Earlier this week, I arrived in New Zealand to spend two and a half weeks here with my wife for our honeymoon. I had never been to New Zealand, but I heard nothing but wonderful comments from friends when they found out where we were going. My favorite comment that I heard was “New Zealand is similar to California, but without all the people.” Indeed, after being here for a couple of weeks, I can say that this is true, at least through the eyes of an outdoor adventurer. New Zealand has so many different climates and environments to experience in a relatively small area of land. Rainforests, glaciers and high alpine terrain, coastal shrub, rolling vinyards, and all kinds of bodies of water can be found within a few hours’ drive of each other.

The trip to New Zealand coincided with the final few weeks of base-building with regards to my marathon training schedule. I didn’t really care how much mileage I was covering, as long as I felt like I was staying healthy and strong. I wanted to use my runs as opportunities to explore the country as we went from place to place. Our itinerary covered a lot of ground - we spent 17 days in the country and didn’t stay in the same place for more than 2 nights in a row. We spent 5 nights in a camper van that we had rented as we drove a counter-clockwise loop all around the South Island. After spending 10 nights on the South Island, we spent the last part of our trip on the North Island. The whole experience was wonderful.

I thrashed my trail running shoes so much, and they started to smell so bad, that I didn’t opt to bring them home with me. I purposefully left them in the trash at the last hotel where we stayed. The stench that they had accumulated was borderline incredible in the literal sense. My wife was fully supportive of my decision to leave these stinky shoes on the opposite side of the world. After our first night in the camper van, I had started leaving the shoes outside for all subsequent nights because they reeked so much. The downside of keeping the shoes outside was that they never fully dried unless we got a sunny day and a clear night. The perma-moist environment provided an optimal environment for the stinky bacteria to live out their best lives, especially given that they were getting a sweat bath from my using the shoes day after day.

But, enough about my smelly shoes. I brought up the shoes to explain that they developed the stench for good reason. They served their purpose of supporting my adventurous runs that climbed thousands of vertical feet (over 1,000m) into the Southern Alps. They propelled me for miles as it rained a collective several inches on the trails. I summited 3 substantial peaks in them - Roy’s Peak in Wanaka, Avalanche Peak in Arthur’s Pass National Park, and Ben Lomond in Queenstown. I also did a day hike of the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing (which is adjacent to “Mt. Doom” from Lord of the Rings). They took me from rainforests, to mountain ridgelines, to city streets and everything in between. The shoes had a good life.

I used my running fitness to add to, and enhance, the experiences that I had during our trip. I’ll remember these adventure runs forever. They were absolutely incredible. If and when I’m ever unfit, and preparing for a trip to another place with incredible trails and beautiful scenery, I hope I look back to this period and feel inspired to get in shape so that I can add to my list of experiences that have been enabled by adventure running with sturdy trail shoes and a pack of trustworthy gear.

I love to look at trail maps of areas that are new to me. New Zealand provided a lot of opportunities to explore route options. Everywhere that we stopped, I pulled up the Gaia app to look for trails through the area. I get excited when I see opportunities to bag a peak or create a loop that includes some ridgeline running. There was so, so much to explore on the South Island of the country. I only scratched the surface of routes that I’d love to do here, and the little bit of experience I gained has inspired me to return someday and do so much more.

Adventuring in the mountains, and especially summiting peaks, often involves spicy terrain. I found myself wondering if I should have brought my locator beacon along while I was scrambling the talus on the narrow ridge that leads to Avalanche Peak (I probably should have). These areas can be intimidating, but they also tend to be the most worthwhile when it comes to views and fun of the experience. As I was coming off the peak, I ran through a small flock of kea. At the time, I had no idea what these mountain parrots were. They were shrieking and occasionally taking flight. The wind was strong enough that they’d float down the trail without much flapping on their part. It was a magical way to experience the kea for the first time, especially because it contrasts so much with the hyper-destructive and aggressive reputation that these birds have among the kiwis.

These kinds of adventure runs are often unpredictable, and I enjoy it that way. I’d load up my hydration pack and shove my waterproof layers and a midlayer into the pockets of my pack, knowing that the weather could change dramatically as I ascend 3,000 vertical feet over the following two hours. At the saddle for Ben Lomond, and on all the peaks I visited, I took some time to stay still and appreciate the silence and the views. I couldn’t believe that I was alone for all these experiences. The feeling of loneliness after working so hard to get somewhere so beautiful is a feeling that I crave over and over again.

Adventure running makes my heart feel full.