he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich

hello my beautiful people! a lot has happened since my last post. i wasn't in the best wifi zone ever because hmm... i was in the middle of the desert! haha basically the rest of my trip included a side road to uluru kata tjuta national park, back on the stuart highway to adelaide, and then the great ocean road all the way to melbourne. i had the most amazing time, met awesome people and learned a whole lot about the aboriginal cultures of the area. i spent a few days solo in melbourne, getting reacquainted with city life (aka shopping and eating a lot lol) and before i knew it, it was time to get on a plane and begin the long long journey back to canada. i flew to manila, then san fran and finally landed in toronto. i spent the weekend there with my sista jenn, her bf and their cat babies and got to see lots of friends from college. it was an all around great weekend and good adjustment back to canada :) sunday night i took the train to ottawa and headed home! it is definitely strange to be back, but it's only been a few days so i'm still loving it. my bed has never been more comfortable lol 

this past year has been such a wonderful, life changing experience for me. i feel pretty stoked that i had this dream of travelling and worked my tail off to make it happen. i couldn't have done it without the serious support of my family, friends and my travel guru bryanna ;) everyone has been so awesome, always encouraging me to try new things and make the most of every experience. from commenting on my photos, sending me christmas parcels in the mail, and good vibes through the universe. also, knowing that people are actually reading this dang thing instead of me just writing for kicks is really cool. i'm not going to go into all of the details of how i'm this totally new and improved version of myself. you will see that soon enough when we hang out, my smile tells it all.

as for right now, i'm back living at home in good old carp, enjoying some time with my fam and slowly but surely starting the job hunt once again. hoping to continue on with some travels in the new year, thinking about new zealand :) that is still a long ways away so we will see what happens! in the meantime, i'm going to be taking a break from the blog because, let's be honest, my real life is not even half as exciting as my aussie life :P 

thank you again to everyone who supported me on this journey, and to everyone who i met on my travels it has been so great to meet you all. my trip wouldn't have been what it was without all of you! loads of love to all family and friends old and new!

see ya later mate ;) signing off until the next adventure

soph xx 

Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park

Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road

                            

                                          

                                         

my current first world problem...

... SO MANY EMOTIONS! waaaaaah! 

today, i had an awesome star wars marathon burrito fest with two of my very close friends. we ate chips, imitated chewbacca (which i am very good at i might add) and reminisced about when two of us were 10 and i was jealous of her plastic lightsaber because when we played star wars, i had to pretend a stick was my lightsaber, while she had the real thing. 

you know, classic friend hang out time. it came time to leave and i teared up as we hugged and i half jokingly but actually, tried to convince them to save up and come meet me halfway for an adventure sometime in the next year. 

i began the drive home, and the shuffle feature on my ipod was only playing slow, sad songs no matter how many times i clicked 'next'. go figure. i stopped shuffling and let it play out as the ipod gods intended. tears welled up in my eyes as i drove down the country road with lighting and thunder building across the fields. it was very dramatic, and i couldn't help picturing this scene as a movie and wondering how it would look from an outsider looking in. 

i braked at an empty four way stop and had a change of heart. why am i crying? here i am, about to start a new chapter of my life in a beautiful country. this is something that i've worked towards for a whole year and now it is finally happening. i should be celebrating and smiling and laughing! although i'm going to be away from all of my family and friends who are such a huge part of my daily life and happiness, (which is definitely what the tears were about at this point!) i am one lucky ducky to have this opportunity. leaving those you love is all a part of the journey, just another part of this experience for me to learn and grow from! i put on some bob, and did a little dance as i sped away, thankful for my new outlook and ability to change my perspective into a positive.

so that's it in a nutshell. i feel kind of silly for getting so sad, but i want to feel all of my emotions about this, it's not healthy to keep your feelings in. it is all part of this experience. so yes, some of the time i am going to feel sad about leaving everyone, but the rest of the time i will feel everything else. excited, nervous, butterflies, anxious, like i want a time machine (to go forwards and backwards!) reflective, open, shy, outgoing, brave, small, sheltered, worldly, and every other emotional synonym and antonym out there! i will feel it all.

i really enjoy writing this blog, i don't even know if anyone reads it besides my mom haha but it really helps me to vent and write all of this stuff down. so if you are reading, thank you! i promise the posts will be a lot less sappy once i get there and get settled! i just have to work through this crazy emotional roller coaster first :) there is a light at the end of this blog and it begins on tuesday august 13th at 3pm in perth wa! (or 3AM on the 13th for my friends in ottawa) 

i'm packing on friday, and i'll be sure to document that process on here (pics and list included due to my organized tendencies lol) 

goodnight!
s

and a happy happy birthday to my dear friend ness who celebrated on wednesday <3