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Bethany Hearn (23) has one big dream: discovering the world, starting with New Zealand. But the British yoga teacher’s dream was shattered when she developed a cholesteatoma, a collection of skin cells in the ear, and had to undergo emergency surgery. After the operation, she learned that she should never climb on a plane again to avoid complications. So she booked a boat trip to New Zealand, a trip that lasted two months and earned her a lot of strange looks.
British Bethany went under the knife in 2021 when it turned out that she had a cholesteatoma, a rare but aggressive form of a chronic middle ear infection. If left untreated, the condition can lead to hearing damage and balance problems. So a piece of Bethany’s skull was removed and the removed eardrum was reconstructed with a cartilage transplant.
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Not long after, Bethany flew to Greece, but during the flight she developed an excruciating headache. After examination, it turned out that the transplanted cartilage had shifted due to the change in pressure in the aircraft. So she got bad news from the doctor: to avoid further complications, Bethany should never get on a plane again. A fine for the yoga teacher, who really wanted to live in New Zealand for a while.
Cruise ship
But Bethany didn’t give up. She immediately looked for alternative ways to travel to Oceania and discovered that she can also get to her dream destination by boat. On September 15, 2022, she embarked in Southampton to sail to New York. Eight days later, she took a train from the Big Apple to Los Angeles to board a cruise ship that would take her to New Zealand via Hawaii, Fiji and French Polynesia.
The trip lasted almost two months and she also got a lot of strange looks on the cruise ship. “I was about 50 years younger than the average passenger,” says Bethany, who shares her adventures on social media. “They were quite confused and wondered what I was doing there. I had to convince the elderly ladies that I was not out to steal their husbands.” At night she occasionally received strange phone calls in her cabin, which she reported to the crew. “But once the Karens were reassured, they were much nicer.”
“Learned a lot about myself”
But the long journey on a ship full of elderly couples was sometimes very lonely for Bethany. She spent a lot of time in the gym to “stay mentally healthy”, but also met many other passengers, which made the trip more enjoyable. At the end of October her journey across the Pacific Ocean was completed and she arrived in New Zealand. But the trip had cost her all her money, so as soon as she set foot on land, she had to get a job. First as a babysitter and in hotels, later she gave yoga and pilates classes.
“I learned a lot about myself during my trip and my stay in New Zealand,” said Bethany. “I now realize that life is short and that the world is gigantic. I am very grateful that I ever took that boat. It wasn’t easy, but it made me who I am today.” After almost 16 months in New Zealand, Bethany wants to make the opposite trip, back to the UK, in June. And she is already looking forward to it: “It’s a really cool way to discover the world. It’s just very expensive.”
