Living in New Zealand | Self Care, Gardening, & Feelings After Managed Isolation

Walk with me Let's leave the past behind Walk with me There's something else we need to find Say you'll go Don't make me wait There's no need to Let's make footprints in the sand I'm laughing because I'm crying When I laugh, when I'm crying, that means It's a good cry But it makes me laugh because I'm crying I just let out a big sigh I'm going to do it with you guys I know it's not as good as the one a second ago But I don't want to hurt your ears Got some tears coming down It's just been an emotional journey It's been a lot We're now in our rental car That we're going to be in until we get our car It just feels emotional that we're here And, you know, I just Now I'm thinking about our next step Which is getting Lanka here Which has been in the works for a long time too And so it's just It's a sense of relief to be here Where we are right now But I know there's so much more to unfold But I'm enjoying this moment right now Of rolling down the window And smelling the absolutely fresh Beautiful, clean, precious air And feeling good and excited And I'm feeling I don't know, it's a weird feeling When anything is possible And we're at a position in our life right now Where anything is possible Because we've kind of uprooted ourselves From everything that we were connected to before And now we're just like Okay, well Let's see where the wind takes us And how everything falls together So that's how I'm feeling We are currently in the Taupo area of New Zealand It's absolutely beautiful here And it just feels good I'm honestly just taking it slow right now And just started making meals at home Which was really nice We're not at home necessarily But this is our home base for now This is Alex's family batch here in New Zealand So batch means holiday home in New Zealand This is where Alex's dad stays When he's in New Zealand again He was born and raised here And got this batch to come back to New Zealand And this is where family comes When they're here in New Zealand So that's where we're currently staying right now While we look for where we're going to live Starting as soon as next week Alex and I will be exploring New Zealand To try to find the area of New Zealand That we want to put roots down I'm so happy to be sitting down Filming this video for you guys Just kind of like a life update Here in New Zealand after managed isolation I had filmed and edited an entire video That I was going to post last weekend And then in the video I mentioned Our plans out of managed isolation And those changed And so I didn't have time to go back in and edit that And so I just decided to like Scrap it and move forward And then film this video for you guys So that being said I missed you guys last weekend And it feels good to just be sitting down And chatting with you guys It has been really nice This last week out of managed isolation Has really felt for me like a sensory overload In the best way New Zealand is really special In that there are so many bird sounds constantly Not only is this country stunning Everywhere you look visually It's just breathtaking I'm looking at the most beautiful view right now The sounds as well Are so magical I've never heard bird sounds Like here in New Zealand And I remember this From when we visited here in 2019 I remember walking through a forested area Just thinking It feels like I'm in a movie right now And it really is a sensory overload Because the sounds of birds For human beings Is so healing And so special And to hear them so intensely like that And the bird sounds are so unique I've never heard birds quite like this before One of the things I could just not stop thinking about When we were in managed isolation Was getting out to make a home cooked meal We got room service every day When we were in managed isolation Which is nice in itself But if you watch my channel regularly You know that Alex and I really love Creating meals together And just that's the very first thing That we were so excited to do When we got out So that's what we did As soon as we possibly could We were just like All the fruits and veggies please And I just remember like packing A bowl of spinach Because I was just like I need all of this green right now Post two weeks in a hotel room Without getting that much sunshine We were able to do a little bit of walking outside In a designated area at the hotel Like I mentioned in my last video But you know we weren't getting as much sunshine As we're used to And it was just Yeah I just remember a moment Shortly after we got here Sitting outside Feeling the sunshine Feeling the wind Listening to the birds Eating a fruit And just thinking like All of my senses are happy right now And I just felt so at peace And I'm really enjoying being here And I do want to say To those of you who are from here in New Zealand A lot of people who are expats here in New Zealand Or locals, natives People have been reaching out in my DMs And just to me on Instagram And have been so incredibly kind And have been giving me the warmest welcome I feel like I have friends here already That I haven't even met yet Because as you can imagine Moving to a country where You don't really have any ties or connections to Besides my husband Who I'm so excited to be on this journey with him In reconnecting with his roots I believe I mentioned this in my last video But like going through the border And having people say welcome home To him was like really emotional for me too I have a tendency to like Feel other people's experiences And so I was like feeling that so deeply For him that I started crying Because it's just really special For him to be on this journey And I feel really grateful To be on it with him And being able to experience it In my own way I thrive in being out of my comfort zone And it's been really interesting Some of the questions that I've been getting From my viewers And from people that come into my DMs Saying like Carrie I can't believe you uprooted yourself Like you loved your home in LA Like your garden How could you grow that garden for two years And like put so much time and love into it And then leave that garden Aren't you so sad? And I wanted to mention this Because From the very beginning I never really thought of it like that Like to me And this is why I was so happy That our landlord at that place Wanted to keep the garden Because what I was really nervous about Was that she was going to make us Get rid of everything And that would have hurt me really bad But she loved the garden She came in and was like wow this is so cool Because in reality That is taking a space And in my opinion Using it to it's best ability Growing food in a spot that didn't have food before It's kind of like that saying Leave it better than you found it I feel that way For even a space that I rent When it comes to growing your own food In all different aspects of course But like specifically Being able to grow food I think no matter where we go And I know that it sounds Maybe redundant at this point And you guys are like okay Carrie we get it You love to grow food But I also think a lot of you guys are here Because of my gardening content And it's not something that I'll ever Stop talking about And those of you who are into the gardening content And are worried that I won't Continue to create gardening content While I'm here in New Zealand That is so far from the truth I'm even more inspired than ever before So for me No matter where I go in life I want to create a space Whether it's small, big Whatever size It can be I want to Make sure that I can give that to the space Alex and I What's so cool is that Alex feels the same way And so right away You can see mint here and I've got basil back there And there's a lemon tree Outside that I noticed right when we pulled up That I already harvested some lemons off of Because I was like I miss harvesting And so We are going to There's some wood on the side of the house That we can reuse and create Just a small garden That Can have herbs And some tomatoes And just some food that We can add into our meals And of course it's not going to be anything As big as what we had in Los Angeles Because this is a property That it just can't be maintained As often But it's just we're just passionate about it And so we're excited to do something Small here so you guys can look forward to that I'll probably share some content Around that and it'll be fun to try To repurpose this wood that we found On the side of the house This experience for me is Already everything I anticipated it would be And we're only three weeks in And I know that there will be So much more for me to experience And to learn While I'm here But so far I feel Like I have learned so Much about myself About this country About change About human nature I feel more connected to my husband Than ever before I feel This huge Wave of inspiration And Feeling of the unknown And I Am so glad that I can Have you guys all along this Journey with me I added to my Instagram Bio courageous Living because That's really what life Feels like right now like sometimes I just have to take deep breaths and go Wow So I can't believe I'm Here first of all like You know we started This process of moving to New Zealand So long ago Before the global pandemic Before just A lot after years Of prepping for this move We feel so Grateful one that we are Able to be here and to be doing This it took a lot of Work and effort documentation On our part to be able To make it all happen If you guys don't know my husband is a dual citizen Of New Zealand and The USA so that Is why we're able to be Here now and I am his partner So I'm here as His partner and You know New Zealand Is currently in a state where they've been Able to really manage This virus and It's extra Interesting being here And being somebody who Came from Los Angeles and saw And experienced This state of Being a High risk red Alert State and especially city Of Los Angeles and then coming Here and seeing people living Completely Normal lives like everything Has gone back to normal I mean they do use a scanning System for the virus every single place You go you can have a bluetooth On which I do have on An app for everywhere I go I scan in and That's how they can like keep track of Contact tracing and like make sure that they Know where everybody is they've done Just such an exceptional job Here of managing The virus and the people here Are so lucky That they've never really had to Experience That feeling of You know quarantining Or self isolating yourself For essentially a year Which is what we did And it's Just you just have To take your hat off to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for Her grace Her intelligence her Just boss Woman Attitude But such a Humble Kind leader And I'm not trying to make this political or compare Country to country But you do have to Take a look at The way that things were handled here in New Zealand And just kind of Of course just like everything it's not all black and white And there are Fears and different opinions Here and there throughout the country Just like any country or any Situation but on the grand scheme Of things when you look at the entire World you just Have to just Appreciate everything that they've been Able to do. I've been thinking a lot About courageous living lately And how When you make a Brave choice And you get past that Fear and anxiety and terrifying Moments and you just push Through them and you get to the other side It doesn't mean that there won't be more terrifying Moments throughout the journey But Once you get past the initial Moments of fear That you had Your like heart and soul And your mind just like opens up a bit And I just kind of feel Like I'm becoming more of who I'm supposed To be by going through This experience itself and I Really feel So Intensely that I'm exactly Where I'm supposed to be. What I'm Realizing is that it's just so Important to listen to The cues that you get In life Kind of the callings that Can sometimes be so In your face but you Choose not to listen because You're Already comfortable with your Every day and you're afraid To move out of that. It can be So easy to listen to That comfort to that like Us human beings we are creatures of Habit. I think it's all about Paying attention to that yearning That you can feel When that yearning comes in and we hear It and we feel it a lot of the times it can be Easy to push it to the side like I said And think well That's scary and that's Out of my comfort zone and I'm really good right here Being comfortable and what are people going to think If I make this choice and what do people think Of me and they'll assume this or that It's all about living for Yourself and listening To that yearning and that Is what courageous living Is all about. Now that we are here in New Zealand you guys can continue To expect content from me. I'm Feeling super inspired Right now and excited to share With you guys. I still want to share Food. I want to share gardening I want to share exploring This beautiful country, finding Our home that we're going to settle Into and I want to bring you guys All along the journey Definitely make sure that you guys are Keeping up with my Instagram. I'm Sharing in the moment stuff there Every single day. It's At Carrie Rad if you're not already following Along and that's It for today's video. I just wanted to do A quick check in, say hi. I don't know how quick This was but I just wanted To yeah pop in, say hello Give you guys a life update, sit down Chat person to person and I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I Will see you very soon in A new video. Hope you are all Well and I will talk to you very soon