Tomorrow morning, after dropping off my mail-in ballot at the post office, I’m heading to the airport for a journey to New Zealand! I will be there for 7 weeks total. I’m all packed up, with my big backpack and a small carry-on backpack. I’m taking all my camping stuff, along with crampons and ice axe (it’s spring down there and I’ve heard they’ve had a big winter). I’m leaving the 4×5 large format camera and all its film behind (gasp!) in favor of traveling light and easy with my small digital SLR, one lens, and little tripod.

I have lots of ideas for places to see during the trip, but not much actual plans. I think I’d like to generally spend most of my time hiking and tramping in the mountains of the South Island, but I’ll see how it goes. I also want to take it easy and relax in some of the towns too, between hikes. While I am of course excited about getting into the photography groove for almost two months, I’m almost equally excited to have a real vacation, doing whatever I feel like doing each day.

Anyhow, I will try to post some updates on this blog when I can – hopefully with some pictures too.

Take care,
Jack