For eight months now, I have called Australia my home. Since arriving in this vast country, I haven’t left. With the exception of a five thousand kilometre road trip from Carnarvon to Darwin, I have barely moved. And one thing that I find about this country is that it is awfully far away from the place I once called home – England.
When you sit at home (or somewhere familiar), dreaming of far off places, you dream of all the new experiences that await you. What you don’t dream about is the fact that you will be thousands of miles from everything and everyone you have ever known. After another year away from England, I am feeling this (once again).
I first felt this feeling when I was teaching English in South Korea. I lived there for a full year, during which time I had neither the vacation nor finance to return to England. When I finished my year, I flew straight back to England, knowing full well that I would soon be leaving again. Instead of venturing over oceans as before, I travelled into Europe, hitchhiking. Within the first months of leaving, my mother and brother came to visit me in Italy. We had three beautiful days of swimming, bike riding, and eating in glorious sunshine.
A few months later, my father, brother, and brother’s girlfriend came out to Croatia where we spent a fun filled week in beautiful places. Croatia is a short flight from England (ish), but the amazing thing was that my father (who hates flying) drove out to see me. He actually drove from England to Croatia because Europe is that small! We went to beaches, walked through ruins, and bought funky cheese from old ladies on the side of the road. You cannot drive from England to Australia very easily.
A couple of years later, my brothers were heading to Croatia for a festival and we were able to meet in Europe once more. The world is a very small place, but when there is the expense of flying across half the world, it starts to seem rather big. I am not in Croatia anymore.
I have until February before my visa expires, but when it does, I have the idea that I will return to Europe and find a way to be more fluid in my motions, visiting people when I want to see them, not feeling a whole world away.
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