Awesome New Zealand!

I am at a loss for words! Yes, that means something to me. Nature is incredibly beautiful here. So beautiful it almost hurts. I know this sounds strange, but I find myself so close to tears every now and then just because of what I see. It can't all have happened by chance! It is difficult to deny the existence of a creator here. As if before the whole creation story he took a small piece of land at the end of the map and simply tried out what was possible. Even if the weather doesn't always cooperate despite summer, which happens more often the further south you go, there are fantastic cloud formations or rainbows, simply wonderful and unique moments that unfortunately can't always be captured in a photo.

Backpacker life is still very bearable, not nearly as bad as I imagined. At times I suspect that I will feel pretty alone at home if there isn't someone around me all the time. You meet so many nice and interesting people and it's amazing how quickly you can have a fun, intense time together!

If you have enough money and a willingness to try things out, New Zealand is just one big playground for adults. In addition to the adrenaline infusions such as bungy, skydiving, canyon swing and speedboat, you can do pretty much everything your heart and wallet desires here, from fishing to goat hunting and gutting, horseback riding, helicopter flight + glacier climbing to "fly your own sports plane".

But when it comes to interpersonal relationships, being a backpacker is also a single stage. You are far from home and all the social roles you had at home are suddenly gone. Who are you then?

The journey, whose route is similar for many but different for everyone, is certainly due to a curiosity about other people, places and cultures. At the same time, many people have another motive or goal for their personal journey. Be it e.g. B. making a decision about choosing a job, becoming more confident when dealing with strangers, leaving home because of the family situation or "simply" finding yourself.

I have no idea whether this always works, but you definitely have the time and the necessary distance to think if you allow yourself the breaks between activities. I very much hope that I can retain a little of the calmness that I inevitably have due to not working for 5 months and the other insights and that I can draw on the experiences for a long time to come. I definitely have enough stories to tell!

I feel strangely full and empty at the same time. Empty because I'm just relaxed and my head wants to slowly concentrate on other things again. But at the same time I'm full, you can hardly be fuller of impressions and experiences. It's going to take me a while to really process everything. Funny, it's almost time to go home again, even though I only realized I was gone the day before yesterday.

Being full also refers to my internal battery, which is now definitely at 100% again. I'm more hungry for life than ever before and I'm curious about how life continues at home, almost like an episode of your favorite series comes to an end and you don't want to wait for the sequel.

But luckily I have to be patient for a few more days, I haven't seen everything here yet!