After
finishing
high school I was not ready for further study, and I had the urge to
travel. So, I spent my summer working to save money for my next
adventure. My friend and I packed our bags and headed to Nepal, India
and Thailand. Sometimes we travelled together and sometimes apart; it
was nice to have that security of a friend but also nice to explore
independently. After travelling, I was low on funds and thus chose to
work at a summer camp in the USA.
So,
what did I
learn? A lot! From simple things such as what not to take
travelling to aspirations to work in a 3rd world country. In
terms of travel the main thing I discovered was that I wasn’t
a
backpacker – I usually didn’t like to move on
because
becoming friends with the locals meant that you had so much knowledge
at your finger tips and there was always more to uncover. I hated
saying goodbye to new friends and this has changed the way I travel for
ever.
During
University
With
dreams of
more travel my next challenge was to make it happen during university.
In Australia you choose your degree from day one, and mine was not the
most flexible one to do an exchange with ( a degree in Outdoor
Education and Psychology). But my friend and I both wanted to
experience another university. It hadn’t been done before
with
our degree and it took a lot of persuasion, harassing professors and
researching a way to make it work without much money and without
extending our time at university. As a result I managed to
get
paid to go on exchange!. My only choice of university to make
it
affordable was in Oregon, USA which at first I was dissappointed
about...but it turned out to be one of the best years of my life. A six
month exchange turned into a year.
I
was also in
need of money so my friend got me a job at a summer camp in the USA.
This place was amazing and allowed me to live comfortably while on
exchange. While there, I became inspired to become a group leader for
their travel programs. The only problem was I was 21 and you
needed to be 24. Thus I set about designing a program for
teenagers to go to Australia. For two years I led this trip and got paid
to travel the east coast of Australia with a great bunch of teenagers,
doing things like scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef and sea kayaking
around Fraser Island.
After
University
I
had to get
the bug out of my system and decided to travel till I was 100% ready to
return home. I sold my car and I found myself a volunteer job
as
a group leader in Costa Rica. I spent an amazing 3.5 months working in
San Jose and on an indigenous reservation. It has sparked a passion to
work with Australian indigenous when I eventually return home. Since
then I have visited and travelled with friends in Central America and I
am currently studying Spanish in Guatemala.
Where
is the
next year taking me? I have work again (leading kids on a trip to
Russia) to fund the next part of my journey. Who knows where life will
take me...but I am not too worried because I am positive I will enjoy
the experiences along the way. I have post graduate university studies
awaiting me at home...but not until I am ready!
