Traveling Iceland in Two Days (June)

I recently took my first non-rev trip (see last post for what non-revving is) and got to see Iceland! We only had two full days there, so I'm going to detail what we were able to accomplish and how we did it.

So the joys of standby travel mean that you have to be flexible. This was my first big international standby trip, and a few days before we were supposed to head out, the flights filled up. We're talking 40 people trying to get one of the five available seats. So we knew we weren't going to make the flight and actually bought one-way tickets instead for $350 each. We had a layover in Toronto and ended up arriving around the same time in Iceland than we originally were going to. When we arrived at 9:30am on a Tuesday we pulled out some cash from an ATM at the airport, then got in a shuttle to our rental car place! We used Green Motion.

We took a number at the rental car place and it took us roughly 45 minutes to get our car. The place has free wifi which was nice, and luckily we weren't on a strict schedule. I paid $91 to rent our car for two days (mini car category, manual) and we also paid an additional $86 for the rental car insurance...so big heads up for that little hidden fee. You do have the option of putting down a large deposit instead and getting your money back if the car comes back undamaged, but they freaked us out with their stories of sandstorms and stuff and how we could lose all the money if we chose that option haha. Side note, it was like $75 cheaper to get a manual than an automatic, so if you can drive a stick shift, do it! Saved us a bunch.

Okay now on to the travel part!

Day One

We started our day around 11:30am on Tuesday and headed straight for the Golden Circle loop! The Golden Circle is a loop you can take and hit a few different stops. It takes like seven hours or so to complete, depending on how long you take at each stop, and whether or not you take side trips! Our first stop was Þingvellir National Park, and we parked in a small unofficial gravel parking lot. This stop has a really nice looping path you can take, so we walked down maybe a third of the way, and took a few short side walks. We were scared of getting a parking ticket, so we didn't want to stay too long, but it was a great first stop! There was a fee to park (which we didn't pay...oops) and also a fee to use the bathroom. The photos below are all from the same stop.

Then it was back on the road! This time we had a shorter drive to the Gullfoss waterfall. This stop was pretty incredible, Gullfoss is this huge (as in wide, not tall) network of waterfalls, and you can walk right down to them!! Incredibly wet and cold but so cool. And free parking!

From there we had a very short drive to Geysir, more free parking! This stop has a bunch of geothermal attractions such as hot springs and geysers. The biggest draw is a geyser that goes off every ten minutes or so, the largest pool in the center, can't miss it. Of all our stops this was probably the most underwhelming, but still a great little stop. They also have a restaurant/gift shop/restrooms on site. We got lunch here, two chicken sandwiches, a coffee, a hot chocolate, and we split a berry cake thing for roughly $50.

An on we go! We decided to add on a stop to our Golden Circle adventure and stopped at Kerið, a volcanic crater lake. The road to get there from Geysir was this pot-holed backcountry road, at times covered in gravel, and our poor little car was not a fan. But bumpy road aside, we pulled over and got to see some BEAUTIFUL Icelandic ponies!!!!

Parking at the crater was free, but it cost us each a few dollars to enter the park. There's a nice walking path that leads around the edge overlooking the lake, as well as around the water itself. This was one of our favorite stops! And there were FAR fewer tourists here which is an added bonus.

After this we drove to the Blue Lagoon, a perfect last stop!! Parking again is free, but the cost of the Blue Lagoon was something like $80/person. We went at 8pm which is a little cheaper. At Blue Lagoon you go into locker rooms by gender, have to shower without a swimsuit on, then change into your swimsuit and head into the lagoon! You get a plastic wristband to wear at all times, and a free towel. The lagoon itself is HUGE, much larger than I thought! There are tons of connecting pools, so even with all the tourists it's not so bad. They have multiple pool bars (one free drink is included with the basic ticket) and also some mask bars (free mud masks as well!). We got one juice and one strawberry rose wine, both were great. The mud masks were nice as well! You also have an option to buy different types of masks. When you get out of the lagoon you will feel very salty stiff, and personally it took me two showers and three hair washes to get everything out of my hair! I know some people do Blue Lagoon before a flight but I would DEFINITELY not want to do that. You do you though. If you're wondering whether or not bring a GoPro or waterproof camera in...TONS of people did. Mostly they had phones in waterproof cases, but there were a few GoPros out there aside from mine.

Then it was back to Reykjavik where we stayed at KEX, a hostel made from a converted biscuit factory! Awesome hostel, would highly recommend. We got done around 11pm, but sun doesn't set until midnight in June, so it was still light out. Also note that the showers were communal, so no shower curtains or stalls separating them.

Day Two

In the morning we paid to do breakfast in our hostel which was a buffet-style meal. This included fresh bread, a bunch of different spreads, meats, fruit, yogurt, juice, oatmeal, that kind of stuff. We left around 9:30am and went straight to Jökulsárlón, a glacier lake in Southwest Iceland. It was a four hour drive, and we did make one pit stop at a grocery store to get lunch stuff and snacks. Long drive, but beautiful. The glacier lake was AMAZING, definitely a highlight. We even saw some seals!

Seal swimming!

After the lake we headed back up the coast. We stopped at the Reynisfjara black sand beach overlook and walked around there for a bit. We were going to drive up to another overlook, but the fogged rolled in extremely thick, so we skipped that. The weather here changes in a heartbeat!

After this stop we decided to stop and take photos in the lupine fields! They are EVERYWHERE and were begging for a photoshoot ;)

Final stop on our way back was Skógafoss waterfall! This waterfall you can walk up to the top, but we decided to just check out the bottom. There is also an onsite restaurant here, so we got food before heading back to our hostel! I got Icelandic meat soup with a side of french fries. It was really cold here, ok?

We got back in time to checkout the sunset (at midnight) and it was beautiful. Then I showered, we got to bed, and that was that! The next morning we checked out, returned our rental car, and got to the airport.

Here's our standby adventures portion of the blog: we non-revved from Iceland to Dallas and made it there just fine, we got to sit together in exit rows. From Dallas there was NO flights home that we were going to make, so we ended up diverting through another city (but both got first class!!) and got in at like 6am. I believe my flight was like $45 as the airline employee? My friend paid $300 for her flights home. Fast forward one seven hour nap, and our vacation was done! SUPER packed, but we had a fantastic time. If I were to do Iceland again, I don't think I would change a thing! I loved our little itinerary we made. Of course I would add more if I had more time, but I thought we covered a lot in two days.

Non-Revenue Travel (Traveling Standby), AKA How I Afford To Travel

I thought it would be helpful to dedicate an entire post to traveling non-rev, so future posts of mine make more sense on the travel end! I'm going to try break up the odds and ends of traveling standby in a way that makes sense to someone who has never heard the term "non-rev" as well as dive into my own flight benefits as an airline employee. 

Flying out of Orlando, Florida at sunset

Summed up in a single sentence...I afford to travel by traveling standby using my flight benefits which basically means I can list myself for a flight on the standby list but am not guaranteed a seat, I'll only get on the flight if they have empty seats. The standby list is broken up into two main categories: revenue and non-revenue. 

Revenue standby would be passengers that missed a flight, or passengers who got bumped from an oversold flight, something like that. Basically people who had paid for a guaranteed seat but for whatever reason didn't make the flight they paid for. These people will always have priority on the standby list.

Non-revenue standby AKA non-rev is mostly airline employees and their friends and family traveling for free or extremely discounted. The non-rev standby list is broken up further by class. 

DISCLAIMER: this is all specific to the airline that I work for, other airlines have standby lists set up differently. 

For my airline, the standby list is separated into four main categories: D1, D2, D3, and lower standby. The priority is in that order, so D1's will always be called before D2's, etc. Employees are given a small number of D1 passes to use per year for priority on the standby list, and I also believe D1's are used for employees traveling on business? I've never used mine, so not entirely sure. D2's are the employees, retired employees who retired with their benefits, employee parents, employee spouses or registered companions, and I believe employee children. D3's are employee guest passes given out to friends and extended family, and lower standby is employees from other airlines who paid a fee to fly on your airline. 

To break down the list just one step more...the priority within each of these groups is decided based on time of check-in. So if my flight is at 10:23pm on Tuesday, I will make sure I'm on a computer ready to check-in for my flight at 10:23pm on Monday. The earlier you check in...the higher you'll be in priority within your little sub group! Again, this is just for my airline, I know others do it differently. 

Okay so hopefully everything is making sense so far. I'm just going to through an example for what happens when they load the flight! Say one flight has 10 available seats, and 12 people on the standby list. The gate agents will call for passengers in the order they have on the list. Starting with any revenue passengers, then D1's, then D2's (this is usually the largest group), D3's, etc. until the plane is full. If there are seats open in first class they will usually go to the employees who listed themselves for any class rather than the revenue passengers since the revenue passengers didn't pay for first class. But they will always give you a choice of seats when possible, so if they have an aisle and a window open, they'll ask what you prefer. They're normally really good about accommodating requests when possible!

When you get to the gate you'll almost always see a screen with the standby list, and once you clear the flight you'll have a check mark by your name. Sometimes you'll see someone BELOW you clear the flight before you, and the reason for this 90% of the time is that they are qualified to jump seat. Jumpseat? I don't know on that spelling but regardless, there are some seats on the plane that can only be utilized by qualified and trained airline personnel. This basically just includes pilots and flight attendants. Since I'm not qualified to jumpseat, a flight attendant who checked in after me could make it on the flight before me and take that seat.

Example for what the standby list might look like:

Revenue

1. Smith, J
2. Smith, L

Non-Revenue

      3. Smith, S

      4. Smith, K

      5. Smith, R

So in this case they would first call whoever J. Smith is, J. Smith goes up to get their new boarding pass and seat assignment, and they continue down the list until the flight is full or the standby list is cleared. 

Flying into Queenstown, New Zealand

Okay now on the costs! Again, can't say this enough, this varies by airline. For my airline, I fly free everywhere domestic, and I'm pretty sure Canada and Mexico might be free as well...I haven't tried to list for those before so not entirely sure on that one though. My registered companion is also technically free for domestic flights but I have to pay taxes on her flight out of my paycheck. My parents pay a small amount for domestic flights, and my D3's AKA friends and other family pay a little more. Some numbers for you on a nonstop flight August 17-20 to New York from Los Angelos would be as follow: 

• My registered companion or spouse and myself are free for both first class and main cabin.
• Parents: $137.70 roundtrip first class per person, $63.10 roundtrip main cabin per person.
• Friends and other family (D3): $312.50 roundtrip first class per person, $237.90 roundtrip main cabin per person.

These costs will differ by location and time of year, but that's a domestic example. International flights are a little different; employees DO have to pay for these flights, but it's a very small amount. Apparently it's basically paying the airport taxes of the international airport or something like that. Here's an example for flying nonstop to London, England from Chicago, roundtrip, August 15-21. I don't have my parents passport info on my account yet, so I can't tell you what they would cost but it would fall somewhere in between these two values!

• Employee/registered companion/spouse: $279.61 per person first class, $177.51 per person main cabin.
• D3: $671.81 per person first class, $469.71 per person main cabin.

Now let's look at the same dates, roundtrip, but nonstop from Chicago to Tokyo, Japan.

• Employee/registered companion/spouse: $40.21 per person both first class and main cabin.
• D3: $502.41 per person first class, $382.41 per person main cabin.

Finally, let's look at the same parameters but nonstop roundtrip Miami to Lima, Peru.

• Employee/registered companion/spouse: $62.36 per person both first class and main cabin. 
• D3: $432.38 per person first class, $338.36 per person main cabin.

Hopefully that gives you a helpful idea of what it costs to non-rev! For my airline I have to book the flights for me, my parents, my D3's, etc. through our employee website, and any costs would go onto my credit card. Nothing is charged until you clear a flight though, so you don't prepay anything. I know of at least one other airline that instead gives you a link or code from the employee and you would use that to book your own flight. Also, our employee website tells us how many open seats are on each flight so you have a good idea of whether or not you'll make a flight. All this makes it easy to list for multiple flights on different days and you have the flexibility to change them whenever you want or need! 

And that sums up non-revving pretty well! Well, hopefully. Hopefully this all made sense, I know it took me awhile to understand the whole non-rev process! I've non-revved a few times, and it's a STEEP learning curve. The first time I attempted to fly to Denver through Phoenix I didn't make a flight because it was spring training and the Phoenix flights were all full...(duh). A few weeks later I flew to Orlando through Phoenix and had no trouble getting on! So it all depends on timing and location.

That's all I have I think. So if you read travel blogs or follow travelers on social media and are curious as to how they afford to travel, or what this non-rev business they refer to is...there you go! The main benefit to working in the travel industry in my opinion!

Traveling Around the UK and Ireland in 8 Days (November)!

Alright now that I got my study abroad beast out of the way, I can start documenting some more normal travels I've been on! This blog post is dedicated to my trip to the UK and Ireland, and I'm going to lay out how we were able to hit Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England in 8 days. The end will be dedicated to advice and tips, and any regrets I had about our travel plans. And as always...expect to see more photos than you really want (I have a really hard time narrowing pictures down...)!

So this trip was a spontaneous trip planned by me and two college friends for Thanksgiving break. So picture mid/late November and having to book everything last minute. A REALLY helpful tool for me was Rome2Rio which is a website that shows you multiple ways to get from Point A to Point B, and how much it would cost. So for me, I was starting at Manchester Airport and needed to get to a town in Wales. I put in the two destinations into the website (like you would Google Maps) and it showed me all my options, how much they would cost, where I would need to transfer, etc. And for someone not used to traveling with trains or transferring so frequently, I found that very helpful for booking train tickets and bus rides. Okay now that that's out of the way...here we go!

Day One:

I flew from Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland, and from Iceland to Manchester, England. My flight cost somewhere around $1,000 roundtrip. When I arrived in Manchester I took a train from Manchester Airport to (get ready for lots of unpronounceable names) Llandudno Junction, and then transferred onto a bus from there to Betws-y-coed, Wales. I met up with my cousin who was studying abroad in Wales, and we got dinner at a pub in town before walking to our bed and breakfast (Oakfield House B&B). I was exhausted by this point so I slept from 8pm to 8am Wales time. The B&B we stayed at was AWESOME, super homey with a lovely breakfast!! We chose a B&B because all the hostels were booked and a B&B is more expensive, but I would highly recommend this one.

Day Two:

We took a 45-minute bus for something like $7 to Conwy to see Conwy Castle, and that was a GREAT castle to explore! It's mostly intact and one of the more affordable castles you can walk around and inside! I'll insert a photo here below, but this was one of my favorite UK stops.

After self-touring the castle we walked around the city itself and spent most of the day here. We got some good pastries and walked down to the water to enjoy people watching and a good walk! We also found a nice little trail across from our B&B once we got back that led into town, and that was a really nice trail to follow if you also happen to be in Betws-y-coed! It's pretty close to Snowdonia, so a good location.

Day Three:

My college friends flew in this day so I met up with them in the morning as my cousin headed back to school. We had been planning on doing Snowdonia, but it was pouring down rain and some locals recommended doing this waterfall hike instead! Well the waterfall was awesome, but we ended up doing a good 5-6 miles in this downpour. It was so wet that every layer I was wearing (two pairs of leggings, raincoat, sweatshirt, long sleeve, etc.) got soaked through!! I'll post Swallow Falls down below which was a great and easy hike/walk mostly along the road.

We went straight to our hostel where we had already dropped off our bags, but no one was there. Like, not a single soul. Also the heat was off, so we took LOONNG hot showers, curled up in as many dry clothes and blankets as possible, then went downstairs for hot tea and a board game! Once the owner came back and showed us how to reset the heat we were all good, but it took forever to warm up! Also, naturally, as soon as we got warm we had to walk back to town for dinner haha. We stayed at the Vagabond Bunkhouse and the bunks were GREAT, that super sturdy oak and very cozy (we just would have enjoyed ourselves more with some heat;)).

Day Four: 

We took a train to Llandudno Junction, then transferred (or maybe just made a quick stop there and continued on) to Holyhead. From Holyhead we took a ferry to Dublin. It was a solid half day trip but cost less than $100. The ferry ride was super choppy and a bunch of people were getting sick, but we made it to Dublin and checked into our super cheap hotel. I can't recall the name, but it was like a ten minute walk to Temple Bar. We spent the afternoon and evening walking around Dublin and got dinner at an Irish pub (duh, where else would we go?). On advice from our waiter we went and got drinks afterward at a more local bar rather than the Temple Bar bars and pubs that are flooded with tourists! There I got some Irish whiskey and got hit on by the bartender before walking back to our hotel haha.

Temple Bar

Day Five:

We used Paddywagon Tours to do a full-day tour of Northern Ireland, specifically because we wanted to see Giant's Causeway. The bus picked us up around 8am and we had a FULL day on the charter bus making a few awesome stops. We stopped at Giants's Causeway (below),

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Dunlace Castle, White Park Bay, the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy (below, filming site for Game of Thrones),

the Antrim Coast, and Belfast. We got a full hour in Belfast, and we took full advantage of that to check out their Christmas Market which was AMAZING!! Then straight back to our hotel so we can sleep. The tour costs about $70.

Day Six:

We woke up horrendously early and flew to London, me stopping there for the day and the girls continuing on to Scotland. We took a shuttle bus ordered by the hotel, then got on a 6am flight or something like that for roughly $30? Something pretty cheap. In London I took the train from the airport to Tottenham Hale, then another train from there to Euston, then a third train from Euston to Watford where I got on a bus to the Warners Bros Studio Tour. Took me a good 2.5 hours or something. I did the Studio Tour which was $45 or so and included a guided intro with the rest being self-guided. The whole tour took me roughly two hours but you could easily spend a half day here!! SO cool. They also have a little restaurant where you can get Butterbeer (it's better at Universal Studios).

After the Studio Tour I took a similar route back, but taking the train Euston to Embankment instead of the airport. I met up with a childhood friend living in London and we walked around, seeing Big Ben and a couple other classic London sights (from the outside, we didn't go inside anything), and we got dinner at an overpriced Chinese restaurant. This was how I spent my Thanksgiving by the way, certainly a memorable one!

After an evening with my friend I took a train back to the airport and flew on to Edinburgh, Scotland! I landed around 11:30pm and took the bus for $6 or so to Frederick Street. From there I met back up with my friends and we walked to our hostel, Kick Ass Hostel. I had booked separately from my friends so I was in a different dorm, and I had a 10 or 12 person coed dorm (can't remember the exact number)! It smelled awful but hey it was affordable and the rest of the hostel was great. One thing I'll say is that it seemed like the place for partiers/pub goers. I got in well past midnight and there was only ONE other person in my room (which was marked as full). The rest came in at like 2am and later.

Day Seven:

We spent the day walking around Edinburgh, which was by far my favorite big city we visited. We walked up to the castle (but didn't pay to go in), visited the Elephant House which is the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, shopped, and went to a local park! A great day, and much-needed chill after some crazy packed travel days!

We also explored the Edinburgh Christmas Market which was one of my highlights!! It was a giant festive Christmas party and I loved it. I got mulled wine, local food from the booths, and we checked out a bunch of different crafty booths! So fun.

Day Eight:

We did another full day tour, this time with Rabbies. We almost missed our bus due to me taking a wrong turn, but we made it and it was INCREDIBLE!! It cost roughly $50 and was 12 hours long. We hit Rannoch Moor, Glencoe, Great Glen, Fort Augustus, Loch Ness, Grampian Mountains, and Highland Perthshire.

That sums it up! The photos speak for me, we stopped at a bunch of beautiful places and took 3437293 photos. Would highly recommend investing in tours if you're not renting a car. The guides are knowledgeable and they have the stops perfectly planned out! Anyways, we got back around 8:30pm, then my friends and I hopped on an overnighter bus to Manchester that was roughly seven hours long for $35 and got us to the airport at 4am. From there I flew back to Denver through Reykjavik!

Advice/Thoughts/Conclusion:

• If you're trying to maximize your time, you can stick to public transportation and tours to get to more places. It's pretty spread out if you rent a car!
• Book everything ahead of time!! We had to settle for more expensive accommodation in a few places because they were sold out.
• This is definitely a place you want to plan out ahead of time, especially if you're under a time crunch. We felt like we did very well hitting many different places, but I put hours of time into planning and booking everything.
• Some may disagree, but I would recommend paying to tour just one or two really cool castles, then skipping the rest. To be honest they look cooler from the outside anyway, and after awhile they all kind of look alike. Conwy Castle was a great one!!
• Scotland was SO underrated! Everyone talks about England, especially London, but I enjoyed Scotland the most. Both Edinburgh and our Highlands tour, it was beautiful and less crushing!
• If you can fit everything into a pack, like we did, it's much easier to walk around places and utilize public transportation. I'll include a photo at the very bottom of our packs!
• Be prepared to walk EVERYWHERE. 
• Flying into other cities (like how we flew into Manchester) can be a much more affordable option than flying into London!
• If you go in the winter, be prepared for grey skies and cold weather, but definitely go to the Christmas Markets!!! Those were major highlights of mine.
• I think the only things I would do next time would be to spend more time in both Ireland and London (I only got a day in each), and I would love to give summer a try. 

That's it!! I had a wonderful time, and really felt like we maximized our time here. We also managed to spend minimal amount of money! WOOOOO!

Advice & Personal Experience: Traveling New Zealand (Both Islands)

In an attempt to spread out my New Zealand experiences, I'm dedicating this post solely to my advice for traveling New Zealand! From must-dos to can-skips to my experiences, I'm about to word vomit everywhere. Starting with my favorite spots, keep in mind my must-do's are solely based on places I've already BEEN, I'll have a list later in this post that includes places I would go if I were to visit again!!
My South Island Must-Do's

Hooker Lake hike - Mt Cook

• Queenstown has to be top of my list, absolutely one of the most picturesque places I've ever been, and has TONS to do.
• Milford Sound
• Kawarau Bridge Bungy (even if you just go to watch others jump!
• Mt Cook National Park
• Hooker Lake hike
• Tekapo and Lake Pukaki

My South Island Do If You Have Time's

Kayaking in Akaroa Harbour

• Akaroa Harbour
• Go kayaking
• Take a boat tour if you have the budget to do so!
• Dunedin
• Cadbury Chocolate Factory 
• Go wine-tasting

My South Island Can-Skip's

• Christchurch
• Note this is my personal opinion, but I found other New Zealand cities to be more interesting! Christchurch does have some nice museums and parks, but I would skip this one if I were to go back.
• The food
• The best food I had in New Zealand was all food from different countries. Classic kiwi food I found to be pretty bland and heavy (LOTS of meat and potatoes and fried fish). HOWEVER, I have heard that the North Island has better food as they have a larger population, so maybe it's better up in Auckland!

My North Island Must-Do's

One of the hobbit holes at Hobbiton

"Mordor" partway through the Tongariro Crossing

• Tongariro Alpine Crossing
• If you're a Lord of the Rings fan and an avid hiker, this is definitely a must-do! How many people can say they walked into Mordor?
• Hobbiton
• Even if you're not a LOTR fan, this one is a REALLY fun stop. Getting to walk through the Shire hobbit holes is really cool. 
• Cathedral Cove
• Without a doubt one of my favorite beaches I've been to to date (the amazing sunrise helped).
• Note you have roughly 45 minutes of hike/walking to get there!

My North Island Do If You Have Time's

Horseback riding on Muriwai Beach

• Waitomo Glow Worm Caves
• This is a really cool little tour, but it gets downgraded to my do if you have time's for the price! We all felt it was a little overhyped and overpriced, but still very neat. 
• Lake Taupo adventures
• We went white water rafting, but you can also go skydiving!
• Auckland
• Probably the best place to find good food as well as being the largest city!
• Muriwai Beach
• Not quite as good as Cathedral Cove but still a great beach.
• We went horseback riding which was very picturesque.
• Spontaneous detours!
• The roads we drove along had lots of easy side hikes if you have the time!
• We hiked Fairy Falls which was a great quick hike to stretch our legs.
• Rotorua
• Haka Honey
• If you have a rainy day or are looking for free stuff, there are some great free samples here and it's a huge store with a live beehive!

My North Island Can-Skip's

• We stuck to stuff we knew we'd enjoy, so I don't have much to add here except I would DEFINITELY skip sleeping in my rental car next time (we slept three girls to a Ford Focus-sized car because we were pretty cheap)

General Advice for Traveling New Zealand

Cathedral Cove at sunrise

• RENT A CAR
• I cannot say it enough. Public transportation in New Zealand is great for getting around cities, but if you want to get out a hike or get to different beaches and lakes, you'll either have to spring for a tour, or spend half the day transferring busses. We rented a car on the North Island and it was absolutely worth it.
• Also as a side note, a lot of people rent a camper van so they can camp as they go, and I would recommend this as well, especially if you're wanting to save money or spend most of your time outside of the city!
• Stop at a grocery store to stock up on food you can make for yourself
• New Zealand has some great fresh produce and sandwich fixings and other basic stuff at their grocery store, and to be honest a lot of the restaurant food isn't worth springing for! 
• I would recommend doing your research and finding a few restaurants to eat at with great reviews, then save some money by doing your other meals on your own.
• Allow yourself the flexibility in timing to make spontaneous photo and hiking stops.
• There are so many great stops along your drive that it's well worth it to stop and take advantage of the incredible New Zealand nature! Try not to book yourself sunrise to sunset so you can enjoy the beauty of spontaneous stops and hidden gems.
• Give yourself enough time to travel both islands. 
• New Zealand is PACKED with amazing scenery and incredible hikes, but unfortunately, they are as spread out as could possibly be. New Zealand may look small on a map, but you will need AT LEAST two weeks to be able to do both islands including travel time and adventure stops.
• If you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb (particularly on the South Island), pack as though you are going for an overnight hiking trip. Feel free to leave your hair styling equipment, makeup, and heels at home!
• I found most people (from a female standpoint) walked around in no makeup, hair in a ponytail, and hiking/outdoorsy clothes. When I first arrived and wore a full face of makeup I felt SO overdressed.
• I feel like I need to add a note here that you should dress however is most comfortable for you, but just wanted to give a heads up if you needed any packing tips or advice! I was there for four months and only dressed up one time for a nice dinner. Lots of people here also wear waterproof boots and shoes, but I spent most of my days in a farm town, so that might be specific to Lincoln!
• Bring a waterproof camera
• I got SO MUCH USE out of my GoPro. It's much smaller and lighter to carry and pack than a DSLR!
• Two other major reasons to bring a waterproof camera:
• It rains. A lot. Something like a GoPro is especially helpful and easily accessible if you plan on doing one of the Great Walks/multi-day treks and don't want to risk potential water damage to your nice camera.
• Lots of New Zealand activities are on or around water! Lakes, ocean, waterfalls,  etc.
• Take advantage of the many New Zealand hostels - particularly if you're traveling on a budget or traveling alone!
• Hostels are kind of like college dorm meets summer camp meets hotel. They vary VASTLY in setup, but it's an affordable way to travel, you get a clean bed, a bathroom (usually community), and a community kitchen to use in addition to the common rooms which are great places to meet other travelers! In New Zealand I paid an average of $20/night for one bed in a 10-bed dorm room or something like that. Note that sometimes the dorms are co-ed and sometimes you can select a room that is all-female or all-male.
• Hostel World Website
• Bring a good pair of hiking boots if you plan on trekking. I used mine even when not hiking on the wetter days rather than packing one pair of boots and one pair of rain boots.

Driving to Mt Cook

Recommended Packing

• One pair hiking boots/waterproof tennis shoes
• One pair sandals (I brought Chacos)
• One raincoat 
• Multiple outfits for hiking and adventures
• Dri-fit works really well
• Leggings/running shorts/hiking pants
• One pair jeans or shorts or a dress or whatever you like to wear for walking around the city
• 1-2 sweatshirts/fleece/layers for nighttime, especially if you'll be doing any camping
• Toiletries
• Toiletries are EXPENSIVE here so try bring them from home!
• If possible...try fit everything into a pack. Or a suitcase and bring a pack so that you're not too ill-prepared if you do any multi-day treks! It's also MUCH easier to get around with just a pack if you need to rely solely on public transportation and tour busses. 
• This goes for any international packing, but aside from a passport/visa if you need it, bring or buy an adapter ASAP! If you plan on traveling to different countries, you can buy an all-in-one power adapter on Amazon for like $20. 

What I Would Do Next Time (New To Me):

• One or more of the Great Walks
• Milford Track
• Routeburn Track
• Kepler Track
• Rent a campervan 
• Fox Glacier/Franz Josef Glacier
• Bay of Islands
• Some sort of boating excursion!
• LOTR horseback riding tour
• https://www.highcountryhorses.nz/isengard-lord-of-the-rings/
• Kaikoura whale watching cruise
• Do more in the Mt Cook area
• Lake Matheson
• Travel to New Zealand during their summer (November-February-ish)

New Zealand Conclusion

If you are debating whether or not to travel to New Zealand...DO IT. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and incredible countries I have ever been to. I would especially recommend a New Zealand trip to those who crave adventure, love the outdoors, or are big Lord of the Rings/Chronicles of Narnia fans! I hope you found something in my post to be helpful, I'm still learning how to design my blog to be a travel tool rather than simply an online journal!

Hobbiton

Kawarau Bridge Bungy

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Lake Pukaki

Narnia scene on top, us on bottom at Cathedral Cove