*****
Having settled in one place for a while, I’ve observed the lifestyles of those in Australia with astonishment. On the one side, I’ve seen backpackers try any trick in the book to save money, including stealing. On the other side, I’ve witnessed Sydneysiders’ way of life. Many splash the cash and attempt to lord it above everyone else. I’m not quite sure who they are trying to impress as Sydney seems to be a rich society. It makes it all rather pointless and laughable. Thankfully not everyone is like that and I have met a couple of nice Aussies. I’m still a little wary and I feel like I need to do a bit more travelling to have a more rounded perception. It would be silly to judge an entire nation based on the exchanges that unfold at work. As a waitress, I do have direct contact with more idiots than usual. It was the same back in England.
I’m not really sure where I fit in on this spectrum. I do watch what I spend, especially now that I am earning, but it doesn’t stop me from treating myself. I built up the funds for my trip through hard work and sacrifices which has left me with a greater level of appreciation for each and every experience. But just because I have that money safely nestled in my bank account, it doesn’t mean I rub it in everyone’s faces. On the contrary, I’m still the first to say that I need to save money. I seem to be on less pay than those around me which is a situation I'm all too familiar with. Some things never change.
It is annoying when people use my savings against me. Despite the fact that they are cordoned off for New Zealand and America, I’m always told that I’m in a better situation than everyone else. I don’t feel like I have to justify myself to people but having the same argument grates. Sometimes I just go off on a tangent about how I may have this money now but in six months’ time it will be gone. I plan on spending the lot baby! At this point, I'm always tempted to use the Nicolas Cage crazy eyes but then I might get committed. I'd never go quite that far with a joke.
It’s the scariest and the most exciting part of my trip (not the Nic cage eyes...the having no money lark). I’m living my life to the fullest but in six months’ time I’m going to be penniless and jobless. My safety blanket has gone and I need to figure out what my next adventure will be…still thinking. I’ll get back to you on that one.
I’m not expecting anyone to understand my reasons behind what I’m doing, nor do I care if they agree with them, but it is funny meeting others who have a completely different perspective on life. Walk in Mel and Steff, my roommates. They went through a similar hardship raising funds for their trip except they only planned on visiting Thailand. Their Australian leg of their trip was a spontaneous decision which is admirable. They came to Australia with nothing and had no money for a back-up plan. Both Mel (waitress) and Steff (freelance labouring/removals) are on a good wage, earning at least double what I make in a week.
You could say that we were both in the same position as I had more money than I anticipated when I arrived in Australia. Unfortunately the money I saved in other countries ended up getting spent in the first weeks of my stay here searching for a job. Mel and Steff also had more money than they anticipated but have since decided to purchase luxuries they didn’t have the opportunity to get whilst they were saving back home. Mel has bought an apple MacBook Pro and a Blackberry. Steff also bought a Blackberry and a second hand laptop.
I’m not going to lie, I have bought some clothes whilst I’ve been here. I only had one dress so my wardrobe was in desperate need of a revamp. It’s funny how back home I would rummage through my entire wardrobe and moan that I had nothing to wear whereas then, I literally had nothing to wear on a night other than my dress. Sometimes it’s not even a case of what I have to wear, but what’s clean and half decent. Oh the glamour of being a backpacker!
So Mel and Steff have no qualms about spending now and saving later. An extra kick in the teeth still is that they’ll probably still have more money to spend travelling around Australia than I will!
I don’t think I’d have the strength to carry an Apple or anything like that around with me. I’d be constantly fretting that I’d sat on it or left it on the train. Either instance is more plausible than you think in my case!
Obviously that’s their preference, but it’s one that baffles me. I guess Mel and Steff are here longer than I am so have a better chance of saving more money for future travels.
Australia is good for one thing, and that is shopping. They have good shops and excellent sales. Even their charity shops are awesome. Yes, I have bought items from a charity shop. Vinnie’s is the place to be. I bought a dress for $3 and books there are $1 or 2. I must say though, someone ought to tell the retailers that the lowest coin denomination here is 5c so by pricing something at $9.97, you aint fooling anyone mate, that’s $10. At least in England, when something is priced £9.99, that’s actually what you pay.
They say money can’t buy you happiness but it can buy things like cake and pretty clothes which give you shorts bursts of the stuff. That’ll do me just fine. However, the bits in between are full of work, sleep and stress. Who knew settling down in one place could cause such problems. I was looking forward to it, but now I can’t wait to get outta here! I can’t even begin to describe how much I’m looking forward to getting back on the road again.
After heavy discussion and much debate, Mel, Steff and I have formulated a rough plan as to where we would like to go before we part ways. So far this is our list:
1. Fly out to Tasmania – 1 to 2 weeks
2. Fly back to Melbourne – 1 week
3. Rent out a campervan/car and do the Great Ocean Road
4. Head across to Adelaide and either get a train and join a tour of Uluru or drive there ourselves. We’re still undecided on that one. It all depends on what money we have left.
5. Head across to Cairns where we hope to find some work to boost our funds. We might have to stop off somewhere sooner for work, perhaps Adelaide.
6. Travel overland from Cairns to Byron Bay with several stops in between (e.g. Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, Gold Coast).
7. I bid a tearful goodbye to Mel and Steff and fly out to Auckland from Brisbane.
It doesn’t really sound like much of a plan. Hopefully we’ll fill in the gaps a bit more nearer our departure. As long as we have a rough guess, the rest we can take as it comes. It’s all part of the fun! Of course, in the meantime, we could have strangled each other by then, after 3 months of living under each other’s skin in a teeny tiny three bed room. I’m surprised we’ve survived this long.
No comments:
Post a Comment