
We went glamping for the first time and loved it!
Tent camping was such a big part of our life in Colorado, yet we had done very little since moving […]
adventures of an American in Aotearoa New Zealand
I am an immigrant from the United States living in Wellington, New Zealand. My love affair with landscape, culture, and learning has led to a life filled with travel and academic institutions. Endowed with endless curiosity, I spend a great deal of time philosophizing about anything and everything, but very often pertaining to environmental issues. I should note that I am not formally trained in environmental philosophy, nor do I have the vocabulary competency to pass for someone who has. My writing is a somewhat tongue and cheek.
I am using this blog as a means to work through some of this thinking and to follow my own pathway of inquiry, while providing (hopefully) some meaningful insight of what it is like to live as an American in Aotearoa New Zealand. I am sure at some point there will be some interesting travel photos once I make the leap from iphone to fancy camera.
There is a secondary tab to the this blog spot. Reflections of the Watering Hole is an old blog I started during one of my academic stints studying the social and environmental impacts of oil and natural gas development in the Denver Julesburg Basin in the United States. While some of the information is a bit 'dated' (I started it in 2013), many of the conundrums remain relevant today.
Tent camping was such a big part of our life in Colorado, yet we had done very little since moving […]
One of the things I miss most about home is the snow. While we get a handful of days that […]
The East Cape was the last of the 16 regions in Aotearoa New Zealand we had left to explore. This […]
This was one of the first trips we took when I arrived to Aotearoa New Zealand in the spring (that […]
We had first planned to check out Nelson Lakes National Park during our 2015 Christmas Campervan trip, but ended up […]
We are always looking for a little weekend getaway to escape the predictable rhythms of life at home. For a […]
Another holiday weekend was upon us and we were road tripping volcano style, exploring Mount Taraweara and Whakaari White Island. […]
These doom and gloom late winter early spring days in Wellington had me missing those sunny Colorado summers. THE best […]
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves” – Edmund Hillary We spent three incredible days taking a mountaineering […]
“The beach is calling and we must go” – unknown Labor weekend is one of my favorite long weekends in Aotearoa […]
I tried to enter the Kepler 60km race a week after the registration opened, only to find myself at number […]
We spent our last holiday weekend (the Queen’s Birthday) before the long dark ages of winter driving Te Tai Poutini […]
One of the first things I did after moving to Aotearoa New Zealand was hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Tongariro […]
“what is life, but a grand adventure” Brian and I dreamed of campervanning around Aotearoa NZ for years, but we […]
With 29,000 km of coastline and three harbors, the city of Auckland is known for its beaches. While the city […]
“Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower” – Hans Christian Andersen I fully understand that […]