Queue Van Morrison song

I’ve been putting off writing this post until I come to an understanding of what the recent days have been like. The week had so many ups and downs such that it hasn’t settled on a “this” I can explain. Plus, I’ll be honest, it’s a hard balance to strike on here of how much to share. I don’t want to go on about the difficult times and have all 10-12 of you readers (siblings accounting for half of those) be like “sheesh, someone’s really gotta get out there.” But, at the same time, I don’t want to sugarcoat everything in a way that feels disrespectful to you working difficult daily jobs or to my experience here. So, that’s the line I’m toeing.

Although there’s been no singular “this” recently, there’s been enough good and bad to fill the whole dang spectrum. I’ll try to explain.

If you’re a devoted reader, you’ll remember that I left you all on the cliffhanger of a looming storm last week. If you are not a devoted reader or, surprisingly, have more important things to remember than the weather patterns in my life, that’s okay too. All you need to know: the was a storm. A storm indeed. In Seattle, I feel like we would constantly get warned of a “super high alert ultra-catastrophic winter snowstorm” and then ultimately receive approximately 2 flakes of snow. This was the opposite of that. The weather app read some rain with some wind if you really searched through the fine print. I was like guys, there’s literally a hurricane outside!! Is no one else seeing this?!? Eventually, other people indeed began to notice, proceeded to close roads (actually literally the one road that runs along the length of the West Coast), and before you know it I’m stuck in a hotel in the small safe haven of Haast, New Zealand. As my first (and second) hotel night of the trip, it was a luxury. But, let me tell you, nothing makes you begin to question things more than sitting in a rickety coastal New Zealand motel drinking all the complimentary beverages possible.

I’ll be honest, Haast gave me some lows. Loneliness, for sure. Some listlessness thrown in there too. But, if this week showed me the importance of one thing, it’s that storms will pass (honestly didn’t mean for and don’t like how well that analogy fits). I mean that on many scales, though. Those initial days in Haast were tough, but they passed and gave way to better days since. Even within a day or an activity or frankly an hour, my experience can shift so quickly. When it feels bad, I understand that I just have to give it time to turn. When it feels good, I know to be thankful for the enthusiasm in that moment. My life at this time definitely shifts quicker than the typical stable lifestyle, but I think knowing and understanding that reliable steadiness—even within dramatic ups and downs—is a truly important skill. Safe to say, I got to practice it this week.

Let’s see, after Haast, I went on a beautttttiful one night backpacking trip, in which it absolutely poured during my hike in. I met these two people on the hike (both British but about my age and doing a similar thing in NZ) who were great. The girl asked me if I brought my swimsuit and I’m like no you idiot, it’s 50 and raining (in my head of course). As I should have guessed, I was in fact the idiot because there were hot pools at the hut! What a great surprise!!! So, that was awesome. Unfortunately, I accidentally ghosted these people have after having a fantastic time hanging out with them because I just knew something didn’t look right when writing down my phone number. So, the “I’ll flick you a message when I get service!” (they all say that here) turned into a “see you never.” Alas.

Feeling revitalized after that beautiful time, I headed back to the closest actual town, Wānaka, to get my life in order. With prior dreams of adventuring for months, my Haast experience pushed me towards finding a way to be grounded in a place and a community. Aka a job and a house. I can now proudly say that I have options for both in this beautiful town Wānaka! It’s like a Mountain West town but with more mountains AND two huge lakes. Ideal.

Feeling a bit more settled and excited, I went on possibly one of the best trail adventures of my life. The conditions were perfect (real trail, minimal river crossings, and sun) which I can rarely say for my adventures, so that was a blessing. Now, I gotta sew my pants back together before going skiing tomorrow!

I actually have many more thoughts to share this week, but I fear your attention span is likely coming to a close. So, I’ll put a pin in those. Teasers include: communication/phone connection, expectations from others, and (of course) snacks. But for now, I’m listening to the Days Like This Spotify radio at a campground! Sending good wishes to you all.

Sincerely,

Jaquelin

Update: every time I try sewing it’s harder than I expect. Mad respect to tailors and seamstresses… and surgeons I guess