Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

Rebecca Costello Start Date: Jul 16, 2018 - End Date: Jan 15, 2019
  • New Zealand
  • Dunedin, New Zealand

My Travel Story

by: Rebecca Costello Start Date: Jul 16, 2018 - End Date: Jan 15, 2019
Hello! I'm Rebecca Costello, a junior at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I am trying to study abroad in Dunedin, New Zealand in the spring of 2019, but I am going to need some help! My school will cover tuition, what I need help paying for is food, travel expenses (including airfare), and spare money for traveling the country itself as well as any fun things I want to pick up along the way! 
I am hoping to learn more about the local culture in New Zealand, especially Maori culture. I would really like to learn a little bit of the language, as well as some of their customs. One of my favorite actors/directors of all time, Taika Waititi, is from New Zealand, and it would be really cool for me to see some of his culture and possibly the places that influenced his films while I'm over there. He is also part Maori, and he often brings this aspect of himself into the films he makes, so it would be amazing for me to see some of the things that influenced him firsthand. 
Because I also have a dream of working in film and television, this would be a huge deal for me since not only my favorite director is from the country, but Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies were all filmed here. Despite New Zealand being very small, it has a lot of film and television culture, so it would benefit me greatly to see these places. 
Besides choosing the country because of the film aspect of it, I also love exploring the outdoors and seeing the wildlife of wherever I may be. New Zealand has stunning landscapes and plenty of gorgeous places to explore. Not only that, but it is very close to Australia, which I would also like to visit while I am abroad. Since I grew up on a farm, I have always had an immense love for nature and animals, so these two countries are perfect for exploring nature. 
Overall, the aspects of New Zealand that are the most important to me are film, nature, and the people who live there and their culture. I absolutely love learning more about different people, and I think going to New Zealand would be an amazing place for me to visit, both to explore nature and meet new and different people. 
  • New Zealand
  • Dunedin, New Zealand