Liz Carlson Will Inspire You to Pack Your Bags and Head to New Zealand

By
Rose B
-

With over 200k followers on Instagram, New Zealand-based American Liz Carlson is somewhat a celebrity. Born outside Washington D.C., she traveled the world and shared her adventures with others, until choosing to settle down in New Zealand.

“I am passionate about things like good coffee, reading, being outside and conservation work (both here in New Zealand and overseas), Antarctica and believe that we are in the world to do good and to grow as much as we can,” writes Carlson on her travel blog, Young Adventuress. “I like to inspire and make people smile (and snort with laughter if I can manage it). I also ramble on a lot about birds. Just roll with it. If you’re easily offended, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

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This candid, down to earth approach to travel and lifestyle, is what attracted us to her blog. But it’s her awe-inspiring photos that got us hooked, making New Zealand jump right to the top of our bucket list. “It’s not too many places in the world that can boast a plethora of Pacific islands in their backyard, only a flight away,” writes Carlson in a recent Instagram post. “Once it becomes safe for us to begin moving around internationally, I reckon I’ll still be sticking close to home in New Zealand,” she adds.

Her blog is a no-filter, vaguely chronological, space filled with stories and misadventures about her travels over the years with some musings about life thrown in for good measure. In other words: it’s the kind of online space you’ve been looking for. Follow her social media pages for more:

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Every day for years and years, I would roll over in my bed in Wanaka, open the curtains and wake up to this view, but always alone ❤️ seeing my favorite mountains, watching the ever changing surface of the lake, made my heart sing. I loved it so much, and I still do. But as I would reach across the bed, preparing to get up and face the day, a little part of me felt deeply, tremendously sad that my hands only found empty sheets. Would I ever wake up here with someone who loves me? Would I ever be able to share this view with someone? Would I ever reach over and find my partner? Sighing, utterly resigned with my solitude, I would get up and carry on, always alone. . It was only when I had truly embraced my fate of solitude that @giuliosturla, and old friend came back into my life. Now, exactly one year later, I’ve exchanged my beloved mountain views in Wanaka to a different mountain view on the Banks Peninsula. It’s funny how the universe works, and how fast your world can change without you even realizing it. Happy one year anniversary, Giulio. Te quiero más que ayer pero menos que mañana ❤️

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“When our senses become muffled, we no longer feel fully alive…if you have a comfortable connection with your inner sensations…you will feel in charge of your body, your feelings, and your self.” Bessel van der Kolk . I just finished devouring The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by @bessel_van (recommended by @legalnomads) and it blew me away. Not the kind of book I generally gravitate towards, over the past few years as I’ve done a lot of work on myself, I’ve become really interested in the impact of stress and trauma on the body. . I’ve felt myself falling apart in a lot of different ways with heath all of which I could see was related to stress and trauma that I kept pretending was fine. And as things like my chronic migraines got worse and worse finally culminating with me having a heart attack from the heavy medication, it was a giant wake up call that there is more work to be done in the mind than can be done with slapping a bandaid on the pain with more drugs. . We all have our own stories going back to birth that make us victims in one way or another. But having the courage/encouragement/support to face it is quite rare I believe. I still can’t really face what happened to me when I found the pilot whales stranding in New Zealand a year ago. I still jerk awake at night with flashes of memories of those horrible two days, the sounds still trigger me into a panic. I am still numb from the pain of it. I know it’s a memory I will have to face to move on but the thought of digging into it in any meaningful way makes me freak the fuck out and run away. I’m sure we all have something similar that haunts our psyches. . Anyways, this is definitely the most captivating read I’ve dug into in a while, and should be essential reading for those like me interested in the stress – brain – body connections. . What have you read recently that made you really dig deep and question things? . #quarantine #lockdown2020 #covid_19 #reading #booknerd #readmorebooks

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Martins Bay on the remote @hollyfordtrack was a place where some of the early settlers tried to start a new life in the 1860’s. Spoiler alert – it didn’t work out. After my trip down here, I devoured one of the settlers journals, and was struck by the beauty of this poem she wrote about growing up on New Zealand’s most remote settlement: . I stood upon the sandy shore As evening shadows fell; The sun was sinking in the west Across the ocean swell. O'er the sea the sun was casting Each brightly tinted ray As the waves came sweeping onwards To the shore at Martins Bay. The moon was rising o'er the hills As the sun sank in the west, And her silvery light was gleaming On the ocean's heaving breast. And those ever moving waters Sparkling brightly as they roar Are dashed in foaming billows On that wild and lonely shore. All around are wooded hills No matter where your eyes are turning; You see no human habitation Except where one lone light is burning. Here solitude doth reign supreme, All scenes are lonely and drear, But there's music in the lonlineness Which solitude will make us hear. A whispering sound among the trees, There is music in the ocean's roar, There's a voice in the wandering breeze Which is sighing along the shore. And the voice of nature speaks to us In every flower that grows, And the voice of God is calling us In every breeze that blows. When the tide was low at Martins Bay by Alice McKenzie . #martinsbay #fiordland #newzealand #hollyford #hollyfordtrack #nzmustdo

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