Last Night I Discovered What True Love Looks Like.

 I don't normally write about topics like love, but I feel the need to share with you all so bare with me.

As I watched a young, married Scottish couple, whom I've had the pleasure of getting to know these past few weeks, I witnessed what my friend Sarah calls " Bubble Love". Until seeing it for my self I honestly didn't believe that a love like that existed. Now that may make me a bad person but I had never seen love like quite like this. All of the relationships I have witnessed in my life thus far have been good overall, but complicated, as if a small black cloud hovered above each couple, waiting for tension to charge the air and ignite a lightening storm. I'll try to explain this love in the best detail possible but honestly, I can do them no justice. The story starts here............

As I entered the pub with a few friends I glanced around taking in the sights. The Scottish girl sat at a table with balloons tied to her back. It was her birthday and there was some birthday ritual I didn't understand taking place. She giggled and laughed with another friend of hers. She wore her hair up in a tight ponytail and intense cleavage hung out of the front of her short white dress.  In that moment I wished that I had enough confidence in myself to wear a dress like that in public. Now I don't mean to sound rude or judgmental but considering her size, it was a ballsy move. I envied her confidence.  Her husband was sitting across from her holding his pint looking quite content. His head was shaved in to a ridiculous mohawk and he wore his normal Mr.T t-shirt, which was fitting seeing as how he looked like a white version of Mr.T himself.

Throughout the night they appeared in my line of sight dancing and running about in the bar. After a while I noticed that I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They were drawing me in and there was absolutely nothing that could take my attention away. The way they had no regard for anyone else's opinions was mind boggling. They danced like total imbeciles yet they the most beautiful people I had every seen. Dance was like their secret language communicating something that only the other could understand.  I so desperately wanted to be apart of it, or at least discover what that must feel like for myself. I continued to watch and wonder what it must feel like to know that someone loves you so much that even when you look like a total fool they will love you. And not only will they love you but they will be a total fool right next to you for the whole world to see.


That my friends is "Bubble love". When you feel as if only you and your partner exist in those moments. When nothing and no one can come between you, that if you fall they will pick you up....or fall down with you. When even though everyone else goes home you will have your partner. When you know that all you will ever need to be happy is that person, and having the security of knowing that they feel the exact same way. As if they were made for you and your love for one another grows daily.

I have explained it the best I possibly could, but on paper it only sounds like your average married couple having a good time. Seeing "Bubble Love" triggers more of a feeling than anything else, and you will know when you witness it yourself and when you do I hope you will not settle for anything less. 

My People

Alright mates, it's day 13 in this city that I will call home for the next 5 months and so far so good....besides being homeless....still. The good part about living in a hostel is that I've managed to meet quite a few interesting people. Some of which include a band of shameless, wild, and hilarious English guys.

We have all gotten to know each other well enough to the point where nobody cares what anyone else thinks of them so it sure makes for a bit of fun times. That is what happens when you drink Goon I guess. Goon is cheap boxed wine that every backpacker drinks because it's the only thing that fits in our budget. It is DISGUSTING! As you can see in the picture below, the boys love it. Just about every night we go out for a drink together, dance a bit and I observe them try and hit on "birds", their term for girls. I have heard some of the worst one liners of life in the last week and I have witnessed some of the most horrendous attempts to take girls home. Mind you, our so called home is a room of six beds and no privacy.  Most of the time by the end of the night we are all sitting on the street corner stuffing our drunk faces with Pieface, the best thing you could ask for when you are drunk. I have no idea why we don't have them in America but I plan on changing that.

I have also met a German girl, named Kaya, who was kind and funny but didn't speak a whole lot of English. I spent most of the day with her in our room, chatting and contemplating how we can afford our next meal. I have to say, money has been tough here. Since I cant cook in the hostel I have been spending loads of money out to eat. If I'm lucky I eat twice a day but mostly just drink a lot of water. I'm not complaining though because being around all of these backpackers all the time has made me realize that I am lucky to have two meals. I have however found the cheapest sushi place ever. It is absolutely delicious and only $2.50 a roll. The rolls are smaller that normal ones in America but with two of them in my belly I'm a happy camper.

Yesterday we went to this park in the middle of the city. I wasn't too excited to be walking around the city because of the incredible amount of humidity, but I was pleased to find out that the  park was beautiful. The paths we followed wound in every which way you could imagine with intricately placed flower beds between each path. The plants were tropical and full of life I haven't seen before. All around showed signs of life and beauty,odd since in was in the middle of a concrete city. Today we are going to go back to it and BBQ for a few hours :)

As for me personally, over all I'm happy. I am stressed out about not having a house and waiting to hear from the rental company but I'm trying not to let it get to me too much. I miss the comforts of home and family but I am excited to be on my own, making my own path.

Love for you all from these two crazy wankers.

Meanwhile here isAustralia.....

Except for the fact that I am still homeless, so far so good. The Hotel that I am staying in is beautiful.. Jimmy is like a personal chauffeur and tour guide, which is phenomenal, plus I get to take in the awesome sights of the Gold Coast. 

So here is a brief overview of how it's going so far.

DAY 1:

I woke up at 5:47 am, wide awake a raring to go. Luckily the shops and breakfast places were close by so I showered and was out the door by 6:30. I needed to grab some things from a store of some sort so I ventured around to find the closet grocery store. The grocery stores (or a "Wooleys") are freaking weird here. You have to go to  mall. Like a literal mall with shops such as Rip Curl and Foot Locker. So not only do you have to find parking for a Wooleys, but also for the entire mall. Some of which are quite extensive. Thank god I'm car free. At least I'm thanking God for now. When the time comes that I am lugging 40 kilos of food a kilometer down the road I may be cursing his name. 

After successfully getting breakfast food I went back to the apartment. After this excursion I was exhausted. Back to bed I went and stayed until about 11 am. I spent the rest of my day relaxing, reading, and trying to stay awake in order to defeat jet lag and acclimate to local time. It was more relaxing and beautiful than I could ask for and felt like the perfect start to a three day vacation.
                                                                                  Chauffer---------->

DAY 2:

Sleeping on another continent proved to be more difficult than I planned. Once again I was up by 6am but this time I crept on to the balcony with a cup of tea, a blanket, and a book. I stayed there for what felt like minutes but turned out to be hours. After a bit I ate breakfast and while making the eggs I realized how upsettingly white I am. It became my mission then to catch few rays for the remainder of the day. With my mother in the back of my mind I loaded up on sunscreen and reading material and Jimmy and I booked it to the beach.  Needless to say I came back lobster colored and sore. Nap time it was. Later after I woke up another Aussie friend named Matt came over for a bit and we barbecued for the rest of the night while chatting it up and kicking back a few beers.  (btw, beers over here are educational! Check out the picture of bottle caps! AWESOME) .

DAY 3:

Not too much happened this day. I looked to places online to go check out and then ate lunch at a place called Hogsbreath. Appetizing, right? But really though it was pretty good and everything was fresh and colorful. After lunch I drove to the point (pictured below) to read the final chapters of my book until it started raining. Since it rained I went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day. 

DAY 4: 

 So here we are at day 4. Today I went to two interviews for houses but didn't like either of them. Thankfully Monday I have 5 more promising appointments. The first house was kind of a shit hole but was located close to the school. I would have been totally okay with living in a shit house but the kitchen was unacceptable. There was absolutely no cooking space, and the fridge was mini. Four roommates and a mini fridge, I think not. The next house was immaculate and clean. Then room was perfect and the roommates were really sweet. The issue with this house was the Landlord and the distance from my Uni. Although he was kind and funny, he was a total control freak. He wanted 24 hour access to the house, including our rooms, and absolutely, under no condition, where shoes allowed to be worn in the house. The house had to be clean at all times and only two guests were allowed at a time. Yeah…..fuck off. 

After my failure to acquire housing, Jimmy and I were off to lunch with his Irish/English mother. I was incredibly worried that I would awkwardly be asking "Pardon?" the entire time. Luckily that was not the case. She was a lovely woman, beautiful and full of personality. She was genuinely interested in me and my plans and even offered to help out on the house search. Later she informed Jimmy that she thought the same of me and invited us to go up north to her absolutely gorgeous getaway. I agreed of course. So now here I am at the end of day 4 sipping on a few beers and enjoying the calming ocean and writing to all of you. 

I can honestly say that I miss you all but I am having a wonderful time here. 

Until next time mates!

(Post was written a few days ago but I haven't had internet so I couldn't post it. Another to come tomorrow :))

It's Launch Time Folks!

It's Launch Time Folks!!

10PM

After weeks of preparation and a few minor anxiety attacks I have finally stepped foot on the vessel that will assist me on my adventure to "The Stray". As requested, I awkwardly shuffled around people as they glared at me with disgruntled looks in order to take photos of my seat for mom.

You're welcome.

Photo Cred: Austen Collins

After a strange encounter with a seven year old named Sully I am happily residing in a seat that has a bean bag foot rest, which I  have named "Useless". For the next 13 hours "Useless"and I will be indulging ourselves in some sweet airplane food and luxurious sleeping conditions.

12AM

So now that I am safely seated and tens of thousands of miles above sea, I am pleased to inform you that I am doing quite well up here. I have yet to experience the much anticipated anxiety attack, which is good news for the sleeping gentleman next to me. 

4 AM (At least I think so but who really knows?)

So now about the flight experience:

• Early on in the flight they handed out hot towels to "freshen up" while we waited for the flight to level out.
• I was given a small package which contained the following items; One eye mask, ears plugs, a pair of socks, a pen, and toothbrush with tiny toothpaste.
  
• Free beer! Yeah, that's right, freeeeeee as can be. It happened to be from New Zealand (imagine that), and was very tasty. I'm seriously considering staying in New Zealand just for the beer and wine. Also, they use real glasses for wine on the plane which I found impressive.
• The selection on the menu was advanced compared to any other flight menu I have read. I started to feel spoiled when they put this down on my tray table. 

• The movie selection is pretttttty dandy. All the free films you want and a decent selection as well.
• My face mask eye cover thingy that they provided certainly cam in handy although Im sure I looked like a complete idiot wearing it. I looked like an elf with my ears popping out of my hair due to the straps on the mask. The print that said " Sleeping beauty" felt quite contradictory. 

Once again, I have popped my Advil PM and Dramamine, I am off to sleep. Over and out pals.

6:45 AM (New Zealand Time)

I watched the sunrise this morning and it was beautiful. The sky glowed pink and orange above the cloud line, and each  crevice of the clouds below were lined with a sky blue color. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have seen yet. Surprisingly I slept quite well on the plane. I slept for about 4 hours at first and around 3 hours second, with a few hours in between filled with movies. 

Time to land in Australia! Hang on to the edge of your seats folks, more to come soon!