Leaving Australia

Bittersweet. That's the only word to describe this departure. My mind is doing cartwheels, contemplating the endless possibilities ahead as I leave for a 4 week adventure in Bali, while simultaneously recalling the events of the last six months in Australia. So much has happened in this short time frame...

I learned to surf, scuba dive and make coffee. I made my home in Sydney with a group of lovable Brits. I worked my first retail and restaurant job. I got over my fear of creepy crawlies (well, sort of). I became a better traveler--a pro at packing, unpacking, sleeping in bunk beds and having up to nine roommates. I've developed skills in several areas including: communication, cultural sensitivity, adaptability, customer service, budgeting and negotiation. I've learned to love the great outdoors. I fulfilled both my dreams of living in a big city and living near the beach. I definitely don't regret taking the gap year leap, and I would highly encourage anyone considering it, to just do it.

I will absolutely miss all the people I've met on my journey. And I will miss this big, beautiful country. But I will be back one day, Australia. I've left too many borders uncrossed and too many reefs unexplored.

In My Backpack: Beauty Products

When I decided to go backpacking, I knew I wouldn't be able to bring along the entire assortment of beauty products and hair appliances that usually clutter my bathroom counter and drawers. My 60 L backpack would not accommodate my nail polish or lipstick collections. However, I don't think any girl should have to give up her femininity just because she's living out of a backpack. So I've decided to share with you a few travel-sized and multipurpose beauty products that I never leave home without.

1. Smith's Rosebud Salve- The classic floral-scented salve now comes in a travel-friendly tube. It works wonders on chapped lips, dry skin and minor burns.
2. Adara Coconut Virgin Oil- This organic coconut oil is the ultimate multitasker. I use it as a skin moisturizer, a deep conditioning hair mask and to tame my split ends. The green tea fragrance is so nice that when I use it, people often ask what perfume I'm wearing. And I never have to worry about the oil leaking during a flight, because it naturally crystallizes in cooler temperatures. All you have to do is run the bottle under a warm tap before you want to use it.
3. Violight Slim Sonic Portable Toothbrush- This toothbrush is probably the best thing I've ever bought for traveling. It brushes at 22,000 strokes per minute and the single AAA battery it came with lasted for four months. Portable, stylish, and it comes with a bonus replacement head.
4. Batiste Dry Shampoo- Because you don't always have the time or resources to wash your hair when you're on the road, this dry shampoo is a life saver. Plus, it comes in the cutest travel size packaging.
5. Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm- This happy yellow lip balm made with beeswax and coconut, sunflower, & peppermint oils is my all-time favorite.
6. Lucas' Papaw Ointment- I only discovered this little gem once I arrived in Australia, but I will definitely be taking it on all my future trips. It's made with Australian papaya and can be used to treat sunburn, scalds, cuts, minor open wounds and burns, chafing, insect bites, and splinters.
7. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap- This concentrated castille soap, whether in liquid or bar form, is legendary among backpackers. Uses include face and body soap, household cleaner, laundry detergent, shampoo and more daring ones such as toothpaste and pest control. The soaps are organic, fair trade, 100% biodegradable and lots of other feel-good adjectives. I've been using the classic peppermint version, though I'd be curious to try some of the newer scents. It's almost worth buying just to read the crazy label on the bottle.

What's in your travel bag? Are there any products you regularly travel with?

The Funny Thing About Plans

It's hard to believe I've been in Australia for five months now. When I arrived in Sydney on September 8 with just a backpack, I had no plans except a few ideas in my head about where I wanted to go. Not realizing how huge and expensive this country is, I foolishly believed I would have seen most of it by now--Melbourne, Cairns, Uluru, Darwin and the Sunshine Coast. I never planned on being in Sydney this long or signing a four month apartment lease with two people that I just met. But sometimes it's the unexpected surprises that turn into the best memories. We don't meet people by chance, and I'm so grateful for all the friends I've made and to be able to call this amazing city home.

Now that my apartment lease is up and my third job contract has ended, I've received lots of inquiries about my plans. Where are you going to live? What are you doing for money? When are you coming home? Two weeks ago, I knew the answers to these questions. I fully intended to take a train to Melbourne and spend a week getting to know the area. Then I planned to travel to Bali on the money from my apartment bond and spend a month on the island volunteering, before flying back home to Houston in mid-March. But the day before I was meant to book my airfare, I got an email about a job opportunity in Sydney--one which is related to my degree and would challenge me intellectually, unlike the hospitality & retail jobs I've been doing lately. So now I'm staying with some of my friends, living out of a backpack again and checking my email hourly, hoping for good news about this job.

I never could have anticipated this happening. But that's the funny thing about plans--you can create the most simple or elaborate ones, and as soon as you think you have everything figured out, life throws a curve ball your way. Maybe this job will fall through, and I'll have to fly home penniless. But I've been praying about it a lot, and I'm confident that things will work out the way they're supposed to. And in the meantime, I vow to make the most of this period of waiting and uncertainty--enjoying the days I get to spend with the girls who were nice enough to share their home with me.

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  Proverbs 19:21

My First Christmas Away From Home

When I bought a one-way ticket to Sydney, I knew I wasn't coming back for the holidays. I also knew that it would be difficult to be away from home during Christmas. But I never imagined just how homesick it would make me. 

For starters, it doesn't feel like Christmas in Australia. Just ask anyone. The weather is hot & the streets are barely decorated in lights. There's no hot cocoa or mulled wine or eggnog. Nobody wears scarves, tacky Christmas sweaters, coats or mittens. For the Aussies, Christmas traditions include a seafood or barbecue lunch, swimsuits, flip flops, and short-sleeved Santa suits.  

I had always imagined that I would spend Christmas Day on the beach, cooking barbecue with friends and letting the sun soak up every ounce of my Christmas blues. But as fate would have it, it rained the entire day. I worked all day Christmas Eve--four hours at my first job and six hours at my second. That evening, I went to Darling Harbour with a small group of friends. We drank and sang Christmas songs as we watched fireworks light up the water. When it began to pour down, we took cover in a bar where we spent the rest of the night drinking punch with a hodge podge of other travelers and internationals. We walked home in the drizzle & ended up in an alleyway decorated with a hundred empty birdcages where we danced & twirled underneath.

{Town Hall}

{Martin Place}

On Christmas morning, I walked to my friend Emily's flat, so that I could use her wifi to skype with my family back home. Our friend Kat came over just as it started to pour buckets, so we decided to call a cab to go back to my house and get ready for the Christmas festivities. I felt like I hit an all time low as we stood on her doorstep in the rain waiting for the taxi, cider beers in hand, eating rice crackers & hummus for Christmas brunch. It was a pitiful sight.

Everyone arrived to our house around 2:00 pm for the holiday smorgasbord. Because my flatmate, Victoria, had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night at the hospital, we had about a five-hour window to celebrate Christmas together. Our meal consisted of assorted meats, boiled potatoes and carrots, salad, potato chips, gummy worms, mince pies, hummus, pate, crackers, chocolates and tons of booze. Santa came and left a few goodies in our $1.50 stockings, so my flatmates & I opened those in the afternoon as well. We played Christmas tunes and drinking games, and one of our guests performed a handful of card tricks. We danced around our untidy living room, wearing Santa hats, reindeer antlers, lei necklaces and the paper crowns from our Christmas crackers (which as I learned do not actually contain edible crackers). Even though the weather was miserable & we were all thousands of miles from home, the 10 of us (2 Americans, 1 Canadian & 7 Brits) who come from all walks of life, came together to share a lovely holiday. Because on this one day we all had one important commonality; we were orphans.

{Stockings hung on the fake fireplace with care}

 {Christmas Day}

{Kat, me, & Emily}

{the morning after Christmas}

So I survived my first Christmas away from home. And though I made the most of it, I hope it will be the last Christmas that I miss. There's a warmth that comes from being with your family on Christmas. It's a kind of warmth that has nothing to do with the weather. It comes from the glow of the fireplace, the twinkling lights on the tree, my grandma's cookies, my mom's crab fondue. It's a warmth that radiates from the smiles and laughter of the people you love most. It fills you up like Christmas dinner--until you're so full you can't imagine being any happier. That's what Christmas spirit is to me & it took being a half a world away for me to learn to appreciate it. 

The Backpacking Culture

These first 2 weeks in Australia have been a fast-paced, crazy blur of events. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize that I'm actually here, on my own, trying to begin life in a new country. I've been staying at a hostel called WakeUp! which was formerly an eight-story department store. It's located in the CBD, or Central Business District, though it should stand for Central Backpacker's District. Where George Street and Pitt Street intersect, there are an overwhelming number of hostels, backpacker bars, and travel agencies. The streets are crowded with a strange mix of business people in their suits, Asians, and backpackers. We backpackers are like our own race over here.  

How do you spot a backpacker? Aside from the obvious backpack, there are other signs. Boys have unshaven faces, girls' hair is generally unkepmt, & footwear consists of teva sandals, white Converse, or flip flops. You can hear them swapping stories about their latest tattoo and telling tales of their recent travels in Thailand, Figi, or South America. Living in the hostel remindes me a lot of college without the books. I have seven roommates, mostly English, which tend to come and go, as travelers often do. People are constantly discussing money, how there never seems to be enough and how they plan to make their next fortune.  I recently overheard this conversation on my floor: "We should go down to the internet cafe and google sleep clinics / Oh yeah, I forgot we were supposed to donate our sperm today!" Everyone works hard to play hard. The hostel puts on a events each day and there is a bar located in the basement. Pop music blasts in the elevator and the lobby. The kitchen shelves and coolers are jam packed with boxes of cereal, pasta, and "goon" aka cheap boxed wine.  There are bookshelves on each floor with travel books and novels in English, French, German, and Spanish, leftover from backpacks that could no longer accomodate them. 

The backpacking culture is a wild one and while living in a hostel has been fun and provided the opportunity to meet amazing like-minded people, I'm happy to say that I'll be moving out over the weekend. The weather is just starting to warm up in Sydney and I've found a flat to share with two of my new pals, outside the hustle and bustle of the city and closer to the beach.