Discovering my worth

When asked to talk about something special that has happened to me I usually draw a blank. I've been to Hawaii and Wisconsin, but neither of these feel all that special. Then I recount my trip to Sydney and remember how much I learnt about myself...

In August 2007, I was 19 and had decided that I didn't want to study at university anymore, that it wasn't me and that I wanted a new start. So my best friend Maddie and I decided to pick up and move to Sydney. We booked the flights giving ourselves one month to save enough money to support ourselves and off we went.

In Sydney we did the usual partying and sight seeing. To save money we stayed in a backpackers. This also let us go places that we wouldn't have thought to go. Like where Home and Away was filmed. During our outing we decided to apply for jobs which we both got successfully. I got a job at a shoe shop in the main city centre and Maddie transferred her Coles job to work in Sydney.

Maddie met the first love of her life, Josh. He was Canadian and a surfer and her very first boyfriend. They spent a lot of time together and he took her to see different places. I made new friends and caught up with old ones who showed me where all the fun was in Sydney. And between us we went though many great and embarrassing experiences.

Alas through all the partying our funds started to run short. We were living off bare basics and I was forced to forgo my necessary caffeine hit before work and she had to forgo her coke (coca-cola) addiction which she relied on religiously. We discovered how to be frugal. Living off $20 a week for food and expenses. It was making our plans to rent a house out in Sydney look rather hopeless.

Finally we were down to the last of our savings. We had enough money to either get home or pay the next weeks rent. We had to weigh up what we wanted more and just how realistic it was going to be to continue like this. If we both got another job or more hours at our current ones we could make it. We could keep the savings for a bond. But what if we didn't? Where would we go if we didn't have enough money for the rent?

It was a tough decision, especially with the friends we made and Maddie's new love as well as our new found Independence. But at the end of the day we made the logical decision and booked the next flight back home with the intention of planning it all properly next time.

So here I am 3 years later having learnt a lot from this experience. I discovered you can live off a lot less than you think if you really need to. I discovered the importance of planning things properly. But I also had fun and that's all that matters.