Submitted by Emma Geissler on the 2018 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…
The world blurs as we speed past mobs of sheep and belts of trees, leaving behind the small New Zealand city of Christchurch. As I stare unfocused out the window of the bus, my attention catches on the mountains that separate the east coast of the island from the west. So thoroughly preoccupied with my wandering thoughts, I almost missed the surreal beauty that inspired me to come to this country in the first place. Too often in life I find myself living in a perpetual blur; never truly seeing what is directly in front of me. That I believe is the true beauty of travel, it forces you to live in the moment you’re in because every moment is beautiful and precious.