For being from a small nation at the edge of the world, New Zealanders sure get around.

These days, it seems you just have to throw a feijoa and you hit 10 Kiwis – no matter where you are on the globe. As an adopted Kiwi, who spends a solid chunk of her year travelling the world, I love meeting my elected kinfolk in faraway places.

So screw those other guys and their lame sheep jokes and Lord of the Rings quips – we've heard it all before. 

And trust me, Kiwi travellers are pretty easy to spot. Sure, the accent is a dead giveaway – along with any All Blacks paraphernalia – but I'm also talking much deeper than that. While New Zealanders don't necessarily stick out from the crowd, they're also not all that hard to find either.

That guy walking down a snowy street in a Swiss alpine village in February wearing shorts, jandals and a big Macpac puffer jacket with a few spots strategically duct-taped up? You likely know where he's from. There's also a solid chance you have at least three friends in common and he probably wears the same jacket at a wedding too.

Your suspicions are confirmed when you hear him chatting with his mates and reply with the ever so common go-to Kiwi words of "yeah, nah", "heaps", or even a good old "chur bro". And well, you'll know for damn sure if someone mistakes him for an Aussie. Nothing brings out that hidden Kiwi pride quite like that faux pas, am I right? 

Maybe though, it's that person who is having a meltdown after having just been pickpocketed, or even blindly robbed. Sometimes, Kiwis on their first overseas adventure learn the hard lesson that things are far less secure and honest than what they might be accustomed to. It's more than likely though that they are the ones willing to offer someone struggling a helping hand, even though it probably thoroughly freaks them out.

I remember the first time a Kiwi asked me a question on my very first day in Auckland and my hand automatically went to my bag in a guarded move anticipating some form of mugging, before I quickly realised he was just being nice. Kiwi kindness and helpfulness is world-renowned and it's often praised by people everywhere. 

Someone who is laidback and good with their hands is another way to spot Kiwis travelling. DIY is in the DNA here in New Zealand and often Kiwi travellers prefer to book apartments to hotels so they can cook their own meals and have a more hands-on local and authentic experience.

But perhaps the Kiwis who stand out the most are the ones who have travelled a lot in their own country too and truly understand that often the most-lauded and popular places in the world pale in comparison to their own backyard. New Zealand is pretty amazing and blows many other countries out of the water in many aspects, from the friendly people, fascinating history, unique wildlife (that aren't sheep) and epic landscapes. 

New Zealand is so much more than people here give it credit for.