Life is Happening for You

Roskilde Music Festival

annacarlson — Tue, 9 Jul 2013 01:21:00 GMT

I arrived in Copenhagen and took trains to the town of Roskilde's station. From there I wasn't sure how to get to the festival, but I knew that there would be either signs, people to help, or in the worst case sineario, I could just follow the other backpackers and hippies like my friend had told me to. I got off the train and I think no one really knew what to do because the other people went in all different directions. So I followed a couple of girls until I heard the sound of bongo drums- then I followed the bongos until I (eventually) made it to the festival. My Danish friend had picked up my armband for me and brought it to me and also got me the job that paid for my ticket (thank you Josefine!). She showed me to our campsite and the tent that she had bought for me to stay in all week (again, thank you Josefine!) which fit one backpacker, and her bag, perfectly.

I had never been to a music festival this big before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I knew there was going to be a lot of drinking, a lot of music, and a lot of crazy hippies - all of which I'm completely comfortable with. There were people dressed up in all sorts of crazy costumes, outfits and sometimes absolutely nothing at all. Some highlights include: a full Borat costume, Pikachu, the village people and any sort of fury, animal costume you could think of. There was even a sexy sax player, playing an actual saxophone.

Every campsite had its own speakers, that ran on a car battery, so people could play their music out loud. Some people would play their music so only their camp could hear it and others played Taylor Swift so loudly at 4:45am, that it woke up the people around them. I was walking through one of the main areas and heard Usher, heavy metal, techno, top 40, 80's R&B, and some Danish song from the multiple camps as I was walking along.

The one thing about having 100,000 people camping and drinking massively for a week straight is how to deal with the basic human needs. Lets start with food: there were so many different types of food stands (most of which sold into the early morning) all over the festival site, that no one could go hungry. That and the amount of food that most people brought in themselves meant that there were options at every turn. All of that food meant there was going to be a lot of trash. Apparently it is only a festival thing, but no one would throw away their trash- and there were no trash bins around the camping sites. I didn't see a trash bin or bag until my 5th day there. This meant that everyone (myself included sometimes) would just throw their trash an beer cans on the ground. It got really old and really smelly , really quickly. Some of the beer cans had refunds for cash and there were people collecting them, but no one was touching the other trash on the ground. Now for restrooms: there were porto-potties everywhere with sinks and TP provided (which was so nice after Nepal) but most of the men wouldn't go that far to pee. New rules: don't walk next to the fences, and never step in mud (it only rained slightly on one of the first days).

On the the music! There were 4 main people/bands I wanted to see and I got to see 3/4 (The Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men, Rihanna, and Miguel). The first main band I saw was The Lumineers! None of my Danish friends knew who they were so I went alone, which kind of worked out perfectly because I got to work my way up pretty close to the stage. The Lumineers were really good live and it wasn't too crowded because they aren't well known here in Denmark. I also saw a little bit of Kendrick Lamar and Animal Collective that day. Both were pretty crowded so I was further away, but were keeping the crowd engaged.

The next day had 2 of my 4 artists playing so it promised to be good. A couple of my new Danish friends also really wanted to see Of Monsters and Men so we stood in line for what the call 'the pit' which is the area right in front of the stage. We got there almost 3 hours before the concert started and it paid off- we were in the 2nd row! It was amazing to be that close to the only band that has made me buy an entire album in the last 8 years. Afterwards we went to Rihanna and the line to get into the pit was about a quarter of a mile. So we decided to jump into line near the front and got places in the last row of the first section! Rihanna was 35 minutes late getting to the stage and was singing over a voice track, but she can shake her ass when she wants to. Overall, I'm glad I saw her but I don't know if I would pay to see her again in such a big arena. I didn't get to see Miguel because I was working, but I'm glad I got to see the other 3!

Other music: I saw about 5 minutes of Slipknot that evening and in between songs, the lead singer called the audience 'motherfuckers' 3 times in 2 sentences. I don't think heavy metal is really my thing. I caught most of a band called Dead can Dance just because I was waiting to meet up with my friends. They were a little too new-age for me but would be perfect for a little Israeli restaurant the caters to hippies and serves all vegetarian, organic food. I caught a little bit of Bobby Womack while waiting for some food - he's still got it. After Rihanna was a Danish heavy metal band called Volbeat. I didn't stay to hear them but their music was so loud, I could hear it while lying in my tent with earplugs in. I also overheard Metallica but wasn't super interested and was having a good time drinking somewhere else. I also got to hear this great Aussie DJ called Flume. He was good.

This specific festival (Roskilde Festival) tries to differential itself from other festivals by promoting an anti-drug campaign. There were posters on all the fences (I would steal one, but remember the rules!) and they played a video before every major artist. I did smell some weed every now and again, but not every single day. It is a hippie fest but the Danes like their hygiene apparently. Not only did all of the people in my camp go home to shower at least twice (the armbands gave anyone in-and-out privileges) but all of the women around the festival had clean hair and nice clothes on. I on the other hand, had exactly 4 shirts and wore then each twice. I felt like they were cheating on the festival experience, but that's just how the Danes do it. The only bad thing about Roskilde Festival is that on Sunday night, when all the bands have finished playing and mostly everyone is on their way home, the really drunk or stupid people choose to gather all their crap that they are going to leave behind and light it on fire- specifically the tents. They go around and light tents on fire in a field of tents! I don't know who came up with this idea but its going to cost me- I was going to spend Sunday night in the tent, but because I don't want to be lit on fire in my sleep, I headed to Copenhagen a day early.

Last thoughts: I leaned a couple of great new drinking games that I can't wait to use when next camping. The sun not only sets at about 10:30pm, but it also rises at 3:15am. There are only about 3-4 hours of complete darkness each night. It was fun to not be the only white person again and actually somewhat look like the rest of the people around me. The Danes are incredibly nice. I may have gotten groped a few times, but I never felt unsafe or threatened. I only heard of one fight the entire week!

An the final big question: Would I do it again? I don't regret doing it, I had so much fun and its an experience that I'll never forget. I now know that I could come a little later in the week and not spend an entire week camping without a shower. Bring more of my own food and boos (although I didn't spend a lot for 1 week of traveling). I probably wouldn't work or I'd try to get better shifts. My work shifts collided with a lot of the music and I felt like I missed a fair amount. It would have to be a bit of a better line up for me also- 4 main acts isn't quite enough for me to come all this way again. But yes, I would do it again.

Skul (cheers) Roskilde!

Vienna and Berlin

annacarlson — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 07:07:00 GMT

Vienna

I'm back in Europe! The first thing i saw getting off the plane was Ryan, and my first thought after that was "I'm going to like this city just because i get to spend time with my brother." It was a beautiful city, complete with the huge marble buildings, large parks, and gelato stands on every corner. A day later we both headed back to the airport to pick up mom who needed a vacation.

Vienna felt familiar because it seemed like a mix of other European cities all mixed together: it had the grand buildings of Paris, the public parks of London, the language of Germany and the wealth of any city in Switzerland. The food was good, i had gelato within 3 hours of getting my passprt stamped.

Mom and i toured through the Kaiser apartments on morning while Ryan slept in. The Kaiser apartments was the royal housing for Franz Joseph and his famous wife Cici. St Stephens Cathedral was the main church in the middle of the town and was beautiful on the inside and out. Ryan swam in the Danube one hot afternoon like a local (which i guess he almost qualifies as). Mom and Ryan saw live opera projected outside the opera house while i wasn't feeling well and stayed in that night. Ryan had to pack up his semester abroad because he was leaving from Berlin to go back to Seattle.

Berlin

The three of us all trained to Berlin together where Ryan was going to fly out of. We got into Berlin at about 11:00pm and there were so many people out and about just drinking and hanging out during summer.

Berlin was interesting because it has single handedly shaped modern history because of the decisions made within its walls. We went to a number of museums, my favorite was the German Film History Museum. Starting from the invention of film, which Germany claims (along with every other European country), up to just after the fall of the wall, this museum looked at the history of Germany through film. The only issue i had with the museum is that it glossed over the Nazi propaganda era of film - i think because most of those films aren't allowed to be shown in Germany still.

We saw parts of the Berlin wall and went to Checkpoint Charlie - there was a Starbucks and McDonalds direclty on the American side of the checkpoint. Brandenburg Gate was beautiful and we came accross a street fair on one side which we wandered through. The Jewish Memorial was sobering and informative while being a really well-presented museum about a horrible part of history directly tied to the city.

Overall the food was great, the people were nice, and the time was best spent with my mom and brother.

Nepal

annacarlson — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:52:00 GMT

It's going to be difficult to put 3 weeks of intense hiking and touring around Kathmandu into 1 blog entry, but I'm going to try.

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is an interesting city. It has 2 main religions: Buddhism and Hindu and the cultural norms combine both of those into a very male dominated society. My initial impressions was that the city itself felt like what India might feel like: crowded and hot. I was right about that one. The stupas are stunning and have stunning views as most of them overlook the city and sit high on hills. Durbar Square is a fascinating mix of old buildings used for a variety of purposes. The 'square' sits in the middle of the city and is an open square (doesn't have a big wall around it).

Thamel (the tourist section) is about the size of 8 city blocks where the streets twist and turn and its easy to get lost on first arrival, but once you figure it out its easy to move around. Men come up to you ad they try to get you to buy needless crap as women come up and beg for money to feed their children. Even the dogs on the street will try to follow you to get food. Most buildings have some sort of tourist shop on the ground level (either books & maps, hippie clothes, or hiking gear) and either a restaurant or bar on the second level which always includes a 'roof-top view' but only about 50% actually have them.

Trekking

The trek up to and down from Everest Base Camp was amazing. There were a couple of days where the physical exertion was almost too much, but i bet almost anyone who works out regularly and who could adjust to the altitude could do that trek. I had a little bit of altitude sickness once I reached 4000 meters, but i started taking the Diamox (altitude sickness medicine) and an Advil and i was fine.

The views of the mountains were some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring natural wonders.

One particular highlight was watching the sun set on the peak of Everest-while everything else in view was shades of blue, black or white, the peak remained red/orange for a few more minutes until the clouds rolled in and submerged us in grey.

It wasn't what i was expecting but it was all happily unexpected.

Our group was supposed to fly back to Kathmandu from a small airport called Lukla (the most dangerous airport in the world) but the weather wasn't relenting enough to even let a single flight in for about a week. There was the option to pay for a helicopter ($500) to fly us back to Kathmandu, but a couple of us were tossing around the idea of walking back part of the way until the first main city with road and catching a bus from there- so i decided to go with them. I changed my flight to Vienna for a week later, showered, did some laundry and started walking the next day.

A very long story short- it took 19 hours walking and about another 19 hours in basically a Toyota 4-Runner to get back to Kathmandu. It was just under 4 days total to do that, which meant i got another 4 days in Kathmandu.

I love Nepal. It was amazing. I had a lot of fun, met some amazing people (Matt) and learned a little more about myself. Im sure ill come back one day, i still have some hiking to do around here.

16 Hour Chinese Layover (and other observations)

annacarlson — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:30:00 GMT

Random thoghts:

Well that visa thing is always a sticky situation, especially being an American in China

Got to love free luggage carts (keep up USA- this is how China is beating us)

I love that proud moment when you see your bag on the carousel for the first time

Now its 13 hours of sitting in the open part of the airport- cant check in, cant leave the airport

Luckily the customs guy either felt sorry for me or just didn't want to deal with it (or had no other choice) but to let me in the country. No one told me at first but after about an hour of moping and feeling horrible that i was going to have to sit in the open part of the airport with my luggage a very nice flight attendant told me that the airport was closing at a certain point in the night and that i could in fact get a hotel room for the night! O happy day! I went to the hotel that the flight attendant recommended and got a room which would have been creepy under any other circumstances, but it was so much better than the alternative.

At a certain point in my hour of moping my emotions were flaring and all i wanted to do was call my dad and talk to him. He always knows how to calm me down and look at the situation logically (probably something he used a lot during his affair). That's a trait he passed on to me: the ability to see both sides of most situations and justify both of them. I use it for shopping, he uses it for other things.

It's been about a month since i first left and my how time flies. This month of moving around a lot (I've spent almost 48 hours on planes so far - not including the 5hour tarmac layover and time in the airports) and spending time with my friends who i don't get to see a lot, has been really therapeutic. Im not ready to forgive and forget (I don't know that ill ever be able to do both of those completely) but i think I'm ready to move out of the house.

Next stop is Kathmandu - I'm currently sitting in the Kunming Airport in China - and i know that whatever issues i have from all this will be apparent when put under the pressure cooker of 2 weeks of high altitude physical stress. I'm going to try my best to be aware of them and write them down so i can work on them later.

Seoul, South Korea

annacarlson — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:39:00 GMT

This was one of the most exciting legs of the trip to me. I got to spend time with one of my best friends, I didn't have to think much about what I wanted to do because Hannah would tell me, and I got free room and board! During this leg I was staying with one of my Hannah's (the one from Santa Cruz and London) and her sister Gabrielle in their small but homely apartment. It's nice to stay with someone you know, after travelling from hostel to hostel, for longer than 3 days!

My first full day in Korea was an experience. I woke up after a LONG sleep and for Korean Starbucks (it's the same thing, just with Korean writing and pronunciation). For lunch i had a traditional Korean dish of mixed rice that had lots of veggies and a cooked egg on it. There was a concert at her school that we wet to and I got to experience K-pop which is pop music in Korean and is all the rage here (think N*sync & Britney, but in Korean). For dinner we got street food and then just went to a few bars.

Friday was a very mixed day of traditional and new wave. In the morning Hannah and I went to Gyung Bok Gung Palace which was the former residence of the royal family before the Japanese destroyed it and built a office building; then the Koreans flattened the Japanese building when they got their country back and rebuilt the palace using pieces of other palaces (they're still not happy with the Japanese about that one). Later that night we decided to go clubbing Korean style, in Gangnam - literally. found out that Korea doesn't have a last call or closing time, so by the time we left the club, the sun was coming up. It was really weird, but a really fun night!

Since then, we have slowed the pace down a little. I've seen beautiful temples which were decorated for Buddha's birthday, museums dedicated solely to the Korean war, which I didn't know much about before, and climbed to Seoul tower which overlooks the entire city from the top of a hill. There aren't a lot of historical sites because either the Japanese or the North Koreans destroyed most of them during wars, but there is a lot of good food...

The food here has been amazing. Most of the traditional main Korean dishes are spicy, but it's a different type of spiciness than Mexican or Indian. They like to have meat in almost all of their dishes which i don't mind one bit, and they all seem to have a sweet tooth, which I don't mind either. They have amazing pastries that are made fresh every day and they really like putting ice cream on waffles!

Korea is a very interesting place (I almost want to say hypocritical, but that isn't the most positive word) with strong ties to the US, especially in recent history. Their postcards all say 'Now & the Past in Harmony" but they are still mad at the Japanese for taking them over. They also have a US military base in downtown Seoul and I still got stared at as a white woman - you would think they would be used to white people in their country by now. they also have plastic surgery to look more western, but alienate anyone who isn't 100% Korean.

I have enjoyed visiting the country and may come back in the future, but I don't know how long i could live or stay here. I came because Hannah was here and I don't regret coming, I'm glad I could experience it and put the pin in my map, but I didn't click with Seoul the way I normally do with places.

It's on to Nepal next. I'm not sure how much internet I'm going to have there (especially in the Himalayas) but assume no news is good news.

Sydney and getting to Seoul

annacarlson — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:04:00 GMT

On Monday May 13th, i woke up in Alice Springs and made my way to the airport to fly to Sydney to get to see Ally! It was about 6:30 pm-ish when i landed. Ally came and picked me up at the metro station outside her house. I met the family who shes staying with who are super nice (and American) and their 2 and a half year old Rudy who is the most adorable!

Ally and i walked over the Harbor Bridge, not the really top section that the tourists do because it was closed at night and too expensive! We went to a district called 'The Rocks' which is the harbor district and had dinner at Lord Nelson Brewery which brews their own beer and is the oldest pub in Sydney. The food was good and cheap and the pints were only AUS$9- which is cheap for Sydney! We just talked for hours and got caught up, it was as if no time had passed since the last time we saw each other. We walked along the harbor, and bought some chocolate, to the Opera House which was as stunning in real life as it is in the postcards. Eventually we walked our way back to her house where i crashed.

The next morning i awoke to the sounds of Rudy playing with his cars. Ally made me breakfast and the two of the walked me to the train station where i got BIG hugs from both of them before heading back to the airport.

Overall Australia treated me really well and i cant wait to go back and experience more of the amazing people and places!!

My flight from Sydney to Seoul was supposed to take 24 hours and have 2 layovers in Singapore and Shanghai. The first flight was operated my Quantas and went smoothly and the Singapore airport was amazing! Free wi-fi, free tv and movies, and some of the world's best shopping (Gucci, Prada, Tiffany's, Burberry, Hermes, etc.). The next 2 legs of the journey were operated by China Eastern Airlines. We boarded just fine in Singapore, but when we got into China, the fog (smog) in shanghai was supposedly too thick and dangerous for the captain to safely land in Shanghai. So we landed in Hangzhou, which is about 180km away from Shanghai, but weren't allowed to disembark the plane. So we waited for 5 hours in the plane with the flight attendants ignoring us, no food until the very end before we took off, and little water. It was not fun.

Once we finally took off the flight time to Shanghai was only 40 minutes! We literally could have disembarked, and took a train to Shanghai in the amount of time we were on the tarmac. Anyways, when we finally landed in Shanghai, i missed my connecting flight and was re-booked on a later flight. That flight was delayed for 7 hours with very little communication from the staff and the official status of the flight nit changing until 4 hours after we were supposed to take off! The official excuse was that the fog (smog) was too thick for the planes to land in Shanghai, but other airlines were flying and landing, so i think its just a company policy of theirs. The entire 7 hours all we got was one crappy free meal. Hannah was supposed to come pick me up at the airport, but i dint have her number, and China doesn't allow Facebook, so to let her know what was going on, i literally had to call my mom and have her Facebook Hannah for me!

We finally got another plane and flew to Seoul. Our landing time was at 11:30pm local time- literally 12 hours after i was supposed to land. All-in-all it was a really crappy experience with China Eastern Airline and the most unfortunate part is that they are the airline I'm flying with to Kathmandu in 8 days. We'll see what happens.

In the Outback

annacarlson — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:12:00 GMT

Woke up really early in Alice Springs after spending the night at yet another hostel and ate a free breakfast (!) before jumping on my bus with G Adventures (its the same company ill be doing the trek in nepal with, so I'm glad i got to check them out before). It was about a 5-6 hour drive out to the place we were camping near Uluru (Ayers Rock) with only a few bathroom breaks. After getting to the campsite for lunch and having some sandwiches, we got back into the bus and went to see Uluru 'the rock'. We first stopped at the cultural center to learn a bit more about the Aboriginals and their beliefs about the rock. Next we went and drove around the rock with our tour guide telling us about the aboriginal stories and how their stories coincide with the cracks, holes and stains on the rock.

We had a choice to walk either 8K or 4K around the rock (we could have done the whole thing, but we were running low on time). So i chose to do the 8K which i finished in 1&1/2 hours! After barely making it to the bus alive, we loaded up and went to watch the sunset with bubbly! We had a light snack of nuts, fruit, and chips & dip - along with the champagne as we watched the sun set on Uluru. It was a great sunset with just the right amount of clouds to highlight the colors. We packed up and went back to our camp where we had a bbq dinner of camel burgers, kangaroo steaks and sausages (along with salad and bread). The camel was pretty good and the kangaroo was a little on the tougher side to chew. We slept under the stars since the weather was perfect in what Aussies call swags which are basically a big canvas bag with a small foam mattress pad inside. We each got a pillow and put our sleeping bags inside and slept like babies until the dingos howled.

The next morning we woke ip really early to a breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, oj, cereal, etc. and it was delicious. We packed up the bus and drove to watch the sunrise on Uluru and the Olgas, which are another rock formation/ slight mountain range in the desert only about 50km away from Uluru. The aboriginal boys have their initiation tests into manhood at the Olgas. After watching the sunrise we went to the Olgas to hike around and get a better look at them. The Olgas were really beautiful inside and the back end looked like a scene from 'The Land Before Time' movies. It was so lush and green but surrounded by red rock formations. We went back to Uluru for a little walk and talk by our tour guide about the caves and other important parts of the rock. Went back to camp for lunch before packing up the car and got on the rainy road to our next campsite. We made dinner played games and slept inside because of the rain.

Woke up the next day at 5:30 again to go on a hike of Kings Canyon. We first hiked almost directly up the canyon to the top for a great view of the area. The hike was a couple of hours along the top of the canyon. There was one particularly cool part where we crossed a bridge over a little revine that was named 'The Valley if Eden' because it was to lush and green in the middle of the red desert. The hike was fun in the rain but cold when we stopped to take photos.

After the hike we packed up the car and drove back to Alice Springs where we all met up for dinner and drinks. It was a fun drunken evening!

Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and the Rainforest

annacarlson — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:02:00 GMT

Cairns

Tuesday May, 7th woke up fairly early for my tour of the Great Barrier Reef. I chose to do a day tour with 1 scuba dive where you didn't have to get a license- almost like a trial dive- and with a company where the ratio of new diver to pro was 2:1 so the pro was literally holding my hang the whole time, which is what I wanted for my first dive.

On the way out to the reef, the instructors went over some breathing tips, equipment info, and sign language used underwater. I was in the first group to dive with a girl from England named Gemma. She had done a dive before, do she knew more of what she was doing. Once we had all the equipment on, we hopped into the water with our floaty vests that could be adjusted for depth of dive. After doing more safety checks in the water, we started diving! We went to a depth of 6 meters (not sure what that is in feet). Along the 25 minute dive, we saw 3 sea turtles, 2 Nemo (clown fish), lots if coral (obviously), more different types of fish than I've ever seen, and so many fantastic colors.

Once we were done with the dive, we swam back to the boat where we almost immediately jumped back in to do snorkeling! I saw more sea turtles, sting rays, more fish, coral and colors, but no sharks-the only thing that was missing. The weather that day started fine, but near the end of the day it started to get choppier and by the time we got off the boat it was raining. This made it difficult to snorkel because the waves kept getting water into the snorkel, but i got to see what i wanted, so I'm happy!

The next day, Gemma and i were on the same rainforest tour out of Cairns and into the surrounding rainforest. It was raining, but it was the rainforest, so you ant complain that much when the weather is in the name. The rainforest was so interesting- there are so many plants and animals that we never get to see! We saw a cathedral fig tree which was so big it would take 21 people to wrap their arms around the base. We also saw a python during a walk unto the forest and lots of huge gross spiders. Last in the day we saw a platypus swimming in a river, which was so cute and a lot smaller than i expected.

Afterwards, i went with Gemma to her hostel where her friend Katie (who was on the scuba boat the day before) had made us dinner. We drank in their room and went down to the hostel bar/club downstairs where i met a NBA players brother! It was an awesome night and i had so much fun!! I needed a night out like that!

Both the diving and snorkeling were such amazing experiences and i really want to go back to Cairns to another dive spot and another season where i can see more. Maybe for my birthday when the weather is better...

Perth, Fremantle and Margaret River

annacarlson — Mon, 6 May 2013 06:30:00 GMT

After leaving Auckland, I headed to Perth to see and spend time with Mrs. Emma and her wonderful boyfriend Sam.

Day 4 was spent traveling because of a lovely 6 and a half hour layover in Melbourne airport (which is the perfect amount of time to not be able to get out and see the city- because of where the airport is located). San was nice enough to pick me up from the airport and Emma and her other friend who was visiting had made a nice home-cooked dinner for all of us.

Day 5 was spent with Emma and Rosie wondering around Fremantle, trying multiple cafes, looking through the shops and (of course) drinking wine - warming up for the weekend. The day ended with dinner and more wine over multiple games, drinking and otherwise.

Friday we packed up a cramped car with 7 people, all of our stuff, and headed down south for a weekend in the wine country Margaret River. The drive was long (3 hours) but it went quickly with a nap in the car. We stopped at 4 wineries on the way to our lovely shack that we were staying at. We managed to fit 7 people into a shack made for 6. At the sturdy winery we stopped at, we all chipped in and bought a case of wine for the evening and spent the rest of the night drinking all of it before switching to rum.

Saturday was a very slow start but we had made the commitment to spend the weekend drinking wine and that was what we were going to do. We had breakfast at a wonderful beachside cafe that had gorgeous views of the ocean and amazing food. Superhero Sam was our 'skipped' or DD for the day and had to put up with a lot of embarrassing and wtf moments so he gets extra props! I would have driven, but wrong side of the car and road would not have been a good combo!! We stopped at 8 wineries, 2 chocolate tasting companies, 1 cheese making farm, and our lunch stop was an olive oil/tapenade/hand lotion/soap place (lots of free samples!). We bought yet another case of wine and demolished that as well that night. We played multiple games, both of the drinking and non-drinking varieties and had too much drunken fun together.

Sunday was an early start to check out of the shack and get on the road (kind of). We packed up the car and went to the same place as the day before for breakfast. We drove to a popular surfing spot and watched the surfers and admired the view before heading off to Australia's largest hedge maze. We split up into 2 groups the 'kids' and the 'adults' and we: 'the resposible best adults ever' won! We were all so tired afterwards that we went to a coffee tasting place, Yahava KoffeeWorks, for a needed pick-me-up. The last thing in Margaret River we did was play a round of mini-goanywhere there were some amazing shots that I have never seen before! Sam drove us back to Fremantle (YAY Sam!!) and had Dominos for dinner before heading to the airport.

I haven't laughed that hard and smiled that much in a very long time and after that weekend Im starting to feel back to normal a little. I needed that more than I knew. I'm exhausted and my liver is seriously trying to kill me right now, but it was worth it. Some highlights include (but arent limited to): seeing Will!, all of the Chardonnays, the multiple games we played, and the song that was made up about the weekend (which I think we all made a blood pact to take to the grave, but im not 100% sure- we were all REALLY drunk).

Days 2&3: Hobbiton and Auckland

annacarlson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:55:00 GMT

Day 2 - Hobbiton

Reasearch and asking people for reccomendations saved me $100NZ just in one day. I found a cheaper way to get to Hibbiton other than the expensive private coaches just by asking someone if they had heard of anything. It was a long series of 3 hours each way on buses with only 1 bathroom break (!) but I managed. The destination: Matamata (it's really fun to say).The information center was decorated like a building out of Middle Earth. Another bus to pick us up and take us to the working farm that houses Hobbiton.

It was AWESOME! And I'm not just saying that becasue I'm a nerd and proud - it was super cool. All of the exterior Hobbiton scenes were filmed there and Peter Jackson took painsteaking measures to insure the consistency of the novels. There is a 2 second scene where Bilbo is running of on his adventure in the beginning of 'The Hobbit' and in the background there is a small girl sitting under a plumb tree eating fruit. Jackson didn't want an actual plumb tree becaue the plumbs were too big and would upset the consistency of the small hombbits, so he planted an apple tree, paid college students to take off all of the leaves and fruit and paste on fake plumb leaves and fruit onto the tree. It took 3 weeks to do all of this for a 2 second background scene.

Anyways - they had Sam & Rosie's hobbit hole, and Frodo's hobbit hole too! They also had a working pub called the Green Dragon where you got a free drink at the end of the tour. While on the tour, I met another American from Washington and he was on the same bus home, so we spent the rest of the evening on the bus talking about favorite movies, guilt pleasure movies, music, adn just about everything inbetween. When we got back to Auckland, we had dinner and went our seperate ways.

Day 3 - Auckland

Bungy jumping! Stopped at Starbucks on the way in (I needed a taste of home) and went to the bridge where I was going to jump off!! The bridge overlooks Auckland and there was a spectacular view of the city from the bridge. After walking up and watching the couple before me struggle to jump (the man was scared), it was my turn. I wobbled up to the ledge, took a deep breath, and jumped/fell when I was told to. It was so much fun! I had done the swing fall in Reno a few times before, so I was used to the feeling, but I still screamed. I bought the photos that they company took of me jumping, so there will be more photos when I get home.

Afterwards I went down the main street, Queen St. and stopped off at Vulcan Cafe on Vulcan Rd. (nerd alert!) for lunch. I walked around the city until I got to the Auckland Museum which is situated on top of a hill and has great views of the city. I was really curious about the Maori exhibit that they had becasue we didn't learn much about New Zealand and the Maori people in school because it wasn't pertinant at the time. They had a traditional Maori house in teh middle of the museum adn the aount of detail was amazing! I learned I little bit about the Maori people, but not as much as i was expecting from a mueseum.

There also was a min-exhibit on Sir Edmund Hillary and his historic assent up Everest over 60 years ago. There were a bunch of photos and a scale model of the mountian down to base camp! I found it fascinating because I will be there in a few short weeks!! The museum also had an interesting exhibit on volcanos, oceans and land and how they all shaped New Zealadn today. Overall - it was a good $10NZ spent.

Tomorrw I fly to Perth to meet up with Emma and Sam!

The Long Flight and Day 1: Auckland and Waiheke Island

annacarlson — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:47:00 GMT

I LOVE Air New Zealand! that was by far the best 13 hour period I have ever spent on a plane. First - there was an individual television screen at every seat and the in-flight entertainment started as soon as you got on the plane - not after take-off. Next - I got the whole row to myself! 3 seats! for the price of 1!! So exciting!! Third - Bear Grills did the 'emergency procedures' video and it was hilarious! Lastly - They came by and served fruit-infused water and candy. I love my cnady adn fruit-infused water!

I actually slept for a fair amount of time and even tough it's 6:00pm and I've only had one good and one bad cup of coffee, I don't feel super tired as you normally do after a 13 hour flight. (For the record, the flight was 12 hours and 40 minutes, but I'm counting the amount of time I spent on the plane before we left the gate as the other 20 minutes and rounding to an even 13 hours.)

When I landed, I had no problem with getting my visa (as me later), the customs people had to clean off the bottom of my hiking boots (contamination something-or-other) but then I took a bus that dropped me off within a block of my hostel, put my stuff down, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got a reccomendation on a breakfast cafe. At this point, it's still only 8:00am. I found this great little cafe and the guy recommended the eggs benedict, which was great and is one of my favorite breakfast foods, adn I got a latte (that was my good cup of coffee - the bad one was on the plane). I sat, wrote and read the paper for about an hour until I decided I stayed my welcome.

I decided that I wanted to go to Waiheke Island which had been recommended to me by a soccer friend. So I walked down to the ferry buildign and bought a return ticket to go explore the isaldn. It's a beah isladn that looks almost exactly like Hawaii - I thought I had telelported for a minute there. it has some Bodega Bay feel to it also, but the arcitecture and flauna were straight out of Hawaii. I guess they both technically are Pacific Islands! I hiked around the island, wine tasted in a winery and sat on the beach. It was very relaxing until the blister started to form on the back of my heel - me and my damn converse obsession!

Everyone in New Zealand has been so nice and welcomeing and slightly offended that I'm only spending 3 days in their country (even the Immigrations Officer seemed upset - I thought my visa was in jeopardy there!).

My White Shoes Were Made for Walking

annacarlson — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:55:00 GMT

As I sit in SFO waiting to take off on this adventure, I feel an erie since if calm. I've never been this clam before a trip. I don't know if its because I'm an older, more experienced traveler, or I'm still in shock from what my dad did. Or maybe this trip is just too big for me to comprehend. I think it's a combination of all of those reasons along with this last one: this is the first thin I've done in my life that is entirely for me and about me. I chose the spots on the trip and how long I would be at each one, there's no pressure for me to get good grades like there was during my year abroad, and no one is going with me. If I want to spend 4 days on a beach in Australia, no one can stop me.

Speaking of my itinerary here is the list of places I will be hitting among the way: Auckland, Perth, Cairns, Alice Springs, Sydney, Seoul, Kathmandu, Doha, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow, Gdansk, Warsaw, and a few others I haven't quite decided on.

Shoes. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love shoes. So it honestly pains me to say- I one brought 3 pairs: one pair of rainbows (flip-flops), one pair of hiking boots (for Nepal), and lastly one pair of brand new stark white converse. I know, I know. White tennis shoes?!? Really?!? (maybe she really has lost her mind!) That may be true, but its not because of the shoes.

Here's the story: in college I learned of this artist (I can't remember his name and the Internet here isn't great so google it). This guy presented a series of blank white canvases and they toured the world. (REALLY! That's ART now! That's total bull shit!) his theory was that along the way while touring, the canvases would get dirty and marked up and scratched and each would become and individual work of art created by the journey that it had taken. For example: canvas #4 may have been accidentally dropped and now has a dent in the side, while canvas #1 may have had a little bit of coffee spilled on it by the delivery man. The world took blank canvases and created art through the journey.

So, like those canvases an my blank white converse, I too have now become a (somewhat) blank canvas on this trip for the world to create into a work of art. Some would argue (possibly myself included) that the world has already been 'creating' me as I go through life. But I think to take yourself out of your comfort zone and immerse yourself in other cultures and new experiences is to force those converse to walk through mud.

I will miss all of you. I will be safe, I always am.

Photos: 86 Photos

annacarlson — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:23:00 GMT

Pre-Flight Checklist

annacarlson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:27:00 GMT

When your world gets turned upside-down, you have a simple choice: fight or flight. I chose flight, literally.

The night that I found out my dad had been having a 10 year affair with my mom's best friend, i did 2 things: 1) I cried like I've never cried before. I knew that life as I knew it was over and that my father had gone from best friend and confidant to Public Enemy #1; and 2) I knew I had to get away. I didn't know for how long, or to where, but I just knew I had to run.

That was almost 6 months ago. It took me 6 seconds to decide to go, and 6 months to plan. Why didn't I just get up and leave that night? I had my excuses: I had work, I didn't want to leave my mom, it was almost the holidays and that seemed miserable (more miserable than I was), but I was afraid of what would happen while I was gone. So I waited until work slowed down, got permission from my boss, pushed my mom into a better emotional state than she was ready for (sorry mom!) and planned.

It's now 2 days before I leave on my around the world trip with 6 major stops, 3 continents up to 14 countries, and at least 4 bucket-list items, and here is my checklist:

Check In

Mentally, I mean. It's time for an adventure that most people will never get to experience in their life. So mentally prepare to learn about myself, and check into the mindset of being on an adventure.

Baggage

Leave as much of it behind. Both literally and figuratively this trip is about me and it's something I've always wanted to do and my never get the opportunity to do it again. Leave the crap at home, it will still be there when I return.

Terms and Conditions

You are going to get taxed and it's going to be taxing.

You have to have a valid passport at all times.

This trip is non-refundable and can only apply to the aforementioned party.

You got shots for this - you're going to stick it out.

Always wear sunscreen.

Because you are staying at friend's houses, you must savor each moment with said friends.

Smile and have fun at all possible moments.

I, Anna Carlson, have read the Terms and Conditions and I understand that this trip is non-refundable. I agree to pay the total amount of blood, sweat and tears for this purchase privilege.