“Detour” (Day 14)

So, you’re going to laugh…

Guess what happened? A co-worker side swiped me and quit and is leaving before I am, which means that today my boss asked me if I would extend my stay YET AGAIN for another week or two.

I know, hilarious. This god-forsaken town is like a magnet and these annoying people are like… family. I immediately texted my Melbourne bestie to run it by him, of course he said leave. He’s been saying leave for weeks. At least he knows me well enough to say “if you need the cash there’s nothing I can say to change your mind.” And ain’t that the truth. With or without the cash. I play this funny little game where I ask for people’s advice and then do whatever I want to do anyway. My mother hates it.

But it’s true that I will do what I find to be best. To be perfectly honest I am so easily lured by the promise of money these days for 2 reasons – 1) When you travel, honestly you can never have enough money and 2) I’ve never saved up this much money so fast and the more I have the more I can do.

I got some disappointing news from New Zealand the other day – I applied too early for my visa it seems and the entry date is non-negotiable. Meaning I have to enter NZ before July 15th, 2015 otherwise my work holiday visa opportunity will expire. I really have my heart set on going to NZ to work, so that means that after Asia I have to make a quick visa entry trip to NZ. As one does…

Because I psycho-ly planned my 2015 already, I had planned and hoped I could go in November instead of July. However, that’s alright. Plenty of great things are happening so we’ll examine that road when we get closer to it. This is why money comes in handy. Flights around the world are expensive and it’s good to have a little extra for change of plans.

So my new Australia plan is this : work here until just after Christmas, go to Uluru for a few days then fly to Melbourne for New Year’s eve and the first week of January. Then I’ll do some east coasting or Tasmania-ing and be back for the last week or two of January to have a very saddened “I didn’t have enough time” send off from my new found friends.

I certainly didn’t intend to stay here for all 6 months of my working visa eligibility. I was hoping and thinking and planning to save up thousands of dollars in 3 months then high-tailing it to the coast for cocktails before sunset. Well, that didn’t happen. I’ll be lucky to walk out of here with 8 grand after 6 months. Still, not bad. Wayyyy more than I had when I came to Oz. About $5,000 more. Not too shabby.

My Melbourne bestie is worried I won’t see everything I want to see here in Australia. I was so un-sure of what kind of experience I wanted before coming here. Thinking I would stay in Melbourne the whole time and venture out here and there to see different parts. BUT, when I got to Melbourne for the first time it just didn’t click with what I had pre-imagined in my head. That’s what led me to leave. I had to go searching.

Now that I’ve literally lived in the middle of nowhere, outback, bush, desert for what will be 6 months by the end of it, Melbourne will be well welcomed. I will see the progressive Australian city in a new light. Even the coast full of young 20 something backpackers will be an experience to have. The experience of living here in this small, dusty town is one a person could not replicate if they tried.

For the rest of my life when anyone mentions the outback I will laugh to myself and say “Oh, I know the outback.” I will be flooded with a gush of memories which are good, bad, unbelievable, ridiculous and one of a kind.

I will be able to recall a loving group of Sri Lankans that show their love by teasing and making fun, a sexist Australian boss, a flighty kiwi manager, a fiery kiwi bestie and hundreds of Aussie travelers that asked me the weirdest questions and told me the weirdest stories.

I can’t imagine getting much more out of a year in Australia than that. Then you throw on top all the amazing people I’ve met along the way and the coolest group of beautiful souls I will be hanging out with when I get back to Melbourne and all I can say is this girl has got it made.

As I told Brett… “even if I come to Melbourne tomorrow, when I leave on the 31st of January it will still feel like it wasn’t enough time.” Because truthfully, it never is enough. There can never be enough of the good stuff. Which is why it is so, so good… because it is so, so temporary.

Needless to say, I’m feeling better and feel like my head is back in the space I like it best in. Lots of suggestions on the cause of my weird illness, but I’m afraid it may even come down to dehydration and possible over thinking. I really wanted to blame it on Veganism, because I really want some meat and dairy. I’m not craving the taste of it just the idea of it. You know like when you split from an annoying boyfriend and you don’t actually want HIM back in your life, just the cuddles.

I miss cheese cuddles is what I’m trying to say. Nacho cheese cuddles. Quesadilla cheese cuddles. Cheese-cake cuddles… with Blanch, Rose, Dorothy and Sophia. (Golden Girls) I don’t think I will be vegan after this challenge. I had another chat with a guest tonight about Paleo and that being a “lifestyle” I completely got into and believed in. I haven’t quite been assured this is ideal.

But, I’m enjoying reading about it almost daily and getting a new perspective and of course, the challenge of trying something so foreign. So now, it’s off to do the push-ups and to meditate and call it a night.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Could be anything….