Happiness Diaries Episode 6: Arizona Carl (Cape Reinga, NZ)

 The question (What makes you happy/What is happiness to you) is quite subjective. What drives me to a better question because happiness is fleeting no matter what. I am driven by the experience, finding new places, learning new trades, building art, meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends. I have lived a blessed life and I don’t take that lightly so I try to take full advantage of the opportunities that present themselves in my life and not get caught up in what goes wrong but focus on what is going right. My way of life is simple and not for everyone, but it’s mine and I wouldn’t change it. Not everyone would smile while hauling 20 tons of material up 80 stairs, but to me its just a workout. Keep It simple, don’t’ get attached to material possession, we all end up in the same place.

Carl is an Arizona boy, a self-described “Desert rat”. He spends his early days going the traditional route of school and work then decided it wasn’t for him and has spent the next part of his life forging his own path. From dabbles in everything from the culinary arts to English literature he found his passion in stone masonry and permaculture landscaping. “I get to build art in people’s yards that will last well beyond my years”. Carl and his partner Bronwyn are taking advantage of their last year to get a Working Holiday visa to New Zealand and before they start are hitchhiking and walking with their gear across New Zealand. Currently having ventured all the way to Cape Reinga at the north end of the north island, they’re on a mission to travel the whole country in this fashion. Impressive!

I met at Northwind Lodge – a backpackers in the Northlands of New Zealand run by two fantastic Maori’s who happen to be the next subjects of the Happiness Diaries. Carl moonlights as a cover artist and is traveling with a ukulele - unfortunately one of the strings broke early in the trip, but was quickly replaced with a piece of fishing line found on the side of a bridge and now looks and sounds unique, like him. He played a few ditties, sang along with the @Spotify ‘Acoustic Covers Playlist’, and was just a pleasant person to be around for a couple days.