 Are you planning on road tripping around New Zealand? You're not going to want to miss this video. Today I'm going to highlight some of my experiences road tripping around New Zealand as an American. So someone who's not used to the culture here, not used to the way things run here. And so just this is the kind of video you're going to watch, especially if you're traveling here, if you're not from New Zealand, and you just want to get some tips on what to expect when you road trip around New Zealand. Here we go. Welcome to my channel. If you're new here, we are a family of six that have moved to New Zealand from the US and have been here for seven years, please click on the link in my description to join my new online community. It's amazing if you want to connect a little bit closer and meet others in the same boat. It's a great place to join. The link is in the description. Also, I have a new show that has come out. That's going really well. It's cooking with Edmunds. It's the New Zealand cookbook and that comes out every week as well. So check that out. Road tripping around New Zealand is so exciting. One of my favorite things to do when we first moved here, we literally packed up every weekend and went out road tripping. And we've seen most of the whole country doing that. We've missed some spots. We haven't been to Stewart Island. At that point, we hadn't been to the Coromandel at different spots, but since then we have. But I just want to talk a little bit about road tripping, give you some tips, what to expect, especially if you're not from New Zealand because New Zealanders are like, oh, this is normal. It's not. It's not like what you're thinking. If you live in a different country now, of course, I don't represent all other countries either. I have traveled to a lot of other countries, but certainly not all of them. So I'm just going to give you some tips as an outsider, I guess, road tripping around New Zealand. The best things in New Zealand. And I think I said this before. The best things in New Zealand are at the end of a gravel road. So if you're traveling and you're like on the map or you have the Google and you're going to a cool place and all of a sudden you hit the gravel road, you are in the right spot. It's amazing. Keep going. Cause so many times, even when I've talked to other clients of mine or friends that have traveled and they're like, yeah, but we kind of hit this crazy road and we didn't want to go any farther. We didn't know. We're afraid we weren't on the right path. Now you are all of the best stuff continues on after you hit the gravel road. And surprisingly, like set up nicely, like public toilets are there at a lot of amazing hikes and trails around New Zealand. And so just keep going. If you hit the gravel road, you're in the right place. People drive really slow in New Zealand. Okay. So if you're from like a big city or use the driving fast, get used to that now for good reason. They are very windy roads depending on where you are. There's no like four lane highways where you can go really fast or anything. You know, the motorways are pretty small in general, but people move slowly. People let other people in. People are not in a hurry. So just when you're coming and you're road tripping, just prepare yourself for that because I think if it helps to be mentally prepared for that, and just know that you're not in a hurry and that you can take a break. Now, in addition to that, what's also funny is that when you are traveling around, you will not see many billboards compared to say the US or some other countries, but you will see billboards that say, slow down, take a break, cafe this way, even in the middle of nowhere. So these are the ones they're like encouraging you to take a break. So because they don't want people to drive tired. And so like to them, it's like if they're going to drive from like say Wellington to Auckland, which is eight hours, they would do it in multiple days, like take a break. So it's just really good to understand the mentality, because when we say that we're driving from Wellington to Auckland, like we did it recently and just on whim, that's normal for us. Like when you're from a bigger country where things are really far apart and distances are normal for you, just know that that's just not the way that they're thinking. And so there's a lot of times that people are like, okay, you know, people are keep telling me to take a break or, you know, that's too far and it might not be like your capacity to handle an eight hour drive is different. But keep in mind that driving in New Zealand can be difficult and that's very windy. If you have any sort of nausea or anybody in the car with you, keep that in mind because you can't do it quickly, right? And it can be more exhausting having to, you know, really, really pay attention. So just keep that in mind when you are traveling around New Zealand. My recommendation for you, if you are traveling, especially with children, is that you think ahead of preparing food. Now in the US, there are so many fast food restaurants that are always available. When I've traveled Southeast Asia, like the food is always available on the side of the road. But in New Zealand, that's not the case. Now New Zealanders think that there's plenty of food options all around. But when you're used to a different thing, it's it's not okay. It's not always available. And so always be prepared with food. So like pack lunches, you just don't know where you're going to go and going out to eat with a family, even if it's just lunch is very expensive. Like you can go to a cafe and still the eggs are $17. So my advice to you, if you're traveling with family or even not, it's just nice to be prepared and think ahead of time. They actually have really good food at the petrol stations, the gas stations here, which would seem odd to an American like you don't really eat the food at the gas station too much. But like the hot food I'm referring to, but the pies and the sausage rolls and the different things at a petrol station is actually pretty good. And yeah, and we eat there a lot too. So and you don't and there's not always a lot in between depending on where you are. So just be prepared. I would bring something with you. What I noticed when I came here is that you always had to prepare. It wasn't something that you always had to do in the US, it's good because you know, you save money and you know, it's always good to prepare. But like here I would highly recommend that you do that. If you are traveling with a large family like mine, we have a family of sex, we found that the hotels or the accommodations Airbnb's are not set up well for larger families. And so this is my recommendation. And this is what we would do because it gets, wait, you know, like an unaffordable to have like multiple hotel rooms because they're very much into like everybody should have their own bed. Whereas we like to travel like we're happy to travel with, you know, sleeping bag and a mat for a small child, like it's fine. Like they don't need to have like their own bed, but that's just how they will look at things here in New Zealand. And so what I would do is I would find Airbnb that was almost big enough and I would email and let them know, Hey, I have an extra child. We are going to bring this or they can sleep on the couch or, you know, there's always lots of options and just let them know that ahead of time and they're generally very accommodating and that's fine. But it gets a little bit frustrating when you're trying to book it online and you can't just do it because you have too many people. That's what I would do because you can't afford to do accommodation is expensive here. And if you just let them know, then it just makes everything easier and a lot clearer. Always, always, always pack your sunscreen and probably bug spray as well depending on where you are. Yeah, the sun is hot and it can be dangerous. Bring your sun hat. It's just very different in New Zealand. Like everybody wears sun hats. Everybody, you know, is always putting on sunscreen. And so just be aware of that that you need to, you know, take precautions to do that kind of no matter what time of day. When you are looking to book a tour and you have a family, always look for the family deal because that's always a way better. There's also called a website called bookme.com, which is they have like deals on most tours around New Zealand the whole time and I book a lot through there. That's a really helpful site. But just, you know, always, and I don't even hesitate to ask, you know, like, is there a family deal because even like the simplest little museum can be $20 a person, what ends up being a lot, you know, even the movies are can be quite expensive, depending on where you are. And also don't expect all the movie theaters to have popcorn, because some of like they have these really cute boutique ones, smaller ones, they don't have popcorn always, which is cute. But they always have like wine or beer and some ciders and some baked goods, which is a nice variety. And they also always have what is ice cream cones like they have these frozen ice cream cones that they eat when they're, you know, at the movie theater and just very normal. And I love that. And I just had never seen that before, before I came here. Inks in New Zealand shut down pretty early. So if you're planning a shopping trip, make sure that it's between like, you know, nine and five or nine and four, really. And then also be aware that most cafes are shutting down at three. And so like, if you're looking at something to eat between like three and five before the restaurant's open, that can be hard, depending on where you are. There is always the American fast food McDonald's Burger King Subway, that sort of thing around. But if you're looking to get like a New Zealand experience, just be aware that things aren't always open. Always double check Google or always call them because even I've gone out of my way to go to a particular bakery or a particular place, you know, because Google said it was open and then they weren't. So always phone first. That would be my advice. Okay, thoughts on like Wi-Fi and parking and other little things like that. Parking generally isn't a problem. Even if you have to pay for it in the city, it's not that difficult to find generally. And it's not that expensive. If you have to park overnight, then that becomes a little bit more complicated. I was just, I would just always ask your accommodation. And Wi-Fi is generally pretty good and offered in most places when you're traveling and you have, you know, like your cell phone, you're wondering, I always, when I have access to Wi-Fi, I always load up my map of where my next point is. So then you're not like stuck like, oh crap, I didn't do that. Now I'm in the middle of nowhere and I can't figure out where our accommodation is. So those are just basic tips, I think that you would use anywhere. But I always get lots of questions on that as well. Always be prepared for rain. You're on an island and it can kind of come and go and change the weather can change quite drastically. Be prepared for rain always. So I always, if that's one of the things that I tell people to bring here is a good, like an actual rain jacket, not like one of those fake ones that don't actually protect you, but an actual rain jacket because you end up hiking a lot, doing a lot of things in the outdoors. I generally recommend in terms of shoes to wear things that are, you know, you don't have to have like full hiking shoes. I like the ones that have like good traction on the bottom, but are still like tennis shoe type shoes. So you can kind of wear them daily, but then also good if you end up, you know, getting on the trail suddenly. Be aware of the New Zealand school holidays. That's when things really book up. And I'm a real spontaneous person and love to book spontaneous travel and you still can. I still have not gotten to a point where I wasn't able to find a place. And also when you go into towns, you know, there's plenty of motels, for example, that aren't, they don't have a website, for example. So you can figure it out. But like if you're going around the school holidays, try to book as much as you can in advance. Otherwise the price is really, really high and unaffordable in a lot of ways. So be aware of their school holidays because that's when everybody travels. And it's multiple times throughout the year. It's not the same as the US. So they have six weeks off during Christmas and then every eight to 10 weeks, they have another two week holiday. So be aware of those that will really help you or public holidays in New Zealand. Book those probably accommodation and tours ahead of time. Well, I hope that was helpful. If you have any of your own travel tips, please comment them below and share them so everybody can enjoy that. Of course, I probably haven't covered everything, but I don't want to make the video too long. And just wanted to give you some of my insider tips today on traveling around New Zealand. I'll see you guys next week.