Those subscribed to my newsletter or follow my Facebook page have already heard the news, but for everyone else out there…
After over a year of constant stress, document chasing, and other administrative bullcrap, my Aussie visa process is finally over.
I have to admit, I’m a bit ambivalent about packing posts. I find them insanely boring to read when they pop up on my RSS feed or on a blog that I regularly follow, but super useful if I’m actually searching on Google for packing tips for an upcoming trip or hike I have planned.
You may have noticed that I quietly phased out my monthly recap posts this year. I loved reflecting on each month of my travels for the two years I spent traveling around Australia and surrounds, but now that I’ve slowed down and established a home base in Sydney, there’s been less to recap on the travel front.
As usual, I didn’t make any concrete New Years resolutions for 2016. That’s why it’s a little funny that it sort of ended up being a year in which I unintentionally experienced a whole lot of new things.
If 2015 was the year of the nomad, then 2016 was definitely the year of the digital nomad.
Rather than aimlessly wandering around Australia for a second year, I decided to travel more slowly so that I actually had time to work and thoroughly enjoy my surroundings.
Nearly two years ago now, my mom dropped me off at the Guilford train station so I could begin the 3+ hour journey to JFK Airport, followed by the 24+ hour journey to Sydney.
So, I originally wrote a long-winded intro to this post while on my flight from Sydney to Manila. Then I devoured Mark Mansons’s new book and decided it was way too whiny and that I should give less f*cks than I let on in it.
“How was your weekend?”, asks every king and queen of Small Talk who happens to engage me in a conversation on a Sunday night or Monday.
Weekends have meant nothing to me since I left the corporate world 1.5 years ago, so I don’t know how to answer this question anymore.
I’m a little weird about birthdays. Some years I let mine pass with nary a frill; others, I use it to justify any and all passing whims and indulge with zero guilt.
2015 was such an incredible year. I spent the entirety of it in Australia, save for a 3-week jaunt to Indonesia. It was a beautiful blend of routine and adventure that saw me settling down anywhere from a few days to a few months at a time, exploring my surroundings and then going on roadtrips and excursions in-between.