A New Adventure

Hello all!
I'm just hours away from leaving home for almost five months. For this adventure I'm flying to the other side of the world to explore New Zealand and Australia. This will definitely be the furthest I've ever been away from home  - my first time in the southern hemisphere and a nearly 12-hour time difference. I'm glad I got to experience some of winter here in Maine because I'm skipping straight to my first summer of 2014.
I'll be literally backpacking through New Zealand doing work exchange on various farms through the HelpX network. All of my things for 5 months are currently sitting in a backpack by the door. What's even more frightening than the small amount of clothing and accessories I'll be subsisting on during this trip is how much I'm leaving behind - I could probably outfit another few people to join me if only I could carry them on my back too.
I've got my fingers crossed that internet will be reliable while I'm traveling, because I'm going to try to post here on Blogspot and to my new Instagram (#thanksKirsten). It turns out that my cell service will allow me to use data while I'm abroad, too, so hit me up on Facebook messenger and Snapchat. Just don't try to text or call me because you'll probably get hit with a whopper of a fee.
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. The easiest way to New Zealand is to fly west, and by flying west I have to pass Seattle, so I'll be spending the first few days of my trip visiting my wonderful friends Natalie and Ben. I can't wait!
To anyone reading, I'm going to try to keep things concise and up-to-date so that my posts don't deteriorate like in my last blogging attempt. So I'll leave it here for now and write you again from another time zone.
Courtney