life is short and the world is wide…

As long as I could remember, I have always wanted to visit Europe. Of course, my interpretation of Europe was driven by my childhood obsession with films such as The Secret Garden and The Sound of Music. While my friends would dream of traveling to Hawaii, I was longing for the countryside in England and the mountains of Austria. Maybe its because I was raised in a small beach town surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, but I wanted more than another visit to the beach. I wanted diversity, culture, and history.

Enter adulthood, and the freedom to travel. My very first taste of exploring the world was after finishing high school on a trip through Europe. Granted this journey was all too quick to actually grasp the culture completely. The month-long journey through 10 countries only gave me brief exposure, but it was enough to pull me into the grasps of what we call the travel bug. Personally, I don’t see this desire to see the world as something that will ever be fulfilled or complete, rather something that is constantly running through my veins and peeking my curiosity.

After returning from Europe, I felt like a new person. Given the task of picking a university, I chose the farthest from home in Northern California. I also changed my major from Dietetics to International Relations as a result of my trip. Once I graduated, I went straight to work full-time for two years and the urge to ditch the San Francisco bubble took its toll. My friend convinced me to pack my bags and move to Melbourne, Australia.

And that is where the real journey begins….