2006: My first solo journey overseas. I remember my parents crying at the airport, which was heartbreaking but completely necessary. For my three months abroad, I worked as a summer camp counsellor at Tripp Lake Camp, Maine then continued travelling for another month to Boston, Miami, Washington D.C., New York, Las Vegas (shame I was only 18),
San Jose, San Francisco back to L.A.2008: Another three months away from home. This time I hopped on a bright, green RV and travelled from the west coast to the east for the documentary series, Roadtrip Nation.
We spent about six weeks on the road, roughing it up. When I mean rough, I mean no pillow, no shower, no aircon. But life is tough so I guess it made the experience all the more real. It was a journey that started in September 2007 and will continue the rest of my life. *tear* (No seriously I did cry a tremendous amount during the whole experience). You should watch the episodes at www.roadtripnation.com/watch and not because I'm in them :-P but for the wisdom and inspiration you might gain. I owe those magical people a lot.
At the end of August, I flew to Santiago, Chile to crash my mate Jayson's bachelor pad in Los Leones. He was studying abroad and will forever remember me as the person who locked him out of his own house at 5a.m. and also the lady who left her bra and pjs in his bed (nothing suss!).
2009: I'm on the road again to Austin, Texas where I'll be an exchange student at the University of Texas (UT) - the Texas Longhorns. And like anything worth doing, it's been no picnic organising this exchange. I'm at the stage where I have booked a flight, received my letter of acceptance, been approved for courses at my home uni (the University of Queensland), had my eyes checked, my teeth cleaned and now just waiting to fly down for my visa interview in spectacular Sydney. Wait! There's something I've missed health forms, insurance, internship...
Right now I'm terrified and transfixed by the idea that I'll be living overseas for more than three months. When people ask me "why Texas?", I figure you'd only really understand if you'd been there. It feels like home in a hot, strange way.
