On to the Other Side of the World...

I mentioned in my last post that I was moving "to the other side of the world"... and I wasn't even exaggerating a little bit!

Yup, I've been pretty restless for a over half a year now- after I decided I wasn't going back to university for my second year, I set out to find a new plan for the year ahead of me. Obviously, new plans that involve things you've never even thought about doing before take a bit of time to really come together, and mine (finally) has. I can tell you 100% honestly that there were many, many times when I felt hopeless and just plain stupid for exploring such seemingly unattainable territory.

Now, on to the good stuff:
A week from this coming thursday, on the 20th of March, I will get on an airplane (or two, or three). I will not arrive at my destination until the 22nd, due to the length of the journey(s) and time zone changes!
For the next six months, I will be living with a beautiful family in (/on? it's been said both ways, so I'm not entirely sure) Gold Coast, Australia. I will be their au pair, or in simpler terms, live-in nanny. Why did I suddenly decide to become an au pair? Well, when I was left with nothing to do this fall, one of my friends told me that her sister was looking into it, and that I should maybe do some research. I love kids, I love travelling, I want to help people; the au pair thing just seemed to fit. I searched for a really long time before I found my particular host family (which I tend to just call "my family"... that seems kind of weird, but I can't help it!) I'm not really sure how much information is too much to post onto a public blog, regardless of the fact that not many people will read this, but there are two children, one girl and one boy, aged 6 and 8. They are so so darling and I can't wait to meet them :) I'll post more information whenever it feels alright to do so.

Gold Coast is a very vacation-y town about an hour south of Brisbane. It's Australia's #1 retirement destination and averages 300 sunny days per year (poor me! NOT.) It is also known for it's gorgeous beaches. It will be fall when I arrive, and I will be there through the fall, winter, and early spring at least, but the lowest temperatures of the winter are said to be a mild 10 degrees Celsius, about 50 degrees Farenheit. Average temperatures around this time of year are still 80 (F), so even though it's not "summer" it's warm weather :)

Here's the video I made about my move, give it a watch if you'd like!

So, as of now, this is what my life is focused around. I'm still putting off packing, it's a big, big job, but I WILL get it done, obviously! I feel like a lot of people think I'm not excited enough about this, but in all honestly, I just don't think I'll believe it's really happening until I'm on the plane or actually THERE. I've dreamt about it for so long, it just seems like another part of the daydream!

Maybe the lesson here is that life can be a daydream if you make it. (CHEEEEESE, I know, I'm an expert at the extra cheese.)

So 'til there are more adventures/observations to be documented, have good days, weeks, months, lives... what's YOUR daydream?

xx Kim