Travel 2015 : Australia

Meet me at the Harbour

I'm currently in Australia. This is my fourth time here. The first time was when I was eleven years old. I have a large extended family that resides here, which consists of four cousins are my instant best friends every time we see each other. It feels weird to say the words best friends in my thirties, but there's no other way to explain this relationship.

Four months ago my relationship ended. I could have went anywhere in the world to sort out my feelings about it, but I decided to book a ticket to Australia. My mom joked that I wanted to run to the farthest place on the planet. Maybe she was right. I worked really hard to hold it together. So when it fell apart I couldn't look back at it anymore. I wanted to laugh and smile with reckless abandon again, so I booked a ticket to be with the people who bring this out in me.

I don't know what it is, I just have a strong bond with my family here, and I see them maybe every five to ten years. I've been trying to figure out if it's the easy going nature of Australian culture or just the nature of having relatives that are far away. You want the best moments for the short time you see each other, so you keep the laughs going, find the best stories to tell them, and take the time to appreciate every second of it. I find myself at my happiest when I'm here. I'm currently experiencing overwhelming joy and separation anxiety at the same time. I'm know I'm going to be crying my eyes out when I leave this place.  Life is cruel in that way sometimes, but you have to love hard and be present for the short moments you have.