Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back to where you started. Just shy of three years ago, I landed on the shores of New Zealand for the first time in my life, brokenhearted and barely surviving, but excited for the hope of healing brought by a new adventure.
Sometimes you have to go back to where you started, to realize how much you’ve changed. Two days ago, I landed on the shores of New Zealand for the second time in my life, full-hearted and mostly thriving, excited for the celebration of closure brought by coming – geographically – full circle.
I am spending the first few days of my New Zealand Trip 2.0 in exactly the same spot as my first NZ adventure, thanks to a kind and hospitable friend, in a lovely haven of a home on the east end of Wellington Bay, the beach just steps beyond this garden oasis.
The first couple days of my current trip have almost exactly mirrored the first couple days of my first one – bike ride along the shore on the first day, followed by a solo hike through the park trails above on the second. Reflecting, reading, and writing my way through the first few days of my trip, building a foundation while planning my next steps.
I’ve been here before, looking out the same window, at the same water, the same sunsets, the same beautiful scenes. Yet in the years between these mirroring moments, so much has changed for me, inside and out. As I launch from this same point into what will be a very different adventure going forward, I take a deep breath and pause to give thanks for all of the growth and good things that have come to me since last I breathed this air.
“No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.” – George Eliot
6th Post for Nano Poblano! Hooray for making it past halfway! And cheers to my fellow Cheer Peppers!
Breaking Moulds 
I hope your trip is everything you need it to be and more.