Back home but ready for a change

Gosh how long ago was my last post?   A few things have happened since then.

Summer in Banff was incredible, almost better than the winter if I hadn't been skiing.  Leaving sucked, I was so sad leaving my friends from all corners of the world.  That's my favourite part of travel - the cities and sites you see when you travel the world are incredible, but the friends you meet along with way?  Wow!  They're awesome.

So from Banff I jetted to Vancouver for a week.  What a vibrant city!  I had a wonderful time staying with a friend who had a downtown apartment.  One day she lent me her bike and I went for a ride around Stanley park and at one stage I stopped so fast that I almost went flying over the handle bars as I came face to face with 2 raccoons!  They are such cool animals, I wish we had more random animals like that in New Zealand.

In hindsight I kind of wish I'd move to Vancouver for the 3 months before Banff instead of Toronto as I found Van much more cultural, friendly and fun.  Having said that I met some amazing people and had some great times in Toronto so I'll never regret my decision to go there.

Next I flew to London for Joan and Harry's wedding.  The day was perfect, Joan looked absolutely stunning and Harry very smart, although this was largely thanks to a last minute dash with me to Marks and Spencers the morning of the wedding to get a bow tie, new pair of shoes, handkerchief and even carnations!!  Men crack me up!
It was so good to see all of my London friends again.  It was also strange to see how much people's situations had changed.  In a way it was kind of hard but I guess it's a good thing to see people moving forward with their lives rather than staying the same.

My plan had been to move back to London for a few months to live and work.  I was dossing with friends all over the place and the more I travelled around from friend to friend the more I realised that as much as I adored these people, I had outgrown London as a city.  For a visit it was still great fun, but the idea of trying to settle, find a flat and then a job was hugely unappealing.  It was very confusing and saddening as I didn't want to leave my friends again, but the pull back to New Zealand was so strong that I decided to listen to the longing of my body to return home, and 2 weeks later after 4 years of travelling around the world I was on a plane, heading home to New Zealand.

8 months later.  Here I am.  Back home.  Bored.  Struggling.  Missing travel like crazy!

Having said that, it has been beyond wonderful seeing my family again.  I have 4 neices and nephews ages 0, 2, 4, and 6.  My sister gave birth to a little girl Hayley in November and I was thrilled to be home to experience that, I had been travelling when she had her first little boy, Ryan.  The kids are the coolest little people and I just adore them.  I've spent quite a bit of time with them and getting to know them again has been amazing.

Sadly though, I have not managed to create a life back in New Zealand yet.  The plan had been to live at home with mum and dad for a while until I got my feet back on the ground, then move into downtown Auckland.  But a recent trip to visit friends in Wellington turned this plan on its head.  I love when you experience something in life and your body or mind clicks into place.  This very much happened almost as soon as I landed in Wellington.  It felt so good to be there.  I've lived there before and as I spent time wandering around the city, visiting Te Papa and catching up with friends I felt hugely connected with the city.

So again following my gut instinct.  I have decided to move down to Wellington.  I leave in 3 days and I absolutely can't wait.  I'm trying not to put too much hope and expectation into the move, but I can't help myself.  I am excited and very much hope that this move will bring about a sense of belonging.  I want to gel with the city and feel like I should be there, not something I've had in Auckland.  There are lots of things I want to do in Wellington too, like learning to play the guitar, learn sign language, join a Bikram yoga studio, and meet lots of new and fun people.

I'm going to start blogging more regularly so will keep updating how the move and new start goes!