New Zealand

When Will New Zealand Open to Tourists?

I’ve asked myself this question often over the past 18 months—and unfortunately, I still don’t really know the answer.

You probably won’t be able to visit New Zealand in 2021.

I knew the answer to this question before I boarded a recent flight from Sydney to Auckland—and I hope you do too.

Time changes people—and places; it usually improves them, even if it doesn’t fully heal.

Certainly, people like the Archduke had bigger things to worry about.

How could it have taken me so long find stillness in moments like these, when I have so many fewer left than I’ve already lived?

New Zealand is a satisfying destination, albeit one that’s imperfect in many of the ways I suspected it would be.

I feel guilty saying this, but I also hate to lie: Most of the things to do in Rotorua left me less than inspired.

I’m in fucking New Zealand.

The first full day of a long trip is always something of a reckoning.