Work research trip to NZ – Damien McCellan

Travelling Vs Holidaying and “Reduce the use”

Before I get started on my blog, I will first confess that I speak way better than I can spell.

I was lucky enough to go on a work trip over to NZ in June 2018, to check out what all our international guests have been raving about. I was very lucky to go with my lovely girlfriend, who also helps with the office side of the business. Having good company is the most important part of having a good trip. It was a perfect trip for me. There is not one person who I have met who didn’t enjoy NZ.  My feedback was the same, it’s a very nice place with so many places to explore. Drive Now took care of the camper van and the plan was to explore this amazing landscape with no fixed plan.  Just the flights in and out of NZ was what we needed to stick to.  As always in planning trips, firstly I tried to fit too much in, so having a loose plan allowed me to changed the plan on the go and just focus on the South area of the South Island in the 3 weeks we had to explore this new landscape.

This is very timely point as there is a global movement in mainstream large tourism of the “slow travel movement’. It is a exactly what is means, move slower, see more and connect more with the area you are travelling to. There is another argument of Travelling vs Holidaying. Depending on the end goal of the holiday/budget/time frame will play a big part in this. Too many people try to fit in everything and they come home tired from a holiday and don’t get a good feel for the culture of the area they have visited.   It is always your choice, if you want to move quick or slow it is up to you. I have found as I have aged and I have less holiday time I’m guilty of this, and I try and fit too much in. The best travel companions are the ones who understands how to balance chilling and not being a total sloth while being flexible.

All my trips from my younger days were normally surf trips, that revolve around getting to a location and letting the swell determine the holiday. This can be stressful as there is so much stress on hoping for good waves, no crowds and good times. It’s weird to think like this from a non surfers view point, that being somewhere nice can be stressful, but most surfers can relate or snow froffers will also understand. The thought of possibly getting a better experience than you have had before is what drives you to search for good times. I guess it all come back to being in tune and understanding the moods and flows of mother nature. She can be your best friends, mistress, mother and law maker all depending on her mood. When she does show you her best or worst you still need to appreciate how the changes and differences in the natural world allow us to compare.  At the end of the day you can try too hard to only focus on the best possible experience, but not seize the day and remember you in the great outdoors. I guess this long winded point was that on this trip I didn’t have a surf board and we only really governed by day light, it was very stress free.

As I was not surfing my food passion kicked in. I like to eat, and enjoy yummy food. From the first meal the food was amazing. The food budget was the hardest thing to manage as each area had so many nice options. Along with eating we also did some amazing walks and visited nice spot after nice spot and the view while driving was also super nice. We also had pretty much no rain in 3 weeks. I was told this was quite unique, but I guess we picked a good time

It was great to be a tourist, go on tours, search the web and speak to people about what to do. It was funny as I found the internet is harder than ever to find diverse information. All web searches bring up the same thing, so generally the biggest marketing budget pops up the top. It is interesting for myself as I run a small business ECOTREASURES and I take care of web marketing. More than ever talking and communicating with people is the best part of being somewhere, as so many of us are lost in our devices and technology.  The world is a big place, and so many people live different lives in their different landscapes, and people who love a yarn and general chit chat can be found anyway in any language. Everyone has that mate that can talk to anyone dose’nt matter what the situation or sometimes even the language barrier. This natural human interaction is slowly becoming harder for people, as so many people are in a trance looking at their phones instead of having human interaction. Everyone with a smart phone is guilty of this these days but understanding its not good for the future is the first step to getting back to talking about this and that with your mates and anyone who gives you time. I admit I use my phone too much and I’m trying to make sure I “reduce my use”.

In conclusions we had a great time and I will go back to explore more of NZ and I will try everyday to use my phone less.

Thank you NZ

Chur