“So you have travelled to quite a lot of places. Which country did you like the most?”

One day, my friend who was planning her next summer trip asked me.

That’s such a difficult question, I stunned. I loved every single place I’ve ever been to, and it seemed to make no sense to compare them. Can you tell which one is more grandeur, Taj Mahal or Versailles? Which one is more amazing, Acropolis or Angkor Wat? Sunset in Venice Beach or sunrise in Ubud?

Also, it totally depends on what she looks for in her trip. A shopping extravaganza? Whitewater rafting, world heritage tour or museum hopping? I asked her what she wants to do.

“I don’t care. I just want to know what YOU liked the most,” she said.

“OK,” I said. “New Zealand, then.”

It was 2015. I travelled Aotearoa for a month by myself. I travelled most of the North and South islands. And that became the most memorable solo trip in my life (so far).

I flew in Christchurch, gazed stars in Tekapo, bungee-jumped in Queenstown and spotted seals in Milford Sound.

I saw glacier in Franz Josef, did a coastal walk in Abel Tasman, had a pavlova in Wellington.

Then I climbed Mt. Tongariro, dipped in a hot spring in Coromandel and flew out from Auckland.

It cost me about $2,500 for 30 days. And I believe it was the most meaningful expenditure I’ve ever spent on a trip.

I was amazed by the power and the beauty of nature. I always wanted to visit places I’ve seen one of those calendars. And I was there, right in the middle of the unrealistically beautiful sceneries.

To this day, I still think it might have been a dream. I suspect I could have been abducted by very generous aliens who implanted me a false memory of a fantastic trip while they held me captive for a month. Everything was too beautiful to be true.

But probably I did it for real. Because I still remember the tread of my foot. I walked so much. The windy path down from Mt. John, rocky treck to Mt. Ugauruhoe, and warm sand in Cathedral Cove.

I loved every single step I made there. It was a conversation I had with the earth, with this planet, with myself who has a very short amount of time on it.