The Most Isolated Continent

After spending 10 days being a lump in San Diego, I packed my bags again and began the (very) long journey to my next destination: Australia.

I’d spent hours in the spring pouring over places I wanted to go, until I found a great deal on multicity tickets from Tokyo to LA to Sydney and back. It would have been foolish to pass them up. It was probably the proudest moment of my Deal Seeking life!

So, I jetted off to the land of marsupials, monotremes, sunshine and red dirt.

First stop: Sydney!

My first impression was that the city was strangely reminiscent of San Diego. At first I found this a little disappointing, but by the time I moved on a few days later I had come to see the differences.

The people, oh the people. Maybe I was more outgoing because this was my first trip flying completely solo, but I expect that Australians, in general, are just plain friendlier than most people I’ve met on my travels.

This guy has a pretty good...Koality of life!

The customs officers gave me recommendations on where to get a taste of kangaroo (Kangaroo Pizza at the Australian Hotel, by the way, was fabulous!), and which areas to go to and avoid. The waitress at a café near my hostel and I chatted for a good 15 minutes about Japan and how she used to work there. A lovely couple at a restaurant struck up a conversation with me and were awestruck that I was traveling alone, and then looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my forehead when I told them the next stop on my trip was the tablelands of New South Wales. That’s like the equivalent of showing up in LA as a first timer and then saying you’re looking forward to going to Montana.

And that was just in Sydney.

My kangaroo pizza. Delicious, but extortionate.

I enjoyed the feel of the city, but it was incredibly expensive! A bottle of water cost $3 wherever I looked. Cafes and restaurants, while delicious, were pricey as well. I ended up making a few meals at the hostel, which turned out to be a blessing since I was then socializing with other travelers, several of whom I connected to really well.

Of course I saw the tourist sites! The Sydney Opera House was massive and beautiful. The Australian museum was informative and I geeked out for several hours there. The aquarium and mini-zoo next door were both entertaining and well maintained. I’m still upset that the platypus was too shy to make an appearance in her exhibit though. My entire vacation would have been platyperfect if I had seen a live platypus! I made sure to go to a beach as well, as no trip to Australia would be complete without seeing some surfers and waves.

I walked so much. Tokyo gave me a good practice run.

Just keep swi-er, walking. Walk those Sydney streets!

By the time I needed to leave Sydney, I was torn. I wanted to move on and see my friend J, but I didn’t want to leave my new hostel friends. And there was still so much left to experience in the city.

I was once told that it’s wiser to leave a place when you still feel like it’s too soon than to end up wishing you had left earlier. Those feelings make you want to come back. And go back I shall, one day.

Flying: Much safer than the shortcut at Satan's Ridge and Suicide Trail

Next stop, the boonies of New South Wales!

We gonna shine

The 10 best things about going “home” to San Diego for the summer holidays.

 

1.    Realizing just how much stuff I’ve come to live without. Don’t get me wrong, my room was pretty Spartan, but it was full of old mementos and photos and miscellaneous knickknacks that I wasn’t really attached to anymore. My book collection, however, was begging to be stuffed into my suitcase and carted back to Japan!

My beautiful, neurotic, annoying princess of a cat.

2.    Getting to spend time with my kitty. I got her when I was 8 years old, so she’s getting up in years and the months leading up to my departure were touch and go for her health. I’m proud to report that aside from irritating my parents by becoming their 5 am alarm clock, she’s doing well.

3.    Perspective. It’s amazing how refreshed one can feel by simply removing yourself from a situation that was laced with unhappiness.

4.    Extraordinary Desserts and extraordinary friends. Seriously, how can you be mopey with cake, coffee and people whose Quarter-Life Crisis party is going to be a ball to plan (and attend!)

5.    Simply hanging out. I could sprawl across the couch, flop on the grass in the lawn, or eat cheetohs and drink slurpees at 1 am without a care in the world. It’s not what we were doing that was important, but the fact that we were together.

6.    Seeing my pseudo-children. I started babysitting them when they were roughly 6 months and 2 years old; they’re now 8 and 10. Watching them grow, even from a distance, has been a beautiful and satisfying experience. If I’m anything like their parents if and when I have children, I will consider myself blessed.

7.    Horse riding. It is my therapy, plain and simple.

8.    Surprising my parents and my big sis. They were all expecting me home a week after I actually landed. Thankfully I had some awesome friends who were in on it and helped me randomly show up. 

 

9.    Mexican food. Japan, you don’t know what you’re missing without burritos in your life. C’mon, you like portable food! You like stuffing unidentifiable food insider other foods. YOU WERE MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

 

10.  Love. Family, friends, pets, and even my friendly dental hygienist made it a wonderful, healing, introspective vacation.