The Map with No Destination.

I was born in the UK, and although I wanted to travel as a young person, I always thought I would live in my birthplace. It's strange how things work out, but then life is an adventure in which we each follow our path on the journey of life! Our decisions make us not only who we are, but also who we meet and the experiences we have both good and bad. Sometimes life is easy and sometimes we struggle, and it's the struggle that helps us to become more resilient throughout our lives.

I look back on my life and often think how I survived those times when things were not easy, then I remember my parents, who enabled me to become independent and helped me to deal with the vicissitudes of life. My greatest struggle has been losing my son, We expect our children to outlive us, and even with the years passing the loss never goes away. It is an ever-ending cycle of ups and downs, but we carry on because there is no alternative. Life throws us curve balls, just when we think things are looking up something comes up that knocks us down again.

You get to a crossroads in life and struggle with knowing which way to go. This happened to me in 2013 I was living in London and had the opportunity to move to New Zealand to start a new life over 12,000 miles from home with my now husband who was living there. I spent so much time looking at the pros and cons that it was all I could think about. Friends weren't much help and deep down I knew I had to make a decision one way or the other as life was passing me by.

On the 5th of November, I arrived in Auckland and not without a lot of trepidation. During the long flight, I actually thought what on earth are you doing at 55 leaving home to move to the other side of the world? I got off the plane and felt lost and out of my depth. Then it was as if I could hear my mother saying you can do this and enjoy the adventure. She was right of course, but it was not plain sailing in any shape or form. There were cultural differences to get my head around as well as being with someone I had never met in person, let alone lived with.

There were many ups and downs and often I would ask myself if was it the right thing to do, especially with certain people that I met and who made my life extremely difficult. I missed my home, family and friends and this is still hard for me at times. But I do not regret taking this opportunity of a lifetime and taking a risk. If I hadn't I surely would have spent the rest of my life with what-if questions. Of course, if I had written everything about my life that had enabled me to be resilient the story would have been a lot longer.

Every one of us has had to deal with difficult situations in life, some more than others, but never be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and achieve your goals. Even if it does not work out you have given it a go and will not live with regrets. Life is supposed to be an adventure, a time to follow your dreams and reach your full potential whatever that may be for you. But you have to make that effort, no one can do it for you! Good luck with all your adventures. You can do it!

Alexis Mundy