My New Zealand Road Trip

My semester studying abroad at University of Canterbury through IES Abroad was one long road trip, both literally and figuratively speaking. Literally, it was a semester full of spontaneous weekend (and weekday, sometimes) road trips. These trips taught me so much about myself, about others, and about this incredible, diverse country. These trips pushed me mentally and physically, made me overcome fears and build trust in myself and in others, encouraged me to engage in meaningful conversations, and made me appreciate this beautiful, wild world we live in and learn what I can do to help preserve it. Over the 5 months I spent down under, I summited numerous mountains, become a vegetarian, had yarns with people old and young from all over the world, jumped off a mountain, drank way too much goon (bagged wine), swam with dolphins (and sharks), and put thousands of kms on Gus (my beautiful car that I bought my first month in NZ). Figuratively, it was a journey with many ups and downs. It was not always easy being away from home – my younger brother graduated this year and for the first time (ever???) I felt homesick. Further, it was not easy balancing school and travel – especially since classes aren’t mandatory and there is SOO much to do and see in this country! However, there is no doubt there were many more “ups” than “downs”. And when there were downs, IES Abroad and the other study abroad students gave me all the support I needed. 10/10 would recommend studying abroad in NZ with IES Abroad.