The backpacker community in New Zealand

I left for New Zealand alone. But I was almost never alone. New Zealand has an amazing backpacker community: tens of thousands of young people from all over the world who, like me, work, travel, and share cars, advice and dinners. This article is about the people who made my stay unforgettable.

Who the backpackers in New Zealand are

Most of them are on a working holiday visa: Germans, French, Brits, Argentinians, Chileans, Czechs, Slovaks, Japanese. They are 18 to 30 and share a similar story: they put their studies or job on hold and set off for a year to the other side of the world. Each of them is a bit of an adventurer, and they are all happy to help.

Hostels: where it starts

I spent my first weeks in hostels. The shared kitchen is the best place to meet people: someone cooks, someone brings wine, and an hour later you're planning a trip together. Hostels are also where information gets shared: where there's work, who's selling a car, which campsite is free.

Shared road trips

Part of my travels I did with people I'd met in a hostel or in an orchard. A shared car is cheaper and, above all, more fun: one drives, another picks the music, a third looks for a campsite for the night. On the North Island road trip we were a group of four nationalities, and we still write to each other.

Work as a social network

Hundreds of backpackers meet in the orchards and packhouses. The working days are long, but the evenings belong to barbecues, films and planning weekend trips. More in kiwifruit picking.

Loneliness: part of it too

I won't pretend it's always just fun. The community is fleeting: people arrive and leave, everyone heads a different way. Goodbyes are frequent. There were weeks when I was alone in my car and missed my family and friends at home. What helped was keeping a diary, taking photos and, above all, knowing that in a few days I'd meet new people at the next hostel.

The community's values

What I liked most about backpackers is their openness and willingness to share. Food you no longer need goes on the hostel's "free food" shelf. You sell your car at a fair price to the next traveller. You leave a campsite cleaner than you found it. And when someone's car breaks down by the road, you stop.

What I took away

Friends all over the world. When I travel today, I have somewhere to sleep in Berlin, Buenos Aires and Tokyo. But above all I learned that people are the same everywhere, and that good company counts for more than any landscape. My whole story starts with how I set off for New Zealand.

Faq