If you could pick any place in the whole world to live, where would you choose?
The year is 2013 and we (Barbora 21 and Igor 23) are trying to come up with a plan that will take us to New Zealand. We both finished high schools in Slovakia and decided to change our lives. We felt that life in Slovakia is not for us, despite the fact that we have families and friends there.
How did we get to New Zealand?
After a demanding search, we found an opportunity that gave us hope to get there. We found the Working Holiday Visa program, which made it possible to live in New Zealand for one year. Without hesitation, we applied for these visas and we were very lucky to be able to get them.
What happened next?
Well, the fun begins now. We bought tickets and within one month we left our birth country our families and friends. Two young people who have never flown and who don’t speak English have decided to go on the other side of the world. Let me tell you the first month in New Zealand was really challenging!
The first month, how did we survive?
First of all, the 12-hour time shift has completely overtaken us. We can say that we slept through the days for the first week. Meanwhile, we had to arrange important things like (IRD, bank accounts). But without English, it was not easy either. Fortunately, people are very kind and understanding here, so they helped us.
Secondly, we came from Slovakia with a small budget, so our goal was to find work as quickly as possible. Because we found out that without working and earning money we would not last for a month. We stayed in the backpacker hostel the cheapest option and we started looking for a job. Every day for two weeks, we went tens of kilometers. We printed our CVs and learned how to ask for a job. I remember how difficult it was for us to understand people and talk to them. During the second week I found work in the restaurant and my fiancé (Igor) just a week later in a tyre service. We worked there until the end of our visas.
After three weeks in hostel, we found a one-room small apartment where we stayed for the rest of the year. After a year we come back to Slovakia.
Continue in the next post…
HOW WE RETURNED BACK TO NEW ZEALAND!
Love, Ms.Barbora xoxo
I am from the United States, and absolutely love your Road Trip…NZ is a beautiful country and sometime I would like to visit. I have traveled the entire United States, lots of beautiful sites here but NZ was a thing of beauty. I followed your journey on Google Maps and Satelite and how wonderful for you both to be able to experience this. Thank for your journal and photos, I also watched and listened to a YouTube Video of your journey, breathtaking…Many well wishes for you both in your future journeys…
I’m very pleased that you are following our journey. It makes me happy. NZ is an incredibly beautiful country but unfortunately we have returned back to our home country in Slovakia. We wish to go back there. We also hope that we will be able to travel in the near future, because we really enjoy it! Thank you for your support:). We also wish you only the best and you should definitely visit New Zealand. Big thanks Barbora & Igor
Stay Safe from the Volcano that Erupted today Dec 9, 2019 on White Island North of the North Island, there may be more aftershocks so Stay Safe…
Jon aka Roadvoyeur
Hi Jon, I’m not in New Zealand anymore, but thank you for your message, I really appreciate it. Hopefully everyone is safe!
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