Before you get any crazy ideas: no, I am (unfortunately) not relocating to Australia.
...but that doesn't mean I can't vacation there...
Ever since I can remember (sadly enough, I'm pretty sure it was when Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen came out with that ridiculous [I may or may not have been obsessed] movie Our Lips Are Sealed), I have always wanted to travel to Australia.
We're talking, dream vacation spot.
I've been fortunate in my twenty-six years to have traveled to so many different places. My family was the traveling kind growing up; I remember visiting friends in Germany--traveling to Switzerland and France along the way. I remember being nine and standing with my Dad and middle brother at the fence that encircled the Alps. We stood on our tip-toes and managed to put our heads just over the top of the rail (in hindsight: probably not the safest thing ever; sorry Mom!). The feeling of the cold gust of wind that traveled up the mountain side and blew our hair back took my breath away.
Traveling was just fun. Exciting, fun, and spontaneous. I honestly believe traveling encouraged me to branch out, to not be afraid and move to LA. Had I never had those experiences as a kid, I don't think I would have had the courage to pack up and move myself 3,000 miles away to start anew.
While living in Los Angeles, the first job I ever had was working as a front desk concierge at a boutique hotel in Beverly Hills. I met so many different guests while working there. Working in Beverly Hills, you experience an eclectic array of people coming to visit SoCal. Within the first few months of me working there, I met two wonderful couples traveling together from Australia. I really connected with the one couple; they fit the norm for Australians based upon what I had heard about them in the past--kind, generous, and down-to-earth.
We struck up conversation every time I was at the front desk--whether it be first thing in the morning while they were on their way out to a tour, or when they came back in the evening and they'd sit to have a drink with me. They were so warm and kind--and before they left, they told me if I were ever to venture out to Australia to contact them. We've stayed in touch ever since.
Every year (since then, especially), I contemplate planning a trip Down Under. There are SO many things I would love to see and experience. The culture, for one; koalas and kangaroos are pretty high up on my list, too. The beaches, the reefs, the water. I could go on and on.
So recently an old friend who also worked at the hotel with me reached out on Facebook and let me know she would be following her dream of traveling the world for the year. She has an opportunity in New Zealand and plans to be out there for a few months. Three things kind of hit me--1. I was so envious that she was living her dream; ever since I met this girl I knew she wanted to save up and go out and travel the world. 2. How perfect would it be for me to go this year while she's there, so I can experience it with someone else? 3. I still have that couple I consider friends who might want to still show me around (even though it's 4 years after I met them to begin with and we haven't seen each other since then; I've already reached out to them and they are on board for showing us around!).
So...what's stopping me?
...I thought about it. And then I thought about it some more. Sure, it's expensive. But money can be saved up. Sure, it's a 27 hour travel day, but traveling is in my DNA so that's not really stopping me...and then there's work, but isn't this what vacation time is for?
The last year was great--I settled down, I worked really hard and I made a life for myself. But just because I don't live in LA anymore doesn't mean I can't go on an adventure. I had kind of given up on that adventurous side of me. I left that girl in Los Angeles when I moved back to Florida over a year ago.
My adventure isn't over. My journey is still going. So to the Adventurous Me I left in LA, I'll be picking you up at LAX (this is the goal, anyway) on October 1st at 9:25pm. Pack your bags, kid. Depending on how much money I can save, we'll either be taking flight this year or next! I'm tired of waiting. We're going to Australia!!
