traveloehrs

Are We There Yet?

traveloehrs-com — Thu, 8 Mar 2012 10:08:00 GMT

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20 hours of sitting uncomfortably in slightly too small seats in a giant metal cylinder hurtling through the clouds at several hundred mph and the end is near! Orlando to Denver to Los Angeles to Rarotonga. The first leg primarily consisted of me dodging the breath of the “gentleman” in the adjacent seat. It was like someone was holding a fan behind a soiled baby’s diaper while aiming for my beak. It is a seesaw between downright boredom and outright fear as we hit air pockets and turbulence. We finally begin our descent and as we pop through the clouds we can see a green speck with an intense turquoise surrounding ring in the vast Pacific. We are met with frangipani and gardenia leis and champagne on our way to Sea Change Villas in Titikaveka. The driver tells us that our accommodation is all the way on the other side of the island- 20 minutes. Our villa is set back in a tropical garden with a view of the translucent lagoon in the front and a private pool and view of the mountains out the back. My nostrils have finally recovered.

Photos: Rarotonga

traveloehrs-com — Fri, 2 Mar 2012 22:55:00 GMT

The Beginning

traveloehrs-com — Fri, 2 Mar 2012 22:46:00 GMT

Can you recall an experience that, perhaps inconsequential at the time, with hindsight clearly led you to your current path? For me it was family cross country camping trips as a little brat. These trips opened my eyes to all the new things outside of my neighborhood and town. My crush on traveling grew as I got older and I started focusing on new destinations. My jaunts became more frequent, further away and for ever longer periods of time. By the time I met Lianne, my fixation was firmly entrenched and I had to make sure she was on board with it. Two years ago we had the opportunity to take 3 month leaves from our respective jobs. I wanted to test Nug out on a longer term trip and see if she had what it takes. I feel that you can find out the most about who someone really is when you are traveling with them. We backpacked through Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Her biggest test came in Lombak. We had a $3 night room (pancake breakfast and coffee included!) which consisted of candles for light, no electricity, a yoga mat as a bed on a cement/dirt floor, a hole in the ground to deposit your “processed food”, and a bucket shower. We stayed in this resort for a week and I even left her alone a few of the days to surf. She was a an absolute champ and still had a great time. One day as she was washing our laundry in a bucket in our bathroom a 6 inch scorpion started trying to box with her. She was a picture of serenity as I karate kicked the arachnid into eternal rest. As we left the island (which is absolutely amazing) to go back to Bali, I knew she was “The One”. Fast forward 2 years and a few more quick trip strikes and we started to get the itch for a longer trip. I have thrown around the idea of an Australia work visa for years and finally got Nug on board, but “only if we visit Greece and Italy on the way home.” We were married October 1 and are booked to leave for our expedition on November 13. As of now we will be in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga) for a week, New Zealand for 2 weeks, and Australia for an undetermined amount of time. We have booked a place in Rarotonga as that will be our honeymoon, but everything else is up in the air. To quote Lao Tzu, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.