How do I begin to explain this crazy, and often overwhelming, adventure I have embarked on? I scribbled some notes in my little black book in hopes of organizing my thoughts, but I’m afraid that they’re just as jumbled on the screen as they are in my head. But here’s my best shot. Here are the lessons I have learned thus far:
Not everything is what you think it is. Entrees sometimes mean appetizers, hotels mean pubs and all of those familiar brands from home are not the same here. There’s also K-Mart and Bi-Lo here, but totally different.
Australians travel more than any other people I’ve met. There’s a Flight Centre office on every corner like Starbucks. While in America the ads on the radio are for sales at Ikea to fill your house with more stuff you don’t need, the ones in Australia offer cheap flights to Fiji.
You’re more likely to meet an Australian abroad than any other nationality, even the local one. I learned that first hand in Croatia, meeting hundreds of Aussies and only one fellow American. I still can’t get into Vegemite toast or beetroot on my burger. And no, the toilets don’t flush the opposite way here.
My budget has been blown, due to the flooding I mentioned and its unexpected expenses, but I stayed for free at many places, so that helped. Things like food cost a lot more, but hostels are about the same. Plus there’s the added cost of going halfsies on petrol. As of a few days ago, I’ve spent about $1,700 since I left the US.
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My month by the numbers
Books read: 5
Do Travel Writers Go to Hell, Thomas Kohnstamm: I had heard about this book before and in all honesty, it didn’t ruin guidebooks for me. It’s all a part of what I already knew about writers. We don’t get paid hardly anything but we’re supposed to produce exceptional work? It was especially funny to read before the Lonely Planet biography Unlikely Destinations (see below).
Me, Myself and Prague, Rachel Weiss: Tommy bought me this book about a 40-something woman from Sydney who picks up her life and moves to her father’s apartment in Prague.
Unlikely Destinations, Tony and Maureen Wheeler: Sammi’s friend Evan QG gave me this book, which turned out to be a signed copy, that he bought for $2 at a used bookstore. I LOVED this book and honestly believe every travelholic should read it, regardless of what you think about Lonely Planet. It talks about their travels and their struggle to go from having 23 cents in their pockets to owning one of the most successful companies in the world.
Vagabonding, Rolf Potts: I bought Sammi this book for Christmas, but knew I needed my own copy. It’s like the travel guru’s guide to this lifestyle I have just become a part of. It has resources on every question you could possibly have about long term travel and pushes you over the edge to go after what you’ve always wanted to do.
The Carrie Diaries, Candice Bushnell: I may or may not have stolen this book from my Adelaide hostel’s book exchange when I ran out of things to read. It was a quick read, but I definitely enjoyed it. Don’t worry, I will put it in the next hostel I stay at!
Beers tasted: 7 – Carlton, Victoria Bitter, Hahns Light, Boags, Melbourne Bitter, Cooper’s Pale Ale, Vale Ale (more on my beer adventures in a future post, but in case you were wondering, Fosters is NOT Australian for beer)
Items gained: 3- a pair of black and white leggings and a long-sleeved black shirt purchased for $25 in Melbourne when I was freezing my butt off, a copy of Me, Myself and Prague given to me by Tommy
Items lost: 5- American cell phone, unlocked cell phone and charger that didn’t work and my copy of Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? that I mailed home, my pocket knife Sammi gave me for Christmas that disappeared somewhere between Melbourne and Apollo Bay
Items crossed off Life List: 4- #1 Walk across 5 major bridges (completed), #13 Visit every continent (partial), #33 Visit assorted list of destinations (partial), #40 Couch Surf (completed)
States/territories visited: 4- New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia
Travel bloggers met: Too many to count! I started off my week in Sydney by paying a visit to the Sydney Travel Tribe and am glad I did because Brooke, Heather, Lauren and countless others have been very helpful in my adjustment as an American in Australia.
I hope to keep up this momentum every month, as I am inching closer and closer to the two year blogaversary of Caroline in the City! Check back next month to see if I’ve successfully landed a job and an apartment to save up for a trip up the coast to Cairns!
Like what you read? You should subscribe to Caroline in the City for your RSS reader of choice. If you want to know more about my Australian adventures, check out these posts:
Adding that book about Lonely Planets founders to my list…and of course, I read The Carrie Diaries. I have read all of Bushnell’s books and I hate to say, but I liked this one the best. She should stick to writing YA. Her “grown-up” books are very blah.
Love hearing about all your adventures!!!
It was so cute. And you could totally see how Carrie turns out the way she does.
Thanks!
Can totally relate to so much of this! Also, all the book recommendations sound great–now if only books weren’t so outrageously expensive in Australia :)
True but I’ve found some cheap books at secondhand stores in Newtown. So far I’ve been stealing books from boyfriend to avoid paying $30 for one.
Looks like you’re staying busy in Oz! How’s the current job search going?
Not terribly well, but I’m taking my RSA course tomorrow to become a bartender so we’ll see!
That’s not a bad start financially for a month but the unexpected sting if the car and weather dramas certainly hurts! The van has done a number on me.
Know what’s next? Nicole is trying to decide whether to live in Melbourne or Sydney to start.
Put a few dollars away to join me in my farewell Oz foodie tour when I get back :-)
Very true. I’m taking my RSA course tomorrow, so hopefully there will be more job prospects. I hope all is well wherever you are! I will definitely be up for the Oz Foodie Tour!
Yay! Glad you’re having a great time! Yes, Australia is a bit like the rest of the world… but in a very different and special way! ;-) What kind of work are you looking for (bartending I see from the comments above?) and where? Not sure where you are now but if I hear of anything I’ll shout.
Yes just got a bartending job in Circular Quay! Definitely enjoying it here in Sydney. I’ve done a bit of traveling, but excited to do more when I save up enough money!
Sounds like you’re having a great trip Caroline. Enjoy this “one month in” post. Looking forward to keeping up with your posts because I’d like to visit Australia sometime in the next year or so.
Thanks! I hope you make it here while I’m here!