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28

Nov

Raising Global Citizens

by Joyce McGreevy on November 28, 2018

Maria Surma Manka, Workation Woman, and her family of global citizens find inspiration as digital nomads Edinburgh, Scotland. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

At home-from-home in Edinburgh, Scotland: Joram, August, Baron, and Maria.
© Maria Surma Manka

When Mom and Dad Are Digital Nomads

Not all who wander as digital nomads are twentysomething, unmarried, and mortgage-free.  Some digital nomads live in rural Minnesota with lively kids and full-time jobs.

Just ask author and public-relations strategist Maria Surma Manka. She teaches parents across the U.S. how to live and work abroad as digital nomads while enriching—not uprooting—family life. No selling the house, homeschooling the kids, or ditching their day jobs.

It’s about expanding cultural awareness and creating wonderful family experiences while meeting everyday responsibilities.

The key to this family-style cultural immersion?  “Workations”—work + vacations.

At an airport, Maria Surma Manka and her family of digital nomads set off for a workation in London. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

London-bound: Maria’s book has numerous resources on how to talk with
your employer about working remotely.
© Maria Surma Manka

The idea, explains Maria, is to combine a love of travel with the stability of work. For Maria and husband Joram, the home-from-home travel began when sons August and Baron were two and five years old. That was five years and several countries ago.

At the time, Maria couldn’t find good resources to help guide a typical family on such an adventure. So, she developed the resources herself. The result is the highly practical book, Next-Level Digital Nomad: A guide to traveling and working from anywhere (even with kids and a day job).

The book Next-Level Digital Nomad by Maria Surma Manka, a.k.a. Workation Woman, is a guide to traveling and working from anywhere (even with kids and a day job). (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

Known to her followers as Workation Woman, Maria Surma Manka teaches parents how to
live abroad for several weeks or months without quitting their regular jobs.
© Maria Surma Manka

As insightful as it is delightful, Next-Level Digital Nomad covers such topics as getting schools and bosses on board, finding (and funding) where to live, securing safe childcare, and much more.

It’s also a cracking good read, an enlightening portrait of one family’s day-to-day life in Minnesota, Spain, New Zealand, Scotland, and England.

Maria Surma Manka’s son August discovers the joy of being a digital nomad at Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand, during a family workation. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

Small pleasures amid big adventures: Skipping stones at Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand.
© Maria Surma Manka

Have Kids, Will Travel

I recently spoke with Maria about the experience of immersing one’s family in the daily life of another culture. As someone who grew up traveling with seven siblings, I was particularly keen to know one thing: How does she respond to folks who postpone travel because they’re waiting for the kids to grow up?

Maria laughs warmly. Challenging assumptions is second nature to her.

“I would say, ‘Well then why do you read to your baby?  Why do you talk to your kid or bring them to the pumpkin patch? Why do anything if they’re not going to remember it? It’s to instill a norm in them when they don’t even realize it.  Even if they don’t remember it, there are going to be things that they pick up on.”

“It’s the feeling of being in a totally foreign place and watching to see how your parents react, being in a situation where things [may] go wrong or the adults in your life don’t know what’s going to happen next, and seeing that Oh, it’s calm, things are fine, they’re going figure it out.”

Maria Surma Manka’s sons August and Baron explore the Isle of Skye during a family workation. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

The rewards of working remotely: Exploring the world more closely.
Baron and August hike to the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye.
© Maria Surma Manka

For their part, August and Baron have made friends in many cultures as they share local playgrounds and routines. Maria recalls a bus ride in London when “a little boy was asking our boys where we were staying. He thought we were staying in a hotel room and the boys said, “We have a yard and a kitchen,” and they just began exchanging stories.”

A playground near Edinburgh Castle is the first stop for digital nomad Maria Surma Manka and her family during a workation in Scotland. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

One of the first steps in each new city, says Maria, is to find the nearest playground.
© Maria Surma Manka

The Universal Language

On one extended visit to Spain, the family stayed with a longtime friend whose son, Dante, was then two years old. “The same age as our youngest,” says Maria. She loved seeing how her English-speaking children and the friend’s Spanish-speaking son quickly established rapport.

“You know, at two years old you barely speak your native language. So it was really fascinating to see them realizing they were able to play cars together or race around with each other and that they didn’t always have to understand what each other was saying.”

“They did learn the Spanish word for Mine, mine, mine!” She laughs. “That translated very quickly.”

 

A bilingual English-Spanish phrase list helps young global citizens talk with each other during family workations in Spain and the U.S. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

The ultimate “playlist”: Maria created a bilingual phrase list for a recent reunion
of Dante, August, and Baron in Minnesota.
© Maria Surma Manka

Growing up culturally aware has also prompted important discussions. Back in the U.S., one of Maria’s sons was troubled to see a bumper sticker that said, “You’re in America. Speak English.” Maria recalls “trying to explain stuff like that to the kids, [the fact] that some people are scared of people who don’t have the same color skin as them or speak the same language as them.”

“And my youngest son, August, said, ‘But we know Dante. He doesn’t speak English and he’s not scary.’ They have a personal reference of someone who comes from a different culture who doesn’t speak their language, but who is a great person, someone with whom they’ve had tons of fun and tons in common.”

It Takes a (Global) Village

Maria appreciates the enthusiastic support of school principals and teachers. Like Mrs. Petron, who taught a lesson on London so Baron’s first-grade class would have the context to learn from his extended visit there.  When the family arrived in London, Baron casually pointed out a local landmark to his parents. “He was teaching us.”

On days when Maria and Joram needed to work from local offices, the boys explored London with their nanny, Sophie Hitchcock. They loved regaling their parents with all they had learned about the city.

Maria Surma Manka’s sons August and Baron, young digital nomads, test their backpacks during a family workation in London. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

Learning in London: The boys test their backpacks to discover
how much they can realistically carry.
© Maria Surma Manka

U.S. Workations

Maria points out that a workation “doesn’t necessarily mean something big and sexy overseas.”  At one of her talks, a woman in the audience shared, “My husband has to go work in Omaha for three weeks, and I can do my job from anywhere.  He’s been trying to get me to bring the kids and work from there.”

It was an oh-I-see moment: Instead of missing out on precious family time, the family could stay connected while getting to know another part of their own country. Instead of forming stereotypes about a city they didn’t know, they could meet the locals as neighbors and develop a broader sense of home.

Digital nomads, Maria Surma Manka (Workation Woman) and sons August and Baron walk along Rose Street, Edinburgh during a family workation. (Image © Maria Surma Manka)

A morning’s routine in Edinburgh. “A workation is a feeling of normalcy and novelty
at the same time,” observes Maria.
© Maria Surma Manka

Growing Up Without Stereotypes

Stereotype busting is a constant theme of Maria’s own family workations. Because the boys’ home base is 85 rural acres, it’s important to her that they also have the experience of living in urban areas. Learning the etiquette of sharing public transportation has instilled in August and Baron respect for the idea of sharing one world.

Maria recalls how after one London Underground ride she had been prepared to offer cultural context about their fellow passengers, figuring that her children might have questions about, say, the guy with the studs and mohawk or the woman in full burqa.

Only it took the boys a full minute to even recall who she was talking about. It soon emerged that yes, her boys had noticed the many people around them. But these young global citizens simply took it for granted that we may dress, speak, and look differently from each other. No big deal.

Says their mom, “They’re growing up with a very broad personal view of the world.”

To learn more about workations, get Maria’s book here. Follow her family’s adventures here and here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Adventure Travel/Life Lessons/Stereotypes/Worldwide Sites

19

Jun

A Dog’s Tale of Travel Adventure

by Joyce McGreevy on June 19, 2018

Mount Ruapehu, overlooking Ohakune, is the scene of many New Zealand travel adventures. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Halfway between Auckland and Wellington, Mt. Ruapehu is
the center point of New Zealand’s North Island.
© Joyce McGreevy

Lost and Found in
Ohakune, New Zealand

This is the tale of a little toy dog, a New Zealand forest, and the power of Kiwi kindness.

Once, a Traveler took a journey through New Zealand. While traveling south by train, she visited Ohakune.

Why Ohakune? asked a man from A Big City. The Traveler wasn’t sure. She only knew it would break up the 12-hour rail journey.

It’s the wrong season, said City Man. Ohakune is a ski town. Do you ski?

No, said the Traveler. She could see that this was the wrong answer.

Accompanying the Traveler was a little toy dog that mature types might call a “travel mascot.” The Traveler called him Bedford.

People with a sense of fun enjoyed meeting Bedford.

A toy dog and a map of Ohakune, Ruapehu evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Bedford studies the map of Ohakune, Ruapehu, New Zealand. 
© Joyce McGreevy

I suppose you could see the Big Carrot, said City Man doubtfully.

The Traveler looked puzzled.

Ohakune is New Zealand’s leading producer of carrots, said City Man. Do you like carrots?

Oh yes, said the Traveler. She could see that this was the wrong answer.

They have this statue, “The Big Carrot.” It’s a statue of a big carrot, City Man explained.

The Traveler sensed he would not enjoy meeting Bedford.

At the station, City Man chuckled without smiling. Well, see the Big Carrot anyway, he said.

 A Sign of Things to Come

The Big Carrot and Ohakune sign welcome visitors to New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Maybe I’m here to have an adventure, mused the Traveler. Little did she know.
© Joyce McGreevy

It was April—autumn in New Zealand. Green grasses and red-gold trees sprang from volcanic alpine soil. Wildflowers fringed the footpaths. Fields chorused with birds. A-frame houses dotted the landscape, their picture windows gleaming gold.

Field grass in Ohakune, Ruapehu evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The soil of Ohakune (OH-uh-koo-nee) is bursting with life. 
© Joyce McGreevy

Rugged and magnificent, Mount Ruapehu towered over it all. So this was Ohakune. The Traveler and Bedford stared in silent wonder and joy.

Every day the Traveler went for scenic walks, with Bedford riding along in her backpack. Every evening they returned to the house called Ti Kouka to read by the fire and watch the stars.

One morning, the weather was spectacular.

Clouds above the Old Coach Road, Ohakune, Ruapehu evoke memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Fluffy white clouds chased each other like lambs across a field of sky.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Traveler explored Tongariro Forest, following the Mangawhero River.

The Tongariro National Forest, Ohakune, Ruapehu evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Tongariro National Forest protects a multitude of vulnerable native plant species. 
© Joyce McGreevy

She made the acquaintance of native trees and birds.  She listened to stories that only the wind knew how to tell.

Then, her feet carried her up the Old Coach Road, above the Basin of Bounty.

Hills above the Old Coach Road, Ohakune, Ruapehu evoke memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Old Coach Road winds through wavelike farmland. 
© Joyce McGreevy

The Traveler decided to take a photo of Bedford. She reached into her backpack.

Bedford was gone.

Where Oh Where

 Oh no, oh no, oh no, went the heartbeat of the Traveler. She ran down the hill, eyes wild, looking left and right. No Bedford. She raced back to the forest and forced herself to slowly, safely retrace her steps. No Bedford. Next morning, she looked again, asking every natural thing where Bedford could be.

Gone, said the bare path. Missing, said the chill wind. So sorry, said the rustling leaves.

The Traveler felt miserable. She had to leave, and it would be weeks before she passed this way again. It was the first time in her travels that she had ever felt alone.

The Ruapehu I-Site, the visitors center in Ohakune, evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

New Zealand’s “i-SITE” centers, like this one in Ohakune, field 7 million visitor inquiries a year. 
© Joyce McGreevy

As the train headed south, the Traveler wrote to Ohakune’s visitor center. But with so many Big Problems in the world, would anyone care about a little toy dog?

Reminders Everywhere

Everywhere the Traveler went, she saw reminders of Bedford:

Cooper the Samoyed of Crafthaus in Ohakune, Ruapehu evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Cooper the Samoyed of Crafthaus, a fashion design center at Ohakune Railway Station.
© Joyce McGreevy

A statue of John Plimmer and his dog Fritz in Wellington evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

John Plimmer, prominent Wellingtonian, and his dog Fritz. 
© Joyce McGreevy

The Mackenzie Dog Monument at Lake Tekapo evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Mackenzie Sheep Dog, Lake Tekapo, a tribute to New Zealand’s working collie dogs. 
© Joyce McGreevy

At the visitor center, Barbara and Nina read the Traveler’s message and sent encouraging replies.  Barbara put up posters all over town. Neighbors told neighbors. Ohakune Facebook groups did, too.

People began looking for Bedford on their walks. Eileen and Stu, who owned Ti Kouka, searched the forest. Others searched the Old Coach Road. Even teams training for search-and-rescue missions kept an eye out for a little toy dog.

A view of Mount Ruapehu in Ohakune evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Traveler’s thoughts kept returning to Ohakune. 
© Joyce McGreevy

Days passed. The Traveler and Barbara kept exchanging emails.

What our imaginations make real through time, love, and happy memories is powerful, wrote the Traveler. Barbara agreed. She told the Traveler about her daughter’s travel buddy, a toy penguin, who joined the family in South America.

On sunny days, the Traveler felt hopeful. On rainy days, she worried.  To ease her mind, the Traveler read books about New Zealand—history and literature, flora and fauna. She wanted to learn everything about this place that Bedford had decided to explore.

By now the Traveler was “south of South Island.” She’d seen beautiful places but missed her travel buddy.

Waiting and Wondering

Weeks passed. The Traveler prepared to return north. She’d fly to Wellington, catch the train to Ohakune and resume searching. But it was nearly winter.  Would she get there before the snow?

One morning, The Traveler received a message from the visitor center.  Perhaps it would say Nothing more can be done. After all, it had been 36 days and there were Bigger Problems in the world.

Guess what? wrote Nina, Bedford has been found!!!!  He is a little dirty and is being looked after by the couple who found him.

Sue and Paul had seen the poster at Ohakune’s Sweet Pea Café. They had travel buddies of their own and understood how the Traveler felt. They talked about this as they hiked through the forest.

Then Paul spotted something under a wooden walkway. A little toy dog.

River rocks in the Mangawhero River, Ohakune, Ruapehu evoke memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Had Bedford landed left or right, he would have tumbled into the river.
© Joyce McGreevy

Sue and Paul owned a business looking after dogs in distress. They lovingly cared for Bedford and introduced him to their travel buddies, Winnie and Gracie.

Then Sue and Paul brought Bedford to Barbara at the visitor center. Barbara took him home to recuperate.

There Bedford met Coco, a little toy dog that Barbara had had since she was two years old. The dogs stared at each other in wordless surprise. Their resemblance said it all. They were cousins!

A woman with several toy animals evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Susan Jamieson/ Barbara Van Der Woerd)

L: Barbara with Gracie, Bedford, and Winnie. R: Coco, Bedford, and Chomper. 
© Susan Jamieson/Barbara Van Der Woerd

Kiwi Kindness

Sue and Paul were sorry not to meet the Traveler, but they had to return to Wellington.

I’m headed there now! wrote the Traveler.

The Traveler hugged Sue and Paul and thanked them for their kindness. By the time the Traveler left Wellington, she had friends there.

Two women with several toy animals share memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Susan Jamieson/ Barbara Van Der Woerd)

L: Sue and the Traveler meet. R: Winnie eyes the fries. 
© Joyce McGreevy

Then the Traveler caught the train to Ohakune. Thank you, thank you, thank you went her heartbeat.

By now, everyone in town knew of the little toy dog who’d gone walkabout in the woods. The Ruapehu Bulletin reported Bedford’s safe return. The Sweet Pea Café updated their poster: FOUND! People in town took photos with Bedford.

The Traveler met wonderful people in Ohakune and attended a fundraiser. There she learned that several locals, including dogs, are everyday heroes. As members of RARO, Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organization, they risk their lives to save people who are lost or injured in Tongariro National Forest.

New Favorite Color: Ohakune Orange

The Traveler and Bedford visited the Big Carrot. They had fun at nearby Carrot Park, a whimsical playground accessed by a meandering walkway through beautiful native bush. Numerous people in the community had worked together for years to create it.

A toy dog at Carrot Park, Ohakune, Ruapehu, evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Why veg out? Lettuce play at Carrot Park!
© Joyce McGreevy

As the Traveler got to know people in Ohakune, she understood why Bedford had lingered.  People in Ohakune were hardworking, creative, brave, witty, and kind. Elsewhere, people might have rolled their eyes at a Traveler who lost a little toy dog. But in Ohakune, even the busiest people made time to help.

A train pulling into Ohakune Railway Station evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Soon it was time to say goodbye.
© Joyce McGreevy

As the train pulled out of the station, the Traveler considered all the good that had come from Bedford’s travel adventure. It had prompted her to read more deeply about New Zealand. It had shown her the power of Kiwi kindness. It had led her to friends she would love for life.

Not just Bedford had been lost and found.

Oh, I see, said the Traveler. Ohakune is famous for the Big Carrot, but it also has a Big Heart.

Bedford, reflecting on his travel adventure, quietly agreed.

A toy dog with souvenirs from Ohakune, Ruapehu, evokes memories of a New Zealand travel adventure and Kiwi kindness. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

We heart Ohakune. 
© Joyce McGreevy

Visit Ohakune’s Crafthaus, then launch your Ohakune adventure here and here. 

Learn about the life-and-death rescue work of RARO here. 

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Adventure Travel/Cultural Encounters/Life Lessons/New Zealand

07

May

Time Travel Adventures

by Joyce McGreevy on May 7, 2018

Skydivers over Queenstown, New Zealand inspire the author to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © New Zealand Tourism)

There are many ways to fly to Queenstown, New Zealand. 
© New Zealand Tourism

Finding New Perspective
in New Zealand

Do you remember Tuesday, April 3, 2018?  I don’t. I never experienced it.

A man, with his dog, who has slept through the alarm may soon wish he could time travel. (Image © iStock/WebSubstance)

No, I didn’t forget to set the alarm.
© iStock/WebSubstance

 

A woman falling on the ice inspires thoughts of time travel adventures. (Image © iStock/Astrid860)

Nope. Wasn’t in a coma.
© iStock/Astrid860

I just had one of those time travel adventures.

Crossing the Line

Every day, thousands of westbound airline passengers leapfrog over an entire day. They take off from, say, Oakland on a Monday and land in Auckland on a Wednesday.

Yet only 14 hours have passed.

Which really crosses a line.

No, really. It’s what happens when you cross the International Date Line. The line is imaginary, but the effects are real.

Global Gazing

Remember when everyone’s home had a globe? In the 1960s, advanced technology meant that through the magic of electricity and a toggle switch, a globe could light up from the inside. Whoa!

An illuminated globe inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © iStock/Vrobelpeter1)

As a child, I found globes illuminating.
© iStock/Vrobelpeter1

If you were a kid back then, you gazed in awe at the illuminated raised relief, marveling at mountains and the depths of the bright blue oceans.

And wondered what that line meant.

Dust off that globe now and you’ll see that the International Date Line isn’t a fixed line. It zigzags giddily to either side of 180 degrees longitude like the wake of a drunken sailor.

A map showing the International Date Lines illuminated globe inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image in the public domain)

In 2011 Samoa skipped Dec. 30 by “moving” to the NZ side of the International Date Line.

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Wednesday

Some of Magellan’s sailors probably thought they’d knocked back a pint too many after their own time travel adventure in 1522. As Antonio Pigafetta reported:

On Wednesday, the ninth of July, we arrived at . . . Santiago . . . And we charged our men in the boat that, when they were ashore, they should ask what day it was. They were answered that to the Portuguese it was Thursday, at which they were much amazed.

So amazed that, once Magellan’s impeccable record keepers figured it out, they sent a special delegation to alert the Pope. He, in turn, was so amazed that he called a conference. A mere three centuries later, the International Date Line became official. The boundary between one day and the next was set.

Racing to Places

By definition, travel is moving from one place to another place. Like a token on a game board, you advance from Country A to Country B.

For some, travel is a competitive game. Recently, travel magazines profiled a woman whose mission is to become the fastest person to visit all 195 of the world’s sovereign countries.

A woman racing toward travel symbols inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © TK)

“Let’s see, 195 countries times 3.5 hours per airport plus x hours per flight . . .”
© iStock/PRimageFactory

Places in Time

But travel is also about time. Exploring it, experiencing it.

Time travel lights up the raised relief map of your brain, revealing the Valley of Jet Lag and the Mountains of Giddy Realization: I’m here! I’m on the other side of the planet!

It toys with your internal clock, making you narcoleptic at noon, insomniac at midnight, and ravenous at four a.m.

It makes you silly: “Greetings from the Future!” you text your family, who are back in that earlier time zone.

A text message about coffee in Christchurch, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Even 7, 241 miles apart  . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

A text message about coffee in Lincoln City, Oregon inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Carolyn McGreevy)

. . . sisters have coffee together.
© Carolyn McGreevy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It makes you grin: As a traveling freelancer in New Zealand, you’re one day ahead of U.S. deadlines. Yippee!

It makes you hyper-aware: After clearing customs in Auckland, you enter the bustling airport café. It’s 5 a.m. local time, yet the woman who hands you a mug of coffee sings, “Here you are, lovey” with a bright-eyed smile.

A night skyline of Auckland, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Auckland, New Zealand as seen from Devonport across the harbor. 
© Joyce McGreevy

It makes you think: While you were snoozing over the South Pacific, she was catching her bus in Manukau, the dim silhouettes of suburban bungalows slowly un-fuzzing as dawn edged over Hauraki Gulf to etch steel and glass towers against the sky.

Oh, I see: Below the surface of what we experience and exchange lie the complex route maps of all our time travel adventures.

A Planet for All Seasons

In crossing the International Date Line, I’ve also crossed from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. Like other imaginary map lines, its effects are real. As I write this in May, it’s autumn in New Zealand.

Autumn leaves at the River Avon in Christchurch, New Zealand inspire an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures.(Image © Joyce McGreevy)

“April in Paris” celebrates spring, but in Christchurch, New Zealand,
April is the middle of autumn.
© Joyce McGreevy

Across New Zealand, forests are ablaze with autumn, their vibrant leaves glowing against snow-capped volcanic peaks. New arrivals from the Northern Hemisphere say, “Oh, the seasons are reversed.”

But are they? Or is this another example of Earth’s symmetry? As spring surges toward summer in one half, autumn yields to winter in the other half.

As Earth’s seasons perform their balancing act, we humans seek an impossible balance between defying time and deferring to it. What if we simply observed its presence and its passage?

ake Tekapo in the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures.(Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Reflecting on seasonal change at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand’s Mackenzie Basin. 
© Joyce McGreevy

Imagine if your travels through a place were moment-to-moment.  Imagine that, in the time it takes for the world’s fastest traveler to blaze a record-breaking trail through dozens of countries, you were still meandering along, savoring the slowly shifting here and now.

World’s Slowest Traveler?

The number of countries I’ve covered in 5 weeks plus the number I’ll visit in the next 7 add up to a grand total of (drum roll) . . . one. Over the coming weeks, I’ll share stories of New Zealand, from its staggering natural beauty to its wonderful people.

A starry sky in Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand inspires an author to consider the true nature of time travel adventures. (Image © Daniel Rood and New Zealand Tourism)

Stars seem closer to Earth in Castlepoint, Wairarapa, New Zealand. 
© Daniel Rood/New Zealand Tourism

Until then, imagine that each of us was traveling on the surface of an illuminated globe. Imagine that every night we sailed through an ocean of stars, and every morning we woke up in a place of new possibilities.

Just think of all the time travel adventures we could have.

An antique clock inspires an author in New Zealand to consider the true nature of time travel. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Even clocks need to unwind sometimes.
© Joyce McGreevy

Why is New Zealand vanishing from world maps? Solve the mystery in this hilarious video featuring NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Adventure Travel/Crossing Cultures/New Zealand/Secrets to Life

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