The End of the Beginning

I have now been in Australia for 8 months, and have loved getting to know the country, people, and myself. As I come to the end of my stay with the lovely family I've been living and working for, I have started to reflect on my time here so far. I've had some lows and high, but I would defiantly say there has been more highs. I've met some fantastic people, made some wonderful friends, and have my Australian family here. I have done more in the past 8 months than the past 5 years, and experienced things that I never thought I would get to do. I've told several people that I like the person I am when I travel better than the person I am at home. I am more adventurous, outgoing, and confident here. My anxiety that I have had, and tried to hide from others, for my whole life has significantly decreased since living here. The hardest part is being away from my family, and watching their lives go on and not being part of it. It's hard living overseas and being an outsider. Not knowing the language, culture, using different words, having an accent, and being so far away from your friends and family. But taking yourself out of that comfort zone of home, you realized a lot about yourself and learn how to adapt. I came to a crossroads where I had to decide if I want to leave after my month of travel around Australia or stay for the remainder of my visa and get another job.

Originally I planed to go home in June. I booked my flight, planned a few trips to California and New York to see friends, and then back to North Carolina. Over the next few weeks I started to get very upset that I was leaving and going back to the states. When people would ask why I was leaving early, I would say I'm not looking forward to going back to America, but I miss my family. I realized that I was making my decision to leave purely based on my family, not taking into consideration the other aspects of my life; social, emotional, occupational, and overall well being.  After some long conversations with several different people, I've decided that I will stay until the end of my visa in September. Will I stay longer? Maybe. At this point I cannot make that decision. However, I do plan to look for a job in my field, and talk to immigration about what my options are. I can't make any decisions until I am living on my own, paying all my own bills, and working a proper 9-5.

It's a bit scary. As most of you know I'm a planner, and I research and plan about a million different scenarios to situations like this, however I do not have the time to do so this time. I will have to hope my karma is good enough so I can find a job and place to live relatively easy once back from my east coast trip. As for now, I'm finishing my last week with the family, packing, and getting ready for a fantastic trip up the east coast of Australia with my bestie.

Bye for now <3