feldmanlarry

Everywhere on the trip — Oct. 18 to Nov. 15, 2017

Note — This is not a visual blog entry and I would recommend reading a different blog, such as the one from Milford Sound if you’re looking for travel pictures and commentary.

I’ve had people who are parents of 20-somethings complain that their children don’t seem to be going anywhere with their careers. They may have a master’s in a science field and be waitressing or spending six months traveling the world on next to no money.  My advice was always that the 20’s can be really well spent making bad decisions (if they’re not long-term), trying out what turn out to be bad career choices, working at low paying jobs, and traveling. That’s not to say that someone like our son who found a career that works well for him right out of university is doing the wrong thing. (He’s also doing several international trips with vacation and time he has purchased).

My advice was that the time to worry is if your child is still in his / her 30’s and living at home with no career. My incredibly wise aunt Lil had the theory that everyone needs to rebel at some point in their life. If they don’t do it in their teens or twenties, they’re due in their 40’s or 50’s and in a possibly more destructive way.

The reason for bringing this up here is everywhere we went on this trip we were served and guided by people in their 20’s. Many of these people had come to Australia or New Zealand from all over the world. Maybe they were leaving their home for a good reason or maybe they had no reason to leave but had always wanted to come to this part of the world.

Of course, I spoke with literally dozens of these 20-year olds. I always asked them where they were from and what their dreams were, while they’re serving us dinner or taking us on a tour. The most common response was that they had no idea what they were doing long term but that life was good for them at this moment in their lives. One Polish young woman in Franz Joesph Glacier was an exception. Something unhappy had happened to her in NZ. My guess was that a partner broke up with her but I don’t know,. Besides her they all seemed pretty happy (or as happy as you can be serving a nosy old man from the US).

Many were from Europe such as an afternoon guide we had at Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. He had spent enough time here to become an expert on the plants, animals, hiking trails, and history to have a good job. He had bigger dreams for moving on to other environments.

An interesting character was this guide from New Zealand, for our laid-back lake cruise in Franz Joseph. At first glance, he seemed a little like a redneck, for lack of a better word.  He was very progressive about human rights and very much into hunting and fishing. He didn’t like the new progressive female Prime Minister of New Zealand, because he thinks she is trying to make too many changes too quickly. He was an excellent guide who knew a lot about the animals, plants, and native legends.

Our lake guide explains the strength of a hemp plant.

These two couples in their twenties were not working, just traveling. One couple was from France the other from Italy. I started up a conversation with them so I could practice my French. It turned out someone had given them a picture from the 1970s’ of two couples at that very spot who were about their age. They were too shy to ask but I volunteered to get a picture of them posing just like the people in the postcard.

For the most part, I didn’t take pictures of these twenty-somethings. It was one of the highlights of the trip to be able to vicariously experience their lives for a few brief moments each. Their lives were also filled with the drudgery of their jobs but the excitement of meeting others like themselves from all over the world and of being these beautiful places.

Besides the twenty-somethings, I talked with many people from all over. Some we became friends with for a brief time. I’ll just relate one situation here. On the Milford Sound Cruise, we shared a table with two couples who represented two extremes of the travelers we met.

One couple was newlyweds from the North Island of New Zealand. This was their first time in the South Island. She worked as a cake designer and this trip was obviously taking up much of their savings. We really enjoyed these people and they were probably more thrilled to be on this cruise than the other couple.

In contrast, the other couple was from Lake Tahoe (the Nevada side, with lower taxes). They were world travelers and about as high energy as any travelers I’ve ever met. In one day in Queenstown they were busy from early morning to late at night  with something like 7 different activities —  a zip line, city tour, cruise, cable car, midnight sky tour, and ate in the best restaurants. They could not imagine spending 4 weeks in ANZ, because they see what they believe to be everything in a very short amount of time. I made a joke about spending our children’s  inheritance and they got very defensive, explaining in much more detail than I wanted about how well they had all their financial bases covered. They were clearly Republican because all they seemed to care about was lower taxes.  While these people were fascinating to talk to for a few minutes, the other couple would be much more fun to spend time with.