From Melbourne to Cairns... Charity fundraising to....?????

August 2014

Andrea offered to pay for my flight and I chose Melbourne because a) i knew 2

Girls from the Thailand tour who were there and b) because I met some guy on the plane from Brisbane to Gladstone who said he could get me work in Melbourne and I could be paid much more than au pairing, that however didn't work out, I didn't even meet up with the guy, neither did I meet up with the girls (until later on in another city) 

Budget to find work: $800

When Andrea booked my flight I was due to leave the next day so as well as packing I had a lot of job seeking to do. First things first: gumtree. Probably one of the most useful and widely used web sights in Australia. Similar to what the Americans use, Craig's list. I applied to be a charity fundraiser to about several different organizations and a small amount of sales positions  as I thought these kind of jobs were the easiest to get and once I'd got through about 2-3 weeks I'd at least have money to find work in hospitality if I didn't like it. I'll be honest I was shitting myself. No security, barely any money but a credit card with a maximum spend of £2.2k on it and interest free till February 2015. I reassured myself with the fact that, I wanted to leave anyway and this wasn't all just crazy coincidence, it was all meant to happen and I wasn't meant to

Work as an au pair for 6 months and I got exactly what I wanted so I can get exactly what I want again.

so my mantra for the next 24 hours was, ''I will find a job, I will find a job, I will find a job.''  As well as '' I will be a charity fundraiser'' because actually, I was excited about this, it looked like a job I could be good at and it was for a good cause too, bonus! 

on boarding my flight I received my first call regarding door to door sales position and I managed to get an interview! Easy!   

When I arrived at the hostel, everything was paid for on my credit card as there was no chance I was Going to use the little cash I had (however it didn't stop from trying some of the food in a local restaurant , which was out of this world amazing, the Aussies sure know how to cook!) the hostel seemed nice, cozy, with a fire (very much needed as it was about 5'c) and a stage in the common room. It was perfect. Actually the best hostel I've ever been to looking back. Of course it was 'school canteen' scenario again so I didn't quite know what to do with myself and everybody seemed to be speaking every language but english so I went to hide myself in my room where someone offered me a malteser, and that someone was British. The 2 girls in my room were from London, Sam and Gemma. absolute god sends I'm so greatful I met these two, they have been part of the little Aussie family we all seemed to have gathered ever since. When I arrived they had also not long arrived and were also looking for work - but not in Melbourne. 

I went on to get work as a charity fundraiser and they booked a flight to cairns, up north in the tropics where it was hot.

Melbourne Is a beautiful city, I don't really like city's much, I prefer rural areas but Melbournes buildings were pretty unique. Australia is also only around 200 years old (I could be totally wrong here) so the architecture is all pretty modern, something to feel greatful for back home is our history. Made me appreciate our closest small city Chester for it's Old Tudor buildings and roman relics. I went through a Jewish area on tram and a woman Infront was speaking Hebrew, made me smile. It was probably the longest I'd ever spent in a city so this cultural difference was a big change for me and I liked it. it's what travelings all about, experiencing things you never have before. Music is pretty big over there too apparently but the buskers had nothing on Ed the violin player in Chester. That man is epic. I guess the music didn't really stand out to me. 

One thing I started to learn how to do is read bus, train and tram routes... Just kidding, I relied totally on asking strangers or information guides, who would actually stand at tram stops soley for the purpose of helping dippy people like me find their way around the city. i think that's another thing to consider if your ever traveling solo, people will always help you. 

why the fear of getting lost anyways? Sometimes I would just take a train, tram or bus and let the wind take me... And if it's a big city, they expect tourists so they accommodate for that with information points or people to help you. if it's a smaller city it's easier and you can get to places within walking distances.

There was one point where I had to get from one side of Melbourne to another for a job interview and even after the receptionist at the hostel told me which train bus and tram to get I still didn't have a clue and I think I ended up getting all 3 plus walking 40 mins and asking about 10 people and 3 bus drivers and every single person was nice enough, I never want to Moider people but most people are genuinely happy to help. Atleast the people of Melbourne anyways. I made it with about 10 mins left to spare and used  google maps to find my way for the last few blocks. actually staring at my phone to make sure my tram was going in the right direction at one point.  It was hard sometimes to not panic but i really tried not to, to enjoy every single day becuase even though I had barely any money and no job, I was in Australia, I'd made it this far right? 

By this point id been in Melbourne a week and new roomys replaced old roomys however most of them were coming to the end of their trip in Australia which wasn't a bad thing because I got to hear about all of these incredible things to do along the east coast. a few of us went to see the penguins in St Kilda which id done before with Gemma and Sam. Who knew eh? Penguins in Australia? I also had to repeat the trip we made to 'san churo' (nicest hot chocolate I've ever had in my life, like melted chocolate in a cup) and when it was so cold outside it was just perfect! The girls were great, as they were coming to an end of their trip the topic was quite often family and home and memory's of their trip, they all had an incredible time and it got me all excited. 

There was one french girl who wasn't as social as the rest of us and she made a habit of turning the lights on at stupid o clock in the morning and waking half the room up.

Well - not me, I wouldn't wake if the world was ending but I felt it a great injustice to the rest of the room so I made a sign to stick on the outside door handle which read "for the consideration of everyone else in the room please refrain from turning all lights on at stupid o clock in the morning. Thanks. Beth - on behalf of room..."  The following morning she told me she couldn't see if she didn't turn the lights on (fuck, even the Victorians figured out how to see in the dark but fortunately instead of candles there is now this amazing invention called a torch!) For whatever reason she didn't want to use one and she changed rooms too. I felt bad.

Well the girls left, one of them

Hanne I hope to see when I one day go to Sweden (which is not to be confused with Switzerland - my geography is improving!) she plays piano too, Also by ear and also listens to Ludovico Einaudi (modern classical pianist) Knows a bit of Spanish and likes scuba diving. it was too much of a brief time spent with her! 

I had a fair few job offers to be a charity fund raiser, and sacked off the interview for door to door sales. in fact one woman was so confident with me and didn't want me to join any other company she was prepared to offer me a promotion after 2 weeks training. I should have gone for that company, but I didn't. If your good at charity fundraising you can get sponsorship by the company and live in Australia for as long as you are working for that company. It's actually really good if your good at it. I'll try and be as brief as possible to explain what charity fundraising entails...

Ok so you are this really positive, motivated, happy person who approaches total strangers on the street and convinces them to pay a minimum of say $60 a month for cancer council. Simple right?

No. You have to stand at 45 degree angle when talking to someone, so a) your speaking directly into their ear and b) your body language is open so they don't feel trapped, they can walk on any time

With my particular company I also had to memorize a script which involved a lot of head nodding and saying "yeah?" After everything, somehow tried and tested as psychologically effective in more sign ups...

Got to tell you though I had such a laugh with my roomys practicing this script, one girl jasmine, wasn't having any of it. "Nope, I'm bored your chilling in the commen room with me" ended up chasing her round the commen room for the scrunched up piece of paper that was my script haha. We were nicknamed "jasbeth" it was a short but epic love affair... 2 gobby midgets in a hostel. Good times. 

I completely fucked the job off after 2 hours in the streets. The whole thing felt un natural and in-genuine and I was standing in the cold thinking about false it all felt,  how hot it is in cairns and Gemma, Sam, nicki and ash were all there. Ok so the pay was really really good if you got the sign ups, the more sign ups the more money and on average you were meant to be earning about £2.5k equivalent - but only if you got the sign ups and pressure was on for that from the company too. I didn't even like Melbourne that much any more, everyone had left, jasmine was the only one left really and even she was going to be leaving in a couple of weeks. So I made the decision to go there and then, I took off my cancer council t shirt and my badge handed it to the girl I was working with and said sorry it wasn't for me and that night I got a flight to cairns.

 all the food I had in the fridge went to waste and I'd payed in advance for 1 more night in the hostel that was non refundable but it was the cheapest flight. I left a message behind the desk for jasmine to add me on Facebook and off I went. All on credit card again Of course...

The highs and lows!

I decided to write a blog because when I used to sit at home and see all these holiday snaps or travel photos other people used to take and put them up on Facebook I used to feel madly envious and think, how can they do that? They must have saved so much money and I can't do that, my mum did it and my dad did it but I can't ...and even then how would I afford to travel continuously? I would find it so much more difficult than these people who are apparently really happy because everything probably came really easy to them. There just lucky and I'm not lucky.

That was a couple of years ago and that's complete and utter bollux, I write this blog to give you my story the photos do not tell, the highs and the really really sad lows. Traveling isn't easy, and your never lucky, nobody is ever just really lucky, they follow their hearts desire and that in itself is what causes good things to happen, even if you do stumble along the way sometimes. So I guess I write also to Inspire others to travel.

June, 2014 - August, 2014

Budget: £4k

Flights: £1.7k
Thailand tour: £800
Thailand spends: £800
Visa: £250 (about that I can't actually remember)

My first flight was so scary but incredibly exciting and exhilarating! I was finally doing something I'd always always wanted to do, on my own, dippy, walk in to a road full of busy traffic me. I just had to focus on not doing anything completely mindless, and you know when you get chucked in at the deep end, an amazing thing happens. You swim! So there I was, looking for my terminal, my gates, eating on my own, waiting...

When my flight landed in Dubai it was tricky, I couldn't find my gate on the list and I was panicking a bit, I over heard somebody mention my gate number and immediately followed them hoping for the best and just kept asking people if I was going the right way, I don't think it was too long before my next flight to Bangkok but I made it in good time and off I was again. Easy (and that's saying something for me)

Once in Bangkok I had a flight to Ko Tao where i had to get a ferry to another island ko samui where my tour started. I was exhausted and it was late at night when I arrived so I grabbed my bag in the most bizarre airport which was basically a wooden hut.
A couple of people gave me a funny look because the bag was almost as big as I am since I'm a complete midget at 5ft and weighed 22kg (I weigh 55kg just to give you an idea), some British guys also grabbed their bags and I headed in the direction they were going, they said they hadn't booked accommodation either so we booked a taxi at reception and had a crazy half an hour trying to talk the taxi man into dropping us all off at the nicest hostel there was. I got a bit of admiration from the guys for being a solo traveler which made me feel great. talked about our plans on the trip and the full moon party which they were all attending on another island. The taxi man at this point was shouting something in Thai to us neither of us understood and we just kept repeating hostel, any hostel, in which he replied which one, and I was saying 'ANY' which he didn't understand, he needed a name. Damn language barrier. It was completely hilarious at the time and fortunately one of the guys grabbed a flyer for a hotel at the airport and gave it to the driver and we ended up staying there at something like £80 a night which was ridiculous especially for Thailand, I mean it was 4 star so it wasn't bad but I was a backpacker now. Budget time!bThe following day I enjoyed a day at the pool and explored the area, the beach was amazing, the sea was warm but the Thai guys - strange.
I asked at the hotel reception about the ferry to the island I needed to get on and booked it with the woman there, 2 hours later a shuttle bus came and I was taken to the ferry terminal, caught the correct ferry by asking everyone around me which one it was and made it to ko Samui safely where I met my tour guide. 10 days in Thailand, sorted! It was a bit unsettling diving into a crowd who already had a couple of days to acquaint themselves with one another and me, late as usual, the last one there so I had to catch up a bit. My tour was a 6 week tour but I chose to do just the first 10 days of it because I didn't have the budget or the time to do the rest (which I'm gutted about) as I had to start my job as an au pair on a certain date.

The thing about meeting a crowd of people who already know one another and hoping you fit in is,well, for me, I had these instant dreadful memory's of high school coming back. people had already developed there own clicks or had traveled as a pair so I didn't really know where to go? Where to fit in? But I also noticed the odd few who were just like me and seemed to just breeze by. I was put in a room with nicki and florentina. Nicki from Canada and florentina like, 20 mins from where I live. Mental!! Such a small small world. they were both so nice so I was relieved. In fact everybody was nice but i think I was missing out on a lot of gossip.

the tour guides always made sure I was involved and introduced me to
The crowd along with a demand of my most embarrassing sex story (should have said I was a virgin) that night we had a pub crawl and I won a dance off too so I think I did pretty well. The power of alcohol!

It was pretty incredible sharing each other's cultures and traditions, that's the best thing about meeting people from around the world. The best thing about meeting a load of new people in general is well... I'll give you an example. I was eating lunch by the beach one day and just thinking about what I was going to do next or probably worrying about something... And Naomi was just sitting on the balcony quietly, a dog was running across the beach and she was telling me how happy she was and how much she appreciates times like these and it's nice just to take it all in. I admired her so much and envied that she could just do that. Ya know we all have such busy minds and even when I was in paradise I couldn't just switch off and do that. I think Naomi taught me something, without even realizing and I think we all do that, sometimes we meet new people and they give us something, like a gift in a way and then that's it. Another girl Miranda she was just one of those who got along with anybody and everybody, she could be a tour guide if she wanted to she just had so much personality. I think everyone in the group will remember her for that and I really admired her because she had a great heart too. In high school those kinds of girls are usually the bitchy ones. When your traveling it's rare anybody's bitchy, you meet people so briefly and were all in the same situation so it's kind of a given that everybody just gets along. I admired nicki too because we had a bit of a falling out from lack of communication really and I felt bad and was a bit nervous because I didn't want it to be awkward in our room but she'd said all she needed to I guess and figured there was no need for any hard feelings and we were back to normal the next day and I loved her for that. It wasn't in-genuine either I can tell when someone's just putting on a smile and hating me, Na she was brilliant. I can't even remember if I apologized or not but either way she didn't hold a grudge and I appreciated that.  She even Messaged me a bit concerned later on when I was in Australia.

Looking back now and comparing that to traveling Australia, no tour group, just flying solo. I think that when you book a tour and your going to be with the same people for a number of weeks, do consider that it IS going to get clicky, I think generally that just what happens. I don't mean to say that it gets bitchy or anything like that but you know that situation when your in the school canteen and your figuring out where to sit... Yeah well that situation happened a lot however never ever worry that someone is going to give you a dismissive look as soon as you sit next to them. I think as a traveler you might find yourself in this situation a lot anyways but just plonk yourself next to anybody and be like "hey I'm..." And that's it. Nobody thinks your weird. Your a backpacker. your kind of weird anyways, you broke free from a 9-5 job or study's or whatever to see the world and right now you share that in common with whoever you just sat next to. It is unsettling being in that situation but with practice you get over it without even realizing.

If I was to do Asia again, I would just go solo for sure. Even if the country's just hit some negative headlines, just go for it. If I managed to get 4 flights and a ferry in 48 hours I'm sure anybody on the planet can find there way to a hostel. Once your there, you meet people and your sorted. youl be told about all of these incredible things to do and see and were people have already been and it will be so easy...when your traveling, just follow the crowd, you make your own tour group, you become your own tour guide.

So from Thailand I had a flight to Singapore which was a 20 hour stopover so a hotel was needed and a number of taxis awaited outside the airport (and if they wernt I would have just asked somebody where reception was so they could call a taxi for me...)

Fortunately before I came out here I managed to get a job as an au pair (nanny) through a web sight online (you can google au pair and a bunch of sights will come up) thanks to a good family friend of mine Clare who also got a job doing the same thing, and without her I don't think I would have come to Australia at all. I just needed that security as soon as I got here and working as a nanny gave me that, as well as a chance to live with a real ozzy family which was a brilliant experience with all of it's highs but it too had it's low points.

total left to enter Australia on a working holiday visa: £200

Problem with getting into the country on that small amount even though they stipulate you have to be bringing in Atleast £2.5k into the country: None

It's actually rare they will do the  whole bank statement check. So I had a credit card with a limit of £2.2k on it and my dad said he would put some cash in if he had to. So yeah I had a plan b and c!

When I arrived in Brisbane it was freezing! It was 2 or 3am and I had to wait around 4 hours for my next flight to Gladstone. I had picked up my backpack and was walking around the airport looking for somebody, anybody to point me in the right direction. I was looking for somewhere they did domestic flights but the entire airport was empty, nobody at desks, just 3 People on the sofa which slowly came Down to just me and a couple up the stairs. I remember feeling exhausted and just wanting to go home (I'm laughing at myself now) I think it was probably due to exhaustion but then "bubbly" came on the radio and I became a blubbering mess. I just broke down (I'm sure it was another symptom of exhaustion) I just missed my boyfriend at that moment so so much. i drifted in and out of sleep as it was too cold to get any decent shut eye and when I woke up at around 6am I noticed someone standing outside waiting. It was a bus stop I failed to notice. I used the only Australian note I had (a fair well present from my best friend, Lowri. She still managed to look after me on the other side of the world, damn I love that girl) to pay for the bus which would apparently take me to where I needed to get my domestic flight.

Once I arrived I checked the list of flights, mine wasn't on it. Panic. I asked and was immediately told exactly where I needed to be. Phew! And although I'm shit for taking directions I managed to find my way quite easily and sat relieved, knowing that this was my last flight for a good few months at least. Emotional break down over haha.

It was a bit scary to be meeting with a stranger I had only but a Skype interview with and a couple of emails exchanged but I gave Andrea a hug when she met me at the airport (even though hugs aren't my thing) and we made our way to her home where I would be living for 6 months, she let me sleep the jet lag off and I started to learn about what nannying was going to entail. So basically for $250 a week plus food and stay (which is amazing because average is about $150) , I would get Ella ready for school, pack her lunch, make sure she had her medicine at the right Time, light cleaning and laundry for 5 days a week. I enjoyed my time with Ella she was such a lovely child , barely any difficulties at all she was generally super easy. Andrea and Geoff were great too, it was only really the loneliness that bothered me, not being around anybody my own age and people in my tour group in Thailand posting pictures up of them with tigers and elephants was just depressing... I felt like I needed to break free. Andreas house was far from a prison but socially it kind of felt like that Becuase I was also missing Craig so much and nothing I was doing was much of a distraction. I was greatful when the family decided to drive closer to Brisbane to see Andreas son. We hit some pretty incredible landscapes and views and I got chance to go to Australia zoo and feed some kangaroos which was incredible.

I started to become more and more unhappy as time was going on when we got back and I was so close to telling Andrea i wanted to leave, which I felt awful about about because she would have to go through the trouble of finding another au pair. Crazy enough Andrea lost her job just a day or 2 before I was about to spill the beans and subsequently had to let me go as she was no longer going to be able to afford me. she felt so bad she even paid for my flight to Melbourne