Long Layovers (New Zealand and Venice Beach)

My father's 60th birthday was just on November 15, so Isa and I flew back to the states to celebrate it with him (along with the entire family) in Disney World. We spent a week in Orlando. It was fast-paced, hectic at times, but totally worth it and super fun. But that's not what this post is about.

On the way to Orlando, we stopped in Auckland, New Zealand (for those of you that just got REALLY confused, Isa and I are currently living in Australia). It was way fun! We slept in the airport, which has an upstairs skydeck that is really quiet and peaceful and as far as we're concerned, made for sleepovers.

We started out on the floor by our bags there, and then took over the benches when they left for their flights. We had about 18 hours in New Zealand, and this was about 2am. So the next morning, we woke up and took a bus into town. We walked around Queen Street, which is their main street, but it wasn't all that interesting (although possibly because we were there on a Sunday, so maybe it's better on weekdays).

Isa had a great idea to take a ferry over to one of the neighboring suburbs - Devonport. It's such a cute little town with great views of the City.

We explored the fort on the hill and ran through the tunnels. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad Isa saw the deal to get us out there. There are a bunch more pictures up on Facebook, so you should check those out too. After hiking around and lazing in the sun for a while, we headed back to the ferry and back into town.

And then we took the bus back to the airport and embarked on the rest of our 46-hour journey.

Less than one week later, and probably only a day or two after we fully got over our jet-lag, we headed back to Australia. This time, we had a 10 hour layover in Los Angeles. I got a message saying the newest Del Sol store had opened a few hours earlier in Venice Beach. So we found a bus and headed to the beach. Venice Beach is hippie-ghetto. It's a little crazy, to say the least. But the sand was nice and it was a beautiful day.

After a bit of wandering, we found our destination:

The store is in a great location. It's right on the beach, right in front of the skate park and where everybody hangs out. We hung out with them for a little bit, checked out the new fixtures and merchandise (we love new designs and stuff) and then headed to the beach/skate park to watch the sunset.

I love that picture, and then Isa pointed me over to a lifeguard station to get this picture:

After the sunset, we grabbed a bite to eat at a local cafe and then headed back to the airport. We had no time for another excursion in Auckland on the way back (they actually held the plane for us because our flight was a little late getting in - we were picked up by Air NZ staff and walked VIP style right to the gate and right onto the plane).

So hooray for long layovers!

New Job, New Trips

So I just got a new job with the same company that I've been working with for the last few years (Del Sol). I'm opening new stores for them. Whenever a new store opens, they'll send me out and I make sure the store and computer systems are set up properly, I train the staff, managers, and owners, and then I work with them for a few days until they're all comfortable.

I just got back from Sedona, AZ and I'm going to Edmonton, Canada next month.

Sedona was cool. I've been there before (that's where my coyote story comes from) so I was excited to go back. Unfortunately, I was working the entire time and I was unable to take time to go on a hike. Here are a few pictures I took while I was there though:

Juneau and then some

So remember back in April, I made a list of things that I was planning on? They all came true. I went to Utah, I had dinner with my aunt, I went to Sitka and made it ridiculously successful. Just thought I'd update you on that.

I'm probably not going to run the marathon though.

Last week they moved me up to Juneau to help run the store there. It's bigger and faster paced, with anywhere up to 6 big cruise ships in at any given time. I love it! The added ships, coupled with my trying to catch up on two months of sales, means I'm working about 14 to 18 hours a day. So if you're coming from YouTube and you're wondering why I haven't uploaded a video until now, there you go.

I still go back to Sitka every few weeks to check in and to see friends. Sitka still feels like home, much more than Juneau does, at least.

The season ends here at the end of September. I'll probably be back in Utah for a day or two, and then fly back to NYC. I plan to be in the City before October 5th.

Plans are in the works for Turkey and Greece in March/April next year. I'm stoked. :) That'll give me about 4 months (minus the christmas season) to get my book published (it's all done, I just have to mail it to my friend Savannah out in London for her review).

Life is very good. I'm extremely happy with how everything is playing out.

Leave a comment if you have any questions that weren't answered.

Busy Busy Busy

The store is open, cruise ships are coming, tourists are shopping. Life is good. We had a solid opening and I'm really impressed at how successful we've been thus far. I hope it keeps up.

But I'm not going to talk business on here. Just wanted to let you know that I'm super ridiculously busy and I haven't been able to explore much lately. But I will. When have you ever known me to go somewhere and not make time to get out there and have some crazy adventure, right?

For now, you can have this picture, which we took yesterday out at Indian River:

AK Here I Come!!

I know I quit to come back and live in New York, but my old company (Del Sol) just offered me a great opportunity. I'm going to be opening a new store in Sitka, Alaska. Apparently it's about 100 miles south of Juneau. It's a big island (over 4000 sq mi) but it's a small town (pop. 8000 from what I can tell). That's definitely gonna be a shock from living in NYC, but I think it'll be a fun experience.

I leave the beginning of April, so in just a few weeks. Don't you love how quickly my plans change?