My Brisbane Blog: Pre-Departure #1: 5 days til NZ

Hi there. Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you enjoy the things I have to say about my semester in Australia. A lot of this is for me to be able to look back at all the awesome, strange, and beautiful things I experienced and remember how I felt and what I thought at the time. However, a lot of this is for you- whoever you are- to get a glimpse of my life in during studying abroad.

I want to update my friends and family on the most important parts of my trip, and probably some of the weird and funny things that happen along the way. Experiences like this can be hard to describe to people in person, especially when a lot of time has passed and the memories aren't as fresh. So, I hope you'll continue reading as I spill out the contents of my new life this semester, and I hope this is educational and somewhat entertaining for both of us.

Maybe you've been thinking about traveling or studying abroad, or you're super cool already have way more experience with world travel than I do. Let me know what you think of my writing. I want this to double as a tool for other people to use.

I'll start off by explaining where I'm going.

When I say I'm leaving for Australia, I'm really leaving for New Zealand. I'm visiting the North Island for a week, where my friends Paige and Jordan live.

I'm lucky to have wonderful friends from growing up going to summer camp and then working there for 3 years. About a third of our staff every year were from other countries (yes, it's actually very common, and they come through a cool program called Camp America) including Australia and New Zealand! One of the many reasons I'm so glad I worked at camp.

People with whom I've lived and worked at camp connect with me on a level that many people can't fully comprehend, AND they really know their stuff when it comes to making fun out of anything, being resourceful, and traveling. How could I not take advantage of these awesome connections and enjoy opportunities to stay with these great people?

Looks are deceiving. I confuse myself all the time with how far things actually are from each other. Here are some quick stats so we can all wrap our minds around this.

The flight from Auckland to Brisbane only takes 3 hours.
Driving from Brisbane (that 1st star on the east coat of Aus) to Sydney (the lower star) takes 12 hrs, but a flight takes less than 2!
And no way I'd want to drive straight to Melbourne (19 hrs!) but a flight is only 2 hrs!

Look how GREEN this beautiful country is! America doesn't look like that on Google Earth.

I'm looking forward to beach trips, hikes, and seafood :)

THEN I'll finally go to Australia.
For any geographically challenged friends, here's another map to give you a better idea of the size and layout of this giant continent/country/island which I'll be exploring one day at a time.

Late February will find me in Brisbane, soaking up 80 degree sunny weather and settling in to my new home.

Brisbane skyline behind Story Bridge at sunset.

This is the beautiful city of Brisbane, where I will be living for 4 months. It's the third largest city in Australia, next to Sydney and Melbourne. I can't wait to wander around campus, the beaches, and the CBD (central business district aka Downtown aka DT) and take it all in!

From top to bottom, the stars represent the CBD, the South Bank where the Wheel of Brisbane is,

and my campus, University of Queensland! And the ocean is close by too.

My hope is that I'll feel like a local eventually. But we all know I'll probably just be the most stereotypical American tourist ever... I'm ok with that, as long as my representation to other people of what Americans are like is that we're positive, ambitious, and fun. And that we love to eat. And take a lot of pictures (I am guilty of bringing a selfie stick).

South Bank beach on the river.

Wheel of Brisbane at South Bank Parklands.

Countdown to leaving the country: 5 days.

Exactly 5 days from now, I'll be on my way to New Zealand... by myself. Halfway around the world.

I thought I'd be feeling like this.

Or possibly this.

But really, I feel like this.

And I would attribute this excitement and joy to...

+My parents for supporting me figuratively and financially in this wild journey.

+My teachers and advisors (and family!!!) for encouraging me.

+My friends who live out there in the South Pacific for preparing to let me be a tourist.

+My friends who've been there before for answering all my questions and getting me more excited (shout out to Charlotte for calming my worries & Casey for giving me the Brisbane scoop).

+My DM friends for alleviating my sorrows and FOMO of not being in Columbia for main event.

+And I'll even give myself a pat on the back for the stupid amount of time I've spent on the Internet and talking to people to research the necessities and plan out my travel ideas.

Once I get there, though, I'm there. I'm in Australia for a whole semester.

No amount of planning, talking, clicking, or (God help me) overpacking will fully prepare me for my semester abroad. And none of that will fully prepare my mom for the tears that are sure to come. I can learn to pack better, but I'll still always bring a little too much. I can learn to navigate better, but I'll still always be directionally challenged. And I can learn about the terrifying killer spiders and other animals (check back here later for a post about that :/ ), but I'll still try to visit the outback. And hold the cute animals that won't kill me.

THIS COULD BE ME!!! (click for more Quokka adorable-ness)

OR THIS. How could you not love this.

(side note: you should Google "celebrities holding koalas")

Cuddly animals aside, it's inevitable that I'll have some mishaps and confusions. But, that's fine, isn't it? Travel wouldn't be nearly as exciting or enjoyable if it was a piece of cake all the time and only consisted of beautiful views and relaxing moments on the beach. I'll have a fair share of those, but I'm willing to put in a little extra effort and deal with some frustration to get those moments. And I'm willing to bet that Australia is a pretty easy place to have a good time.

Thanks for reading! Check back soon to see if I was able to fit all my stuff in my suitcases.

Be Excellent.

(and as the Aussie's say)

Cheers,

Jo Jo