“If an opportunity comes up, you need to be the person who shows up!“– John Morin
This American pilgrim John Morin is an intriguing and warm-spirited artist who expresses his stories through writing, podcasts and his amazing photography which you can see for yourself throughout the interview. I sit down with John to have a chat about what it’s like living in New Zealand, being an artist and his own struggles with mental illness.
Meet John Morin. The Wanderlust Pilgrim!
John Morin is a writer, photographer and the founder of the wanderlust pilgrim blog and Pilgrim-ish podcast! This 29-year-old American was born in New Hampshire and is now living in a town called Whakatane in the sunny Bay of Plenty. But how did this creative and mysterious traveler find his way from the USA to the small town living in New Zealand?
Let’s find out!
John, thank you for being apart of the artist profile series! So what brought you to NZ in the first place?
John: Thanks, Emmy! Well after university, I worked at my brothers business and I was trying to decide what I really wanted to do with my life. At the time I was experiencing mental illness like depression and anxiety. I had just left school and wasn’t doing anything I was passionate about. I was also working a lot which caused stress so I was reaching a breaking point. I had always wanted to travel, write and take photos, so it seemed like the thing to do.
Did your depression start from an earlier age?
John: I dealt with anxiety and depression on and off since I was a kid. But it was when I was 17/18 that I started to experience depression. and gradually it got worse.
I had started my travels on a whim, as I asked a friend if he wanted to go traveling, and he got back to me sooner than I anticipated. He said he and his fiance are going to South America for 2 months and asked: “do you want to go with us?” And I said yes! So for months, I worked my ass off to save.
Before going to South America I booked a flight to Washington by myself to see what it’s like traveling by myself as I had never been on a plane. After that, I went to Columbia and Peru with a friend, which was eye-opening and amazing. But somehow I thought that trip would heal me. I thought being in a different country and scenery away from toxic people and influences would change me, but it didn’t. What it did do is give me space and time to reflect and become more self-aware of the thought patterns that put me on the right path to heal myself.
You have a blog called the wanderlust pilgrim where you write about how travel doesn’t change you?
John: Yes actually, that article has been one of my most read and shared post. And it’s cool because when you write something like that you don’t know who’s going to read it or how many people you are reaching and you don’t know if it’s having any impact or not. But I had people all over the world sending me messages who had read it saying thank you, so it was cool to know I wasn’t the only one to feel this way. With mental health specifically, you feel like your experience is unique to you, and can feel like travel should change you. when you realize it doesn’t it can be difficult and feel like “ughh am I doing life wrong?“. So it was cool that people resonated with it!
You have a podcast called Pilgrim-ish! Tell us more about that?
John: Yes, that was born out of the blog and I started it because one of the things I love about travel is the people I meet and the different conversations I have with them. I would have like 3-hour conversations with some people about deep topics, so I started writing profiles on them, but I thought that a lot of information had been lost in translation. So I started a podcast for another way to get content out there.
What’s the biggest difference between NZ and America?
John: Apart from the accent. (lol) I can only speak for myself, but one thing I have talked about on my podcast and blog article called delayed culture shock is when I came here I didn’t expect too much culture shock. But it was more the smaller things, a lot of them were social that took a little longer for them to crop up and become an issue.
And because you’ve been here 2 years, and not on holiday you would have experienced New Zealand on different levels right?
John: Yes. And there are 3 or 4 steps to adjusting to a new place, and number 1 is the honeymoon phase. and so when I first got here kiwis are very friendly, I felt comfortable hitchhiking even. The people are wonderful! The longer I stayed the friendliness was still there, but then I realized some kiwis aren’t as open. ( especially in a group).
If I get a kiwi by themselves they open up more. It’s not everybody, but there seems to be an unspoken general social anxiety almost. I think that’s what threw me off, as underneath the friendliness there are a lot of walls, that seem guarded. and I wasn’t sure what was the right way for me to approach it. As their ideas of friendship might not be the same, or they weren’t open to taking on new friends. It might be because I’m living in a small town in NZ and America is a big place where people seem to easily connect more and there isn’t a sense of guardedness like I’ve experienced here.
What has been your biggest challenge being an artist?
John: Myself! And sometimes I incorporate that theme into my work. Like my photography Liminal project. Themes like duality, and feeling like I’m not good enough.
Have you always wanted to be an artist?
John: I think it’s always been there. My Moms an artist. I grew up seeing her paint and make dolls. I had always had a very active imagination and there’s something about art that is self-soothing.
So it helps with your mental health?
John: Definitely. If I get anxious I start to sing. The liminal project is about taking journal entries and poems and experiences from depression and anxiety and making art from it. Because for a long time when I was going through depression I though ah these are wasted years, and that would almost trigger a bout of anxiety. But then I thought what if I took that and redemmed it in a way and portray what is beautiful about it. And I the process I reflected on those experiences and learned from it.
You touch on mental health with a lot of people you interview. Is there a reoccurring theme that pops up?
John: It shows how pervasive mental health can be. But when you talk about it it can lose its power. I never really talked about it in fear people wouldn’t understand or judge me. But when I did, I felt like a weight had been lifted. So I started talking about it more often and was surprised how many people have experienced or are going through the same thing. Experiencing mental health issues can isolate you, so I created a community feeling you are not alone, which was great as it started to open the conversations more about the topic.
John, what’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew 10 years ago?
John: Not to care so much about other peoples opinions. A lot of my life was dictated to what I perceived other peoples opinions to be. That feed into some negative thought patterns I had. And you get to a point where you’re like” fuck it!” and it’s so freeing. No matter what you do people are going to be unhappy. What’s important is finding what makes you happy, as that’s going to be the only constant thing is yourself.
And…
To be much more forgiving with myself. I was often beating myself up which was unhealthy and limiting, not to mention difficult to get out of. When I started forgiving myself I saw myself improve in different areas of my life because I had set myself free.
And finally John, for someone who wants to start there own podcast or creative adventure what’s some advice, you can give them to take away?
John: This was some advice that was given to me. Just start and don’t wait for permission. You become a writer by writing, you become a photographer by taking photos and you only get better by doing. I’ve never trained in photography yet, I had a photography business, I taught photography, and now I’m a photographer for a newspaper. That came from putting in the work and trying. And if an opportunity comes up, you need to be the person that shows up!
To find out more on John Morin or to contact him please visit these links:
The wanderlust pilgrim facebook
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Emmy is the founder and content writer at woopdedo. With a background in the performing arts, she then had a career working on cruise ships, until she decided to return to NZ where she spends most of her time storytelling and freelance writing. You can contact her on the social media links below or visit the work with us page.
