I'm Back...

Alright lets start withe fact that I'm back "home". Except I'm not. I don't know where home is anymore. Because it feels like I just left it behind. But enough with the sad talk, I'm trying to not think about the fact that it's all over. I'm back in California after a long day of travel. Not as long as all you Europeans, but still long. I don't even know what day it is anymore because my week went as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Thursday, Friday...I left New Zealand on the first Thursday and arrived in California on the second Thursday.

Leaving sucked, obviously, but I kinda ignored it until yesterday, then it really hit. I woke up Thursday morning, got ready and packed, and then went on a walk with Paula to get a quick breakfast. Then Connie wanted coffee so I went with her and Kira when I got back from getting breakfast. Lizzie and I were on the same flight and it was leaving at 12 so we called for an uber with Paula around 9:30...then the uber cancelled on us at 10 so Alex called us a taxi. Then we had to say goodbye to everyone that was still there, that was fun. Then we rushed to the airport. I wasn't stressed because I was kind of hoping I'd miss my flight, but Lizzie is continuing to travel so she really wanted to make the flight. We said goodbye to Paula and boarded our plane. We ended up being about 45 minutes late to the next airport which gave us both about an hour to get to our next flights. Of course the walk to the international terminal was way too long, then we had to go through customs and security AGAIN and that took about an hour. Luckily someone came to collect me and take me to my flight so I said goodbye to Lizzie and rushed to my terminal. I made it, barely. But since I had no time to get food or a neck pillow (because like an idiot I packed my neck pillow in my checked luggage) I was starving and tired on my flight. I met this nice guy from Washington though. He woke me up when the first meal came around so I could eat. It was pasta, salad, and bread. Not bad. I didn't really sleep on the plane, and I kept getting really frustrated because I would fall asleep and then wake up thinking hours had passed but in reality only 30 minutes had passed. It wasn't bad though, I suppose I am a good traveler because I don't mind long drives/flights all that much. When I landed in San Fransisco I had 45 minutes to get to my next flight, because again, the flight I had just been on was delayed. I made it though, except then I had this nagging feeling that I was meant to get my checked bag, which is ridiculous because they should be putting my bags on the connecting flights right? Wrong. I landed in Sacramento and went to track my bag and it was still in San Francisco...But I called them and figured it out and it got delivered at 9 last night. But ya, I'm back now. With more questions about what to do than before I left.

Speaking of New Zealand (I know we weren't but I didn't know how else to transition the conversation). Lets pick up where we left off because there still a whole 2 days to talk about. So we left off with everyone going on a hike except Connie and I. We ended up going to get some souvenirs from the shop across the street and then got lunch at this burger place and just talked about all kinds of things. Everyone got back from the hike and we all headed off to the hot springs. Although it was more like a "public" pool but all the pools were warm and you need to pay to get in. It was like a day spa I guess. We hung out there for a couple of hours. Connie and I played mermaids. Lewis and I had a breath holding contest (I won). I tried to teach Connie to dive but I failed and we got told off for doing "front flips"...she was trying to dive. Then everyone disappeared and I was just chilling in the pool all alone. My hands were like raisins and I was not having it so I got out and sat with my towel waiting for them to g back to normal and by the time that happened everyone was leaving. I saw ice cream on the way back and I wanted some so Lewis stayed with me while the others went to the market. That ice cream was the best I have ever had. It was banana and it was so so good. Lewis and I had a nice conversation by the water and then we headed back to the hostel to meet with everyone. I don't remember what we did. I think everyone went to go get food but since I'd already eaten I went to shower. Then we all met in the Cinema room to talk about tomorrow's plan and play the baby picture game. No one guessed that my picture was mine so I basically won. Some of the photos were really easy and others were hard. I ate off of Ingrids dinner...Lewis called me a Seagull. We also played this New Zealand trivia game and our team (Me, Ingrid, Paula, Laura, Lewis, and Connie) won...obviously. Ingrid and I didn't help much though, we were in our own little world. We did contribute to a couple questions though (and we got them all right).

A couple of us had stargazing that night so we left for that around 10. It was amazing. So many stars in the sky. So many stories. So much information. I kept looking for the North Star because I'm so used to it, but it's obviously not in the southern hemisphere so they taught us how to find the southern cross instead. We got to look through a telescope too, that was awesome. It was so relaxing laying under the stars I could've fallen asleep.

If I remember correctly, everyone went to bed when we got back. We left around noon the next day. It was valentines day for us so before we left everyone wrote anonymous love letters to each other. I also bought everyone a little valentines day gift, which I think they all liked. Before we left Connie, Paula, Ingrid, Aidan and I all went for breakfast. I told them about my travel plans for later this year and Paula and Connie both booked plane flights to come visit me in Spain in Portugal right then...Must be nice to live so close to a country like that lol.

We had to take the public bus back to Queenstown which is never as fun as our private buses, but it was alright. Freaking Alex got me to put down ANOTHER deposit down for a future trip. That makes 3...he's very convincing. A lot of people signed my travel journal while on the bus, they're all so sweet. We played out of the loop during the ride with everyone in our group who was sitting in the back. We got to Queenstown around 4 that evening and Connie and I went on a little date because I really wanted some Pavlova and it was my last chance. We found some at a restaurant by the water. It was not at all what I was expecting but it was really good.

We had a family farewell dinner that night and had some really good pizza. We had an award ceremony for all the "most likely to" questions we had answered earlier in the day and I won 2! I won most dramatic (go figure) and most likely to be an influencer. I almost won most likely to be a serial killer too but Imi beat me by 3 votes. We've decided we'll work together and start our own mafia. After dinner we went to the bar for drinks, I lasted a little while but I think I started having a small panic attack of some sort because I could not be there any longer. It was so loud, there was people everywhere, and I think I was just really anxious. I don't know, I've never felt that way before. So I left and went on a walk by myself, then went back to the hostel and sat by the fire. I waited up until around midnight which is when Imi and Kira came back and then I went to bed shortly after them. Connie came in shortly after and Lewis and Faith a couple hours later. I didn't want to sleep because I knew I had to leave the next day but exhaustion eventually took over.

I don't know how to explain what I feel, I just know I've had a weight in my chest since I came back and I'm trying not to think about the trip because while it makes me happy it also makes me sad. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know. Yesterday I took a little nap and I woke up thinking I was still with the group, I even texted mom asking if the group was still here and she was obviously confused and then I was confused and then I woke up finally and realized I was alone. So fun.

My next trip can't come soon enough! Thanks everyone for following along! Until next time...