NZ, Q&A

Hi friends,

So today it is two weeks till I will be leaving Europe.
You probably have a couple questions to ask, I would have too!
Do you feel like you did not ask me everything you wanted to?
Don´t worry, Here is a little Q & A session for you.

>P.s. Let me know if you´d like to know something else<

Photo source: http://nomadsworld.com/

Q: Why New Zealand? 
A: Honestly? That place just seems like a fairytale place - outdoor wise and people wise. I love the fact that it seems like the whole world is concentrated there - mountains, lakes, beaches, forests, volcanos and so on. 

Q: What do I want to do there? 
A: I would love to get to know those two islands through working in the different national parks. That would be the dream for me - to keep on changing my location - the location always being a national park. 

Q: Are you going alone?
A: Yes, I don´t know anybody there, I am travelling alone and it feels fine. Yes, one more proud female solo traveller here - since the age of 14. 

Q: Aren´t you scared? 
A: Well, I did nickname myself constant worrier not so long ago, didn´t I? To be frank...you people kept on asking me so much that I started to be a little. But the truth is, I am moving to New Zealand because I am an unusually curious person...so curious that it prevents me from feeling too scared. Whether that is a good thing I leave up to you.

Q: Am I excited? 
A: Yesss! So much the every particle of my body shivers.

Q: What are you going to be doing there?
A: Well it is a work and travel visa, so I will work and travel.

Q: How long do you plan to stay?
A: I stopped planning the unnecessary and unpredictable. So I will just leave it up to the circumstance, but if you still need a time frame - the visa is valid for a year.

Q: So are you parents paying for it? 
A: No, a year ago, when I finished Uni, they stopped supporting me financially and I fully support that decision. Though I tried to put aside as much money as I could have, I am Czech and I worked for an NGO. That means that all Czech money will loose all it´s value once I travel anywhere else, especiallly New Zealand. Plus...anyone who has ever worked in an NGO knows, how the salary looks like.

Anything else? 

Perhaps the following ones, right? Don´t pretend that they did not cross your mind :)

- No, I am not leaving because of a broken heart or a crazy family background.
- No, I am not going on a spiritual journey to discover my inner self. 

So New Zealand then?

I am a hopeless dreamer and constant worrier, but above all I am a passionate traveller.

So far, I have been to 21 countries and lived in 3.

Yet, there I so many places I need to see! In Europe alone I can name at least another 10.

And then, it feels like I still need to see Patagonia, Peru, Australia, Iceland, Wyoming, Idaho... and of course New Zealand.

Anyway, 2015 taught me not to plan. I stopped planning, but I did decide to apply for a couple of things but not be bombed about it if it did not work out. In the end, I ended up applying for Master´s studies in Sweden (still waiting for the results there) and decided to apply for a Working Holiday Visa (WHV). That is a bit random you might think, but the truth is I for once consulted my intuition instead of constant rationalizing. :)

It all started...

I think...a couple months ago. I booked a consultation at the embassy where I asked all the possible questions about working visas. The deal is that once a year a certain number of visa open for a certain country and what I have been told is that you have to be super quick and type in your details really pronto, so that you are quicker than the masses of other people applying at the same time. To be honest - this scared me so much and I did not even get my hopes up at all.

The day that the application opened

Tuesday 1.3.2016, 10pm was the time that the applications for the visa for 1200 Czech people gets open. During the day, I could not stop the thoughts, about me finally having the option to turn my life around, distracting my attention. Twenty minutes before 10 pm I was sitting infront of my computer, a lovely cup of coffee next to my right hand. 10 pm - the applications are open aaand the website goes down. The amounts of people applying for the visa was more than the website could take. After two and half hours when I kept on clicking F5, pulling my hair and biting my nails of I finally managed to load the page and enter my details.

But...I did not know you wanted this!

Many of my friends were surprised about it and said that they never knew, I wanted to apply. For that I have a simple answer. Unlike what I was brought up to do, I am learning to be selfish and think it is a good thing. Once in the past i was talking to a friend about my idea for a bachelor thesis and another girl overheard it and guess what she wrote hers on. The option to get the visa in NZ was so precious for me that I did not want to have it stolen.

So what now?

I found out four days ago. I woke up, checked my phone that was still being charged and jumped out of the bed. Was this really happening?

"I am pleased to advise you that your application for working holiday visa has now been approved. All the best for your time in New Zealand :)" 

I could not believe it! You know what I loved about it the most? The smiley face at the end of the email!

Off to do some planning then

For now I know that there is a lot of things to be figured out. The insurance, the job hunt, the place to stay, the travelling!

But I will get there, one step at a time. Any kind of help or advice would be golden though.