I had the great pleasure of traveling around this incredibly beautiful country for four months. Michael and I drove everywhere, North Island, South Island – everywhere! We bought a small 3 cylinder car (we barely made it up some hills!) within 10 days of our arrival in Auckland through a weekly, local car market. The market is a fabulous resource for travelers. Sellers bring their cars and buyers come to buy. It made sense for us to buy vs. rent as we were going to be there for months and we didn’t want to be restricted by a rental agreement…plus, we thought we could possibly even make a little money back when we needed to sell it – and we did. Our car for four months ended up costing us $100 (not including fuel) – we sold it for $100 less than what we paid and we sold it a week before we were flying out. Perfect!

We camped, hiked, stayed in hostels, witnessed amazing sunsets, drank delicious wines, enjoyed incredible beaches and waterfalls, and met some incredibly beautiful people…I was always amazed by what people didn’t ask – the common question of, ‘what do you do?’ was rarely the first query upon meeting someone; it seemed like such a contrast to our American lifestyle…here in the states we are consumed by what people ‘do’. Oftentimes when introduced to someone (here in the states) it seems the question of ‘what do you do’ is the first thing asked. Granted, what we ‘do’ in terms of paid work is a viable question and can lead to some interesting conversations, it doesn’t necessarily reflect who we are. ‘Work’ doesn’t necessarily equate money either – so many things we do throughout our daily life is work… perhaps the way to answer the inevitable question of ‘what do you do?’ – is to answer with what it is you enjoy to do – the ‘work’ you enjoy – garden, bike, run, cook, write, paint – whatever it is that brings you the greatest joy in life vs. what it is you get paid to do – and if what you get paid to do is actually the thing you love doing, then by all means share that too – it is so incredibly inspiring to meet people who do what they love and get paid for it!

As Nelson Mandela said –

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same, We are all meant to shine.”

Do what it is you love…

What do you love?