A couple years ago, I learned to kitesurf. Well, I tried to learn to kitesurf; I tried really hard.

“You know, you’ll never get New Zealand out of your system,” she said. “Oh, I know,” I replied, almost before the sommelier had finished her sentence, the minerality of the last pinot noir still lingering on my palette.

It was never part of the original plan to buy a car and drive down here in New Zealand. Although, when I think about it, I guess there really wasn’t much of a plan at all.

I’m about to hit you with some real talk here: life abroad is still life. I think people forget that.