The Trip of a Lifetime: Our Overseas Enthusiasts Take Europe!

Two farm-raised Gisborne sisters just scored the adventure of a lifetime. Liana and Maika are about to chase their family roots across Europe as Kathmandu's 2025 Overseas Enthusiasts - three months, countless countries, and every piece of gear they need to make it happen. They depart today.

But first, here's how the pair managed to land the dream job that 1,182 people were chasing.

"Liana, hurry up and jump on!" I yelled at my 8-year-old older sister, who was distracted by a butterfly or something. Uncle Grae was revving the quad bike trying to scare us, but we were just happy to be there - doing yet another epic farm activity with our favourite (and risky) uncle. The cow pats were waiting, and the magic carpet ride was now in motion.

As the youngest at six years old, I was sitting at the front, first in the firing line when we ran over cow poop. All gumbooted up, I knew we'd smell so bad afterwards that Mum wouldn't let us back in the house!

That was our childhood. Messy, adventurous, loud, and outdoors. We were blessed to grow up on the beautiful East Coast in Gisborne, spending our summers hiking mountains and rafting down rivers.

We are two wāhine Māori, now 28 and 31, with Scottish and Swiss on our Mother's side, and Spanish, Māori and Portuguese on our Father's side. We are a fruit salad. And we love it.

Hi, Lili here (Liana) - I'll be chiming in when Maika doesn't get the facts right. For example, it wasn't a butterfly. I was late to the carpet ride because I was getting a stone out of my gumboot!

So how did two farm-loving, adventure-seeking, cruisy Gisborne girls score the absolute dream job and trip of a lifetime as Kathmandu's Overseas Enthusiasts? We are still shaking our heads that we won this gig!

When One Door Closes…

23 January 2025: I'd just been told I was being made redundant. My amazing workplace, Callaghan Innovation, was being disestablished by the end of June and I was leaving a job I loved.

Little did she know...

That same day, I opened TradeMe and saw the Job Hunt January advertisement - what I thought was a scam. A trip for two, anywhere in the world, creating content for Kathmandu while travelling. Too good to be true, right?

So I hit up my sister: "Oi, that's us!"

Yeah, and I was keen! But I didn't really think we'd win 'cause we've never won anything.

So much so that she didn't even tell her husband we were applying!

The Application

The application process was to write your own dream itinerary for a 90-day trip, including destinations and activities. So we went ham on it! (Keep in mind, I had all this free time now my Auckland job was nearly non-existent), while Lili was still working full-time as an Occupational Therapist.

We were aiming for Europe. Liana and I would visit Valverde del Majano in Spain where our ancestor José Manuel was from, then Switzerland where our great-grandfather Joachim Hunger came from. We would get to chase our family links while being in some of the most beautiful places for the best Kathmandu content we could create!

We went ham on our application. Spain, Portugal, Italy, and of course Paris. Amsterdam, Croatia, Switzerland, Vienna, and Rome. And the activities - oh boy! Stand-up paddleboarding in Nice, camel riding in Dubai on the way to Europe, and a 100km Camino de Santiago hike.

We submitted seven pages, including of a 90-day itinerary, Google Map with pin drops, and three pages of location images with "Photo inspiration: For content opportunities at each location." And then we clicked submit.

A Week of Restless Waiting…

“We're thrilled to let you know that you've made it to the shortlist for the Overseas Enthusiasts roles. Out of 1,182 strong applicants and over 98,816 listing views, your application and dream OE itinerary stood out."

Lili finally told her husband. We were ecstatic. Now we just had to get through the interview stage. We chose one of the last interview slots at the end of the week, hoping we'd be remembered. In preparation, we created a website to showcase what we could do - uploading TikToks, photos, and even character reference videos from friends.

The Valentines Day Interview

Unplanned by us, our interview was actually on Valentine’s Day and we wore bright red and orange – noticed by the Kathmandu team, they thought we were celebrating Valentines, before we flagged that I was single (much to my mother’s disappointment)

and Liana was trying to score a trip where she’d be leaving her husband for three whole months!

But the interview was a blast. It felt like we were just swapping stories. They said we left them feeling energised and that they’d be in touch once interviews were finished.

A Few Days Later…

Maika was driving to Grandma's in Taranaki when Liana called: "Have you seen the email? Pull over..."

It said: "We've been working through logistics and a few questions came up regarding your trip. Can we jump on a quick call Friday at 10am?"

We panicked, not knowing what to think. "They don't think we'll survive the 100km hike!" and we worried that they thought we’d crammed too much into 90 days!

But another meeting was still promising, right?

Matatini

It was Friday morning, the sun was already blazing in Taranaki and my friends and I were the dedicated supporters posted front and centre.

Whāngara Mai Tawhiti were on stage, a proud East Coast kapa haka group that Liana’s husband, Te Aorangi Pearless has performed with in the past. Our Kathmandu call was any moment now.

My friends and I did our waiata tautoko to the group for their incredible performance, and then I boosted into the bush for the call.

"Hey guys! How's it going?"

"Mōrena!"

But for this meeting, another woman walked into their room. We know her now as Megan Welch, CEO of Kathmandu, but that day we just heard "This is our CEO..." and Liana and I looked at each other with possum eyes.

The Big Moment

"Do you mind if we record this call?" they asked. Of course we didn't mind. But we started to smell something in the air. It smelt suspicious, but delicious.

"It's so great to see you both again. Now, we know we said this was a Health and Safety logistics meeting, but really, we just have one question for you both..."

My eyes darted to Liana's screen and back to Kathmandu.

"The question really is... do you want the job? Congratulations, you're our Overseas Enthusiasts!"

Jaws to the floor, we were stunned. Stunned!

Yeah, and I was like, wait, what?

Looking back, Liana and I actually didn't comprehend the news for a good ten seconds. We were absolutely gobsmacked.

Getting Ready for the Dream…

The team told us why they chose us - they said we reflected back their values of joy, courage and openness that they, clearly, live and breathe.

And so, there you have it. We are just two Gisborne-raised Māori girls who took a shot at a dream job and scored. We have always loved hogging the family camera, being silly and adventurous, making dances, creating songs, learning lyrics, and exploring our outdoors.

Now, with the most incredible Kathmandu gear and equipment to support us (yes, we got a shopping spree too!), we still can't believe we’ve got this opportunity.

Thank you to the team at Kathmandu, and thanks for reading this far into our first-ever blog post! We’ll be sharing more magic carpet ride stories from Europe that absolutely bless our socks off!

Liana (Lili) and Maika (Mikewisowski)