s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

It’s now been more than 4 months since I moved down here, and nearly 7 weeks in the new house. So I though it was time for an update on my NZ experience.

As some of you know, I have been talking about moving to New Zealand for about 20 years now, since high school in fact. Back then I joked about moving down to NZ and becoming a sheep farmer, though I had very little real idea what either farming or NZ was like. It is now quite odd to find myself on a farm, in New Zealand, and with two sheep no less! (Okay, the sheep belong to a neighbor, but you get the point.) It is a very strange sensation to fulfil a dream after two decades of thinking and planning. I was worried at first that this would leave some void in my life, or that the experience would not live up to the expectations. So far that has not happened, and I am really enjoying myself. It is hard work, certainly, and there have been occasional frustrations, disappointments and setbacks, but on the whole it has been a hugely positive experience.

My Boston friends all no doubt remember how in the months before I moved down here I was always commenting that they should move too. I know this was endearing to some, and annoying to others. In retrospect I now realize that this was my own uncertainty about the move, getting other people excited about moving here was simply a way to validate that I was not, in fact, making a stupid decision. Since I arrived and “made my dream come true” I now realize that it is not about moving to NZ, it is about following your own path, your own goals. If that involves moving around the world- go for it! If that involves staying right where you are, with friends and family around, well that is just as great a decision! NZ is no promised land of milk and honey. It’s very cool, but it has its own quirks and flaws. No place is perfect, it is a matter of choosing what you want in life. (But you should all come and visit of course! We actually have some loose plans to build a little 2 room guest flat on the concrete pad in the side yard, so that if people wanted to stay for an extended time they would have a place of their own. That would be cool.)

As you may have also noticed, I have arranged a major lifestyle change. Having 25 acres and farm animals will do that. I have always liked making changes to my lifestyle when I move, since I find that the natural confusion and dislocation caused by the moving process makes it easier to slip in changes and escape the rut. Also, it would have seemed rather pointless to move all the way around the world and then resumed the exact same lifestyle I had in Boston. In that case I could have stayed in Boston, and saved a whole lot of money! :) (And not left friends and family behind, either!) I figured I would never know if I liked being a small-farmer uness I gave it a try. It will be very interesting to see where I am in 3 years time. More land? Less? What animals? What goals and dreams?

So now I sail into uncharted waters. For the first time in my adult life I not longer have a “I would love to do X…someday” dream that I can talk about. I have changed country (US to NZ), changed locale (suburb to rural), changed lifestyle (hobby-farmer), and changed job (lab scientist to writer). I guess that makes 2003 a pretty exciting year of change. What comes next? Well, the next year will be consumed with getting the farm up and running properly after 10 years of neglect. There are fences to build, brush to clear, trails to blaze, trees to plant, and stock to acquire and wrangle. Once that is past, who knows? I may still try my hand at writing fiction, or maybe some other activity will come along. Whatever it is, I will just strive to make it fun.

Good luck, and good sailing, to you all in 2004!