Traveling.

the past few days I've spent in New Zealand were beyond surreal-

Hitchhiked for the first time in my life- in the middle of a highway no less!

We met up in Tauranga and tried to get a ride over to Rotorua but were in bad luck. After a while we managed to get a ride in a van but it didn't take us far. Then a kind-hearted lady stopped and even offered us her place in Papamoa to stay when it was getting too late and she wasn't able to drop us off at Rotorua. A warm bed, fluffy pillows; a nice towel and warm shower; a warm carpetted floor, two friendly furry dogs; sunday roast for dinner, chitchatting over the evening telly; a good night's rest and then a full breakfast following after. Everything was so great, everything was too good to be true, it was so surreal.

After that we were headed to Rotorua, where we couchsurfed at James' place, which is one of the coolest places ever. James is one incredible person- he left school at 12 to become a gamekeeper of pheasants, after which he delved in heavy machinery, operating cranes, and such, then moved on to carpentry where he found his niche and earned his own business, but it wasn't enough to stop there- he became a project manager and now even a web designer. In his flat lives six other people, of which there's Rob, the Irishman, who's doing temp work in Rotorua; Cam, a kiwi, who's still studying and worked South America last year; a dude whose name i forgot but he owns the rockclimbing wall and cinema in town (how cool is that!?); Nico, the frenchman, who was on holiday in the South, and whom we thus never met but are eternally grateful to (for it was his messy room that we slept in); two other flat mates who return only on weekends and thus we never met either.

Due to the nature of James' work (he manages a few places in town such at the bathhouse, the farm on the mountain, etc), he could have most of his time to himself however he wanted it, and thus was free and very happy to show us around. we trudged up the mountain tracks , stood between the green and blue lakes, were shown the breathtaking view from the farm on top of the mountain; we took the perpetual smell of rotten eggs in the air (which i had grown so much to love); did some rockclimbing with other backpackers;Cam came back early after class and drove us to the incredible redwoods, helped us take photos while we did silly zorbing down the hills; strolled together with us in the park full of bubbling and smoking geysers; James took us to the bathhouse after closing hours, just the 5 of us, and we had an awesome time, jumping in from the hot pool to warm pool, running around like small children; drinking and chatting and just enjoying our bodies in the warm water and our faces in the chilly night wind-

it's crazy i know-

the two of my friends whom i backpacked with kept repeatedly saying how lucky we were, and in my mind i thought exactly the same-

I don't think i'd ever forget this.

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In July this year i think i found the person who i want to be with for the rest of my life,

but where,

doing what,

i don't know, yet.

that's one less question to answer, at least. :)

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'But you're not supposed to know what you want to do, who you want to be

you quit your job, you try other things, because things could always be better.

You could always find another job; the next job could always be better.

But if you don't try, you'd never know, you'd never see.

You could be better.'

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Thank you.

I cannot put into words how grateful i am for having met you-

it changed my life.

Though we haven't met for long; though i don't know you well;

though we come from different places, though we look nothing alike;

Seeing you was like seeing the me that i always dreamed about but thought i could never be-

so spirited, so brave, so courageous,

so confident, so sure, so at ease (with nature, with people, with yourself) and,

so free.

thank you, for telling me what you told me-

I think i can be where i want to go,

and who i truly want to be(come).