Imagine No Posessions Or Currency Conversions
I have just spent a day-and-half moving through the air, from San Francisco all the way to Auckland. You can read about the fun and games of long-distance flights and connections on Travel Minx.
But the main thing is, I’m back! I’m right in the middle of town and yet it looks so empty. There is so much space. This is the fourth time I’ve come home after a long absence and that always strikes me, along with how intense the light here is, and the colors.
I dropped by my storage unit to pick up some winter clothes (yep, it’s winter, brrrr) and noticed all my possessions , and realized I hadn’t given them a minute’s thought since I left. For six months, a pink wheely suitcase had been enough.
Driving back from the airport, I heard on the radio that the New Zealand dollar is again at an all-time high at 80.4c to the US dollar, and is predicted to keep rising. Just a couple of years ago it was 47c; just a few AdSense checks could’ve helped me retire! 
So those US dollars I made and make are not quite worth what they might have been. Still, it’s money, right? I’ve been to Argentina; I shouldn’t complain about currency fluctuations.
Now excuse me while I fashion a bed somewhere out of US banknotes.
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Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
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Glad to hear you made it back safe. That must have been one hell of a long plane ride!!
Ttys!
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:54 pmAs a UK’er, my last 2 adsense cheques have been worth pittance (£50), because of the weak dollar. It annoys me so.
On the plus side: cheap foreign travel! Spent a week in portugal and spent only £100 ($200). Bonus!
July 24th, 2007 at 2:04 amUnfortunately, I live in the U.S., so the weak dollar makes foreign travel extremely expensive (and out of my budget).
July 24th, 2007 at 8:58 amI am reading more and more about the devaluation of the dollar. From my perspective, it is just scary–the thought that the US is to many countries what Mexico is to me as far as travel is concerned. Yikes.
July 24th, 2007 at 11:57 amRyan: It’s a 13-hour flight. Sleeping pills make it go faster.
It’s better than flying from NZ to London, which is two 8-hour flights via Asia. Still, our parents’ generation mostly traveled to the UK by ship - imagine that!
Rhys, SavingDiva and Bloggrrl: It’s amazing what cross-over effects the value of one currency can have. Exporters here are pretty unhappy, that’s for sure.
July 24th, 2007 at 3:30 pm