Summer Twice This Year

Remember that feeling when you finally stepped off the plane, onto firm ground again. Home to where you have been dreaming about for months. Every inch of your body filling up with excitement of what this adventure will bring. Will it be freedom, happiest, enlightenment or even love. Travelling is addictive, whether this is your first trip or you’ve been travelling the world for years, you know this is going to be one of the best decisions of your life.

As the plane descended into Sydney Airport through the usual lump of clouds, staring out the window waiting for my first glimpse of Sydney and I got so much more than i expected. The bright blue harbour with hundreds of boats and the remarkable landmarks, the Opera house and Harbour Bridge, jumped into the window and from the most incredible height, it killed me that we could not have electrical devices on to take a photograph. I dont know about you guys but i couldn’t sleep a wink for the whole 26 hours of my journey, due to my excitement refusing to settle down. Luckily for my fellow passengers they didn’t have to endure it, my friends waiting at arrivals for that matter had no such luck. They knew exactly what i needed after a long haul flight, a nice cold beer as soon as i walked into a house party at 10am in the morning. Not a bad start, followed by many more and a trip into the city to the Opera Bar. If you haven’t been there, i urge you, it’s the perfect setting for drinks on warm summer day. I had what felt like a permanent grin on my face, the first day was like a dream and with no sleep and jet lag the pure joy kept me going another 15 hours.

I had decided to do a working holiday visa back in October 2010 during my last year of university. I was planning a 18 month trip starting off in South East Asia for the first 6 months and ending in Australia for the following year. I did stick to my plan, kind of, but by the time I had arrived in Laos which was 4 months into my trip I realised I didn’t have enough money. I went back home to England and Australia was just put on the shelf of all the places I want to visit.

So I moved on with life, with travelling always in the back in my mind but my career was the forefront of importance. I moved to London to persuade a career in Graphic Design, I started a job in a publishing company for Business and Finance magazines. The first four months of my time there felt tough, moving to the city with no friends, except for two Australian guys i met in China. After meeting them, followed by one of their friends, who is now one of my best friends, the thought of moving to Australia became extremely more appealing and realistic. Why not, still young and if i do it now it wont affect my chances of getting into the industry. The idea got back into my head and as of April 2013 i was saving to move to Sydney.

I landed in Sydney on the 26th December (sitting on a plane over the Christmas festivities), so I’ve had a good number of weeks to adjust. First of all as i said in the beginning i loved the city, but the harsh reality of missing family and making somewhere else my home quickly settled in. I became homesick and frustrated that I wasn’t able to move around the country like my other travelling experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I had the best support around with amazing people willing to help me through my transition, people that hardly knew me for that matter. Now looking back at this time, want to give myself a good shake and stop being the stereotypical British moaner.

Sydney is a beautiful city, with beaches that will take your breath away and suburbs that are intensely diverse. Imagine what beauty there is to discover, that other tourists who only have a couple of days to explore miss. Personally I want to make it my mission to see as much as possible and report back to you. If I’m not a backpacker, rather a Sydneysider with a working holiday visa, its time to step out of the norm and have a different perspective.

These first 2 months have been exciting, going to numerous events that are packed full of friendly faces. Im still at the beginning of my journey, with already thinking of doing my farm work to stay for the full two years I’ve got a long time to explore the charm Australia has over the rest of the world. First working experience is yet to come, but I do have an opportunity to work in a cafe near Mascot serving mainly truckers. Can feel its going to be interesting place to do my working holiday job.