New Zealand

I travelled to New Zealand shortly after Bali and Singapore.

🌹: My kiwi summer was always going to be defined by the generosity of my friends and family who hosted me across six locations on the north island. Among the hazy wedding golf shots, steep mountain bike trails, spontaneous surfing trips, sunbathing by waterfalls and Christmas on the beach there are many great memories. But top of mind remains my honeymoon sailing trip with Cam, his brother Ben and his wife Jess. The gulf - with mild winds and baking sunshine - saw us run aground and practise our tacs. It gifted me my first fish - and fish heart 🌚 - as well as shark sightings! The freedom of open waters, the fresh morning swims and business of managing on old school sail boat made an impression on me and reinstated my commitment to learning to skipper a boat. Let’s see what summer brings!

🌱: The lives we live are products of compounded behaviours known as habits. As we age and grow our needs change. To accommodate this change, we adjust our lives and the people we involve in them. New Zealand created conditions for a temporary change in my habits. Less serendipity, more structure. Bigger biceps, fewer babes. For the first time in a year or so I can wake up early offen without even needing an alarm let alone a snooze. Though a mundane example of change, it is an indicator of something substantial. It contradicts a behavioural trait that we often formulate as fundamental to our being: I am (not) a morning person. Now I feel inclined to say that sleeping habits can simply be a product of your lifestyle! On top of that the sun, salt water and sweet young summer air charged my libido more than any Kitkat dance floor ever will 🍆😈

🥀: As a child I never knew the feeling of Heimweh. Why would I ever miss the place I’ve come from? After all, I left it for a reason and it’ll still be there when I come back. My time in Auckland forced me to face this feeling for the first time. Berlin the place I call home - with your gays and babes and their sexual and gender ambiguity, your omnipresent sexy casual dress code, your dance floors, your bike lanes, and above all your status as a home to a collection of individuals living interesting lives - I missed you! In contrast, Auckland brings together the worst aspects of kiwi island living. The groupthink and high school cliques, the fallacy of car-first cities and the misguided swagger adopted by those who see this sprawling suburbia as the centre of the world. As I look forward to where I want my life to take me next, I know a part of me will always miss what we have in Berlin. But this reality check also helped me to refine my criteria for and understanding of what makes a city a fun and fulfilling place to live.