So this is it, I decided my dream was no longer going to be something pushed to the bottom of an overgrowing pile of worry, lack of confidence and ongoing ‘what if’s’. I’ve never been much of a money spender, but something in the back of my mind has always told me, one day you will go, one day you will get out of England, and travel far and wide, create new experiences, and meet amazing people. But this isn’t achieved in the click of a finger; it requires money, and time. So that’s what I did, I worked and worked, finished my studies, put off going anywhere that involved spending too much money and made the decision that 2016 would be the year for me. The year I would do what I had always wanted to do, and the year my life would be completely different and the year (perhaps) and hopefully I would change and develop for the better.

So, here I am today, shaking in my boots, well, converse to be completely honest with you, but also unable to control the biggest grin on my face every time someone mentions Australia to me, or a member of my group chat of other travelers gives a short and sweet update of the amount of days remaining before we jet off, along with a few additional lines of emoji’s, for the added touch and obviously just to make everyone that little more excited. However I’m still not quite sure what persuaded me to go on a 22 hour flight to the other side of the world, I mean 22 hours!?! Maybe it was the free alcohol included and the fact that by the end of the torturous journey I will be in one of the most beautiful countries (in my eyes anyway) in the world. (I’ll make sure to include an update of whether I still feel this way when I have ridiculously huge bags under my eyes, and barely able to walk because of leg cramps, but hey ho we march on! .. I hope)

One thing I have learnt from this experience before my journey has even actually begun is that life is too short, and time just flies by! I decided to make my travel plans official back in April, and I remember thinking to myself, I have plenty of time to make sure everything is ready and prepare myself for the absolutely life changing experience I am about to have. Argh! How wrong was I?! Turns out it’s now December and I leave in four weeks, and I’m yet to even have my Australian Dollars sorted. As you can tell, prepared is my middle name. However I like to think that my time travelling will be influenced by a quote from Harvey Mackay;

‘Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back’

So the final countdown has begun, just a matter of a few weeks before I am to cram my life into a backpack (but hey its red and rather snazzy) and take on Australia. Am I ready? No. Am I excited? Yes. Will this experience be life changing? Most certainly.

Bring it on.

Keep smiling

gem