And I miss it already. I miss the experience of travel, of meeting new people all the time, of deciding each day what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. But also I miss New Zealand itself. Lots of the backpackers that I met saw the country as just another on their list of destinations. They could cross it off and move on to the next. But, maybe because I was there for so long, or because it was the first place that I got to experience independant traveling, I think I really formed an emotional connection to New Zealand.
Yes, it's good to be home with the people I love and having everything I own in easy reach. It's good that I don't need to pack all my belongings in a bag that I can carry on my back. I am earning money and eating right and I work inside a warm building where I can sit down. But I haven't walked on a mountain or watched the waves on the ocean in months now, and that's just not right.