How my words helped me build a new life in New Zealand

Chapter 20: Traveller, your dreams are waiting

Welcome to Chapter 20 of Love at First Flight, my solo round-the-world travel memoir.

After months of backpacking adventures, preparing for job interviews was like speaking a forgotten language. But after finding my voice in Australia, New Zealand was now calling me to put it into action.

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A large sign greeted me as I stepped off the plane and into Auckland airport:

Traveller, your dreams are waiting.

I smiled at this line from The Lord of the Rings movie, filmed here in New Zealand. It was like the words were written for me.

In the gift shop, I bought a notebook featuring an expanse of blue sky on its cover. The book was filled with beautiful photography of New Zealand’s wilderness - mountains piercing the clouds, lakes mirroring the skies. The blank pages invited me to write - my words, my story.

Now I felt like the main character in my own life - and I was ready to step into this new chapter.

The sign at Auckland airport. All photos by Claire at Backpacking Bella.

View from the top

Sitting on the grass in the sunshine, I gazed out over Auckland's impressive skyline. Perched at the top of this sacred Maori volcano, I breathed deeply as I took in what would be my new home for the next few months.

Mount Eden loomed over the hostel where I'd checked into my dorm room. It gave the neighbourhood of cute shops and restaurants its name.

I had climbed this summit to find perspective. My new beginning in New Zealand both excited and daunted me. My working holiday visa meant I could find a job, earn money and stay here for up to a year. Not a typical backpacking job, pouring drinks or picking fruit. I wanted to continue my career in communications.

But I wasn't sure how I fit into this new landscape. What were my experience and skills worth here?

After months of being a traveller, could I switch back to being a professional? These identities were at odds with each other, like trying to speak two different languages at once.

The stunning view from the top of Mount Eden.

Fashion crimes

"I'm going job hunting next week," I announced to my roommate Lynnette.

“Awesome,” she called down from the bunkbed above mine. “I’m working as a vet here and I love it.”

In the dorm’s full-length mirror, a backpacker reflected back at me, with sun-kissed skin, tired combat trousers and a t-shirt with holes in after too many laundries in Asia. I pulled on a fleece and battered trainers that had barely survived volcano climbing in Bali. It was the best I could do to face New Zealand’s winter chill, but this unglamorous ensemble would never impress potential employers.

In Auckland’s city centre, a 50% off sign at a shoe shop caught my eye. Like Cinderella on speed, I tried on ballet slippers, kitten heels and ankle boots. After months of budget travel, it felt like a crime to splurge on shoes. But dancing in them in a bar that night with Lynnette made me feel more feminine and boosted my confidence.

Days later, my suitcase arrived that I’d shipped to myself from the UK. With delight, I unpacked neatly folded jumpers, blazers and dresses, pressing the soft fabrics to my cheeks.

Backpacker Claire would be retired for a while. I was ready to face the professional world.

Me in my Auckland dorm room wearing my new boots, a shell necklace from Goa and a red dress from a local charity shop.

A new kind of journey

Steam rose from the hob as I stirred my pasta sauce. Domestic things, like grocery shopping and cooking meals in the hostel's kitchen made me happy, after my non-stop roaming.

"You have to see the South Island," a German backpacker told me as he chopped vegetables beside me. "The lakes there are so blue it looks Photoshopped."

Later, as we ate, a couple described driving around the country in a campervan, stumbling upon stunning places without a soul around that felt like a secret.

I mostly listened, asking questions while saying little about my own plans. What would I even say? That I was here to find a job? It sounded so mundane compared to their adventures.

That evening, lying in my bunk bed, I wrote in my new blue notebook that I could be on the precipice of something amazing. Life-changing maybe. I'd begun a daily ritual of filling these pages with reflections, goals and gratitudes. This practice helped me clear my mind and focus my direction. I'd also started attending a local yoga studio, where I chatted with other yogis over dinner.

Me at the Yoga Loft Lounge in Auckland.

That evening, I noted my resolve to be more present, like I’d been learning in my yoga classes. To use my voice and influence. To harness the strength, wisdom and inner calm that I had gained on my travels.

I’d had a taste of passion again in my love life during my trip. Now I wanted it back in my career, as I set up life here for a few months.

I may not be in a campervan, but I wanted to be in the driving seat.

The next day, as we gathered for breakfast, I shared the journey I was beginning. My new friends at the hostel listened with interest, encouraging me as I prepared to set up job interviews.

Using my professional voice again

I walked through the recruitment consultant's door, my heart hammering in my chest. Even with my new clothes and renewed confidence, I felt like an imposter as I handed over my CV. It detailed my old life and I had changed so much since then.

"You have a great personality," the recruiter told me. "I'd like to introduce you to another candidate - he’s also good fun."

I’d never had this reaction in a job interview before, but I appreciated her making connections. Maybe I'd find a new friend as well as a job.

In the next few days, I had meetings with other agencies and calls about potential roles. I also took local day trips to Waiheke Island and across the harbour to Devonport. Climbing Mount Victoria on this clear day, I enjoyed another astounding view across the water to the city. I already loved this new home of mine.

My view of Auckland from Devonport.

At my first interview, for a communications temp role at a lottery organisation, I noticed my voice growing stronger with each answer. The next day, at an interview for a gym chain, I answered the probing questions with unexpected clarity. I was getting used to this again, to articulating my professional value.

When both companies offered me positions, panic set in. I hated letting people down and I would have to say no to one of them. Back at the hostel, after deep breaths and consultations with others, I decided the lottery role would be most suitable - it had given me the best vibe.

That evening, during a meditation in my online chakra class, I visualized my highest professional self. She was serene, organised and carried a striking red handbag.

"Be courageous," this version of myself told me. "You are incredibly capable."

I put my worries about making the ‘wrong decision’ aside. Mine was the only opinion that mattered and I needed to trust that everything would work out well.

A wobbly start

Up at 5.30am, I had a flight to catch. I slept across three seats on the aeroplane. My new employer was sending me to their office in Wellington. They were in the middle of relocating and restaffing their communications team in Auckland.

"You have five days to learn all the communications functions and processes," explained my new boss when I arrived. "Next week, you'll be responsible for everything in Auckland until I get there."

She handed me a heaving ring-binder, packed with information. Flipping through it, my head pounded and I felt sick. How was I going to learn all this at such short notice?

Suddenly, while I was memorising all the department’s operations, I felt a strange sensation, like I was dizzy and the room was moving. I held on to the table to steady myself. Everyone else seemed calm and I wondered if it was just me.

My boss explained a minor earthquake had made the building tremble. I was in New Zealand after all, which has major fault lines running through it, so for the others it was normal.

I realised I could also handle any wobbles. By the end of the day, I had ideas of how I could improve certain processes for my new employer.

Me in Wellington.

Finding my rhythm

Returning to Auckland the next week, I found my desk in the large open-plan office where I’d had my interview. Everyone was friendly and welcoming, as I set up the communications function here. I tried my best to appear in control while still learning the ropes.

After a few days, I got into the swing of it. I enjoyed having a purpose and being paid again. Every evening I was going home from my corporate job to a bunkbed in a hostel. This double life amused me. With every pay cheque, my bank balance increased. I was starting to feel abundant again.

Part of my role was interviewing lottery winners – sometimes new millionaires. Each Monday, I'd call Saturday's winners, often being one of the first people they told about their windfall.

"How do you feel?" I'd ask them. "And what are you planning to do with the money?"

Some planned to buy property, while others were simply excited to afford small luxuries like a pair of boots they'd spotted in a shop window. I could identify with that.

"You have a natural way with the winners," my boss remarked one day. "They trust you."

Hearing this made me so happy. After years of wondering if my voice even mattered, I'd found a place where I could use it to help others express their life-changing moments.

When deadlines call

The deadline for my flights to South America loomed, but I was reluctant to go.

Work was going well and whenever my contract neared its end, my boss extended it. By now, I had been working full-time for three months. Then the new permanent team member started, bringing my contract to its natural end.

As I handed over my notes, I realized how much I'd loved working there. Coworkers who had become friends said they didn't want me to leave. Despite my initial nerves, I'd led a team to launch the company's new intranet, earning praise from the HR director. The press releases I’d written had secured front page headlines in the country’s biggest newspaper.

Now, after all these accomplishments, I needed to move again. Just like when I left London, I'd have to abandon my job, my friends, my new home, and strap on my huge backpack.

It was time to hit the road… even as a voice inside me told me I’d be back soon.

Temporary goodbyes

As I packed away my professional clothes and unearthed my battered backpack, I received a call from my boss:

"I need someone to cover a team member’s honeymoon in January," she said. "Three weeks. Interested?"

"Yes," I replied without hesitation, the word flying from my lips.

That night, with a smile, I booked a flight from London to Auckland for the New Year. A few months in New Zealand hadn't been enough and I still had time left on my visa. I needed to see those unreal blue lakes I’d been told about, see the mountains pictured in my notebook.

As I stored my suitcase and swung on my heavy backpack once more, I finally felt a spark of excitement for South America. This would be a month of adventures before heading home for Christmas, then returning to New Zealand.

Saying goodbye to Mount Eden, to Lynnette and everyone else at the hostel, I realised how quickly I'd established myself here. I'd secured a job and made friends. I was writing daily now - for work and for myself. My voice and my words had created possibilities I couldn't have imagined. I’d built a life in New Zealand in just a few weeks.

My dreams had indeed been waiting here, and soon I would return to create some more.

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