New Zealand, is it real?

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New Zealand after 6 months, still has that "new car" feel to it. It is still shiny and new. It has not lost its lustre or its wonder in the slightest. Everyday that the sun is out shining I feel this incredible draw to be out seeing things and experiencing all it has to offer. Also, those days that I do not make it out, and spend an average day inside doing domestic things, leaves me feeling guilty and hollow. What is it about this country that makes it so special? It could be the land, the people, the ocean, the ruggedness, the lack of crowds, the laid-back lifestyle, that powerful sun, those crystal blue waters or snow-capped mountains....I digress. The list could go on. I attempted to make a pros and cons list of living in New Zealand forever, and the cons list included, missing family/friends and sandflies. That was all I could muster. It is that first con though, that makes it the hardest to be over here. Six months has gone by so quickly, but they are always there in my mind, my mom, dad, sister, friends, dogs, all having that gravitational pull back toward the United States. The United States, where I spent the first 25 years of my life, only venturing beyond her borders a handful of times. Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean via cruise ship, the usual suspects. This has been my first "real" adventure overseas. If I was going to go, I was going to go big. So I did. I found a like-minded friend, and vouched for a one year working holiday visa to New Zealand. Leaving behind all that was safe and going forth into foreign waters. This was the first time I had even flown on a plane sans my mom, and yes to reiterate, I was 25. Now, six months later, going back to the U.S. seems foreign to me. New Zealand has this magic power, that makes me feel as though I'm floating in another reality. I'm living life, but not on the same plane as everyone else back home. Which makes sense, considering I am on a tiny island way over on the other side of mother earth. It really is a distant reality. Here, I feel at home, I feel accepted for who I am without questions being asked. Without societal pressures to find a "real" job and move onto the next step of my life. Here, I am a traveller. It's plain and simple. I do what I want, I have no schedule or agenda. I take life as it comes, by the day. No one questions that. When I start to run out of money, I find a job. Save up that money and move on. I'm young (26), free, no responsibilities, no outstanding debts, I'm just living. I find that Walt Whitman best describes how I feel about my journey, in his poem "Song for the Open Road." I sent it to my mom for mother's day, we'll see how that goes over. She doesn't quite understand my mindset, as we are very different thinking individuals. She has, and always will I imagine, live(d) in south west Missouri. I cannot fathom that. To do so would be emotionally, spiritually, and culturally crippling. But, as they say, to each their own. Your reality will always be different than my reality.

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Comments

[Yoe]

Yandy
You and I can have fake jobs and adventures together!