An intermission of sorts

One might think gearing up for goodbye gets easier after watching 6 creatures from my comfort zone return to it one by one… but one would be wrong.

As it turns out, forging somewhat indefinite farewells to the people I’ve happily lived on top of for the past two months remains a pretty emotional feat.

I know, right? Go figure.

I’m sure a nostalgic urge to cry isn’t exactly the reaction Calvin Harris intended when he released ‘Summer’ – but I’ll admit, it’s a small price to pay.

With the pleasure of prime company - I’ve flown, trekked, trained, yachted, shimmied, disastrously dived, scootered (almost successfully) and, at times, stumbled my way through 9 countries and 17 cities in the past 9 weeks.

From bongo-drummed street dancing to make the most of a belated bull-run effort, to group fender-skiing (also aptly described as near-drowning) between Croatian islands in The Adriatic, to gut-guided taste tours through Budapest and Barcelona (cheers, TripAdvisor)… It’s safe to say that no bucket list itch has been left unscratched.

For now, my travel train is chilling at a yellow light and gearing up for the second instalment, as I attempt to regain a sense of responsibility and lay some ground work in the city i'll soon call home. 

On the agenda awaits a weekend in Spain, followed by a road trip along the coastline through Portugal and into Morocco... Because reality is totally overrated, anyway. I'd hate to be rude and rush it. 

Teaser: said road trip may involve a night or two in a Yurt - (a traditional home of nomadic Mongolians made out of yak hair, obvs) - but I think that bad boy warrants an entry entirely of his own. 

Until then x 

The prologue

Well hello, old friend. It's been a while.

The past 18 months have been consciously consumed by my need to do some career-buidling in the brilliantly fast-paced world of PR. I can happily say that box has been adequately ticked (for now) and i've set my restless sights elsewhere.

I’m not quite sure what compelled me to peace out from a perfectly respectable standing in the Sunshine State in pursuit of an open-ended and anonymous adventure abroad…

But somewhere in between the nine-to-five people pleasing and nights out that were marked by seemingly mandatory (and far-too-familiar) boozed banter - wanderlust won.

Once the decision was made the shamelessly idealistic Gen-Y within was quick to kick into gear. Notice was given, a UK working visa was sorted and social outings were sacrificed to fund future memories.

I have all this freedom, you see, so I figured it would simply be rude not to exploit it and yolo*** my way through Europe.  

That’s not to say it was a simple ‘catch ya’ upon departure; bidding farewell to my dearest and nearest wasn’t easy. 

Fortunately, there was a screaming infant seated across the aisle on my first flight, whom I could (sort of) share my sorrows with. He was missing his mother’s milk, I was missing my mates… close enough.  The mutual moment of discontent was much appreciated, little man.

And now, we’re commencing our final descent into my next chapter.

First stop, Paris.

***Please note: the use of that acronym as a verb - rather than a two-syllable justification for poor life choices commonly verbalised with a cringe-inducing air of unintelligence - is far more acceptable, in my opinion. Yolo-ing is totally a thing.

Insta-ration

In the words of 'ye, the past couple of weeks have been cray...

And by 'ye I mean that of Kan or Kim, AKA Mister West. 

... no? 

Please accept that poor poetic attempt and shameless Kardashian reference as a testament to my currently compromised sanity. 

Somewhere in between the 5.30am starts, increased caffeine habit and cramming sessions my poor little brain has really suffered.


True to form, my social media activity has increased during this manic period in a mighty fine display of PROcrastination... see what I did there?

Thankfully, the light at the end of my manic tunnel is drawing nearer... and this light has been a very long time coming, friends.

Here are a few inspirational gems, mostly courtesy of Instagram, which have made the ride all the more bearable.

Enjoy x

  

And so it begins...

Ah January, we meet agaian.

Tis’ the month of new beginnings, of promise, and reignited motivation and self assurance that this year, in the infamous words of Rob Schneider – YOU CAN DO IT!

…Whatever “IT” may be.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise for my sporadic posts, team. My editorial internship as the Lifestyle Editor for an award-winning start up has kept me on my toes... but I can't blame it all on that. My silly season was very silly indeed, and, as much as I love writing, sitting behind a computer fell second, third, then fourth to coast trips with the gals, christmas parties and social-gatherings-that-are-really-just-an-excuse-to-pig-out #canigetanamen

Not to mention, time is going faster than a packet of tim-tams does in my household. It feels like yesterday I was saving and organising for operation Americano, and now all of a sudden it's Hola 2013. I adventured my way through the significant part of last year, and learnt a lot along the way. 

The next 365 days... (ok, technically, 347) promise to be pretty significant too. I have been interning up a storm throughout the past 6 months, and am rearing to be released into the big, bad, 'real' world.

As for what happens after that, there are too many alternatives to count. Ah, the thrill of the unknown...

Let's do this, 2013. 

Hello, Spring

As the days get longer and shorts get shorter, we beckon the season that makes Queensland the envy of our neighboring states and a hotspot for fanny-pack donning tourists alike.

That’s right sun-lovers, springtime is here!

Now, in case your parents are Eskimos or you have Thermophobia (read: an abnormally excessive fear of heat) - here are a few splendid things about spring to get you in the mood for the best time of year.

1.     Sunday session season

Day drinking, rooftops at sunset, $4 beers. Sunday sessions are a delightful reminder that the student lifestyle is one worth appreciating, because you can stay and play on a school night. Look out.

2.     Increased attendance

It’s amazing how those 8am starts don’t become so hard to drag yourself to once you don’t have to get up when the sun does, and how much easier it is to stay for that irritatingly necessary late night lecture when you don’t have to shiver all the way from campus to your bus stop.

3.     Improved general health

Instead of holing up in the library to kill time in between classes, you can get your daily dose of Vitamin D by stretching out in the Botanical Gardens… those rays of sunshine might just give you a stroke of genius.

4.     Clothing (pretty much) optional

Ditch the scarves, boots and beanies. Singlets, shorts and thongs are not only accepted – they’re encouraged.

5.     Home stretch

There are officially only 3 weeks left of classes until the end of the semester… This means only a couple of short months before what is quite possibly the best thing about being a student… the three-month summer break.

In my opinion, that’s enough to have all Thermophobics lining up for a sauna.

BRING ON SPRING!

Getting real

So we’ve been back in Brisvegas for a little over a month now, and I think the ol’ settling-back-in process is almost complete.

The first couple of weeks were a bit of a shock to the system, but we didn’t expect anything less. After six months of not working, constantly having another adventure to look forward to, being surrounded by amazing people and eating enough to feed half of America’s obese population (seriously) – reality seemed even further away than home.  

But that bitch really did slap us in the face… As soon as I walked through the arrival gate my charming father laughed as he mused at how “chubby” my cheeks had gotten (cheers big guy). Lucky all those waffle cones and ice-cream sandwiches were worth it!

And in all seriousness, the slap was very short-lived. Catching up with all the lovely people so excited for our return certainly made the transition a lot smoother. Seeing money go in to my bank account instead of only the opposite didn’t hurt, either.

So now it’s back to work, back to uni and back to the real world. Reality has checked us right back in but I’m happy to be home and excited for what’s ahead.

I’ll still be blogging about whatever gets me going so stay tuned, amigos. You can also expect the odd blast from the past; there are a few more cheeky chapters of American adventures to share before we can close that book…

Until then! X