Ciao ragazzi!!!! A few weeks ago I received an email from the company I bought my e-reader from congratulating me on "1 year with Kobo" and I was like WOAH. I had bought my e-reader around this time last year for the sole purpose of being able to read while traveling. At the time it was the first thing I had done that gave me a "this is really happening moment." I fear I'll never get used to the subjective perceivability of time, because it has definitely NOT felt like almost a full year of traveling, even despite recently feeling a deep despair in the pit of my stomach that the past year is something so unique that it could only be experienced once. Even though I could surely have another crisis, or, dare I say, out of crisis, decide to long term travel again, It won't be the same places, or feelings, or lessons. Alas, I fear there will always be new places, new feelings, and new lessons. To add on top of this I am coming dangerously close to month 6 of being in New Zealand, signifying being half way through my visa. Mamma mia, I got a lot of thinking coming up the pipeline.
A year in, I find myself reflecting on how amazing of a feeling it is to take myself out on dates, and be in my own company, feel the possibility that I can truly do anything I put my mind to, the places activating one's free will can bring them, as well as the difficulties of being so far away from community and being in places which don't affirm my identity or truths as much as the places and people I feel at home with.
Peak Season was PEAKING
So far my working holiday Visa has been a lot of work, not a lot of holiday. I can't say I'm totally upset with this. I've been enjoying the high intensity followed by a slow decline to the resting season that seasonal work entails. December-April is summer in New Zealand with December-February being the most hectic months. Doubles, double doubles, fully booked services, time and half holidays, staff meals (some great, some questionable), walking up those hundred something steps way too often, the ocean water getting warmer every week, and 9:30pm sunsets were my day to day. In other words work, swim, repeat.
My updates are as follows:
- Learning so much prep work, and taking advantage of fully booked lunch service by asking all the chefs to do their prep work. This felt like the first time in a while I felt like I was learning a really tangible skill and it's felt very nice. It also felt nice to feel joy and excitement in a job, feelings I hope to generally keep a hold of as I continue to work. Rolling lavosh for charcuterie boards, crumbing croquettas, pleating empanadas, and cutting so.many.vegetables are often on my to-do list.
- I've been experimenting with Chinese- Italian fusion-- some of my successes include: scallion ai e olio tortelini, five spice ravioli, & five spice polpette, my not so successes include: tomato hot pot minestrone, scallion pancake garlic knots. Continuing to workshop and improve because I will not rest until the recipes are perfect, and I feel the instant sensation of greatness upon the first bite.
-Pickling roccotto peppers. Nothing is spicy, or even really flavorful in New Zealand which has been realllyyyy hard and sad for me. But I very quickly became known at my job for liking spicy food, so one of my coworkers gives me TONS of roccotto peppers from her garden which has brought much joy (and flavor) to my life.
-House BBQs and outings to a local bar have become regular, especially during peak summer as my house got fuller by 3 roommates and the chaotic party energy of summer was fully in the air. There is something about gathering around a cutting board of grilled meats, everyone poking with their forks, no plates in site, and being home by 10pm after a night "out" that sit in my spirit very well.
- My brain is fully developed and a room to ones own is a MUST I have learned. At one point I had 4 roommates (people sharing the bedroom with me.) I have come to learn I am simply too old to be sharing a room. Having my own room again is something I very much look forward to.
-Day trips to Auckland to eat Chinese food, and remember I'm a part of society
-Wine, wine and more wine. So many vineyards.
-Hosted my annual Chinese New Year dinner, year of the snake baby!!
-I've become a runner?!?!?! Truly did not expect this for myself. Like ever. But 2025 is my year of I can do anything I put my mind to, and running on Waiheke means running along cliffs and rock bluffs, the ocean, and alongside very dreamy sunsets.
-Weekend trips to Piha and Coromandel with longtime loved ones, that were truly NEEDED because nothing makes me feel more human than spending time with people I love and who know me oh so well. Sometimes I forget that I haven't really been outside of Auckland, so taking weekend trips to other places is such a nice and affirming reminder of how much more there is to do/see here, and the possibilities for the second half of my visa.
Island Gal on Borrowed Time
If you were to ask me if I liked living in New Zealand I would probably say no. At least from what I've seen so far which has admittedly not been much. While island living has been able to provide really nice resources and moments of reprieve from the stress of existing that I don't really get living in the U.S., there is still something about the energy here that feels very deeply not like me. I'll be excited to relocate in the next couple of months to see if this feeling changes. My biggest reflections from living here, besides the scary "island syndrome" that people get here mostly have to do with seeing and feeling how much I've changed over the years.
This year has reminded me a lot of my gap year when I lived in the Bay Area. In a lot of ways the parallels between that year and now are a bit... uncanny, both being situations where I moved alone to a place I had never been, lived in a house with more people than the fire safety capacity probably recommends, working and hanging out with the people I live with, and being around so many people who are also not from here. But in other ways feeling so differently in this familiar situation. It makes me feel OLD. I know as young people we are always changing (hopefully) for the better, but its weird to now be on the side where I'm literally looking back and seeing the changes. I certainly feel a lot more comfortable with myself this time around, and generally just standing firmer in the ground I'm standing on, knowing my limits, and honoring myself over FOMO or people pleasing. Even though I'm still young, it definitely feels like I'm at the part of my twenties where I'm looking back at my young self like,,,,, oh my,,,,,,,,and I don't know how to process. So if anyone had any advice that would be greatly appreciated. Until next time xx.
