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The Graveyard Shift at the Bottom of the World
A photo essay of my accidental digital nomad year in pre-Covid New Zealand
When I returned to New Zealand in March 2021, I found myself cut off from everyone else. Though I was back in my family home and living with my parents, I was also living in a completely different timezone — one a good twelve hours behind the rest of the country.
I was working remotely for a company on the other side of the world. And that meant one thing: I had little choice but to work the night shift. As a perennial early bird who finds joy in getting up to the sunrise, the sudden change in my daily habits was a rude awakening. But given my desire to keep my job, I decided the disruption would be worth it.
At first, I would go to bed at 7:30pm. Not surprisingly, it was hard because by retiring so early, I felt like a child again. The long summer days also meant that the sun was still up when I was trying to doze off.
I would then wake up at 2am and start my day. While the goal was to begin my shift at 3am, I gave myself a one-hour buffer to get up, have breakfast, and try to rouse my tired mind. There was always a lingering fear at the back of my mind that if I missed my alarm, I simply wouldn’t wake up in time for work. Deep down, my body knew that it wasn’t wise…
