From Mordor to The Nordic Lands - A Hobbit's Journey

I'm used to seeing various friends, and family members sharing from their 'Big OE' away from New Zealand where they have gone off to some far off place. Sadly, the images just remind me that I have never been able to go away myself. In fact, I have only traveled as far as Picton in the South Island for a half day on a school trip. Most of my exploration has been confined to the west coast of the North Island. At one stage in high school, I couldn’t handle being in the car for more than 5 minutes before my anxiety kicked in to over-drive, and I felt like I needed to get out. Now I have learnt to manage it much better and I have the tools I need to cope with overseas travel.

An opportunity has arisen to spend roughly two-three weeks in Stockholm (and potentially a short stay in Helsinki) with a few of my friends, and my boyfriend. We have affordable and safe accommodation confirmed at one of their family’s summer house where there are a range of activities on offer. This friend will also act as a sort of country host, as he plans to take our group to the local sights and activities that we can afford.

The distance from Europe to New Zealand is not exactly a hop, skip and jump away, especially for someone with short legs like me. I have never been in the place financially to go to the annual London gatherings where often a dozen or more of my friends meet up and experience RuneFest, the convention for the game we have all bonded over. Yes, I have watched the live streams of that event for three years, and yes, I have begged for videos of their time there so I can feel involved, and sadly yes, I admit to having cried multiple times from thinking I’d never get the chance to experience something overseas with these people myself.

This year I don’t want the opportunity to go to waste. I have been resigned to just hearing about their experiences for years, but this year I want to reach out for your help. The flight costs which I hope to cover with this goal of $1700 are the biggest expense. The smaller expenses such as insurance, passport, food, transport and activities are ones I intend to save for myself in the lead up to the June departure.

This trip is only going to be possible with your generous support otherwise it will go on the back-burner for another 3 years. If you can help at all I will be forever humbled and grateful for your assistance. I would love to have the opportunity to attend to not only meet these people, and travel out of my own country for the first time, but to experience the culture and have a taste of an OE without the overwhelming unpredictable nature of travelling alone.