New Zealand - Tonic for a Travelholic

That’s what happens when you have itchy feet – you’re always looking for the next adventure. With one foot out the door, you don’t really have patience for anywhere that doesn’t keep your interest.

“Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder.” ― Tierney Gearon

“What an egg.”
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A co-worker said this jokingly to me the other day about a guy in our office. After laughing at the silliness of it I had to stop and ask her if “egg” was a regularly used insult in Kiwi slang.

I thought I knew most of them already.

“Chur, bro. That is sweet as. Oh yeah, hard out!”
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When I first moved here, I found all of these grammatically incorrect and nonsensical Kiwi-isms at first confusing, then funny and now nearly 4 years later, part of normal everyday speech.
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I actually don’t know who I am anymore or what language I am speaking. The other day I used one of my favourite Canadian slangs, “He was so choked,” as in “He was so angry/upset/annoyed,” and then immediately regretted it when a look of total confusion and dead silence came back to greet me.
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​Never did I expect that one day I would be tossing around “Sweet as, mate” and “Heaps of burgers” like it was my birth right. And now lo and behold, here is another gem that I can adopt into my own blended and confused vocabulary. “What an absolute egg.”

I didn’t hold much intention of  staying in New Zealand  in the first place. It was a rainy and cold September when I first arrived – much colder than I anticipated, and I was trying to get accepted into a graduate school in the United States the following year.

I’d already been in Kiwiland a couple of times and although I knew it was a beautiful country with friendly people who say weird things all the time, I figured a year would be plenty enough time and then I would be eager to move on and find something new.

That’s what happens when you have itchy feet – you’re always looking for the next adventure. With one foot out the door, you don’t really have patience for anywhere that doesn’t keep your interest.
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I’m always dreaming about my next trip. Where will I go? How should I get there? How long will I stay? Should I go forever?

This can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you never settle and are continuously challenging yourself to do more. On the other, you tend to be always leaving people and never quite stick around long enough to commit to anything.

The thought of staying has always scared me more than leaving – getting settled and stuck into a world of monotony is a frightening concept for me.

So as time passes on and I continue to stay in New Zealand, I ask myself every so often if I am happy and if I want to continue living in this island nation so far away from the rest of the world.

The answer so far continues to be, “yeah, cuzzie bro”. (Okay, maybe I haven’t really got this Kiwi vernacular thing down pat.)

New Zealand continues to surprise me all the time. Whether it’s a ridiculous new slang word, stunning beach, adventurous hike or anything in between, I’m enamoured with this country and its never ending splendour of delightful surprises.

The last couple of weekends I’ve gone hiking and found gorgeous waterfalls and trails I had never heard anything about, despite being just 40 minutes from Auckland city centre.  The reason being – there are just too many gorgeous places to list. New Zealand is “chocka block” with stunning places to see. So when I was challenged this week to name my favourite part of the  Land of the Long White Cloud, I was at a loss.

My bucket list for New Zealand only ever seems to grow because every time I tick something off, I find something new I want to see.

North Island, South Island. West coast, East coast. Mountains, oceans, rivers, lakes. Valleys, grasslands, parks, volcanoes.
I won’t stay here forever, I know that. At some point I’m going to want to see more of the world and live closer to my family.

But for now, the wanderlust is kept in check by a never ending bucket list that just happens to be in one place.
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My favourite part of New Zealand is that there are too many parts to list.

Author - Meghan Advent

Meg is one of the co-creators of Travelher and lives and breathes travel. She currently works for an e-commerce travel company in New Zealand and often sells herself on cruises and motorhome trips. Meg misses her family back in Canada and wishes someone would invent the teleport already.