Last year I made a decision to move to Australia. The year prior, I came on a 5-week holiday, or vacation for us Americans, and absolutely fell in love with it. The climate, the people, the way of life. There’s just so much more going for it than just the millions of beautiful beaches. It’s also a hub to the rest of southeast Asia which I also love. Being on the other side of the world is a blessing and a curse. It’s a decision that I made and haven’t looked back on. No regrets.
My friends down under
However, it’s also made it more difficult to keep in contact with friends back home. Not infinitely difficult, nor even insanely difficult, with all the different forms of social media I always know what my friends are doing. With Facebook, Instagram, and my favorite, SnapChat, I always know what they are doing and they know what I’m doing. But it’s not the same as seeing your friends after work or on a weekend and grabbing a beer. You’re not with the gang and as the saying goes, “life goes on”, with or without you there. It’s hard to keep tight in the group. It’s harder for them to come visit you because of the 22+ hour flight time and the cost of tickets and accommodation. For you to still maintain a constant peg in the group you need to make that effort. And sometimes that means going home.
And that’s what I did. I missed my friends. I missed my family.
I booked a flight on Wednesday for the next Monday out. Done. I was going to see everyone at home!
However, as much as I wanted to shout and tell everyone I did the opposite. I only told 2 people.
Going home
You’re probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned my family. Of course I miss them! I have a smaller family so it’s easier to FaceTime my family, or set up an online photo album where I post pictures of what I’m doing and they share what they’re doing too. I speak to my family on a regular basis and constantly know what’s going on for the most part. I also convinced them to finally come to Australia, since it has been a lifelong dream for my mom and dad plus they would get to see me and spend quality time with their personal tour guide. And they did, right after New Year’s they came to visit me and escape that North American cold. Therefore, it’s been a bit easier because of this constant communication. Although I’m sure my mother would say otherwise and would like to see me on a daily basis. My plan was to go home and surprise her.
A week before she told me she had a dream. That I had come home and… you guessed it, surprised her. Sigh, plot foiled. Or was it?
Now was my chance. Turn that dream into a reality. Go see my family and surprise them. The next day I looked at flights again. At the same time, I got called for a new job interview. I scheduled it for the following day and got invited back for round 2. I was fairly confident I got the job and this would be the perfect time to escape home. So the flight search continued. And I found one that I liked that I thought was fairly reasonable. I aced the 2nd round interview and was offered the job. I was super excited. I told my new boss I might take this time to go home before the job starts and as a typical Aussie replied, “no worries mate”. I left that interview ecstatic. Went home did a quick dance, went online and booked the flight. Just like that it was no longer a dream. I was coming home! I was going to see everyone!
And all while trying to keep it in and surprise my family I figured I’d surprise my friends too. Soon after deciding that I didn’t know if I could hold it in much longer. The suspense was killing me. But I had to. It would be the trip of a lifetime.
The funny part was before I came to Australia I told my friends I would see them for St Patrick’s Day. I’ve been taking the day off and doing the New York City St. Patricks’ Day Parade for the last 9 years. I had no intention of missing this year. But until the week before, due to money and my work schedule down under it was looking like it wasn’t going to happen. But if there’s a will, there’s a way. And just like that I’d be flying halfway around the world to surprise everyone.
To be continued…
Going home for St. Patrick’s Day