Towards the end of last year I started to feel like the ground was crumbling underneath me and I needed to RUN. Anything I ever wanted to do I better do it now.
For years and years I’ve always known that "one day" I will go to New Zealand. I love planning trips but I never once took the time to look into what I would do in New Zealand. Over the holidays I finally did. One source I read said that February is the best time to go to New Zealand and my first reaction was - there might not be a next February. Dark.
February was around the corner so I booked my trip to leave two weeks later. It was a very quick and impulsive decision. I wasn't even going to tell anyone I was going because it was so out of character. I'm a perfectionist. I usually research and analyze everything to death to ensure I get it right before executing a plan. But it felt like I had no time. It was now or never.
Days after I booked my trip, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she was resigning. That was very surprising and shook a lot of people who have admired her around the world. Her last day was going to be while I was there. Just another sign that things are indeed happening very quickly.
Tragically a few days after her announcement my cat was hit and killed by a car. Absolutely devastating. It was like the universe saying, “See.” There might not be a next February. RUN.
I was due to depart less than a week later and I was absolutely grief-stricken. I was dreading the long flight where I’d undoubtedly still be crying off and on. I was determined to still go. It would be hard to smile in photos. I would be sad but I would still have fun.
The day before I was to depart, I woke up and checked the weather in my town and in New Zealand. It had been raining in both places for several days and I was checking to see updates on all the flooding in my town. After watching a video of my flooded street, Youtube suggested this video of even more catastrophic flooding in New Zealand:
Emergency Evacuation in New Zealand! Flash Flooding hit New Zealand’s biggest city
Holy fucking shit! I had no idea it was that bad. The Auckland International Terminal had been closed for 3 days. There was knee deep water inside the terminal and I was supposed to depart the next morning. Um, no.
I immediately started rebooking my entire trip. The flooding is so substantial it’s going to take quite a bit of time to clean up and repair. Again, I can't wait that long. So I’m waiting one month. I had no problem rescheduling all the activities I had planned except for one. The day trip to the Coromandel peninsula was no longer available because the road to get there had collapsed in a landslide!
Main Roads out of Coromandel peninsula closed
Holy shit!
Now the ground is literally crumbling.
There might not be a next February.
According to Teal the dominant theme for 2023 is Plot Twist. But you don’t need to panic about the plot twist of 2023 because it is a plot twist that will bring you closer to what you want as an individual. 2023 will be a very intriguing year…A plot twist by definition is not predictable. Things will happen this year in each person’s life that you would never have predicted in a million years. You will make decisions that you would have never in a million years thought that you would make. And you will take actions that you would have never in a million years thought that you would take. But you can step forward into that uncertainty this year because this year, there is a treasure waiting for you, wrapped up in the things that you cannot predict. This is the case even if the specific plot twist you experience involves fear or pain, or both. The bottom line is, expect a plot twist in your life!
2023 shows us no more patience regarding us living our life for anything other than what we are truly passionate about. Embracing our passions and designing our life around them is a presiding theme for all people in 2023.
It's only the first day of February. And so far she's right. I'm making all my decisions based on the assumption that it's last call. Because it feels like it is.
Just 2 weeks after the catastrophic flooding in New Zealand the already wet country was hit by Cyclone Gabrielle. It was the worst storm to hit New Zealand in a century. There were many landslides, roads and houses wiped away, many people were missing or uncontactable, and there were several deaths.
Unbelievable devastation.
I rescheduled my trip again another month out. And again one of my scheduled activities was no longer available due to landslides and the area being wrecked from flooding.