we'll figure it out ;-)).

This whole thing turned real when Nicole made a stop through Gainesville on her way back to New Orleans from picking a car up in south Florida. I had figured out that with some careful saving and selling my beloved motorcycle I could cover my portion of the trip. We could stay in hostels, camp, and crash a few people couches to keep our living expenses down. So we decided to take the plunge. We logged online to find a fairly inexpensive fare, from LAX to NZ, NZ to AUS, and then from AUS back to LAX. A few names entered here, a credit card number there, and one shaky-fingered click later, we had tickets.

The past two weeks since then have been a whirlwind of scooping up backpacking gear and planning out must see places while we are there. I have contacted several people my dad knows in both places, which will hopefully provide us with some friendly places to stay and maybe even a connection on a vehicle while we are in NZ. Since this is my first trip of this kind, I have been extensively researching everything from backpacks, to sleeping bags, to water purification systems. I am so excited that this trip I have been hoping for is actually becoming a reality.

This blog will be a way to share the experiences, plans, and pictures from now until the end of the journey. Please check back often for new updates, as we will be posting plans as we figure out what we will actually be doing while we are there.

Thank you all for your support through prayers and with hand me down camping gear.

-Brian

If anyone feels compelled to donate monetarily my paypal account is bc_wright@hotmail.com