Sunday, April 10, 2011

Travel

Travel, they say, broadens the mind.  I'm sure we've all met people that this doesn't seem to apply to.  Perhaps, to be charitable, the mind broadening just isn't obvious to onlookers.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I did my big OE (Kiwispeak for Overseas Experience) last year - my first overseas trip.  Doing your OE is a Kiwi thing - because we are so far away from everywhere.  It's probably hard for people in, say, the UK or Europe, to understand this.

It's 3 hours to the nearest country, or rather, its nearest coast.  The other side of Oz is more like 7 hours away.  To fly from Auckland to Los Angeles takes 12 or 13 hours depending on which direction you go.  For me to get to the UK, I flew for 9 hours to Singapore followed by a 13 hour flight to London.  These are serious flight times in anyone's book.

I stayed part of the time with blog friends and my lovely sister-in-law; the rest of the time, I worked on rural properties through Help Exchange, where you work around 5 hours a day in exchange for board and lodgings.  I spent 6 weeks in France and the rest in various parts of the UK.  It was a great experience and I certainly feel that my mind was broadened by it.

What about you?  Have you travelled much?  Did you start young, or were you older like me?  Please share your experiences.

1 comment:

  1. Just had 3 weeks away in China again - perfect spring weather. A great time to explore another culture and try new foods.

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