Hello everyone!

I have been home for a week now and loving it. At first there were some strange moments (I kept thinking I was in Australia) but now I am getting use to it. After a few days here I set up my new house with my boyfriend, was able to get together with family over the 4^th of July, and relax. Today is even my first day back to work! Overall its great being home.

I would like to say thanks for reading my blog over all this time; sorry if it was a bit boring at times. I did my best. I do hope that it has helped some out there about their worries about studying abroad and have gotten people excited about traveling. Its been a great trip, thank you all for going through it with me. Happy travels everyone.

Well world, it is my last day in Australia. Currently it is 12:53 am and I am reflecting on my time here and the more I think about it, the sadder I get. My time here is indescribable and the people I have met have forever changed my life. I am not looking forward to goodbyes since I’ve never been great at it. Usually it’s always been “I’ll see you later” even if it would be half a year; however, in this case, I’m not sure if I’ll ever see these people again. I can’t wait to go home and be in my family, friends, and boyfriend’s arms but thinking that I will never see some people, like my wonderful roommate, is very hard. Overall, it’s very bittersweet. Packing is pretty much done, now I need to clean and take out the trash, little things like that. Then, I’m off to say goodbye.

I’m still not positive when my last will be, I’m assuming when I get home, so I will post again then. Till then happy travels everyone.

I’m reviewing the pictures, reading over my journal, and talking to friends yet I still have a lot of mixed feelings about going home. Overall, that seems to be the norm.

On one hand I can not wait to see my friends and family again. I want to live in my new house, experience my last year in college, and have an amazing summer with my boyfriend. On the other hand its weird to think that some of the people that you’ve met and spent so much time getting to know, you never see again. Yes there is facebook (and I encourage everyone, if you don’t have one, to use it while abroad) but it’s never the same vs. actually being able to hang out with your abroad friends. The jokes that you shared wont be the same as you try to explain them to friends, and all you have left are your memories and pictures.

I think reality will hit me when I’m actually on the plane. I thought it would when I packed; however, I am already half packed and I still felt kind of lost in the mist of it all. In a half an hour it will be midnight and that means I will have 6 days left before I leave the wonderful Sunshine Coast.

As for plans for my week I am doing some of my favorite activities: the zoo, going to one of the largest markets in Australia (The Eumundi Marktes), and of course going to goodbye parties. I will update as much as possible as I believe this may be my last week for my blog (I’m not exactly positive when I’m suppose to stop updating). Until then happy travels everyone.

Well I’m bored so I figured I’d update.

Melbourne was AWESOME! I recommend everyone going there. There was plenty to do, even in the cold rainy weather, transportation was easy enough to understand (they have a wonderful tram system there), and some great wine bars. I believe I had such a wonderful time because of the company I kept; however, I still believe it is a city worth seeing if you are going to be in Australia. It is nothing like Sydney which is much more modern and to me was really trying to be like New York, but just couldn’t. Instead, Melbourne had a wonderful charming old school feel with beautiful architecture. The people in Melbourne were easily the nicest people here in Australia that I have ever met. When we were lost, all we had to do was pull out a map to look where we were going and someone would come up and offer us help. Not only are they helpful they really did know what they were talking about

One main tip:

Visit the Queen Victoria Markets – this is a huge market area with cheap prices. They sell touristy stuff as well as fresh produce. Also it is a good area to catch food with a local food court right in the area. It is beautiful there and very worthy of visitors.

Currently it is Tuesday and since all my friends are off traveling (I’m running a bit low on money to keep traveling) I am here at school alone and very bored. I have been using this time to my advantage since its been so nice and sunny; however, I have started to run out of books to read and night times can get very boring. Boo for that.

Over all I’ve just been reflecting on my time here. Hard to believe that I have less than 2 weeks left! I’m just trying to think of thing I want to do. I’ll update when I figure out what that will be. Happy travels everyone!

Hey everyone, greetings from Australia. As amazing as it is, I only have 22 more days left! Its hard to grasp because at times it went by slowly (like when I always had to do homework) and other times it went by so fast (like when I got to see my best friends and family). But now I’m just trying to do as much as I possibly can.

Tomorrow I am off to Melbourne to meet a friend from my college back home. Emily, the friend, has been studying in New Zealand, and will be here in Australia for a few days! I can not wait for Melbourne, I’ve been really wanting to go there so it worked out really well that we were able to meet up. I will be doing two night and three days with her and her friends. I will defiantly post tips for traveling around Melbourne.

Like I said in my previous post, my two best friends were here for a week visiting. It was by far one of the best weeks I have had here in Australia. There is no doubt in my mind that I have two of the best friends in the world. For their last day here we went to the zoo so they could see the kangaroos; seemed like they really really liked them. They were also able to a night out around the uni because we threw a party to celebrate them coming and the end of the school semester. Also, they really enjoyed their time in Sydney. I’m so glad because I was worried about the rainy weather. However, that just proves you can have a great time even in the rain.

Well I need to finish packing. I will update when I get back from Melbourne, till then happy travels everyone!

Hello all! I am back from my travels and received a surprise of a lifetime. I knew one of my friends was coming to visit me; however, as she was walking out of the international terminal, I saw not only her, but my other best friend! It was by far one of the happiest moments in my life.

The week has been amazing. This past weekend, well for 4 days, we hung around Brisbane and did the markets. We also went to a nightclub called Family with friends. That was an INSANE experience. Since I’m not from a huge city, ive always wanted to go to a big nightclub. Well Family definitely gave me that experience. It is 5 floors, has a lot of different rooms, and was packed. Although we only stayed for a few hours I got the experience I was looking for and we had a blast.

Hanging out with Ash and Kelly (my two best friends) has been amazing and its made my experience here so much better. Now not only will I be able to talk to my mom and aunt about things that they did with me in Australia, I will forever have an amazing memory about my two friends flying here to see me.

Since they wanted to travel they went to Sydney for a day and a night while I am finishing my last day of school. But they will be back tomorrow night because my roommates and I are throwing a party for their visit and to celebrate the last day of classes.

Overall this has been one of the best weeks I’ve had here. I by far have two of the best friends anyone could ever want. Happy travels everyone!

I know that this topic may seem silly to some; however, to others out there, leaving someone you are dating and going abroad can be very very scary (it was for me). But this is not a reason to stay home! A long distance relationship is doable when you’re abroad. Obviously I am speaking from personal experience, so anything I say is from a 4 and a half (or currently 3 and a half month) stand point. But in this post I will give you ideas and tips of how to make a relationship work when going abroad.

The difficult thing for my boyfriend (Josh) and I was worrying we would not be able to talk as much as we are use to. One of the simplest ways to have easy communication is an internet messaging system. For example we use AIM or Windows Messenger, emails, and video chats. Skype is a very popular way of video communication but does use a lot of internet. To fix this we talk through AIM’s video links. Emails are also an easy way to communicate back and forth. Not only is getting the email kind of fun, it’s always a wonderful way to just vent about a bad day. If you can buy a cell phone when you are abroad, look into a plan so you can call internationally. Personally, buying minutes on my phone isn’t expensive and since all my friends here have the same plan we can talk to each other for free. So minutes I buy are strictly for when I call back to the states.

Josh and I were both worried him not understanding about some of the references I would talk about. For example, places I have seen, campus life, even clubs/bars that I go to. The simplest way to solve this is pictures. PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES. Take tons of them! Send them back and forth! It helps to show the other person the people your meeting so when your referencing back and forth they can at least have a clue who you mean! Also when traveling I make small videos on my camera. Not only is this great for the memories down the road it also helps him to see what I’ve seen. These two little gestures can help the person that is home feel not so left behind. It also allows the person who is abroad feel more understood. Either way it works.

GET A WEBCAM – it is cheap and easy to pack but it will become a good friend on those days where you are lonely and miss each other.

I travel a lot and it does make it harder to communicate. However, every city I go to, I will send a postcard home to Josh. This little gesture is nice because 1. Who doesn’t love getting mail? and 2. I’m excited to scrapbook all the postcards when I get home. He loves to get them and sending a 50 cent postcard every now and then will not break the bank.

I know a lot of couples that had both members, one person, are currently, or have gone abroad will tell you is “it’s not easy” and they are correct. You need to have a good communication base to have your relationship last throughout going abroad; however, it is possible! What I’m trying to say is if you are worried about going abroad and swaying back and forth about going or not, do not let being in a relationship hold you back. It is work, but a relationship is work anyways, so you might as well go abroad! I hope this has helped anyone who worries about this topic. Happy travels everyone.

A combination of working every day for hours on papers/projects, mixed with not feeling well, and feeling home sick, has made my past week very stressful.

Currently I am doing as much work as I can so when my best friend visits I don’t have to always be doing home work. My homework list for the last week and a half included: three power points, 2 500 word papers, one 1,500 words paper, one photo project (including printing photos, matting, and making a power point), and getting most of a photo journal. Although I have two of the power points done, the 2 500 word papers complete, and research done for the last power point, I am still very stressed. Although I have time left to do this (about a week) I am still feeling very tense.

However, planning my current trip to Melbourne with my friend is helpful. But, I have learned that hotels and hostels are expensive. Tip to anyone planning a trip in an area you do not know: go to tripadvisor.com and look up the place or area you may stay in. This is a WONDERFUL website a will help so much when planning so you can have a fun and safe time.

Other then homework, I’m starting to feel a bit down from home sickness. It’s been three months here and I’ve been missing a lot of activities back at school. Seeing friends’ pictures and hearing about the excitement has been really really hard. Missing my boyfriend, friends, and family has been really difficult; however, I try to distract myself the only way I know how, by throwing myself into my work.

It hasn’t been all fun and games though; I am starting to get a nice tan from taking two hour breaks at the pool every time I get overly stressed. This allows me to clear my head, tan, and be social.

I should get back to work. I just keep counting down the days till Ash gets here and I can relax! In the long run I know all the work I am doing now will be worth it. Happy travels everyone!

Hello all! I am back from my travels one again!

Seeing my mom and aunt was amazing! We had such a great time and even though we did some things that I’ve already done, it felt really good to show them around and actually know what I was talking about. I was really proud of myself.

Listed are some more activities to do while traveling:

Sydney –

1. The Blue Mountains - The Blue Mountains are roughly two hours away from Sydney so you will need to go on a tour for this; however, it is well worth the trip. Not only is it beautiful, included in the travels is a wonderful lunch at a botanical garden, learning how to throw a boomerang, and learning how to play a digery doo. I was very impressed with myself because I was quite good at throwing the digery doo! It came over half way back to me!
2. Sydney Aquarium – If it’s a rainy day outside, a great thing to do is to head down to the Sydney Aquarium located at Darling Harbor. This is a much better aquarium then Underwater World in Mooloolaba. They have a lot of underwater tunnels which I thought were very impressive.
3. Sydney Ferry Ride – My family and I took a dinner boat ride from the Sydney Harbor to Darling and then all around. At night it is absolutely beautiful to see the bridges and Sydney Opera House lit up. Also the price was not bad and you get a three course meal.
4. Craft Show – Behind the food buildings by the Sydney Bridge is a local craft market area. It is a large impressive show by local artists and not only is it fun, but the prices for fun gifts for yourself or others are not bad at all. The craft market included everything from skin lotions, to food, to glass collectables, and clothing.

Cairns –

1. Saturday Craft Shows – as you can tell I like attending local art and craft shows. I think it’s a great way to spend a few hours in the sun with friends or family. Also its cool to bring home original art pieces or collectables so I highly recommend doing this while traveling. The Cairns Craft Show takes place by the ocean behind the Night Markets during the day from 9 am to 5 pm. Times do change though so talk to any locals or hostel/hotel workers.
2. Night Markets – I just wanted to give a little update about the Night Markets. On my second trip to these market areas I did notice that a lot of the booths are closing down. This is a shame and I really do encourage people to go here. Hopefully they will still be able to operate and more booths will open up.

Brisbane -

1. Craft Show – This show is a bit different for the fact that its by the man made beach located in the heart of the city. Not only is it a great show its also by a lot of restaurants and bars.

Hope all this information helps people or makes them more excited for their upcoming travels.

I am so excited! In 3 days my mom and aunt are coming to visit me in Australia. I will meet them in Sydney, we will then fly to Mooloolaba, Cairns, and Brisbane together. All together I will be traveling for 11 days. I don’t think Ill be able to update; however, if the hotel has internet I’ll try. As always I’ll be writing down tips for everyone so I can update them when I get back!

For a quick update, school is crazy busy. I have a rough draft of a creative story and a photo and environmental science presentations to give this week. As well as trying to make sure homework is done for the days I will be missing while traveling. That is why I haven’t been posting as much. Sorry everyone!!!

All in all, I’ve been a bit streseed trying to balance everything but I will work it out some how. I’m just working overtime!

However, I need to get back to the books. Happy travels everyone and I’ll be sure to update again after I get back!!