my time here in australia is winding down and so is my time as a *teenager*

this week I finish up school, as soon as I finish a research paper and a reflection.

this week I also turn 20!

I’m excited to be finishing my time at uni, and I’m excited for the free time it will give me to experience Australia for my last few weeks. I have lots planned – a trip to Palm Beach, a trip to a kangaroo sanctuary, a wine and painting class, a barista class, celebrating my 20th with some adult bevvies in the city to see Vivid.

but I am also excited to go home. I know I’ll want to come back soon, but right now I have this weird sense of loneliness or discontent. I’m excited to see my family, my friends, my dogs. let me tell you – I have not seen a dog since coming to Australia. I’m also super excited for walmart and chickfila. I am excited to move into my news house in Athens and take on UGA and everything junior year has to offer.

but as I am getting ready to leave, I am already feeling the beginnings of missing it. missing my sweet village family and the traditions we’ve created – Monday night trivia at Three Wise Monkeys, Wet Wednesday at Scaries, riding the 520 home to Parra at any given hour of any given day, the free bbq’s on Wednesdays, wizard sticks, and beer pong. I am going to miss the amazing friends I have made and the good times we have had together. I feel like the friends I’ve made have helped me grow as a person and really open my mind *shoutout to Dylan and Marc for introducing me to RuPaul’s Drag Race*

there is so much more i wanted to do while I was here. I wanted to take a trip to Fiji – which I was going to be able to do for a reporting job but got denied because I’m not a citizen. I wanted to fly out to Thailand to meet up with a sweet sister (ps Christian, I hope you have the time of your life!!), I wanted to go to Melbourne and Gold Coast. I wanted to see New Zealand – just not in the winter. But the good thing about all these adventures still to come is that they are still to come – I  get to come back and explore more.

Thinking about all the things I wanted to do shows me just how much I actually did. I explored Sydney and saw just about as much of the city as anyone can. I went down to Wollongong to zipline and got to see that part of Australia. I GOT TO SNORKEL ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. I have made friends from close to home and all over the world. I am so blessed to have had these opportunities and I will always cherish these memories.

I’m slowly packing up and making plans for my last few weeks here, but I am already excited for what my next daring adventure holds.