Where else have I been in the big, wide world…

Where else have you been Mel? Why did you wait this long to travel? Why now?

The only place I have ever been overseas is Bali. I didn’t enjoy it very much, way too hot and touristy for me. Plus if I want to get drunk and run around like an idiot I will do it in my own country which has a decent hospital system thanks!

I have travelled a fair bit around Australia. One of my favourite places is Canberra, my best friend lives there so I have visited a lot in the last 18 months. As a P&L/History teacher I find all the national exhibits and places to visit in our nation’s capital fascinating. Question time at Parliament House has been a highlight three times so far, not to mention the Australian War Memorial. Some of the places I’ve been around Australia include:

So why did I swap from exploring places in Australia to overseas? Previously I had no interest in travel at all. Anywhere. Not even my own state. After being sick for awhile and slowly getting better, I was only working part time so was able to plan more trips interstate and weekends away. The idea of travel and independence gradually became less scary and more exciting. Not to mention the inarguable fact that seeing awesome sights becomes a lot more appealing when you have faced the possibility of never getting the chance!

After awhile I started itching to explore some of the places you see in photos. You know the ones I mean, where people are posing cheesily in front of amazing landscapes or monuments. Other friends international holiday snaps began to inspire jealousy and *I really wanna go there* sentiments which had never happened before! What was wrong with me? Oh no, it’s the travel bug!

I was a goner.

As a side note, the budgeting for this trip has been insane. I still only work part time (my choice) and have basically had no social life for 9 months as I save my butt off! Contiki was great as they had a payment plan so I took 4 months to pay the trip cost of $3200 and have scrimped and saved since then to get together as much spending money as possible. With 3 weeks and 4 days to go, I am confident I have saved enough to cover essential spending money, extra for fun stuff, back up money for emergencies and all the bills back home since I don’t get paid while on leave (the down side to casual/self employment).

Hooray!

Photo from Bali trip, 2010 (yes, I was distinctly chubbier then)