Young woman on a tour of kindness

Chanelle Haffenden. Photo / Dean Purcell

An Auckland woman is on a voyage of kindness around the country - using others' generosity to help her on her way.

Chanelle Haffenden, 23, whose struggles with depression and anxiety led to her losing her job, decided to embark on a month-long trip around the country, armed with nothing but a few clothes, a laminator, art supplies and a sign asking for kindness.

In two weeks she's made it to Invercargill thanks to the kindness of strangers she's encountered.

Ms Haffenden says it's not about free-loading, but about showing others, like her, who suffer from anxiety, that it is okay to ask for help.

"There is always someone that can help.

"There is a lot of kindness in New Zealand, I have been so lucky to experience a lot of it," she says.

"I no longer feel alone and have made friends in so many cities and towns."

In the last fortnight she has stayed in 13 strangers' homes, had a stranger hold her hand in hospital and others buy her flights.

In one chance encounter, after being boosted out of Christchurch airport Ms Haffenden was taken to the top of Mt Hutt to see snow for the first time.

"Getting kicked out of Christchurch airport was the best thing to possibly happen to me," she says.

"I threw snow, I walked in snow, I took photos of snow, in snow."

In return for these many acts of kindness Ms Haffenden plans to "pay it forward".

"In return every act of kindness a stranger does for me they then write in a journal an act of kindness for me to do for another complete stranger on their behalf."

She says requests have varied, from one guy wanting her to scrape roadkill off a highway, another's wish for her to organise a community event, to another's simple request for her to just keep smiling and paying it forward.

Already she's begun ticking off the list of acts of kindness to pay it forward, having bought someone a coffee in Upper Hutt, hugged three elderly people, organised a party and fed some homeless people in Wellington and bought cakes for volunteers at a carwash fundraiser.

Ms Haffenden was first featured in the Herald last year when she stood on a street with a sign asking for work. Within a day she had been offered a job.

Unfortunately another bout of anxiety and depression led to her losing that job a couple of months ago.

It's her hope that this trip she's embarked on will be a "healing journey, a life-changing thing" that helps her deal with her anxiety and shows her there are people that do care.

Despite being on the road for a few weeks, she's still kept her apartment back in Auckland and says there are a few job opportunities on the cards.

In the long term she plans to write a book of her adventures and one day work for a not-for-profit charity and help others in need.

But for now she's enjoying her adventure. "I've always loved crazy," she says. "I want to do things that make a difference."

Follow her blog here.