Day 8, when it's currently day 12. Christmas has been a busy period :).
So today Regina asked us to share a moment that we remember wanting really bad and not stopping until we got it.
When I was 11 years old, Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring came out in cinema. I didn't know anything about this film before the trailers came out. I hadn't even heard of the books written by the great J.R.R Tolkien.
I loved the film, I loved the stroy, I loved the characters and most of all I loved the scenery.
Being 11, I didn't really understand the concept of the film, so a few weeks later I went back to my normal little life. December 2002 the following year The Two Towers came out.
BANG IT STRUCK ME AGAIN! Tolkien world was back, I was thrown back into the fantasy world of Middle Earth. The franchise stuck with me since, I had the games on Playstation, I started to read the books, I had merchenside all around my room. Then of course it was the story that was the main reason I loved Lord of the Rings.
December 2003, The Return of the King came out and it was all fresh again. That Christmas my mum bought me and my sister a house computer, so as to be expected I looked up everything Lord of the Rings related. From this I learnet that every shot in those films was filmed in New Zealand. So what was the next thing I searched up? That's right. New Zealand.
The scenes from the films were right there, a real place, a place that I could visit.
I was almost 14 when I said, that someday I will go there.
The dream almost became a reality when I was 19. I quit university in December 2008 and before going back in September 2019 I wanted to make sure I went somewhere, did something....see something. I decieced I wanted to go work on a farm in New Zealand for a few months, experience something new before going back to University.
I was given a price of £4000, this would have covered my flight, visa and accommdation. Unfortunately with only 4-5 months to save earning no more than £800 a month, this was not going to be easy, even if I could save that amount, I wouldn't have been able to save enough to enjoy the country. So instead I went to Toronto Canada for two months and worked in a kitchen. I had a great time, but it wasn't my fist choice.
In 2011 I decided that after University I would go to New Zealand.
So for that year I increased my contract hours at my part time job and put 80% of what I earned each month aside to save for New Zealand. It was quite tough staying in when all your friends were out enjoying themselves but I knew that the end result would be worth it.
After 7 months I had paid for my flights, my visa and all those little extras that were needed for the trip.
So I had about 4-5months left to save as much spending money as I could.
I was going to the other side of the world. I wasn't going to scrimp.
So my dream began in 2004 and 8 years later it became a reality. New Zealand was the best place I have ever been and as I've said before, I mean to go back.
Check out my Instagram for photos from New Zealand