Wrap your head around this: To reach New Zealand, we flew west, which is typically earlier in time, but we landed in the future. Leaving Monday night from San Francisco, we flew 14 hours, skipped an entire day, and landed Wednesday morning in Auckland, while the U.S. was still trudging through Tuesday. You’re so yesterday, U.S.—New Zealand is Tomorrowland.

I still haven’t quite figured out why, when we fly west for six hours, from Boston to California, it’s three hours earlier there than our east-coast watches say, but if we fly farther west, it’s 21 hours later. It seems like some sci-fi wormhole that we’ve tumbled through and somehow emerged without having aged, just in the future. Clearly this has been the most baffling time-zone conversion we have encountered in our travels.

The flight itself was not as bad as we anticipated. We slept some, walked up and down the aisles, watched some movies, read some books, and landed in a world that looks much like our own. We were met at the airport by some very kind friends, who put us up for a few days in Auckland while we adjusted. They showed us around this beautiful city, nestled between beaches, bluffs, and harbors seemingly in every direction. It was a very soft and welcoming landing here in the future. And we sincerely apologize for bringing a dose of the flu with us from the past. 

The future also looks a lot like spring, because, well, it is. Leaving behind Colorado’s darkening fall, we skipped right over winter and landed where the flowers are in bloom and the days are getting longer. The sunset was at 8:30 last night, and the longest day is still a month and a half away. The future’s so bright we’ve gotta wear shades. The air smells of lavender and honeysuckle. The lemon tree at our current Airbnb is already bearing bright yellow fruit. And when life gives Rachel lemons, she literally makes lemonade. Yes, the future is sweet. 

New Zealand is comprised of two main islands, conveniently known as the North Island (where Auckland is) and the South Island (where the fjords and Alp-like mountains are). We left Auckland too quickly, but had already arranged to visit Abel Tasman National Park in the northern tip of the South Island, known for its hiking, kayaking, and crystal clear water. In our Uber to the Auckland airport, we had another glimpse of the future—a ride in the best-selling electric vehicle in the world. It was not a Tesla, but a BYD (Build Your Dream), made in (you guessed it) China. We had never heard of it before, and most of its sales continue to be within China itself, but it seemed like a clear indicator that the rest of the world is heading rapidly and smoothly into a future built around renewable energy, with or without the U.S.

It is a pleasure to be in a country where environmental action is taken seriously, both by the public and the government. Public infrastructure supports and embraces recycling, composting, and protecting endangered species. In fact, there is a national effort to eradicate invasive species that cause harm to native species—whether plants like ragwort and gorse that strangle native vegetation, or animals like rats that have decimated native bird species. It’s quite common to be asked to scrape and spray one’s shoes when entering or leaving a protected area, and customs officers are very concerned about any hiking gear entering the country that may be carrying unwelcome visitors. In addition to pledging that the islands will be “predator free” by 2050, New Zealand has enacted a long-term commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. And whether it’s environmental policy or just the luck of the ocean currents, we’ve seen very little trash on the beaches so far. Considering the piles of plastic we saw on otherwise beautiful coasts like those of Rapa Nui and Senegal, the pristine rocks and sand here are inspiring. 

It’s not all perfect, of course. We’ve heard that a conservative backlash to progressive policies is now scaling back and disarming some of these progressive policies, while activists say current measures don’t go far enough. But coming from a country whose elected majority is intent on living in the past, future be damned—cozying up to Big Oil, denying climate change, and canceling alternative energy projects mid-stream—the future looks a whole lot cleaner here.

It’s also heartening to see all public signs here using both English and the language of the Māori people, known as Te Reo Māori. As in most colonized countries, there is a long way to go for majority white people to live up to the treaties they signed with indigenous people back in the day, but it’s a step. We’ve only just arrived here, but by appearances, there is at least a public effort to acknowledge and show respect to the Māori people, culture, and history. Sure, there are still historical markers commemorating the “discovery” of New Zealand by Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer for whom the park we’re in now was named. But now they are flanked by “The Māori Version” of the story of first encounter with Europeans. Symbolic, yes, but at least the stories are in the public eye rather than being banned by revisionists wearing historical blinders. Only by telling the truth about the past can we enter the future with clear eyes.

And what of our future? We are spending 11 days in the Tasman Bay area, hiking, kayaking, and exploring. Then we take a ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand and, fun fact, the world’s southernmost capital of a sovereign country. After five days exploring Wellington, we next fly south to the adventure-gateway mountain city of Queenstown. From there, we’ll embark on a five-day hut-to-hut hike on the famed Milford Track, and then rent a camper van for two weeks touring the South Island’s fjords, glaciers, mountains, and valleys. 

This marks our fifth year of living in a different country each year. We’ll post pictures and reflections as often as we can, but this future will not be televised – wifi can be hard to come by in the mountains, we hear. And given what passes for news from the States, that’s just fine with us.

Hang in there, American friends. If the future ends up looking like New Zealand, we should all be okay.