The best experience of my life so far

Apr 5, 2009 by Sebastian Johnsson    11 Comments    Posted under: Travelling

So I guess I haven’t really jotted down my general thoughts of my experience in Australia – so here we go. A bit of a warning though, this might turn into some deep stuff.

I’ve been here almost two months now and I can’t seriously remember the last time I felt so happy and excited about life. Doing this journey and traveling by myself is hands down the best learning experience I’ve had in my life so far.

What I’ve realized is that by traveling by yourself you’re automatically forced to be outgoing, sociable and keen on meeting new people. Since I came here I’ve become a lot more social and a lot more confident compared to what I used to be.

Basically, this little journey has forced me to take care of a lot of shit I didn’t like about myself, stuff I needed to improve upon in order to become a better person.

For those thinking about going by themselves somewhere, just do it. It’s the best possible way to learn a new language (or improve an existing one), get to experience a new culture and meet a lot of awesome people. And yeah, you’ll also be able to get to know yourself in a way you won’t normally be able to.

And regarding Sydney… all I can say is it’s abso-fucking-lutely fantastic. Yeah sure, you can see pictures of the place and get a hint of what it’s like but Sydney is as much about atmosphere as it’s about awesome scenery. There’s always something going on, always people on the go. One minute you can run around in the central business district and be surrounded by high rises and a few minutes later you can chill with the fruit bats (by the way, they’re kinda ugly) in the Botanical Gardens.

Well yeah, going from a town with a population of 40,000 to a city with a population of 4,5 million people can also be a part of why I’m so fascinated. But just slightly though :).

To all of those I’ve met here, thanks for making my stay here extremely awesome. I really appreciate it.

A few observations

Feb 16, 2009 by Sebastian Johnsson    No Comments    Posted under: Travelling

So I just wanted to jot down a few observations I’ve made so far.

First of all – this place is huge. There are houses just everywhere (they’re pretty fond of one-story houses) so it takes a while to get somewhere if you’re walking, taking a jog or going by bicycle.

Another remarkable thing is that when it’s raining, it’s really raining. You can’t really compare the way it rains in Sweden to the way it rains here – here it’s just pouring down.

So here’s the five million dollar question: What happens if you let a confused little swede find his own way around Cronulla (without any real knowledge about the area) in the midst of the sickest rain showers ever? You’ll get a lost, wet and pretty damn angry little swede on your hands.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I was that poor little lost swede. I just wanted to get down to Cronulla by myself and explore a few things. I started walking from the house around 6ishPM and I eventually got down to Cronulla where I walked along the beach on The Esplanade. After that little tour I was trying to find a way straight back to Caringbah. The only problem is that Cronulla is a peninsula and that it therefore is impossible to get straight back to Caringbah – DOH! So I walked around there getting more and more lost by the minute and suddenly the rain started pouring down. Needless to say, I was like a sponge when I finally got home after running around in the rain for 2 hours. Checking the distance on Google Maps, it appears as if I ran/walked 12 kilometers. But hey, at least I got some exercise.

Other cool things I’ve observed is that stuff like groceries and alcohol are cheaper here. 1kg of minced beef costs 6 AUD (35 SEK) compared to somewhat around 50-60 SEK back home. Regarding the beer and drinks, they’re basically 25-50% cheaper here than back in Sweden. Awesome!