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Leaving Australia and The WanderlustThe first thing to know about me is that I love to dance, you could say it is my hobby/ obsession ok addiction whatever you like to call it. Hence this was the sole reason why South America went from being just a nice place to visit…one day to contacting my travel agent full of wanderlust demanding an itinerary that would show me the entire country and drop me neatly in Brazil just in time to attend and dance in Carnival 2005. Another thing to know about me is I am frightfully independent, sure I wanted to travel with my husband/ finance' or boyfriend but Mr right hasn't beaten my door down yet. A friend would have been great too and plenty dreamt and wished but none stepped up to the plate so I went solo, much to the consternation of my mother and surprise of my friends. Truth be known I had planned this trip for five years through two relationships, two states of Australia and a few different jobs. I found there was always something holding me back, money, job, time, if you look hard enough you can always finds obstacles, now I think I just wasn't ready. So why now? I guess I realised that the company I worked for would not go down the gurgler if I was sick and once I realised this asking for 12 months leave of absence to travel the world was easy. I was, ok I am still single so there were no heart strings being pulled in Australia if I left. I realised the last string had been cut when my dance partner left me three weeks before our first performance and my so called best friend showed her true colours. There were suddenly no obstacles left in my way. So just before my 27 th birthday in August while sitting on a plane headed to Melbourne to see my family I decided the time was right. When my dad picked me up from the airport I rattled off my plan and by that afternoon I had a list of 26 countries I just had to visit. I then spent my holiday glued to the Internet researching and planning my adventure. I paid my deposit in October and that's when I realised I was really going to do this. Another thing to know about me is I don't like to be alone, I never eat alone and would never go to a movie alone so becoming a solo world traveller was a huge deal for me. When I told my friends I knew I was committed I'd never live it down if I backed out. My trip plans and life then turned into a runaway roller-coaster I worked every bit of overtime offered, I spent my nights researching places to see overseas but I did still manage to find time to dance. In the weeks leading up to my departure it was a whirlwind of farewell and Christmas parties and a constantly growing to-do list: sell car, rent out flat, gets visas, pack life into box and close the door on it all. The first of December was D-day my life was reduced to a backpack and a series of plane tickets. My mum saw me off at the airport, I expected tears but she stayed strong I on the other hand was reduced to a blubbering mess and had to fight the compulsion to latch on to her leg and assume the foetal position. Too soon the boarding call sounded and before I knew it I kissed mum goodbye and passed through the door destination- South America, destiny- unknown.
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