It was around a year or so ago that I decided I wanted to go travelling. Or rather, it was around a year ago that I decided I was going to actually make it happen. For years I had dreams of travelling, of seeing the world and experiencing different cultures. Following the break up of a six year relationship and graduating from University I had no real idea of what 'proper' career path I wanted to go down. Where to begin though?
I settled for one of the furthest place possible; Australia. I am not entirely sure why I chose this as my destination, it really was a lucky dip and looking back now I can truly say it was the luckiest dip of my life. Not only have I been to more beautiful places in the past nine months than most people have in an entire lifetime, I have met so many people from different countries, with different cultures and ways of living: Australian, Kiwi, Swedish, German, Irish, French, Israeli, Irish, Welsh, Columbian, Dutch, English, Indian, Canadian, Korean,Taiwan, American, Scottish.. The list goes on. For me I can definitely say that it is the like-minded people who make travelling such a great experience. I have met friends for life and characters who will stick in my mind forever. But for me, the luckiest of all was meeting my match - the one person, that now, I could never imagine living without.
Around two weeks before I flew to Australia, I suddenly had a panic. I was going to the other side of the world, alone, with no real clue of exactly what I wanted to do and why, no idea of where I was going to stay or how I would get there from the airport. Unprepared doesn't even begin to cover it. The phenomenon of technology combined with the revolution of the World Wide Web was my saviour at this point and after punching in a few searches to Google I came across 'OzIntro'. Offering a week of accomodation, various meals, lots of exciting trips and activities with a group of other first time, solo travellers I signed up immediately, this was the beginning of my adventure. Little did I know that this would be the best week of my life in Sydney.
So, on January the 6th 2013 I grabbed my suitcase, yes suitcase! And headed to London Heathrow to catch my flight to the other side of the globe, all alone, not really knowing what to expect.. This is what happened...
