In 2014 I took off to Australia to visit all those lovely people I met in Europe. It was also the start of my reverse bucket list. I stopped making a "had to complete" list and started creating a "I can't believe I did that" list.
As previously mentioned, when on a trip to Europe the only people I met were Australian. If you travel a lot you know that this is always the answer. I swear, at any given time there are more Australians outside of Australia than in it. They have a culture to appreciate travel and I absolutely admire it. This did mean that I had the motivation to bump Australia to the top of my travel list in order to see them in their natural habitat.
I boarded the plane in Toronto, slept my way to Vancouver, got off the plane for them to decontaminate it, then slept my way to Melbourne. Have I mentioned I'm really good at sleeping on planes? Like probably too good? I was picked up at the airport by Rachel, who immediately took me to a kangaroo sanctuary. At the end of the day she drove me back to my hostel, but that was the end of having someone with me in Melbourne. The rest of the time I was flying solo.
I didn't have much of a plan for Australia. I was very much in the go with the flow mentality. It was 2014, so my phone wasn't a ton of help, but I was armed with Lonely Planet pocket books. I walked everywhere in Melbourne, I took a cab a few times, but never got on public transit. I walked so much I went 12 km in one way until I hit the ocean. I found St. Kilda's which happens to house penguins. I was completely unaware that Australia even had penguins. It was the greatest delight to find them. I had the realization that if I knew they were there and didn't find them I would have be incredibly disappointed.
It was the first item in my "reverse bucket list". To be added in the city of Melbourne was high tea in the Royal Botanical Gardens, watch rowing on the Yarra river, and to visit their gorgeous library. I spent the 5 days there enjoying my own company, setting my own pace, and not having any expectations for what I would see. It was what formed the travel mentality I've used for the last 8 years. Go with the flow, don't set expectations, and take opportunities as they come to you. I acknowledge that this makes me a terrible travel planner, but I've yet to be upset with a trip so it has its pros and cons.
After Melbourne I flew up to the Gold Coast. There with Jessie and James (yes, we do call them Team Rocket) I got to experience their night life, check out the zoo that the Irwins own, and swim in the ocean. I swam, while 3 very cold Aussies stared at me from the beach, shocked I would dare venture into the water. It was 28C, cold for an Aussie but hot for a Canuck.
Then it was down to see Emma in Newcastle. She picked me up in a dune buggy, and I learned that as long as you're not the driver you can openly drink margaritas in the car. She took me to the wineries, and gave me some well deserved days of just sleeping and reading.
Emma handed me off to Elly in the Blue Mountains. Where we rode in a cable car, and down the worlds steepest railway. These are things I had never heard of, and would never have been on my list. But hanging out with the locals gave me a leg up on most explorers.
The final days everyone met up in Sydney. It was my 24th birthday, and we fit 8 of us in a hotel room meant to sleep 4. I saw the outside of the opera house, and we ventured down to take a glance of Bondi Beach, but other than that we didn't take in the tourist attractions of Sydney. We didn't walk across the bridge, like so many people do. I was okay with that, because my adventure in Sydney was just to take in how lucky I was that I had made these friends, and was able to celebrate across the world. I'm sure if I had a list, there would have been many things I didn't see. I would have been upset of how the timing just didn't work, or I didn't have a budget. Because I was traveling with such low standards and no expectations I had nothing to be upset about. I could do as I pleased, knowing nothing could bring me down. That was the first trip I ever took where I enjoyed every single moment of it, and since then I have made a point of carrying the same go-with-the-flow attitude.
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