Hāere ra, Aotearoa (Goodbye, New Zealand)

My bags are packed. My flights are booked. My itinerary is set. And now, after over four months in the Land of the Long White Cloud, it's time to say goodbye to New Zealand.

I've spent the last few days saying my farewells to this country and the people I've met here. That, and running around doing last minute errands to make sure all my affairs are in order before I leave. Not to mention trying to plan out my 32-hour (at least) trip back into the US to make sure it goes smoothly (I'll be impressed if it all goes according to plan). With all of this, completing the trip report to Australia completely slipped my mind until it was too late each night. Sorry about that, and I'll finish it once I get back home.

It's nearing 11:00 PM on the eve of my departure. Soon it will be 16 November, the date that has been circled in my mental calendar for the last four months as "Adventure Over: Back to the US." And while I probably should be getting some sleep right now (my SuperShuttle leaves for the airport in just over six hours), I just wanted to jot down some last thoughts before I leave the country. I'll follow this up with a more thought-out, reasoned response once I get back to the States and have had a chance to reflect on the trip. But for now, consider this post the writings of a traveler running on adrenaline, and whose adventure is nearing its twilight moments.

I should start by thanking you, the reader, for your interest and your enthusiasm in reading the blog. I've had over 2,100 views of the blog in the past four months, which I think is truly atonishing. So, thank you for your support--you've motivated me to want to continue to write and document my journey. I hope you've had as much fun experiencing my trip along with me as I've had sharing it with you.

My New Zealand experience has simultaneously been easier, harder, more exciting, more mundane, more familiar, and more foreign that I ever could have expected. I feel very fortunate that I was able to have the opportunity to see this little corner of the world, and stay for a period longer than just a normal holiday. I truly believe that the best way to visit a place is to feel like a local, and Auckland has slowly opened itself up to me over the last four months as I've settled into my routines. Whether it is the comfort of my favourite table at my regular donburi shop or the hidden beauty of Auckland Domain, the most memorable and most satisfying parts of this journey have been found where I've least expected them and hidden underneath the touristy surface. Perhaps that's what makes them so valuable.

I'm also glad that I got the opportunity to do so much traveling while I was here. From the glaciers of the South Island, to the rocking 70,000+ strong crowd at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, to the natural marvels of Cleland Conservation Park in Adelaide (more on this to come in my next trip report!), traveling within New Zealand and abroad to Australia has been exhilarating and at times exhausting.

Now that my room is all cleared out and my suitcase packed, it looks as though I've only just arrived. I certainly feel that way--in retrospect, although sometimes weeks filled with university classes, stresses, and assignments would crawl by, it feels like my entire New Zealand experience is ending all too soon. That said, I'm certainly looking forward to being home, seeing family and friends again, and reclaiming some of the comforts that are so often taken for granted.

After running downstairs an hour ago to throw my last bags of rubbish in the dumpster, I stood on the balcony outside my building for a minute and watched the cars go by on the motorway. Overhead, the twinkling lights of planes slowly moved towards their next port of call. Assorted lights flicked on and off in the windows of the hi-rise student apartments next door. I did a 360-degree turn, making sure that I would breathe in Auckland, breathe in New Zealand, for the last time. And again, as has been happening a lot in the last two weeks, I was struck with the feeling of being a small part of an enormous world.

I know I beat that theme to death in the last two posts, but I couldn't help thinking back to the wall-sized map of the world posted in one of my hostel stops in Nelson, South Island. I remember looking at that map thinking that I had only covered maybe a cumulative total of one square inch out of the entire wall-sized map. I was itching to do more, to see more. After all, underneath all of the international flights, the customs and arrival documents, the foreign currency exchanges and the language barriers is the pure, human desire to expand one's horizons, to explore new places, and to see things that you've never seen before.

So while this journey may be coming to an end for now, and while I'm sure after a day or two in the States it'll feel as though I never left, the spirit of adventure persists.