This is part of the “Places That Changed Us” series, a compilation of 20 trips that have had a lasting impact on the Matador Network team. To see the other 19 places, click here.
I escaped to New Zealand in 2011, uncertain about what to do with my life. Just weeks after graduating with a master’s degree in environmental biology, I secured a working holiday visa and convinced two of my closest friends to join me on this adventure. We arrived in New Zealand and settled in an old Victorian house in suburban Auckland which, thanks to Couchsurfing and a series of random events, quickly became our home. There, we began searching for jobs to secure our stay in the country for the next year.