Taking a Trip Down Under: Part One

Getting down here was a journey—literally and figuratively. This last minute trip was not only the best trip of my life thus far, but it brought me the biggest joy of my life.

Having been to Australia before on my high school senior trip in 2012, I was not looking forward to the 20+ hour long journey from Paris to Sydney. The two things I kept reminding myself on my way to the airport were: stay hydrated and moisturize your face. I successfully landed in Sydney and was GLOWING (for the first time ever maybe).

Seriously everyone: moisturize your face during air travel. Honestly, just moisturize your face while traveling. Period. You will thank yourself.

Here is a photo of an Australian friend, Gen, (left) and me at Coogee Beach straight from the airport:

Getting back to where I was about the figurative “journey” of traveling to Australia:

When I booked my tickets to Australia in June 2017, I booked them impulsively and out of spite. Let me explain a bit. I was dating a French man for a year at that point and had invited him to come home to the US with me for 3 weeks. He avoided the subject for months. I was naïve and thought despite his hesitation, he was very serious about our relationship. Eventually, I became fed up and told him he had 3 more days to make a decision. The next day he told me, “I am afraid if I come home with you, that will mean our relationship is serious.” I bought my tickets to Australia that night. He was very upset the next day. He told me that he wanted to go to New York after all. Dommage, loser.

At the time, I was working as a jeune fille au pair for a family with 2 little boys (soon-to-be 3). They brought me with them to the eastern coast of Italy to a village called Loreto. I was to stay there with them for 4 weeks and then head off to Sydney. My ex-boyfriend and I were still dating, even after the whole New York thing, (if you are rolling your eyes, don’t worry, I understand), and we were not going to see each other for 7 weeks. The week before my flight to Sydney, my ex had invited me to go to the south of France to join him and his family on vacation. This was risky for me to ask the family I work for to leave early, as I was already taking 3 weeks off to go to Australia. Nevertheless, I asked the family and they took a night to think it over. Once they gave me the approval, I booked the most over-priced flight from Ancona, Italy to Aix-en-Provence, France for the following morning.

That night, everything about my life changed.

Will fill you in next time.

Katherine