Report from June 16 to 27, 2024
From: New Zealand
I, Janine, am flying home
Karli, has already been in Germany for 3 weeks
Napier
I've told you about my motivation for traveling and my personal development over the last few months. The last post ended with my decision to fly to Germany.
And as I have to be back in June and June isn't that long away, my return flight is coming up soon. The plane leaves in 10 days. That means only 10 days left in New Zealand. What am I going to do during this time?
I actually wanted to experience so many things. But all these ideas can't be realized in the last 10 days. First I wanted to look for another woofing. Then I find other beautiful places in New Zealand that I haven't seen yet. But I soon realize that I don't want to go to all these new places. That I don't have the energy for it. That I just feel very exhausted and tired at the moment. That I need time to recharge my batteries. I need time to recapitulate the journey. I need time to think about my arrival in Germany. I need time for myself.
I decide to stay in a hostel in Napier for the time being and then look further afield. The hostel is only 100 meters from the ocean. Unfortunately, the weather is not good. It's cold and rainy most days. But my bed is right in front of the window and I can even see a bit of ocean from here! I enjoy the time. Go for a walk on the beach. Think. I'm thinking about myself and my (personal and professional) future. Pamper myself. Spa. Delicious food. I also help out at the hostel when the WiFi crashes and the staff are at a loss. After 3 minutes I get it working. I extend twice and end up staying in Napier until two days before the flight.
I also spend a lot of time in Napier processing the past months. Recapitulating the trip. To think about what I have learned during the trip. I mean, as you know, my motivation is to grow beyond myself, to show myself what I can do, what is possible. That the limits I experience in my life are often only in my head. A few weeks ago, I actually started writing down moments like these. Moments when I am proud of myself.
Ich weiß, dass klingt sehr blablabla.
Ich habe zwei praktisches Beispiele für euch:
Facing your fears
There are some moments when I have done something that I am proud of. Where I have done something that I would not have dared to do. Moments when I was afraid and would have liked to turn around and avoid these challenges. But where I kept going and faced my fears. I'm a bit embarrassed, but I'm "afraid" of people: So I just don't like talking to people. And I don't really like talking to them either. I'm always afraid that my boundaries will be crossed somewhere and I'll have to defend them. Facing up to this helps me a lot. And writing down these situations, just like all the other situations in which I am proud of myself, is nice. It fills me with energy and the certainty that I can achieve so much more. And it's precisely where I'm afraid of challenges that I grow the most and that these situations take me further.
Believe in the impossible and persevere
A great adventure that we are always asked about is sailing ourselves. We did a sailing trip. So we sailed with private people.
That always sounds so great and easy.
What you don't see is how long we had to fight for this dream and how many rejections and how many attempts we needed and how often we felt we had failed along the way. We came across some people who told us that no one would take hitchhikers anymore. But we didn't give up. We searched for four months. FOUR months. We kept coming up with and trying out new strategies and were never discouraged by any rejection:
At the beginning we were in Facebook sailing groups and looked for sailing opportunities there. that didn't work. In Bali, we went to the harbors to talk to the skippers directly. (Here alone it took us 4 attempts to find the right harbor). It didn't work either. We didn't get discouraged and kept trying anyway. We put up flyers. We found three more ways, none of which worked either, but I'll cut the rest short. Anyway, all of a sudden - tadaaaaaaaaa we hit the mother lode! We received positive feedback from two boats at once!
What I want to say:
Believe in the impossible
Firstly, dare to believe in the impossible. If you believe that it won't work, then it won't work.
Perseverance
Secondly, don't give up! With proactive action, a lot of perseverance and always looking for new ways, a door will open at some point!
Enough of this. I'm completely blown away right now. I have a very fascinating backpacker with me in my hostel room:
Adonna, 77 years old from Vancouver
A small woman with white hair that curls into her face. A knitted colorful hat over it. Later, Adonna tells me that her daughter knitted the hat herself from leftover sock wool. Adonna is traveling for 3 months. First a bit of backpacking alone through New Zealand and then to Australia to meet friends and then her daughter. Spending the night in a hostel. At home, she likes to go camping in a tent and hiking. At the age of 77!
I am completely blown away. Just the fact that she's still so fit at that age. And she dares to do it all! And she still travels the "old" way. Without a smartphone or online bookings. She seems to approach every challenge with composure and as a matter of course...
I ask her why she goes backpacking and stays in hostels. Wouldn't she rather enjoy an all-inclusive vacation at her age? Her answer: "bapperlapp, that's boring!"
I'm really fascinated by this woman!
That's how I will be with 77!
Departure in Napier
And so my days here in Napier are over in no time. And suddenly my departure is only two days away. I am sooooooooo mega nervous. Memories of the last flight from the Philippines to New Zealand come to life in my head. Where Karli and I weren't allowed to board because the airline didn't have enough visas for Australia. These memories come back to me and I get mega mega mega nervous. I can't eat.
Auckland
Once I arrive in Auckland, my nervousness fortunately subsides a little. I have two more nights in Auckland before heading to the airport. My main activities are packing my backpack and running last-minute errands, such as buying 3 kilos of chocolate. At the hostel, I meet Adonna (a 77-year-old Canadian woman) again by chance. All in all, these days are characterized by many great little encounters and conversations.
Flight
Now I'm on the plane to Germany. And I'm recapitulating these last few weeks in my head.
These 3 weeks that I stayed longer unfortunately didn't turn out the way I wanted. I had big plans. I really wanted to try my hand at writing/carpentry. I wanted to build a Tiny House, find work either somewhere on a fishing boat or in construction. I wanted to try out many other facets of myself.
Unfortunately, these plans didn't work out as I had hoped straight away. And then there were unexpected external factors (see last post) that made me completely scrap my plan: not to stay in New Zealand for another three months (or even more), but to spontaneously book a return flight 1.5 weeks later. It's a shame because I would have definitely tried to carry on with my plans and I'm sure I would have found ways to implement them. Yes, I'm sad about the plans that didn't come to fruition. The unrealized opportunities. But it no longer plunges me into that deep despair like it did a few weeks/months ago (maybe you remember the blog posts). I know that there are other opportunities waiting for me in Germany. Seeing my friends and family again. Enjoying the summer. I have a few ideas for hobbies I would like to try.
For some people, it may seem like these three weeks were "for nothing". I had a lot of struggles and the things I originally wanted to do didn't materialize. But that's okay, because those three weeks alone in New Zealand showed me completely different things. I took a lot of time to think and learned a few things in the process:
That I can do more than I think. And that I should always take time for myself to process what I've experienced.
And I've learned something else: to trust myself. It's good that I stayed. It was the right decision to stay here. I didn't just go home because Karli went home. I made a decision for myself. I listened to my gut feeling. My decision. I can trust that I will find a path that suits me. In this respect, these three weeks have been absolutely worthwhile for me. There were always times during our trip when I forgot that. For example, when we arrived here in New Zealand. And in between, I also had phases where I forgot about it. It always plunged me into a deep hole.
Before that I had the feeling that flying back to Germany meant going back to my old life. To my old self, to my old hobbies, to my old job... This prospect was very oppressive for me. It felt like suddenly wanting to squeeze myself back into a suit, a corsage that had become too tight. To grow back into a skin that I had outgrown. Over the three weeks, I have come to the conclusion that I have to go my own way. I don't yet know what it will look like. It's quite possible that it won't be linear. That my life won't be linear. That others won't understand it. That at some point I will look back and think "those were some big and complicated detours I took". But it's my path.
I don't yet know how things will go for me. And I'm not ruling out the possibility of it getting crazy.
📷 Here are some more great pictures:
That was it.
So Karli and I are both back home in Germany. I am very happy to see Karli again and we are still happy together.
Over the last few days we've had a few questions from friends that I'd like to answer here.
Will the blog continue?
Another question that we are frequently asked at the moment is whether the blog will continue to exist.
The answer is YES! The blog is here to stay. We can see the number of hits and are pleased that it is so popular.
We currently pay a monthly fee for the website. We are also looking for a simple free option. In case anything should change for you, we will let you know in good time!
Will you be writing any more articles?
There are still a few topics in our heads that Karli could write something about. For example
Changes to our rucksack or
we are often asked what the most beautiful country on our trip was. We don't have an answer to that, but we could tell you about our favorite moments and experiences if you're interested.
We look forward to your suggestions, wishes and messages in the comments below
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