by Dustin Kudler | Apr 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
As we made our way south for our first great walk (Tongariro Northern Circuit) Katie and I went to Matamata to visit the Hobbiton Movie Set, which is at the Alexander family farm. As you’ll see in the photos, the set consists of 44 hobbit holes of various sizes to enable the filmmakers to capture the magic and bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s story to life.
The effort put forth by Peter Jackson and his team demonstrates how far filmmakers will go to ensure that no detail is overlooked; nothing was too small to be worthwhile in creating a realistic and believable Hobbiton.
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by Dustin Kudler | Apr 1, 2015 | New Zealand
There’s nothing like a match that’s running into its 9th hour, separated by only 25 runs with less than 5 overs remaining to put you on the edge of your seat, am I right? Unfamiliar with the sport I’m referring to? It’s cricket and as we learned it’s quite entertaining after you figure out the rules of play.
Since we started our trip Katie and I have experienced a bit of Irish luck when it comes to being in the right place at the right time. In this case we just happened to pick an excellent time to be traveling in New Zealand where the the 2015 Cricket World Cup was being hosted. Capitalizing on our good fortune we bought two tickets to the South Africa vs. Pakistan match. Between the two of us we had watched a combined 0 seconds of cricket. Due to our deficit in cricket knowledge we spent the first hour trying to figure out the rules of the play. For those who want a quick overview of the rules, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPXAzgwwo0A
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by Dustin Kudler | Mar 13, 2015 | Reflections
When do you choose risk over stability? That was the question I had to answer when deciding whether or not I should leave my job to live out of a backpack while traversing across three continents for several months to eventually return to my point of departure (Upstate New York).
To some of the readers the dilemma of going on the trip of a lifetime or stay at home doesn’t seem like much of a dilemma at all. Life is short, so you should go on the trip. To others who value stability in their lives, the choice seems equally as obvious. I have it good now, don’t throw it away.
Because you’re reading our travel blog it’s obvious what choice I made. After several long talks with Katie discussing the logistics of how we could make our trip possible, I had one internal hurdle that got me to the point where I said yes. I asked myself, what would Pop Pop do? (more…)
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