Wednesday, 17 September 2014

The Return Journey



*Disclaimer: This post will probably have a lot of Lord of the Ring and Hobbit references…


"So snow comes after fire and even dragons have their ending! 
I wish now only to be in my own arm-chair!"


'I don't even really know how to start this. I can't really describe what I'm feeling because I'm feeling everything. I am excited, tired, sad, nervous, happy, anxious and ready. I think the simplest way to describe what I'm feeling is bittersweet. Which ironically enough is exactly how I describe my feelings in my first blog… Funny how things change. 
Being away from home for a year is a long time. But at a certain point you stop counting the days and just start living. I think that is what I have enjoyed most from this experience.'
I found this quote in my travel journal a couple days before I left New Zealand.  



"He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: 
its springs were at every doorstep and every path was its tributary. 
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. 
“You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.”



As my own adventure was coming to an end I thought I would finish it the way I started it, so I read The Hobbit again. The first time I read it I felt a connection with Bilbo's story as he embarked on an unexpected journey. So naturally this time as I read it I connected with his journey home.


"He was aching in his bones for a homeward journey."


After a year packed full of adventure and memories to last me a lifetime I was feeling ready for my own homeward journey. I had done immensely more then I had ever hoped to when I set out a year ago across the world. 
As I began to pack my things I reflected on the many crazy adventures I shared with friends in the unique cities and peaceful mountains of New Zealand. As fun and worth it all the travelling and adrenaline pumped activities were, it was the everyday simple things that kept coming to my mind. 


Honestly most of my favourite moments have been in the mundane things of life:
-Walking through the Botanic Gardens in Wellington with Amanda listening to Teenage Dirtbag, trying to make the most of our last weekend together
-People watching in the Queenstown Botanic Gardens with Jenni 
-Making tea and laughing at Jenny's host dads lame jokes at 2am in the morning
-Jarah trying to teach me Dutch as we explore Wellington, I think I said the Dutch alphabet over 50 times! 
-Listening to Sinah's crazy Australia stories and not knowing whether to laugh or be shocked
-Going to Nando's with Jenny, nothing can beat that Peri Peri sauce
-Weekly rushed lunch dates with Lobke
-Getting take away food in Devonport and going to Mt Victoria with Dirk
-Dancing in the kitchen with Maggie 
-Playing soccer in the backyard with Finn 
-Christmas lunch with my host family
-The numerous sunsets I witnessed outside my bedroom window
…Just to name a few...




Gandalf looked at him. “My dear Bilbo!” he said. 
“Something is the matter with you! 
You are not the hobbit that you were.”

I have done and seen things to last a lifetime! But I think most importantly I have grown and made positive changes that have turned me into a person that I am proud of. 


"I came from the end of bag, but no bag went over me.
I am the friend of bears (explorers) and the guest of eagles (Kiwis).
I am Ring-winner (pro-nanny) and Luckwearer (volcano-climber); 
and I am Barrel-rider (bridge/plane-jumper)."



Thank you, tack, kiitos, dankjewel, danke, gracias, merci to everyone who was a part of it! 

Hope to see you all again soon! 




All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.






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