 Welcome back to my YouTube channel, you guys. We have Robin with us again today, which you're going to love. He is from the New Zealand Pocket Guide and they have everything you could ever need to know about New Zealand on their webpage in detail and it's free for you guys to use. It's amazing. Definitely the travel resource that you should use. Yeah, so we're so excited to have Robin and today we're going to talk about some of the mistakes that you can make when traveling around New Zealand. So you're not going to want to miss this episode. Here we go. This video is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is a great all-in-one platform to get your business online quickly. So 10 mistakes. Let's talk about it. All right. The first mistake, literally the thing we see all the time from pretty much at least three quarters of travelers is that they do not plan a trip long enough in New Zealand. Have you ever made that mistake yourself? Even just small trips in New Zealand. Do you always have enough time? Do you always do anything? No, no, no, no. The way that we travel is my husband's perspective is if we're not exhausted by the end then we didn't have a good trip. The best place to relax and rest is at work. Right? Yeah, hopefully they're not watching. But yeah, definitely when planning a trip to New Zealand. If you're coming from overseas, you want to have at least two weeks. If you want to be able to do both islands, three weeks would be ideal and even more if you can. Yes, more. Literally, we hear that all the time on our channel, on the website. We get a lot of a lot of feedback on NZPocketGuy.com where people literally tell us, I wish I had more time in New Zealand. So that is, you guys, that is such a big one, especially if you're American, you have like two weeks off a year and you think that that's enough. I mean it's enough. Yes, yes. Yes. Quit your job. Continue New Zealand. It's great. You can make some copies. There you go. Speaking of, what's the next mistake of? Oh yes, next mistake. I'm doing this next one is relying on Google Maps. So this is a really good one. Now let me just say this. So if you are in a town that has that you have data or you have Wi-Fi, you know, locate your next place you want to go and load the map before you leave that place because you never know if you're somewhere and you forgot, oh, I didn't load where we're going and then you're in the middle of the mountains and you can't get it and it's worth. Or, you know, download like a whole map before you come. Yeah. So the one thing I would say as well is that a lot of people kind of, they hear that advice and what they do, they decide to rent a GPS little system for their car through the car rental company. Oh, that's true. But damn, they charge like $10 to $15 a day. It's super expensive. You may as well literally buy a brand new one if you come to New Zealand for two weeks. It's absolutely crazy. So my tip is really to just go on the App Store or the Google Play Store or anything and get yourself literally one of those Garmin app or Top Tom app or something like that. Oh, that's a really good tip. Do that. It's like, thing is like five bucks for a map of New Zealand and that will genuinely change the way you travel around. Yeah, that's so true. That'd be my tip. Yeah, that's good. All right. The next tip that I have is not comparing prices. Shop around. For pretty much everything, there's always a way to shave off a few dollars here and there. Also, compare different options that you can have. For example, the cruise to Millford Sound. There is many different companies. There is many different tools over there and you can actually literally have from, you know, $69 to $170. And you know, they will all have very different inclusions. So pick what you want and what you want to pay for as well. There's plenty of different options in there. Even just when filling up the gas tank, there can be like 10 to 20 cents difference per liter on different places. Yeah, that's really good. So basically, when you come to New Zealand, this is my advice to you is just you're not able to get everything. There isn't a cheap option for everything. Okay. And so you just need to decide mentally what's most important to you. So yes, that flight over Millford Sound might be like the definitely something you want to do and it's expensive and you just do that. But then, you know, you eat ramen noodles for a couple of nights. You know, and so you just, you just have to balance what you really value. And that's really what it's like. Even if you move here, if you're living here, it's just about choosing what is, you know, most valuable to you. You just, there isn't a Walmart version of everything here. So they're starting to get a Kmart version of everything. But yeah, but not quite. So that's a really good one. Like definitely compare prices and definitely with different things cost like, yeah, it's amazing how much prices can vary. So definitely do that or, you know, go to your local app shop. I love those. That's a thrift store if you don't know. Okay, so the next one is don't be too negative. So don't do what we're doing right here. Yeah, so yeah, don't be too negative. Now this is really good. And if you haven't watched my video, I will put it above on one of the things about New Zealanders is they can be quite sensitive. Okay. And so if you're like, if you're coming from another country and you are just, you're just saying, what is this place? I don't like this. You just need to honestly have the attitude of I'm coming into a new culture. I want to experience that culture the way that they live and just appreciate the differences. And so if you come in with that attitude, you'll do much better. No, I agree. I mean, it was, it was a very humbling experience for me for my first couple of years in New Zealand. I'm super blunt. I'm super upfront. I say things, how I think, or, you know, like whatever, whatever I think, I just literally just say it. And, you know, I think there's a lot of value in that. But, you know, in the social world that the social situation that we're living in, it's not always the best thing to do. So yeah, learn from my mistake. And that's probably what I will consider having been my biggest mistake for being in New Zealand was just to be way too frank, way too upfront. Yeah. And so if you're talking with a Kiwi and they give you like a space where they just kind of push back and I kind of like, you said something, it becomes real obvious to you. And if you hear yeah now, that means now, that means definitely now, that means stop talking about this. So if you hear yeah now, it's now. And sometimes they will tell you, we don't talk about that. Yes. I've had that multiple times. Okay. A lighter subject. Don't be light on the sunscreen. Oh, see what I mean. Oh my goodness. All right. So there is a hole in the ozone layers. And that means there's no prediction between your skin and, you know, the UV rays, whatever, the science things, insert graph here. Anyway, that's for you. The sun is strong. Yes. Anyway, layer the sunscreen, apply, apply, apply and reapply. And reapply and reapply when you get out of the water. I'm really, really bad at it. The number is seven minutes in the sun in Plains of Main New Zealand. You can get some burn and that's increase your risk of melanoma. And that's not good. Yeah. And like, they take it very seriously here. So I mean, sometimes you'll see people I mean, I feel like we didn't take that seriously. But I've been here for six years. I'm really bad at really bad at wearing hat, really bad with the sunscreen, also really bad at putting on my kids. So it stresses me out constantly. But what's great is like the restaurants and cafes everywhere you go, people are always just have a thing of, if you forget it, a thing of sunscreen, which is really, really nice because you need it here. It's dangerous. It's like actually dangerous. And like, it's so funny, you can go to beaches here that like, there's not a lot of naked people. It's fully covered. What are you pointing at me when you said naked people? The long sleeved swim shirts and like, you know, they're wearing because you need to here. So it's really nice. Next up. Not a lot of skin. Okay. Yeah. So if you are trying to go on public transportation, make sure you let wave down the bus or it just goes right past you. Like, I want to get on your bus. I'm not just standing here for other reasons. Okay. So wave down the bus. It's very important to note. Okay. Because if, you know, it is different parts of the country have really good public transportation. I have been yelled at a lot when I talk about how good it is, because it's really good in Wellington where I'm from, but not so good apparently in other areas. No, it's very, it's very uneven depending on what city is for sure. Another thing I'm going to say with bus is make sure you have the correct amount because quite a lot of bus don't give you change. So you won't get change if you don't have the correct amount for the bus that you need to take. So, you know, it's always wise to have a handful of coins. Not a handful, that's a lot, but you know, a few coins in your purse. Yeah, or you can get a snapper card for $10. Yes. But if you're just passing by traveling to New Zealand, use coins. That's true. That's true. Exact change. Otherwise, you get that look like that. All right. So one of the two of us have very, very strong feelings about this. The next point and it's about not waiting to be served at coffees. So yeah, don't just sit at the chair, you know, at the table and just wait for things to happen to you in coffees or pubs in New Zealand. Don't do that. No, you'll be waiting a long time. Tell us. Tell us. Tell us why I'm so angry about this. Yes. So yeah, it's okay. So because of the note tipping, okay, the service is mediocre at best. I'm just going to call it like it is. I've been here long enough. I can say this. Okay, some places have decent service. Some places are like, Oh my gosh, I need to help you. You know, like they don't, well, you just kind of sit down. Some places are really great. It's just kind of depends where you go. And, and, you know, and then when you get there, you sit down and normally you have to sometimes you have to go to the bar to get your just don't expect service. Okay, that's like really honest. It's service with a lower case cases. Yeah, yeah, there you go. That's a nicer way. And then like I've learned. Yeah, if you pay, you have to pay up at, you know, the bar or the desk or you need to work, work on the food, you know, I mean, you just, you just stuffed yourself, right? So better work it off and by going to pay, right? Yes, and you kind of sometimes have to get your own water out of the fridge. Yeah, just keeping you, keeping you in shape. You know, that's, that's why you know, you have to stuff yourself, you better work on it. I'm an independent person. And so I like, prefer to just get my own stuff. I actually prefer it. And so it works for me. She's here in restaurants, you go to the dishwashing and even prep other meals. I don't. But like, I've been here, my friends have come here and they just kind of sit there. They're like, really? Like, we have to go get our own silverware and, you know, our own cups and water. And I'm like, yes, we do. Welcome to a different culture. Yes. Yes. Your local cafe is akin to the cafeteria at your local high school. 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And that's just such a nice feature as well. I highly recommend that you check out Squarespace. Take some time today to go to Squarespace.com and check out your free trial. And then when you're ready to purchase your website or your domain, you get 10% off with the link below. All right, moving on. What's the next one? The next one is, okay, man, I could tell you stories of this, but do not make sure you have enough money when you're traveling. Do not come here on the cheap. Do not come here on the cheap. Now there are cheaper ways of doing things. This is not a cheap vacation. It isn't a holiday. We did a video together a little bit earlier on this channel where we talk about 30 tips about traveling in New Zealand or 31 or more. And yeah, we did talk about a lot of different ways in which you can save money and shave off a few dollars on your trip, but it is not cheap to travel to New Zealand with far away. So just the flight alone should kind of give you a good indication that it's not going to be your cheap Las Vegas getaway or your cheap Hawaiian package. It's not all inclusive. It's not going to be your $700 for two people, Hawaiian package getaway. It's not going to be that. I mean, I think this should be obvious, but I've had my experiences with people have a credit card for those expenses that you're not anticipating if you've actually run out of money just so you're not in a bind. Yeah, it's, yeah, you know, estimate high. Yeah, it's just a fun to talk about money, but say you do need to actually think that it's going to be a once in a lifetime all across the other side of the world holiday and you need to actually budget for that level of epicness. Yeah, good. All right. The next thing that I have on the list, it's very simple, but it's checking your change or you will see it when shopping anywhere. I've explained that quite often, you know, at supermarket, it's obviously because I live here, so usually we do a bit larger shopping than what a traveler will do. But, you know, you may have that item entered like three, four, five or seven times in our case, while you only have one of them. Sometimes when you get change, when paying in cash, you know, you may get a little short change sometimes. It does happen quite regularly, so just taking this again to say yes to the receipt, checking it out, you know, just as you walk out. This is good. I didn't even know this. We were talking about this earlier. I did not even know this. I have been scammed, I'm sure. Yeah, it is very regular occurrence to us. Like, and I'll say, you know, I say very regular. It happens maybe three, four times a year at most, but it does happen. And sometimes it is not any significant amount of money. So, you know, it can happen quite quickly. So just make sure you check your change. That's a really good tip. Speaking of tip, I'm expecting an epic one to wrap this up. Oh, yes, yes. Okay, last tip. It's going to be a big brace yourself. Make sure that you are flexible when you're traveling. Okay, I know. Stretch. Seems obvious. Seems like not a big deal. No, no, no. Don't be, don't be one of those people where you're like planned 8am to whatever. Be flexible, enjoy, be a little spontaneous, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Okay. Yeah, and I agree. And even with the high level trip planning that you have, making sure that you're flexible enough to realize I don't have enough time to do both that and I'm just going to do the North Island. Being flexible with your method of transport, maybe you'll realize that if you're traveling so long, you're like, you have a certain budget, maybe taking a bus tour, all organized, all inclusive bus tour around the North Island, maybe the best thing for you to actually give you the best experience and not just let it drain the life out of you with all the driving you're going to try to do and all the activities you're going to try to cram around. Just make sure that you're flexible enough and you are well-informed enough, take some time to do some research to find out the information that you can find with traveling in New Zealand, work your way to Nerevi within what you realistically can do rather than what your ideal and your dream is. That would be my opinion. Yeah, no, that's really good. And go to New Zealand pocket guide to get every tip that you need for travel. NZPocketGuides.com. Oh, what am I saying? NZ. New Zealand pocket guide. Oh, it's, that's not the right thing to say. Oh my gosh, NZ. And Z is for Z for anybody. Oh, yeah, NZ. Yeah, well, you can say like that's fine. I thought I was saying NZ. That's okay, NZ. Look at that, NZForZorroPocketGuides.com. Here you go. Yeah, check it out. It has everything that you need. Well, thanks for joining us today. I hope this was helpful. I hope that you don't make these mistakes now, or you'll make them and you'll be like, oh, I forgot they said that. Either way, you're welcome. And if any of you have any opinions on what she's wearing today, what about you comment below and you tell us what you think. Come on, that is looking dashing. I think that this is a great gift. So you should get this. This is customizable. I'll put a link in the description and you can get a 10% discount if you order with my Kiwi code. There you go. And yeah, and it's cool. So is it 10% customizing Tara or customizing the shirt? You can put whatever you want, but you could put this if you want. 21 was my number when I was, you know, in high school. Oh, I thought that was your age. Oh yeah, it's that too. Here you go. It was my age. I love it. I'm going with that. I wish I would have thought of that. Okay. So yeah, so you should check this out. You can get baseball. You can get basketball jerseys. You can get American football jerseys made and you can put names and however you want. Millions and millions of choices. So check it out. Link below. Thank you for Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Click the link below if you want to get 10% off a website or a domain. Anyway, thanks for joining us today and we'll see you next week.