Australia Part 1: January through August

Time flies when you’re having fun. You didn’t expect this blog or my social media to not have cliches and puns did you? If so, you’ve got the wrong girl and you’re in the wrong place.

I can’t believe that I’ve been in Australia for 7 months. This country is huge and I’ve already been able to see so much of it.  Travel has been a huge part of my life since college, but I don’t know if I’ve adequately been able to put into words why I’m drawn to it, what I like, what my style is.  So far this year, I feel better equipped to explain this part of me.  

I enjoy being able to spend longer periods of time in a place - get to know a place more intimately, explore at my own pace, connect with people, begin to understand the rhythms and natural way of life, or even frequent the local library. Even if it’s just a week, time is slower in the travel space. A week can feel like a month and a month can feel like a year. The connections you make can last for a lifetime (At least I hope! Also, I told you there were going to be cliches).

Slower travel also allows more time for spontaneity. I’ve always been drawn to structure and stability, and this is a big reason why I didn’t take extended travel when I was younger. I wanted and needed to study, to start my professional career, to have a savings account and investments that give me comfort I won’t be scrambling down the line. I still need that structure and stability, but I’m able to find it in tandem with spontaneity. I create loose outlines of where I want to go and allow the opportunities and the people I meet fill in the lines of how I get there.

The hardest part of travelling I’ve encountered is saying goodbye. You don’t see on social media the tears and hugs at airports and parking lots or the period of loneliness that strikes after you leave a friend or place that felt like home. A girl I went to college with wrote a post online that really spoke to me about this:

“#nomadlife: sometimes the people that you love and who feel like home are not always ready to move on when you are or your next steps may not always be aligned.

Because we’ve chosen this life, we understand and support each other through these transitions as a way to honor the fundamental traits at the core of our connections. We all trust that we will meet again, but it doesn’t make it easier to physically separate. There is a beautiful dance of independence, growth, and following the beat of your own drum while believing that your unique rhythms will lead you back together down the line.”

One thing I’ve been surprised about is how small Australia and the world can be. I’ve seen Julia three times, from working in the Grampians to a spontaneous camping night meeting in the centre of Australia, and now a weekend in Sydney. Vivianne was the first friend I made in Australia at a chance connection at St Kilda fest and we happened to both be in Noosa at the same time. Connecting with Seb and Miriam in Alice Springs, I didn’t expect to see them again, but Seb took a month and a half long road trip down the east coast with his dad and met Jo and I for drinks in Agnes Water. He even brought me a postcard that had arrived from a friend after I left! In Sydney, I explored a museum with Jess from Alice Springs and braved the Bondi to Coogee Walk in the rain with Dilly from Agnes Water.

For friends I haven’t been able to connect with again in Australia, I now have an even longer list around the world I need to visit.

I’m taking a short trip to Southeast Asia to solo travel in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and to celebrate a wedding in Taipei with friends from DC. I can’t wait to have a bit of home before coming back to Australia. It’s been one hell of a year so far.