A Solo Travellers Mind

My flight back to Sydney was post nightshift. So it’s fair to say I was a sleepy human being. My flight was fully booked, and the rural planes are absolutely tiny, which meant unfortunately some luggage wasn’t going to fit on the plane. I volunteered by luggage to be left behind, with the logic that realistically, I probably didn’t need my stuff as much as some of the holiday makers. Luckily, Rex airlines are incredibly organised (minus the over full plane), and they transferred my luggage across to me that evening and hand delivered it to my friend’s door. If anything, I got the better deal because I didn’t have to cart my luggage across Sydney post flight! For my week of unemployment, I stayed at my friend Sarp’s house, with his other housemates. I am incredibly lucky to have such good friends who don’t mind me intruding and coming to crash for some time when in between work. My first day wasn’t spent doing much at all, I stayed up all day in hope I could re-organise my sleep pattern ASAP (this did not work), and just spent the day being a lazy soul. Preserving my energy like a hibernating animal.

Tuesday was a fun filled day, with me catching up with an old friend from England who I’d not seen in about 9 years! They’d flown over to Australia for an event with their own friends, and we both just happened to be in Sydney this week. So we took the opportunity for a good catch-up and some time to reminisce about life. I think it’s nice to catch up with people from a totally different time in your life and reflect on the growth that has taken place. We spent our day doing some touristy activities, and having a few drinks with card games. It was a wholesome time.

Wednesday was a bit more relaxed, with the morning spent asleep (the sleeping pattern was still to be reorganised), and the afternoon was spent finishing some writing for a friend. The evening was fun filled, heading out to meet Sarp and his college friends for some chit-chat at the pub. As much as I disliked living in Sydney, I think it’s nice to be able to come back and still feel part of a community. I still think central Sydney is far too busy for me to ever enjoy long term, but in short bursts it’s nice to mingle with everyone.

Thursday was a day of organisation, with two contract offers with a start date of the following week I had to make a choice on which to take. It was a toss-up between a set in stone contract with my current agency, in far west NSW, in a smaller facility. Or waiting for confirmation from a new agency I had joined to return to the Batemans Bay Area. As much as I’d have loved to go back to Batemans Bay, I ultimately needed a 6 week contract pronto, so choose to go live in the outback! We shall see what that brings…

Friday was a very busy day. I ended up picking up a shift at a hospital in Sydney, so I spent my morning working back in the hospital. It’s always good to go back to the hospital after an aged care contract to stay familiar with the coming and goings of hospital work. The evening was another fun filled one, meeting up with my friend Josh. We headed out to a gig to see a band who we are now making a habit of watching! We watched two acts in total, both small Australian artists, and both very talented. It’s nice to get to listen to up and coming talent and enjoy the atmosphere of live music! The evening continued post gig, as we headed to a pub near by, many drinks were consumed and lots of giggles were had before heading home to crash out ready to experience my first hangover in over a year!

I’d quit the booze about a year ago for a variety of reasons, and over the last couple of months, it’s been reintroduced to my social life. I feel I’m now at a point where I can go and enjoy drinks with friends without all the negative effects I was experiencing a few years ago. It definitely goes to show that sometimes in life removing something and giving yourself room to grow allows you to then truely enjoy this when it’s reintroduced, rather than just doing something because it’s the social norm and not really enjoying it.

There was no time to suffer from the hangover, though, as Saturday was another busy one. I met my friend Claire, who was also in Sydney for a short stint of time. Our original plan was to go and do the Spit bridge to Manly walk, however the weather had other ideas, so we opted for walking around the harbour, and chatting in a cave putting the world to rights. The evening came to close over a pint and some loaded fries before a cold and wet pair headed home to defrost. The Australian winter is going to be a harsh one!

Sunday was a huge admin day. Prepping to head out on contract the next day, as well as booking my travel trips for the next few months! My family would be flying out to Thailand in November, where we’d be meeting halfway to spend some time together before I began my next adventures across the world. So many flights were purchased. I also put the wheels in motion for my trip around WA and NT. Plans had changed, and I would now be embarking on the trip solo again, so I would be going back to plan one and joining a shared hire vehicle type situation. You basically hire a vehicle for 5 weeks with a group of strangers and travel across the country together, a cheap and perfect way of travel for my non driving self.  I’m very excited to see what the rest of this year brings! Sunday came to a close with my and Sarp baking brownies before an early night in prep for the weeks ahead!