10 days of meditation, and then rugby on the beach!

This morning I finished my 3rd 10 day Vipassana retreat and feel so fortunate for the opportunity to develop on the path of Dhamma. I find peace in simply living a moral life, practicing mental discipline, and understanding the wisdom that comes from experiencing life as it is. Learning to be balanced and calm in a constantly changing world is a challenging new way of approaching each moment. And I love it :) It is the truest and purest thing I have encountered in my life. Tonight, I am staying with a family I met before the retreat and we just had a fantastic dinner with lamb, salad, and bread. Tomorrow, Phillip and I will be traveling north with two people we met at the meditation retreat. A few tentative plans for the future, but of course the joy of adventure is nothing is set in stone!

Kind Kiwis, and an adventurous German...

I am overjoyed and amazed by the hospitality and kindness of the people here. Whether it is letting me fill up my water bottle or offering a good meal and place to sleep, everyone I meet is eager to help me and hear of my travels. While in Takapuna, I met another backpacker like myself from Germany and we have been travelling together for 3 days now. When I told him about the meditation retreat in Kaukapakapa, he immediately wanted to join me and went to an internet cafe to sign up! So, together we have been making our way up the coast to the retreat center. We took the bus/ hitch-hiked across the country to Piha Beach, famous for its great surfing waves. A family picked us up on the side of the road, took us to their house where they have an incredible view of the Auckland and the surrounding areas and gave us some coffee. Then, they drove us down to the forest to look for a trail head, but when we couldn't find it, they took us down to he beach where we found a place to camp! That night, Phillip, the German traveller, and I camped out on White's Beach. In the morning, we hitch-hiked all the way back to the main rode after walking for only a few minutes. Then we made our way up the coast by bus and camped out in the Woodhill Forest along the NZ West Coast. That was last night, and this morning we were picked up by a man who happened to be driving to the exact town we wanted to go today! We are staying at his house tonight and then will go to the retreat center tomorrow. Michael and his wife, Karina, stay on 20 acres of land with horses, sheep, cows, and pigs. Maichael works in construction and has a big shop out back. What an amazing place to live! For lunch, we ate ham and bacon (fresh from his own pigs) and will have lamb for dinner. Phillip and I are so pleased that everything is working out so well. We often tell each other how lucky we are to be on a good wave length with the universe. It's unbelievable how welcoming people have been to Phillip and I. The landscape is beautiful here and I am so excited to spend more time here. I could not have dreamed of better people to meet or places to see!

Sydney

Although the clubs and bars in Sydney are hoppin, they aren't my scene. The best part of my day was unexpectedly finding hundreds of people quietly sitting in the Sydney Opera House Park and enjoying the view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I sat with them and reflected on how incredible it is that I am in Australia! Sydney, Australia! Then I played some soccer/futbol with some Aussies and walked around downtown. I have enjoyed my time here and hope to visit again if/when I leave NZ.

I must give my deepest thanks to all who have made this journey possible.

Last Day in the USA

The reality of this adventure is slowly sinking in. I say goodbye to friends and family, with no answer when they ask when they will see me again, and make peace with the places where I have lived. When people ask "why?", I have no specific response. The motivation behind this journey is difficult to articulate, yet it is the core of my identity and sense of purpose in this world. Mostly simply, it is to live. To be a student of life and bring a profound inquiry to each experience. Where it will end? I don't care. For as my father has told me many times: success is a journey, not a destination.