Going to New Zealand?

A few weeks ago my mom told me she has saved up enough miles for me to visit New Zealand!!! This would be my graduation present since I’m planning on finishing college by December and graduating next spring. When she told me I could go to NZ I was in shock because my mom hardly ever acknowledges my love for Tolkien. I was touched and I think I started to tear up a little because she gave me a weird look haha.

I don’t want to rush into it because I want to have enough time to plan what I want to do and how much money I will need. Also because I don’t know what my life will be like after becoming a college graduate, will I have a job? An internship? Will I even be able to have time off? Or maybe I won’t have anything that will keep me busy…but I hope I will! As of right now I am aiming to go to NZ sometime in December of 2016. I was told it would be better to go during my winter, NZ’s summer, so the weather is nice and warm and Hobbiton is green and lush. I can’t even grasp the fact that I will actually get to walk along the paths of the Shire and walk up the steps to Bag End. I’m getting emotional just thinking about it, I have no idea how I will react when I am actually there.

I have a lot of planning, researching and saving up to do. But I think I have given myself enough time to do all of that. December 2016 seems like a long time from now but I bet it will sneak up on me. I will need to get all my finances together because I will definitely need to go on a LOTR/Hobbit locations tour. I want to loudly sing the Rohan theme as I climb up to Edoras, I want to run across the fields the Three Hunters ran across, I want to go to the place where the dwarves had an epic barrel chase scene I want it ALL! And I want to visit the Weta Cave because I know I will splurge the most there. Now that I think about it I’ll probably need to bring an extra suitcase for the things I will buy for myself haha. And I will neeeeed to visit the Ringmakers at Jens Hansen.

I also have a very dear friend I’ve known for about four years who lives in NZ, and it would be absolutely amazing to finally meet her in person and have that LOTR marathon we always talk about doing.

I’m no stranger to long airplane flights, having been to the Philippines multiple times over the years, but I know that a flight to NZ would be even longer and more tiring. I hate flying. It’s cramped, the food is gross and going to the bathroom is always a pain because you need to squeeze by the people you’re sitting next to. Also because airplane bathrooms aren’t the greatest things in the world. And I always get extremely bored on flights, I wish I could just sleep for most of it but getting into a comfortable position is always a challenge.

This semester of college I’m going to have an internship that will pay me, so with some of the money I will receive I’m planning on using it on a nice camera. I’ve traveled to many place around the world and have always used an okay camera that belongs to my mom. I’ve always wanted one for myself and I really want to take amazing photos while I’m in Hobbiton.

I need a lot of advice for this trip. Where are the places I need to check out while I am in NZ? Who has the best LOTR/Hobbit tours? Where are the best places to stay? What restaurants will I need to go to? How many boxes of tissues will I need to take with me to Hobbiton so I don’t drown the place with my tears? You know, simple stuff like that.

I might create a series on my blog called “Myla Goes to NZ” so I can keep track of my progress and keep all of my findings in one place.