A Solo Travellers Mind

After my travels around Victoria I headed back to Newcastle to work and stay at a friends of a few days, but with absolutely no plan of what I was going to be doing for the next few weeks (or months) I was quite lost. I was staying with a friend called Jo, who was housing sitting for their friend (a mouthful i know), however she would only be staying there for another week and then homelessness was looming in on me. I had options of course, at the time I was holding out for a work contract to come up (the ones where I end up living in the middle of no where for a while), and if that failed (which it did), my option was to go and live in the hostel in till I sorted my plans out. However, Jo is a women of many talents, and one of those talents is knowing the right people at the right time, and she happened to have a friend, with an empty apartment at Newcastle Beach, and after making some enquires it was arranged that I would move in. Renting on a week by week basis (giving the apartment back at times, it was needed), but ultimately, I could stay there, work at the hospital in Newcastle and just plod along with life. On the Wednesday I moved in, and to say my initial reaction was overwhelmed would be somewhat of an understatement. It’s one of those apartments that everyone says “oh to be rich” when they see them, and yet somehow I was now living in it? The place was small but spacious, with the balcony looking out over the beach, in the centre of the city, next door to the hostel and my friends AND had a gym/spa in the facility to use… It was kinda crazy lol. I could stay there for 2 weeks initially, then I’d bunk at the hostel for a few days while family came to use the apartment, and then I could move back in. A wonderful deal if you ask me.

I spent the first week in the flat kinda living in la la land, I’d go to work and return to this lovely place I was now calling home, cook dinner, go to the gym, watch the sunset over the beach, use the spa. I was living! On some days off, Michael came to see the place, we headed on some adventures, one being going on the Toboggan ride nearby. If you’re unaware of what a toboggan is, google it. They are really fun. We checked out some cool view points, I introduced Michael to the world of Pho and Bi Minh’s (the peak of Vietnamese food), which he unfortunately did not appreciate as much as what I’d have liked but not everyone can have superior taste buds like mine. I saw my friends, and we spent days at the beach, swimming in the sea and watching the fish ride the waves. It was nice.

On my second week in the flat, I was feeling a bit more secluded. It’s a bizarre concept that luck can bring you this wonderful new house, which you’d absolutely have never been able to live in if it wasn’t for your friend, and yet once the initial buzz of living in this lovely home dies down you can feel at a bit at a loss. The only time I’ve ever lived alone was during lockdown. In March, when lockdown began, my friends all left Leeds and went home, I made the choice to stay in Leeds and work, and from then in till June, it was just me in the house. From this experience, I thought I enjoyed living alone, but lockdown wasn’t really real. At that time I was working most days, and in the evenings everyone, friends, family and neighbour all made a conscious effort to talk to each on the phone, to video call as a group and play games, or to have a chat over the fence. Lockdown was in no means a pleasant experience for most people, but I believe now that it did create a huge sense of community both in person and online. I think I anticipated still feeling this sense of community again. This doesn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying my time. I just needed to adjust my standards back to today’s reality. So, my evenings were spent skateboarding as the sunset on the pier, gym sessions, hikes through the national park and the occasional spa (when it wasn’t closed for maintenance) and seeing my friends who conveniently lived next door! I did realise during this time that i truly missed my skateboard. There’s nothing quite like listening to your favourite song as you glide down the pier watching the sunset on the ocean. It’s a pretty fantastic feeling.

For a week, I moved back into the hostel. This was an agreement already in place when i moved into the flat. My week in the hostel was nice, with my Saturday spent at work in the morning, before spending the rest of my time at the beach with friends. That evening, we went out to a few bars before Claire and I headed home as I had an exciting morning to follow. On Sunday, I ran the Hill to Harbour marathon (it wasn’t the distance of a marathon through!). I hadn’t trained for the event, really, but it was a New Year’s resolution, so I took the plunge and signed up anyway. I surprised myself a lot on the run. It was super fun, and I didn’t experience my normal mental block, which happens at around 5km. Instead, I stayed consistent, didn’t stop throughout, and finished the race in 1hr 16 minutes. It was a pretty impressive time considering not all that much training occurred. Claire came to cheer me on halfway through and got some cool mid action shots for me as well! The rest of the day was spent swimming at the bogey hole, watching the sunset with friends, and then having a family dinner of lasagne and cookies! It was a truly marvellous weekend. That weekend, I also organised a contact for a month in a new location. Meaning I would be leaving Newcastle, and would be saying goodbye to my friends for good, as most of them will return home this month!

It was fun to be back in Newcastle for a short while again, and catching up with everyone. I imagine I’ll return at some point. But for now, a change of scenery is definitely what is needed!