Hi, I’m Natalya.
Welcome to my website, “Cultivated Vision.”
I’m a 17-year-old girl with an everlasting passion for travel. Most might be shocked to know that I am only 17. However, these 17 years have been enough time for my growing interest in the world to flourish. Over the past years, I have been fortunate enough to have had so many opportunities to experience the world for all it offers. From school trips to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, at the age of 14, to Japan this year at 16, I have been able to experience the once-in-a-lifetime experience of traveling alongside my friends and classmates.
Born and raised in New Zealand, I have been exposed to the outdoors and picturesque locations since birth. My parents would often take me and my siblings on road trips and flights across New Zealand. If you've ever traveled with your family, you might know how irritating the experience can be. The sudden jabs to your arm as a yellow car drives by or your sibling endlessly begging you to play "I Spy" can make you want to jump out the car window. Yet, despite the frustration, those moments are filled with the kind of nostalgic memories that define a joyful childhood. This sort of joy is what has inspired me to make this website and to find people across the globe with the same passion and drive.
My mission is to inspire other people to find the beauty in the intricate yet vast planet that we call home. To really understand the imprint of our short but impactful time on this planet.
So allow me to bring you along this journey as it’s only just starting!
From a young age, I was always the hands-on type of kid. While I enjoyed reading and writing, my true passion was discovering how the world worked through my own experiences. This curiosity led me to explore a variety of hobbies, including piano, netball, drama, art, singing, and, most importantly, dance. I started dancing at the age of 8 and have explored many styles, from Scottish dancing to modern hip-hop. Through dance, I found a sense of community within my dance school and built lasting connections that continue to shape my life.
I strongly believe that traveling is more than just a hobby; it’s an opportunity for growth and a way to connect with people from all walks of life. Personally, I’ve experienced the most growth when I challenge myself to see the world through others' eyes. In my travels, I’ve encountered poverty and homelessness firsthand, which has taught me to really appreciate what I have and become an advocate of gratitude.
My trip to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in September 2022 was the first school trip after COVID-19 had emerged and consumed our lives. It was actually my first time traveling outside of my home country and the best first experience one could have. I had spent almost a year prior working towards saving for my trip. I created a firewood raffle and another goody box raffle which made me around $600 to go towards my $3,000 goal. Working a casual job on the side I made another $1,500 and my parents also contributed to get me across the line. In the end, I realized all the work I put in was more than worth it as soon as I hopped off that plane and into a blanket of tropical heat.
The following week in Rarotonga was filled with fun activities as well as volunteer work, such as planting banana trees and visiting a local primary school to sing and dance in the traditional Cook Islands style. I learned many skills on this trip like learning how to break open a coconut straight from the tree and weaving beautiful patterns with flax. We also became friends with some students there through their youth group and did many activities with them including a big barbeque.
The trip was a perfect balance of learning, relaxation, and fun. However, by the end of the trip, some of my classmates became sick from some meat we ate and ended up vomiting in our bathrooms. It was definitely not the best experience…
However, the best was made from our unfortunate luck, and our last night was spent blasting Bruno Mars on the back of a flat deck ute with our newly made Rarotongan friends. Such a surreal feeling.
I will never forget the memories and connections I made along this adventure.
As of this year (2024), I took up the opportunity of traveling to Japan with my Japanese class. I picked up another job working as a supermarket checkout operator and picking up part-time shifts as regularly as often. Every penny I made I saved because I was paying for my entire trip at a total of $5,000.
Eventually, our departure day came around, and I was shocked enough to find out that on the 10-and-a-half-hour flight, while my friends were sitting with each other, I would be seated in the middle of two Japanese strangers. However, little did I know this would be one of the highlights of my trip. Soon enough I got chatting away to the lady sitting beside me. Her name is Natsuki, and she was traveling back to Japan from a holiday in New Zealand. As I have been learning Japanese at my school for 4 years and she was pretty good at English, we spoke back and forth the entire trip. She gave me recommended foods to try, things to know about Japan, and she even made my name in Kanji (Japanese characters). It was such a pleasure to be able to meet such an awesome person, and it was just one of the amazing benefits of traveling.
Our two weeks ahead were jam-packed with activities. I didn’t realize, at first, the real effects of culture shock until it hit me hard. Japan was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. In many ways, its culture felt like the complete opposite of Western society. Amidst the vibrant world of anime, karaoke, and bustling streets, there exists a deeply serene Buddhist culture that the Japanese work hard to preserve in the modern world. I was fascinated by how seamlessly the old and new coexist—one moment you're outside a buzzing arcade, and the next, you're standing next to a peaceful Shinto shrine.
I spent the next two weeks enjoying all Japan has to offer from Temples to theme parks, to late-night 7-Eleven runs. Walking 30,000 steps a day in almost 30-degree heat! (celsius for you Americans). I was always looking forward to hopping into bed every night.
This experience was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, not because I won’t go back to Japan, but because I will never be 16 with my classmates experiencing Japan for the first time again. Therefore, this trip will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Moving forward, there are many more countries I would like to explore and many memories to be made. I plan on traveling a lot in 2025, so follow me along this journey by joining my socials.