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We all know the story: girl is lost, girl has job, job is uncertain, girl takes vacation, girl gets away, girl comes back, same old thing. This is the story of a girl who yes, had job uncertainty and yes, got away for a month. But the story ends differently. Same old thing, no more. --- December 9th 2019 I was off to New Zealand for a month visiting my beloved younger sister. I could not be happier to tie up my hiking boots and throw on my light denim jacket that would be the heaviest layer I would wear over Christmas time. For a Canadian, that is exciting. 32 hours on a few planes later and the marks of my compression socks well-carved on my calves, I had arrived to a cool breeze in Christchurch, where my sister lives. The trip had been planned around spending Christmas with family however, I did squeeze in my little adventures. I drove down to Queenstown and back up to Lake Tekapo over 4 days on my own. It was important to me to see and feel a bit of the country. In Queenstown, I hiked the Ben Lomond track - the one that starts at the top of the gondola and leads you up the mountain to take in the views of the cerulean colour of Lake Wakatipu on one side and the Southern Alps on the other. The diverse colours of the surrounding mountains, the lushness of the clouds and the stunning palette of blues that swept across the landscape made my jaw drop. I could not believe that my life had led me to this. With my vintage red bandana with paisley details wrapped around my head like Rosie the Riveter and my backpack full of New Zealand snacks - including my favourite Kiwi treat, a yo-yo - I was on top of the world. I could sense that I wasn’t the only one feeling like I was in my happy place. Fellow hikers would smile and compliment me. Every few people that would hike by going up or down would stop. We’d take photos and comment on the landscape. We’d start chatting. The typical question “where are you from?” turned into deep political discussions and cultural exchanges. The Dutch student opened about her hopes and dreams and her relationship. They say that happy people attract happy people. In that moment I could feel it. The magnetism I found on top of that mountain in Queenstown felt magical. It felt like the whole world’s love had wrapped itself around this one mountain in New Zealand - where the air was fresh, the views perfect and the adventurers happy. At the edge of the rock on which I was sitting as I was eating my delicious yo-yo, I meditated and felt the vibrations that nature was emitting. I felt my insecurities and worries blow away with the cool wind that filled the air. At that moment, I found my authenticity. In a place where I felt so bare - noone with me, no expectations, no frills - I found myself. I felt like the purest me I could be. In a place where I could be anyone and everyone, I was me. A magnetic person enshrined in the magic of nature. In that place and in that moment, I swore to myself that I could not go back to where I was before getting away. I could not be the same person I was before New Zealand. Nature was teaching me that being in the moment was not just a practice to take in when in nature, it’s one that needs to be felt over and over again - even in the ivory tower of the office. Being in the moment was my new M.O. With my yo-yo now gone and my new hiker friends back down the mountain, I knew why the little adventures that I needed to make for myself were so important to me. Yes, this was a vacation to spend with family but it was also a vacation to reconnect with myself. I found my most authentic self and I'm bringing it back to my everyday life. Same old thing, no more.