 Hey, welcome back to my YouTube channel, guys. I hope you had a great holiday and well rested and ready to go for 2022. I am rested. I've had almost a three week holiday, which I will probably make another video and share with you. But today I wanna talk about the five differences in traveling over the summer holidays in New Zealand compared to the US. Five differences that I really wanna highlight that it's all fresh in my mind. So here we go. Okay, number one. The difference that we need to talk about first is the length of the summer holiday. So when we're talking about summer holiday, we're talking obviously about when children are out of school. It's not like when you go back to work, like you get summer holiday anymore, right? We all remember those days where you have to go to work and become an adult and you're like, what do you mean I don't get summer holiday? Yeah, it's not cool. Anyway, the length. In New Zealand, you get six weeks summer holiday for the children and in the US it's three months. And they are different times of the year. So like in New Zealand, because we're on the other side of the earth, is December through February and in the US it's June through August, okay? And so what's interesting though, it's really weird going from Christmas to summer holiday, whereas in the US, it's like the end of the school season as in May, June timeframe, and then they go into their summer holiday and it doesn't really evolve around a holiday in particular. They do go through fourth of July in July and Memorial Day, Labor Day in the US as well during that time. So number one is just need to acknowledge that the length is quite different and what do I think about this? Well, honestly, living in both places, I think that the six weeks is what I would prefer. It just gets to be too long with three months. I think a lot of learning is lost in the children and I think that when I think about my summer holidays in the US, like, you know, you're running, you're so excited and you're doing stuff and it pretty much lasts about six weeks. And then all the rest is like, you're just trying to find a place for your kids to go while you go back to work or trying to entertain them while they're home with what feels like forever. So I know a lot of people have said this to me before as well, like I feel like the three months is really long and really not necessary anymore because it was essentially established, you know, when we were focused on farming and before we've had, you know, innovations, let's say. So yeah, the three months feels really long. So overall, I think I'd prefer the six weeks. Number two difference is that it's actually, I know that we're talking about in terms of school holidays, but it's not actually for just kids in New Zealand. And that was one of the biggest eye-openers when I moved here was that businesses literally close or you're forced to take leave during that time. It's crazy. Like when we came here, like we don't have any family here and so we weren't gonna take any holiday, you know, when over Christmas or whatever, we were gonna do it a different time. And they were like, that, we're closed. You can't come into work. Doesn't work that way. And that, it's not every business, obviously not every business closes, but like a lot of them will close like literally for a whole month here. And like that's normal and expected. And in fact, I think in a lot of industries, you're expected to at least take two weeks over this particular holiday. Like it's just, it's slower. They just know that business is slower and things are slowing down. And what's cool about New Zealand is that they are okay with that timeframe of being inefficient or maybe not getting as much business or even being completely closed. Like I go through, like if you go into like a downtown somewhere, you'll walk through like closed until February. Close, you know, and I'm like wondering like this little small business, like I don't know how they survive. Like this little dairy, for example, will be closed until February or efficient chip shop. And you're like, what? Like how are you even surviving if you don't have like a whole month where you're not getting any business? So that is one of the things that are really different between New Zealand and the US that things actually shut down over the summer holiday and your whole family can actually take a whole vacation and it isn't a whole thing. And then plus, in addition to that, New Zealand holidays are so much longer. Like in the US, you get two weeks and as you work with a company for five years, you get three weeks and what, you know, this is a generalization. Obviously there's all different types of companies, but in general it's, you don't take more than a week really. And so yeah, in New Zealand though, a month is acceptable, three weeks is acceptable. We just took just a little under three weeks, which felt really long and like a real break. And that's what's so great about New Zealand is that you actually get like a really good break and it's okay. And like, you know, it is definitely catching up when you get back to work and you know, minor crisis is here and there as you would expect, but like not too crazy and everybody's been on holiday and so it's just a whole different feel. And it isn't like you're feeling bad for taking off or feeling like, oh, I feel bad for taking a full two weeks. No, there's none of that. It's like, oh, you should have taken longer. Oh, are you taking any more holiday? And it's just a whole different value system and a whole way of thinking about things differently in terms of holiday break. Okay, and number three, let's talk about what you actually do on summer holiday. Does it vary in the US compared to New Zealand? Let's talk about that. So I wouldn't say that it varies too much. Definitely the terms that we use to talk about things. So for example, New Zealanders, a lot of New Zealanders go to their batches, which would be like a cabin or a cottage or like a summer home. And most of them are not like Uber fancy. They're just literally like a nice place on the beach that has kind of minimal stuff for you to kind of function and stay there. And, you know, doesn't require like a lot of maintenance and upkeep and it's really great. And it's really nice. And so most Kiwis, somebody in the family will have a batch and they will take turns using it or going to it. And that's very common but also in the US very common to go to a cabin or rent a cabin for a week on a lake or, you know, kind of the same thing. Also camping is big, I would say in both of them. And so I think both of them do camping. They both do long weekend getaways. So in New Zealand, there's a couple of public holidays that are like during or right after the summer break. And so a lot of long weekends are spent doing that. So I think like really you do very similar things. What's cool about New Zealand is that you can do a beach holiday and a mountain holiday in the same one because they're not that far apart. You can get to all different things. So we went to the South Island and we did little beach, we did some camping, we did some mountains, we did some Airbnb, we did so many different things and you can because it's all within close proximity. Whereas the US is just much bigger. So you're gonna have a holiday on the beach or you're gonna have a holiday in the mountains and or you're just gonna go to a lake. Okay. So yeah, you can't have like the full variety in your week to three weeks off in the US compared to New Zealand. And number four, let's talk about camping. How does camping compare in New Zealand compared to the US? Because I have a lot to say on this because I camp a lot in the US. I've camped not as much in New Zealand because frankly I don't like it as much here. So let's talk about that a little bit. I just spent 10 days plus camping in the South Island. So it's just really fresh in my mind kind of the differences. So in the US, when you go camping, it's pretty standard that every campsite will have a fire pit where you can have a fire every night. It's pretty standard that you would have a picnic table that, you know, there's just certain standard things. That doesn't necessarily happen in New Zealand. And so that's a little bit frustrating. Like it's weird to me that you would get a campsite that has no picnic table or like nowhere to sit or, you know, and they have fire bands and you can't really have fires in New Zealand because it's dangerous. And I'm not saying that they should. I'm just saying it makes the camping experience very different because for us, like when you're camping in the US, the fire, the sitting around the fire, the s'mores around the fire, the fire time is kind of the highlight of camping. And so when you can't do that, it sounds great. But when I was camping in the South Island, like they had other options. So one of the campsites we stayed at had like a, like a pizza oven type thing that you were allowed to have fires at. It was just something you could sit around at. You could make s'mores in there if you wanted. And so that was really great. So you can still do it in this particular location. Also another one that I stayed at had like, set up like pits on the beach. And so you could have bonfires on the beach, even better alternative. So like a bonfire on the beach is like better than like a campfire camping in the US. So they do have options. So if you are a camper and you love camping or you're traveling to New Zealand, like there are campsites that you can do really cool things at. So you just need to do a little more research, but I also wouldn't assume that they're gonna have all the things that you're expecting that they have in the US. Also, what's also very different about New Zealand is this communal kitchen. So most campsites or holiday parks will have a communal kitchen where everybody shares a couple of fridges, freezers, stoves, things you can cook on. It kind of around five o'clock, you know, around lunchtime. Everybody kind of comes in and starts making stuff. And that was really unusual. Like in the US, it's, you kind of stay, I mean, there's been places where there's communal. I'm sure that there is. Like I'm talking about a very large country, but my experience camping has been like, you have your own campsite, it's very private. You don't, you know, you talk to some of your neighbors, maybe, but it isn't like you're gonna be ever cooking together. And so that was always very different and very fun because you meet really cool people. And it's fun to look at what other people are cooking because you always need new ideas when you're cooking. Camping, right? Cause it's always like, how do I eat good without being a lot of work and whatever. And so that's really fun. Also when you're tramping here in New Zealand, they have what are called huts are very common where sometimes you can reserve them, sometimes you can't and you can go and there'll be like 30 bunks and then whoever's there just, you know, grabs a place to sleep and they share everything. And, and that's unusual. They do have those kinds of things in the US but not as common. Like it's very common here to hike or backpack or tramp to a hut here in New Zealand. And so that's really different. So yeah, the communal eating is very different but also I just wanna highlight one more thing that's different about camping is very expensive here in New Zealand. So I'm literally buying a slab of dirt. Sometimes I don't get anything with that slab of dirt. Like I don't even get like a picnic table or, you know, a fire pit or anything but it's like $15 to $20 per adult. Plus each child is an additional like seven. It's not that much money but when you add it up for my family of six plus because sometimes my kids bring friends it's like $90 a night to be at a campsite whereas in the US it's much cheaper than that. And, you know, you don't always have to pay for the kids. I think you maybe pay per person. Gosh, I don't remember. It's been a while but I don't remember it being, you know, when things start to get to be like $90 a night for a slab of dirt, I'm considering an Airbnb at 120 at that point. You know what I mean? So like what you're actually getting. And then some of them, I would say in general in New Zealand the toilets are really nice. Like if you go to state parks and certain types of parks in the US you're gonna get nice showers and toilets but in New Zealand I think they get the win if you ask me in terms of always providing public toilets like it could be, you know, just like a pit toilet but they're pretty clean and it's pretty nice. And I think that they do a really good job here in providing that. And so that's also partly what you're paying for. So I was really happy with that in general with my travels because I always need to go. So yeah, but it is expensive. I just think traveling in general is expensive in New Zealand. But yeah, so camping a little bit similar, a little bit different. So just know that if you're coming here. And number five. Okay, since I just kind of highlighted on the cost I think that's what I'm gonna go with with number five. The cost of travel in New Zealand is very expensive. And I think that it gets very affordable for families. So the way that it's set up here in New Zealand I think travel is set up for couples. So if you're a couple you're fine. And then if you do have a family they're kind of only set up for four. So like two adults, two kids. That's when you get the family deals at four. In addition to if you have more than that, which I do. So there's six of us. We have to then pay for an additional two and it starts to become very affordable to do tours to really do anything. Like a slab of dirt and a campground can be $90 for us. There is freedom camping options but you have to have the right facilities in your camper van and then camper vans are expensive. So it's kind of a whole thing. And so in general, I would say traveling with a family in New Zealand can be very affordable. So if you don't have family here who has a batch that you can borrow I find it very expensive. And especially the tours. Like for us like to do really any tour can be anywhere between $500 to $1,000 just for like a three hour experience. And that's really outrageous and can be almost unaffordable for most families. And so I think what would be really great for New Zealand if you're in the tourism like there should be like a residential fee and then like the international fee. And I think that I mean all these people are struggling. And so I'm not saying, you know you have to reduce your prices or whatever but I'm just saying maybe if you had certain deals for residents living here because that's all that's traveling right now it might make more sense and you might get more visitors. And so yeah, it is just I just think I just need to acknowledge that it is a very expensive to travel around here and especially for families. So I had Airbnb in one of my houses and I had it specifically low so families could travel and have somewhere to stay together. And then it's also they have the issue with like there's only four people allowed in the room and like well what do you do if you have two kids? Like I have a sleeping bag and an ear mattress and they're like, well, you know and I try to be very upfront and honest about that always and try to negotiate at different rates and most people are very reasonable here in New Zealand if you just say, hey we're actually a family of six I know your house sleeps five but I have a very young kid who was happy to sleep on the floor and then that's totally different and they don't generally have a problem with that but it's just not set up and easy for like families to travel around. And so that's what I think really needs to change. And also can I just say one more thing about the cost? The cost for teens. So once your kid is over 15, generally on a tour they have to pay the adult rate which is gonna be like up to $200, right? And it's like, I don't think that that should be the case. I'm telling you if you know teenagers sometimes they get excited about things but most things are like, this is boring. Gonna go back on my phone. So it's very frustrating to parents have to pay adult rates when they're not really an adult mentality to really appreciate where they're at. Now some teens are, some are mature but a lot of times they're not. They don't always wanna do what the parents wanna do and so that can be frustrating. So I don't think that there should be, they should be still discounted as a child because it's not like they're super engaged in that. So anyway, there's just, I have lots of ideas about how you can work that but that's just my two cents on traveling with a family and a lot of teenagers. All right, I hope you enjoyed my YouTube video today. Please comment below and share what you did over the holidays or what are your thoughts on some of the things I said. Now I know that I'm only limited to my experience and I haven't experienced everything so please share your experiences. I'd love to hear it below. That would be great. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I will see you next week.