Working To Live
‘I’m just working and having a good time… which is so awesome, because you don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m letting myself do that a lot more than I ever have.’ – Kathleen Hanna.
I arrived back in Wellington on Monday after a month off work,
travelling around the South and North Islands, both on my own and with another Stray group again. I had some fantastic experiences (some of which I’ve already written about, others I’ll write about later), but it was back down to earth with a bump as the coach pulled away from the kerb where I’d been dropped
off and I shouldered my backpack for the short walk back to the hostel where I live.
travelling around the South and North Islands, both on my own and with another Stray group again. I had some fantastic experiences (some of which I’ve already written about, others I’ll write about later), but it was back down to earth with a bump as the coach pulled away from the kerb where I’d been dropped
off and I shouldered my backpack for the short walk back to the hostel where I live.
I can be an emotional person, but things like post-holiday blues
don’t tend to affect me much. I’m pretty level-headed and kind of just get on with it (I think, correct me if I’m under an illusion!). Still, it was a bit of a shock to the system to be back to normality and to have the prospect of work looming the following day. It kind of made me realise that living abroad and travelling abroad are two very different things – something I’d not really considered before. Before, I’d say I was travelling in New Zealand. Now, I think I’m going to start saying that I’m living here.
don’t tend to affect me much. I’m pretty level-headed and kind of just get on with it (I think, correct me if I’m under an illusion!). Still, it was a bit of a shock to the system to be back to normality and to have the prospect of work looming the following day. It kind of made me realise that living abroad and travelling abroad are two very different things – something I’d not really considered before. Before, I’d say I was travelling in New Zealand. Now, I think I’m going to start saying that I’m living here.
Before last month, I suppose I’d never really thought about the
differences between travelling in a country and living in it. When I arrived in October, I travelled for about a month and a half to begin with, before spectacularly failing and running seriously low on funds. I suppose that’s when I started to live in New Zealand, as opposed to travel in New Zealand. In my month off, I’ve identified some fundamental differences between travelling in a country and living in a country.
differences between travelling in a country and living in it. When I arrived in October, I travelled for about a month and a half to begin with, before spectacularly failing and running seriously low on funds. I suppose that’s when I started to live in New Zealand, as opposed to travel in New Zealand. In my month off, I’ve identified some fundamental differences between travelling in a country and living in a country.
1. Living in a country means working, and that means Sunday night blues, wherever you are in the world!
It’s an element of my life now that I have never previously
mentioned in my blog – the fact that I work for an international construction company in Wellington as a site office administrator. As jobs go, it’s okay – learning about the construction industry is interesting, I like my colleagues and I like the fact that I don’t have any stress – when work is over, it’s over, I never take it home with me. I earn a reasonable wage which I save half of each week, the rest goes towards my rent and living in Wellington. I work 8am-4.30pm every day, except Friday’s when I leave at 3.30pm. I am still living for the weekends, just in a different country. Despite the fact I quite like my job, I still get the Sunday night blues after a particularly good weekend and hate Monday mornings!
mentioned in my blog – the fact that I work for an international construction company in Wellington as a site office administrator. As jobs go, it’s okay – learning about the construction industry is interesting, I like my colleagues and I like the fact that I don’t have any stress – when work is over, it’s over, I never take it home with me. I earn a reasonable wage which I save half of each week, the rest goes towards my rent and living in Wellington. I work 8am-4.30pm every day, except Friday’s when I leave at 3.30pm. I am still living for the weekends, just in a different country. Despite the fact I quite like my job, I still get the Sunday night blues after a particularly good weekend and hate Monday mornings!
Above: my usual daily view at work – out onto a massive building site! Interesting, although not as beautiful as mountains and rivers.
2. Living in a country that’s not your own means making the most of your free time – weekends, bank holidays and evenings!
Now that I am in New Zealand, and it’s not my own country, I feel
obligated to spend weekends and other free time doing constructive and interesting things with my life. Like going camping for a night or two over a bank holiday weekend (I’ve never been a big fan of camping before!), going to the Friday Night Market on Cuba Street or kayaking along Wellington’s
waterfront… Anything, really, that adds a bit of spice to life and gets us out and exploring our surroundings, a new country, reminding us of the reasons we left home to travel in the first place. Using my free time constructively is something I’m definitely going to keep up, wherever I end up in the world in the future.
obligated to spend weekends and other free time doing constructive and interesting things with my life. Like going camping for a night or two over a bank holiday weekend (I’ve never been a big fan of camping before!), going to the Friday Night Market on Cuba Street or kayaking along Wellington’s
waterfront… Anything, really, that adds a bit of spice to life and gets us out and exploring our surroundings, a new country, reminding us of the reasons we left home to travel in the first place. Using my free time constructively is something I’m definitely going to keep up, wherever I end up in the world in the future.
Above: weekend beach times in Lyall Bay with C.
Above: Easter Sunday sail in Wellington Harbour
3. But don’t get me wrong, I still like to get home from work, kick back and do nothing except veg on the couch all evening watching shitty TV. I’m also really good at hangover days…
It was a ritual when I lived and worked in Wales – get home,
change clothes, turn TV on, veg out. There was always something on to watch, even if it was totally boring and I didn’t really want to watch it. Nowadays, if there’s something rubbish on, I like to think I’ve become a bit better at getting up off the couch and going to read a book or write or talk to people or go for a walk or even just going to watch something I actually want to see on my laptop, but there are evenings when I do just sit and watch shit TV. Home
and Away shows in NZ too, folks! I have to keep up! I still have spectacularly awful hangover days too – the type of days when I can barely move. It’s a waste of a day for sure, but it’s got to be done once in a while – just not too often…
change clothes, turn TV on, veg out. There was always something on to watch, even if it was totally boring and I didn’t really want to watch it. Nowadays, if there’s something rubbish on, I like to think I’ve become a bit better at getting up off the couch and going to read a book or write or talk to people or go for a walk or even just going to watch something I actually want to see on my laptop, but there are evenings when I do just sit and watch shit TV. Home
and Away shows in NZ too, folks! I have to keep up! I still have spectacularly awful hangover days too – the type of days when I can barely move. It’s a waste of a day for sure, but it’s got to be done once in a while – just not too often…
4. You kind of start taking an interest in the country’s affairs –
like the economy, the housing market, what John Keys did or didn’t do, natural disasters etc.
like the economy, the housing market, what John Keys did or didn’t do, natural disasters etc.
When I arrived in New Zealand, I didn’t really have the first clue
about the country, except I knew there was some insanely beautiful scenery and LOTR was filmed here. Fast forward eight months and now I take an interest in the politics, economics, demographics and the environment. You kind of get dragged into it slowly but surely. I’ve had chats with Kiwis about the housing market (Auckland house prices are through the roof (pun intended), in case anyone is interested – it’s big news!!). I’ve watched One News’ coverage of flooding in Wellington and Dunedin and of
course, there is the now infamous hair pulling incident. New
Zealand is both great because some of its headline news stories are so utterly benign and ridiculous it’s hilarious and frustrating because their news coverage on important global issues and world news is so limited and crap. Sigh. I suppose being at the end of the world will do that to a nation.
about the country, except I knew there was some insanely beautiful scenery and LOTR was filmed here. Fast forward eight months and now I take an interest in the politics, economics, demographics and the environment. You kind of get dragged into it slowly but surely. I’ve had chats with Kiwis about the housing market (Auckland house prices are through the roof (pun intended), in case anyone is interested – it’s big news!!). I’ve watched One News’ coverage of flooding in Wellington and Dunedin and of
course, there is the now infamous hair pulling incident. New
Zealand is both great because some of its headline news stories are so utterly benign and ridiculous it’s hilarious and frustrating because their news coverage on important global issues and world news is so limited and crap. Sigh. I suppose being at the end of the world will do that to a nation.
Above: a headline in the Herald on Sunday about Auckland’s rising house prices. Like I said, it’s big news!
5. The cost of living remains the same, but you kind of adjust to it and all of a sudden, the price of your weekly food bill doesn’t seem extortionate, it just seems, well, normal.
I’ve moaned about the price of food and the cost of living here in
New Zealand before on my blog and believe me, nothing has changed. Everything is still super expensive and the price of food in supermarkets is still ridiculous, especially since most of it is produced here in the first place. But I’ve been here for eight months. That’s a long time to keep bitching and moaning about spending sixty plus dollars on food each week (average food bill
back home per week was about twenty dollars cheaper and I got more for my money!). Nowadays, I just kind of suck it up and deal with it and it’s not so bad. In fact, you even reach a point where the prices seem kind of normal and you barely blink when you pay.
New Zealand before on my blog and believe me, nothing has changed. Everything is still super expensive and the price of food in supermarkets is still ridiculous, especially since most of it is produced here in the first place. But I’ve been here for eight months. That’s a long time to keep bitching and moaning about spending sixty plus dollars on food each week (average food bill
back home per week was about twenty dollars cheaper and I got more for my money!). Nowadays, I just kind of suck it up and deal with it and it’s not so bad. In fact, you even reach a point where the prices seem kind of normal and you barely blink when you pay.
I suppose the biggest thing is the stability, at the moment. I know where my next pay cheque is coming from and even when I was travelling again throughout May, I spent quite a lot and treated myself to some more expensive activities because I knew I had a job to come back to. The budget was definitely more ‘flashpacker’ than backpacker, anyway.
I love travelling. I look forward to travelling again very soon, this year in fact. But at the moment, I also just like living in New Zealand. I just love spending heaps of money on food. I like knowing the socioeconomic problems and what stupid thing
John Keys did this week. I like kicking back and relaxing in front of the television, but equally I like getting out there and exploring the city I live in and the local area at weekends and in my spare time. Hell, I don’t even dislike working. I see working differently now – I see it as a way to make money for more travelling in the near future. It’s a means to an end.Now winter has arrived, I’m sure there’ll be days when I feel miserable about living and working in Wellington (like those days when it’s blowing a gale so strong it almost knocks you off your feet and it’s raining so hard it’s like someone is throwing buckets of cold water over you repeatedly). But ultimately, it’s for another four-five months. I can handle that. It’ll fly by. And then I will become a traveller again – and who knows where I’ll be off to next?!
John Keys did this week. I like kicking back and relaxing in front of the television, but equally I like getting out there and exploring the city I live in and the local area at weekends and in my spare time. Hell, I don’t even dislike working. I see working differently now – I see it as a way to make money for more travelling in the near future. It’s a means to an end.Now winter has arrived, I’m sure there’ll be days when I feel miserable about living and working in Wellington (like those days when it’s blowing a gale so strong it almost knocks you off your feet and it’s raining so hard it’s like someone is throwing buckets of cold water over you repeatedly). But ultimately, it’s for another four-five months. I can handle that. It’ll fly by. And then I will become a traveller again – and who knows where I’ll be off to next?!
Above: stick a pin in it – where am I off to next??!! I have some plans…
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