It blows my mind that I have a UK bank account and passport as well as New Zealand ones. I can get off a flight, rock straight through customs, use my Oyster Card on the Tube, walk into a bar in London and pay with a local bank card.
I spent my last few days in London in late August wondering why I don’t live there. I cycled along canals on a Boris Bike, walked through parks as people sunbathed and enjoyed picnics, ate at amazing restaurants, and drank outside at pubs with good people.
But surely it’s possible to somehow have the best of the travel and home worlds, regardless of how isolated this country is? Because I also love living in Wellington right now.
I also start to struggle with the pace of long-term travel, perhaps even becoming anhedonic. I want to be where my friends and family are and have a stable home base for periods at a time, so for a while after travelling it’s always novelty for me to be home and fall back into a routine. Then one day, in the aftermath of a multi-month adventure, I wake up and suddenly realise this is my reality for the foreseeable future.
This time that moment happened on a Wednesday morning as I was staring into the mirror in the gym changing room, doing my make-up for a job interview for a New Zealand tourism brand. It started to really bother me that I’d never experienced their product – that was what I really wanted to be doing.
It had only taken three weeks for me to get itchy feet again.
The following week a friend sent me this article which boldly declares Tekapo to be better than Iceland. I couldn’t comment – it’s effectively right in my backyard but I’ve never ventured there.
Then, an amazing opportunity crossed my path at the perfect time. Friend and fellow travel blogger Lilian was doing some video work for Wild Kiwi and was suddenly looking for someone to accompany her on a week long tour of New Zealand’s South Island.
Not only does the Southern Voyager visit Lake Tekapo, Franz Josef and Mount Cook National Park, it also includes three nights in Queenstown giving us the chance to bungy, skydive, jetboat, kayak and canyon swing until we drop.
Maybe this is my best chance to experience the best of both worlds.
We would love to be able to do this. But life, kids, jobs etc mean we only holiday when all these things permit. So we are slowly seeing the world one holiday at a time and making the most of what’s available and dreaming of what we could do if we traveled all the time. Loved the post.
Author
Thanks so much Shaun! And good on you guys doing and seeing what you can with life, kids and jobs etc 🙂
I know that feeling! I left my home country (UK) five years ago and never did return (permanently). There’s something amazing about making a home away from home 🙂 NZ definitely has so much squeezed into it’s tiny land-space!
Author
Yes it’s definitely pretty special when you overcome all those initial challenges and that period of the unknown which comes with moving somewhere new to successfully make your own life and home 🙂