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layout, title, category, date
| layout | title | category | date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| post | Aotearoa |
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2021-10-28 23:06:00 +0200 |
Exactly two years ago, at this very time, I was racing against the night in a long, long journey that would change my life forever. Two years ago, I embarked on a journey I had painstakingly planned, dreamt and hoped for - I began my four month, 55,000 kilometer journey almost as far as I could go from home.
Sunset at Maunga Taranaki, North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand
To this day, I cannot recall how I got the idea of travelling to New Zealand. I was quite adamant againt the 'big trip' mentality of soldiers in Israel, decreeing it wasteful and unneccesary. After drafting, my mental health began to sharply deteriorate, and I sank into a pit I could not see myself climb out of. Many months of my life began blurring away, people and places disappearing into a deep, repressed void. And for some reason, in my darkest of times, I had decided to travel to New Zealand as soon as I am released.
I cannot recall what prompted me to change my mind so swiftly, nor what made me decide on New Zealand - a decision I remember was quick and sure. Yet within days, I had bought a pair of travel books - one for New Zealand and one for Australia - and from there onwards I had spent every free evening, every holiday, every dark day planning, documenting and dreaming of my trip.
The plan was ambitious to a fault - I would travel alone, and across the entire country - relying on no one and hoping for nothing. As a depressed, socially anxious soldier, this state of mind was almost unthinkable - yet it was the hope towards it which gave me strength to push through my service.
I remember booking my flight shortly after my release, and drinking my very first shot of whiskey to celebrate. I remember pouring over my notes and maps and marking destinations. I remember buying the gear - the clothes, the boots - and finally, I remember packing and rushing to the airport to catch my flight as it was pushed early.
On October 28th, 2019, around 17:00, I embarked on a 36 hour journey towards my triumph over apathy - Aotearoa New Zealand.
The journey was a success beyond my wildest dreams. Of course, it had changes in the plan, the destinations, and expectations - but it could not have gone any better than it did.
So powerful was the experience that to this day I cannot recall it without tears of joy rising in my throat. So powerful was the experience that I remember each and every day I spent overseas, down to the smallest, most minute details - all after close to three years erased from my life almost completely. It has taken me two years to fully process, recall and work through my experience as I begin to do today.
I hope to work through my journey today, as it transpired two years ago - how I felt, what I saw, and how I have evolved since. Thankfully, I have left countless memories, photos and journal entries, which I will bring to light in the order they were written.
The most important lesson I have learned in my travels is that what really matters is not where you are, nor what you see - but how what you've seen makes you feel. If I close my eyes, I feel as I've felt then - in the rainy slopes of the Taranaki, in the tarns of Maunga Aoraki, in the forests of Rakiura, under the stars of Abel Tasman and in the clouds of the Tongariro. And thus, I never really left.
Here's to many more wonderful journeys, which all began here - in Aotearoa.