How did it fall through the cracks?

This was a worthwhile question posed to me in regards to my once-lofty plans to spend a year living, working, and traveling in New Zealand. The person who asked the question -- my biggest travel inspiration, whom I've referenced many times here in my travel-related posts -- certainly has reason to be confused.

How did New Zealand fall through the cracks? It's an excellent question, and one worth exploring:

Jamie and I had full intentions to spend a year in New Zealand -- we obtained visas, bought one-way tickets, and were saving every penny we could. But, as time wore on, the job and housing hunt became more and more difficult. It's hard to find, much less secure, a job or apartment when you're literally on the other side of the world.

Eventually, I realized that I do indeed have a good chance at getting a decent job where I'm interning. While it's not where I ultimately want to wind up, it's definitely a good start, especially considering how few entry-level journalism jobs are available in Atlanta. So, the more and more I thought about it, the more it made sense to stay here -- where Jamie and I could get jobs in our respective fields and live in a pretty nice place -- than move sight-unseen to New Zealand -- where we'd be likely to work in the food service or something along those lines and struggle with money the whole time. The point of going to New Zealand was to experience as much as possible, and that's (sadly) kind of tough to do when you're strapped for cash.

I must add that Jamie has been as supportive and accommodating as possible. It's absolutely amazing.

Since making the decision to stay in Atlanta for a while (and it never was an ultimate decision -- it just kind of happened), I have debated over and over in my head as to whether it was the right one. My heart always breaks when a friend asks about New Zealand and I have to update them on our practical and somewhat boring (at least in comparison) plans.

My biggest worry is that we're already letting our careers get in the way. Will we ever spend that year in New Zealand? Will we get stuck in Atlanta? Will we become too busy with work and obsessed with furthering our careers?

I certainly hope not. And I know that the fact that I have such concerns is a good sign. I'm also grateful that I have had such wonderful travel experiences so far. I do still get the traveling bug, even if I know how to suppress it ...

And, of course, we still have our one-way tickets. Once we get new jobs, Jamie and I will figure out how much time we can take off (three weeks? a month?) and buy return tickets.

We are still going to New Zealand. It hasn't really fallen through the cracks at all. And that gives me hope.