It wouldn't be everyone's idea of how to spend Christmas, leaving your comfortable Kiwi home and heading to a wintry and war-torn country on the other side of the world.
When you are Yuriy Gladun, and you came here from Ukraine at the age of 40, it makes perfect sense.
"In good times, I live here," he said. "In bad times, we all transfer our minds and our feelings there."
The Hamilton-based Ukrainian has spent much of this year supporting his countrymen and women during their conflict. 1News spoke to him just before he left on a trip to his homeland.
He says he needs to know first-hand what life there is like.
"Not to know if from the papers, from the media," he said, "but to live through it myself."
Gladun wants to visit the capital Kyiv, where infrastructure has been crippled by Russian missiles and generators keep essential services alive. He expects to find some locals struggling through winter.
"Extremely tough. For some people it'll probably be like living outside."
His family here accept he wants to go, and are nervous. "Obviously they don't want me to get stuck there, but we are pretty sure that I will come back and everything will be okay."
Working with Rotary New Zealand, Gladun helped raise more than $80,000, which has gone towards modular housing in the north of the city, and towards new generators. 1News met him several weeks ago, when he and other local Ukrainians were helping those who fled here with advice on education and health in New Zealand.
"People just raised their hands. People have done whatever they can to help because it's such a dramatic difference for us living here, and those over there."
Gladun will film some of his trip to share with Ukrainians here. "I am hoping to come back with new ideas, some new connections, and the energy to do more," he said.
He will also visit relatives in Ukraine, including his 18-year-old nephew. He says what's driving the Ukrainian resistance to Russia is a determination that young Ukrainians should not lose their home.
"Somebody said that the motherland is not where your grandparents lived, the motherland is where your children will live," he said.
"Ukrainians know they must defend their country, otherwise their children will not live there."
Gladun hopes to return to New Zealand in January. 1News will keep in touch with him during his trip.
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