Brain Dump

How to find a wife

So I met this awesome Kiwi couple. I asked how they met and was surprised to learn the answer. The guy went to Europe for his OE (Short for “overseas experience”, which basically means backpacking around a foreign country. It's common enough to do that they have a term for it). He went there specifically to meet a non-Kiwi woman to marry. Apparently he was fed up with Kiwi women (which I don’t understand. They seem awesomr to me). Well he met his wife in Europe when she picked him up as he hitchhiked. The kicker: she is a Kiwi.

Feminist gratitude

I estimate that I am part of only at most 0.4% of all women who have ever lived on planet earth who have had the opportunity to travel with the degree of liberty that I have, witnessing people’s stories and adventuring the way I have.

It has only been since Women’s Liberation that it has been socially acceptable and logistically possible for women to consider such things as travel, veering away from the traditional female role. Then, it’s been only since the Dot Com bubble that the concept of working remotely became a “thing” making travel more financially feasible. But only in the last 10 years has internet access been widely available internationally, making remote work realistic.

I got the 0.4% figure by looking up estimates on how many humans have ever lived, and then charting out how many have been adults in the past 10 years. Then I divided by two (assuming that women make up roughly 50% of the population) and then I normalized for factors like income level (Approximately 15% of Americans are below the poverty line, so I used that as a first world proxy), first world nationality, etc. 0.4% was the best estimate I could arrive at.

Even Wikipedia fails to come up with a very long history of female travelers, the oldest example dating back only to the 1700’s.

Those who have gone before me say that female freedom runs out at 30. I hope “they” are wrong, but at least I’m privileged enough to ponder this question where previously this question did not even exist.

In any case, thank you feminist movement. Thank you internet. Thank you you commercial aviation.

So I walked into a bar...

One thing I learned on this trip is that I am pretty good at going to bars alone. One night in Queenstown, I did just this. I went to an Irish pub and started talking to one guy who was there with his parents. They had just arrived to New Zealand from Southern California and were happy to pick my brain about places to go, things to do, and traps to avoid. They even took me out for a Ferburger. Over dinner, I learned that the dad was a doctor and that their last name was House. I literally met Doctor House. As it turns out, I went to a bar and picked up a family.

Tipsy

I think I have been mildly drunk off of New Zealand’s natural beauty for the past 5 months. But it’s time to go for now before the buzz wears off. I have a new nephew to meet.

Photo credit to Renee Davis