Final Part 2: There and Back Again

Hi everyone,

today I had a romantic farewell dinner with Glocki. Have fun in Auckland, you rascal.😘

I have now completed the 16-hour flight, am sitting at Dubai airport and writing my final blog post.

Airports always have a special atmosphere. It's stuffy, even though the spaces are huge, people rush back and forth, stewardesses walk around in their uniforms with a strong perfume scent (I really like the uniforms of Emirates)😄, security personnel are more or less attentive, and passengers panic and make sure they haven't forgotten anything. Children try to escape from their parents, and stressed-out mothers in jogging suits try to catch them again, while self-important people look disapprovingly. At the security checkpoints, people unnecessarily stress about packing up their valuables, just to forget their shoes, and in duty free, a year's supply of cigarettes or expensive-looking liquor is bought - it's cheap here. There is a mixture of sadness and joy of reunion, but above all, there is always an air of adventure and excitement. In the midst of it all, I, a German from the picturesque Black Forest wearing pink socks, sit and wait for my connecting flight to Frankfurt.

To be precise, I am chilling next to an Arab businessman and his wife between the luxury boutiques.

I have no idea how I ended up here.😄

To keep you interested, at the beginning of this season finale, there will be a selection of the most beautiful pictures of the South Island.

What have I actually learned for myself and about myself in New Zealand?

First of all, it is clear that I will not return as a new person. Maybe I have become more open and relaxed. But fundamentally, I am still the same idiot as I was three and a half months ago. However, there are two important things that I will definitely take with me.

From Loni, I have learned that you should never, never, ever leave the sponge wet in the sink. Cardinal mistake.

Sophia has taught me that when washing up, there must always be one side with clean dishes and one side with dirty dishes. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to decide whether the now infamous 'clean side' is to the left or right of the sink in New Zealand.

In any case, I would like to thank you girls for sharing your knowledge with me.

There is one more thing I have learned:

Be content with the things that are given to you. If there are three geothermal parks, choose one, go there, and enjoy it. Don't think about whether the other one might be better, more entertaining, or more spectacular. It doesn't matter, because you can never see, experience, or have everything. Therefore, be content with what you see and don't think about what you might be missing or what is lacking.

Since the Big Four from Part 1 were so well received, you are probably eagerly awaiting a continuation. By the way, you can probably guess where the idea of the Big Five for Life came from now. Even a variation of five doesn't make it any less obvious..

My second Big Four are:

The Big Four of things I will miss most about New Zealand vs. the things at home that I am most looking forward to:

Place 4:

Being somewhere different every day vs. my own bed

It was really exciting to see something different every day and be in a different place and stay overnight. But since March 7th, I have almost never slept alone in a room or even in my own bed, so I'm looking forward to some privacy again. Switching from a 1.40m bed for two in a van to a 1.80m bed alone at home will be great. Ok, a 1.80m bed alone also sounds a bit lonely. But I will enjoy it and it doesn't always have to be that way.😄

Place 3:

Glock's stupid babbling vs. Steffen's irritability when he is drunk

I have to say that Glock's and my relationship has improved here. Not that it was bad before, but deep conversations by the campfire (or something like that) change things. And such conversations always come up when you spend so much time together.

When he talks nonsense, he sometimes drives me crazy, but that's part of the deal.😄

Steffen and I have always had a great relationship. So great that I can make him throw boards at me when he is drunk and irritated. It's always a lot of fun. But despite all that, we still love each other.

Place 2:

Meeting new people vs. SV Hausach

In New Zealand, we met many people from different countries and cultures. Americans, Dutch, Asians, and others. Each had something different to say and each was an interesting conversation partner. We now know many sheep personally as well.

But I also miss my team.

Simply the time on the pitch and in the dressing room, among other things with KM9, whom I have taught everything about football that he knows (he would say that if anything, it's the other way around. But don't believe a word he says😄).

My teammates are basically also my friends. Spending time with so many different characters and working towards a common goal is just awesome and I missed it a lot.

Place 1:

The landscape vs. friends and family

I definitely missed my parents and especially my sister. Even if it sounds cliché, my family is the most important thing to me.

I'm also looking forward to seeing my friends at home, to whom I have a lot to tell, and vice versa. I could write a eulogy for my friends now, but that's too cheesy for me. They missed me just as much as I missed them.

I will miss the landscape of New Zealand. Even long drives are fun when you drive through such areas. I could have that all the time. I now understand even better why Peter Jackson chose New Zealand as the location for The Lord of the Rings.

All in all, three months were the perfect duration for my stay abroad. Sorry, my international internship.😄

What can I tell you about the Kiwis and other backpackers? Did I even meet any?

Traveling around in a van and especially in autumn made it difficult for us to meet new people. We would arrive at the campsite when it was dark and no one would be sitting outside anymore. How can you start a conversation like that? Also, Glock and I didn't really have to make new contacts because we had each other. So, a bit of the drive was missing.

That's why the time in Queenstown at the hostel was great, we could make contacts much easier there.

For example, with Mitch, an American who hiked the entire North Island from north to south, or Alex from California, who works for a software company and is an ultra-interesting and intelligent guy. There was a German who advised us to buy as many crackers and rubber ducks as possible in the Warehouse and take them to Germany, as they are so cheap here.

Then there was Hannah, an Austrian who is a leading force in the development of Aldi in Italy (and she was hot), two Czechs who got one of the very coveted visas for New Zealand and many, many more.

What I also noticed:

No one can give such a mean look in traffic as older Asian women. Probably it's a required course in school for them or they get a free course before retirement.

Side note: The Arab man and his wife, who indirectly co-wrote this blog with me, are leaving now. So, I'll also make my way to the gate...

By the way, you still have to allow me one life lesson during the course of my blog:

Before all these adventure things like skydiving (which I ultimately couldn't even do), I was scared at first. In the end, that doesn't make any sense. If something doesn't work or something negative happens at a future event, you have to deal with it as soon as or if it happens. Why voluntarily go through it in your mind beforehand? The same goes for exams or sports. If the exam is bad, it's bad. Why be afraid of it in the evening before, imagine your failure, experience the shitty situation several times in your mind, and hinder yourself? Or why imagine before the football game what mistakes you might make, weaken your self-confidence, and then make exactly those mistakes? Pointless. That's why I try to imagine in advance what could go well and so far I have coped very well with it. Except in football, I'm still scared of making mistakes.😄

What I mean by all this is: One should live in the here and now and not imagine what could go wrong, because that won't change anything and certainly not for the better.

Last greetings go out to Hannah, Fabi, and Jens. I hope you also enjoyed your internship abroad and had a lot of fun, or are still having fun. :)

@SV Hausach: See you in training on Tuesday. Harakiri dribbling incoming.

By the way, I threw my postcards in before. The probability of them arriving before me is rather low because of that.😄

So, now I'm almost at the end. It's kind of strange and it will be quite a change not to think about how to creatively write down the events of the day in the evenings anymore. (Because that's what quality travel bloggers do.)

But for me, it's back to the seriousness of life. Now I get to experience the great things again, but also the problems of my normal life. The bubble in which I lived in New Zealand is about to burst.

Looking back on my journey has become more detailed than I thought. When I look at it like this, I realize that it was a great time in New Zealand with ups and downs, during which I experienced many beautiful things. I got to know great people and got to understand good friends from home even better.

Thanks to everyone who shared this time with me. :)

The Lord of the Rings ends with Sam returning home and closing the door behind him. Today, after exactly 100 days, the last picture of my journey will be the last picture of The Lord of the Rings. Sam's door in the Shire, one of my personal highlight pictures of this journey and something I will never forget.

I'm excited to see what comes next. See you soon.