It has been 10 years since Napier-born Sequoia Schmidt has been back to New Zealand.
Now she is on a mission, a mission that began in the South Island riding a bicycle around the country visiting places that hold special family memories. These stories are captured in her acclaimed book Journey of Heart; A Sojourn to K2.
Part of the cycling journey includes a trip back to Napier, her birth town. The 26-year-old now lives in Los Angeles, after moving to the US when she was 16, and has her own publishing and online company.
Tragedy struck the family four years ago when her father, Kiwi mountaineer Marty Schmidt, and her 25-year-old brother Denali Schmidt, were killed in an avalanche while climbing the world's second-highest mountain, K2, in Pakistan.
That tragedy ultimately sparked her return home - to talk about what she went through and her remarkable quest through the rugged and treacherous wilds of Pakistan.