Sydney ✈ Adelaide

A few weeks ago I went on my first solo travel trip. This trip, like many things in my brain and world, symbolised a lot for me despite its modesty in duration and distance. I visited Adelaide, SA - which is a lovely little one and a half hour plane trip away from Sydney - for six days and five nights.

The trip was a result of a little claustrophobia, a little wandermust, and a growing despondency toward any travel plans actually coming to fruition with friends. A solo, domestic trip seemed like a winning combination, and indeed it worked like a charm. 

I had a quietly wonderful time away. There is so much potential and opportunity in every day life and it inherently does not make sense to me to squander that. I was reminded that only when I kept my eyes and mind open then I would really stumble upon the gems.

The city holds a quiet charm and after spending many a day around the Sydney CBD area in the past half year I was really darn grateful for a significantly less populated city.

I stayed for a few days with a friend at his university unit and then a few days at a hostel, both of which I felt pretty much instantly at home and comfortable. I have a theory that if you place in my hands a book, an electronic device, and a cup of tea I will be able to feel at ease anywhere I go. The hospitality and warm welcomes from both places helped too, of course. Lovely people do indeed continue to exist.

The hostel I stayed at offered a free bike rental service so the morning I left, I rented one and cycled down to get breakfast right before I had to head to the airport. 

Perhaps neon signs weren't the wisest choice in terms of first impressions but Hostel 109 you were lovely!

I didn't manage to photograph everything I wanted to because I was delightfully focused on being present and a sponge. My favourite moments are both abundant and will thus inevitably be verbose but off the top of my head, the botanic gardens (not pictured) and spending a day wandering a new city answering to every whim that twirled itself around me as to where to go next are two experiences I will hold near and dear for a long time.

'Seek and you shall find' while true, is not perhaps in reference to an absolute finding. Keep seeking, and you shall keep finding.

Sydney ✈ Adelaide: Day Four - Six

TUESDAY
- woke up at 10am, stan already awake
- breakfast, reading, tea
- chilling with housemates
- yoga while watching charmed
- waiting until like 1-2pm lol and then packing and sneaking a dvd
- bus, stan carried my bag the sweetheart
- walked from the bus to the hostel
- checked in, dropped off my bags, lost my key in a span of 2 minutes, found it
- walked to north terrace
- ate a waffle (yes, one.) at hey jupiter
- chatted about girl problems and opening a cafe, capitalising relationships/being female
- browsed so ridiculously happily in T2 i felt like i might cry
- walked through rundle again
- parted ways
- i wandered for half an hour finding food
- bought pasta from a convenience store, grainwaves and 2 muesli bars. i have eaten everything but 1.
- lying in bed with my laptop and updating my parents, watching zoella blogs and blogging to catch up

WEDNESDAY
-
THURSDAY

Sydney ✈ Adelaide: Day Three

Monday, 16th June 2014

Monday morning I woke up at 7.45am and was wide awake so I decided to get up and have a quiet morning to myself. I read with a cup of tea for a while - I swear, when I travel more I should start a compilation of photos/videos of me drinking tea and reading every place I come across. Different place, same habits. 

Motel patterned chairs. I couldn't figure out exactly what shape the inner shape of the pattern was. Rhombus? 

Stan didn't wake up until about 10am so I used the time to stop avoiding my responsibilities and replied to messages and emails and generally did life housekeeping things. I loved that aspect of being semi-away: less obligation to be contactable.

This was probably one of my favourite days. We went to the art gallery and spent several hours there (Stan originally thought we'd be done in less than an hour, lol think again mister you're hanging out with a turtle here). That was really great, a lot of the installations were genuinely engaging and the artworks were so captivating in their intricacy and general beauty.

Afterwards, we walked about 50m and arrived at the South Australian Museum and looked at dead animals in jars and a beehive. Both things made me feel incredibly uneasy. The former made me sick and the latter was just unnerving because it was an installation that was attached to the wall/window of the room in the museum and the bees just fly out to the real world as they please. So you look outside the window and dozens of bees are buzzing away into the city. WEIRD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, WEIRD.

The next item on the agenda was so breathtaking I actually do not want to write about it. Roaming through the botanic gardens will probably stay with me for years to come. It was fairytale magical. That's all. I only took one polaroid, more for capturing sentiment than the actual place. I just loved it so much.

Right before we headed home on the bus, I took Stan to TITLE - the music store I went to the day I landed. That led to the remainder of that day being pleasantly punctuated with Stan showing me his jazz favourites which I was irrevocably excited to discover.

TITLE's stairs. Wonderful.

The upstairs of TITLE. I didn't take a photo downstairs whoops. Clothes and random books upstairs, music, DVDs and sorted books downstairs.

Outside of North Terrace (suburb/area) along King William Street.

I forgot how long and packed this day was. I might just summarise the rest. Imagine more superfluous descriptions, would you? Thank you.

We made veggie tacos (surprisingly delicious) and watched MasterChef with his housemates which was ridiculously fun once again. Afterwards, we skyped Amelia after much excitement on her end to do so. There was just a really significant lag in the connection and also an inability on Amelia's behalf to deal with skyping to two people instead of one on one. I was actually crying I laughed so hard at some points, we all just lost it. I don't think I've laughed that much all year, it was soap to the soul.

Deciding that we should stop using up the unit's bandwidth, three of us went to the CC and played foosball and ping pong until about 11pm and then went back to wash up the post-tacos mess. In retrospect, this is quintessential college life I feel.

To cap off the longest and greatest day, we talked about music and shared songs until 2am. Music excites me. I'm a good influence for people's sleep patterns.

Sydney ✈ Adelaide: Day Two

I had a moment to rest today and I've realised I haven't stopped since I landed on Thursday. I see so many bloggers with completely hectic lives yet they manage to post frequently and with a consistent degree of quality to their posts. I do feel like there are stepping stones though. First stone was my realisation that pre-planned posts are a thing. The next stone, the one I'm balancing precariously on right now ready to jump to the next, is having planned posts written but not fleshing them out. I just get a bit overwhelmed or too busy. 

For example, I was curling my hair for a party in the 10 minutes before I had to tutor on Saturday night and replying to a friend's text message via Photo Booth because my hands were busy. That snapshot is a pretty accurate representation of my life of late. And today it all got to being a bit too much and I just ignored so many responsibilities and fell asleep at 3pm until it got dark. And now I'm slowly re-working all my plans for this week to make them more realistic and not seeing-three-people-in-one-day schedules. Part of that organisation was also to stop avoiding these blog posts (I actually really want to write them too, how paradoxical). So here we go! Thank you for waiting.

Sunday, 15th June 2014

By the time I actually got up at 8am, Stan had gone for his morning run so I filled my morning the ways I know best: reading, yoga and Instagram. Also, if you know anything about me and my 'violently hungry' (direct quote from a dear friend) tendencies, I am hungry pretty much the instance I wake up. It was, indeed, well worth the wait because Stan got back and cooked us both haloumi, toast, eggs, and capsicum. Quite a fan of capsicum now, I think.

There were several pockets of time where I got to hang out with his housemates and there was a lovely little one of those with Karen whilst Stan went and did his laundry. Stan then came and collected me from the unit and we played ping pong and foosball (silly looking word) in the community centre. I had a solid amount of fun for someone who doesn't normally gravitate towards games. I kinda want a ping pong table now. Afterwards, I asked if I could just sit in and listen while Stan played the piano in one of the music rooms. That was really nice. Henry, you're much more talented than you give credit to yourself for.

Then at 1pm we went to ~Adelaide's largest shopping centre~ i.e. Marion Westfield. We did his grocery shopping and then had lunch after dismissing the idea of lining up for free Ben&Jerry's. After a lot of talking and milling about, we headed back to Flinders on the bus. I had a mini tour of the campus and it was around twilight and the view from the campus (apparently the only hilly area in Adelaide - hence the incredible view of flat little Adelaide) was so lovely. You can truly see the layers of the living. Bottom to top: buildings, coast, ocean, sky.

For dinner we watched Masterchef with a few of his housemates (they are all avid watchers, and I totally got sucked in. I just remembered that I wanted to follow it once I got home) and then finally decided to just reheat the leftover pizza. Then cue great excitement when Stan pulled out a box of poptarts and toasted some for us to munch on while watching the end of Masterchef. That was a really lovely, simple evening.

I initially had plans to go to Gilles Street Markets but Flinders is located so far away from things I just played it by ear and ended up essentially being a little fly on the wall watching a Day In the Life of a College student, which I genuinely loved doing. A quiet sort of enjoyment.

Tips for a complete travel novice

1. Pack some good basics (and underwear) that will allow you to move, get dirty and be comfortable throughout the duration of an entire day. 
2. Have a pair of thongs handy. Even if you're traveling to a cooler climate, they come in handy when just wandering around a hostel etc. 
3. Bring your own pillowcase. Bedding is generally provided, but pillows just get to me. Same goes for your towel.
4. Just ask! Take advantage of being a backpacker/tourist/stranger, they will never see you again. Push boundaries politely.
5. Showers aren't always easily accessible so be prepared with dry shampoo, a hair elastic and deodorant.
6. Use the travel websites. Google the crap out of the place you're staying and jot down the names/general addresses of places that interest you. This way, you're familiar with the general area and you will be able to recognise certain places
7. Open your eyes. Use those tourist eyes. Look up, down, all around. Keep an eye out for the interior of places or the names (this is where 6 comes in handy) because it's easy to walk right by the best places.
8. Make sure one way or another your phone is fully charged for photo/map utilisation. I left the hostel with it at 100% and charged it twice throughout the day at a café and then a bar! 
9. Indulge a little. Be well-fed but let your diet go. Buy that thing that seems so awesome and you genuinely love it and can't get it back home. 
10. Be mindful of how much you can bring home. Either start off with emptier bags or buy less.

Sydney ✈ Adelaide: Day One

Remember how I directed you to "watch this space"  in regards to the potential fruition of escaping Sydney for a little while? Well, folks, we've done it. I'm sitting on a Flinders University balcony in Adelaide right now in the morning sunshine warming my back and it's pretty darn wonderful. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back. I may change my mind on the layout and general style of recording what I did day-to-day but we'll kick things off with a nice, easy to read time breakdown, shall we?

Saturday, 14th June 2014

6AM

• Woke up regretting every ounce of generosity and leniency in letting my dog sleep in my room for the night as he click-clacked around the wooden floors 
• Already roused to let him out of my room, instead he turns and falls asleep on my yoga mat 
• Silently and temporarily hate the dog as I go back to bed

7AM-8.30AM

• Half an hour of yoga with the dog at the end of the mat. Absurd. 
• Packed all the little can't-pack-you-because-I-use-you items e.g. toothbrush, chargers, laptop etc. 
• Breakfast 
• More last minute packing. In regards to my previous post, I now don't own a lot of essential* items

9.50-10.30AM

• Arrived at the airport
• Revelled in the ease of airport security and processes of domestic flights 

10.30AM-12.20PM

• Showed my boarding pass and the lady checking it said, 'Oh, just you today?' essentially coming of age movie material, really 
• Kept breaking out in a smile about how it was all really happening and how much I enjoy planes 
• Had the cutest little boy sitting in front of me (both of us with window seats) and we both shared great interest and joy in the contents of our respective windows while also peeking at one another
• Read and journaled 

1PM-4PM

• Wandered the city and North Terrace area and found the loveliest places and bought artwork for my room and chatted with the loveliest store owners**
• The sizeable duffel bag and backpack were interesting to take around the entire city. Mix between interesting backpacker look and homeless, I think
• Gauged where places were for future reference
• Got lost for about an hour trying to find a bus to take me to Flinders Uni 

4PM-5PM

• Arrived at Flinders! 
• Many "this is so weird I'm/you're here" sentence variations between Stan and I as we walked back to his dorm 

6PM-9PM

• After one completely failed attempt at pizza (it was essentially bread. We shaped it into a loaf, it's terrifying) and hours and hours of chatting later, pizza became a reality and it was delicious 
• Met Stan's housemates. All so lovely and hospitable. 

11PM

• Journaled, read, slept 

A lot of this would be more tangible and arguably more interesting if I was able to provide pictures to accompany things that need images instead of lengthy descriptions. However, I seemed totally unable to take a good photo as I super shaky from a) bags and b) skipping lunch to explore. I have a few decent ones that I might put in later, though. As in, when I get home on Thursday. 

*My only two pairs of pyjama pants were in the wash so I had to tumble dry those in the hour before I left. It's funny, I thought it would be more practical and realistic to have only two pairs but now it's so cold, I realise I wear both of them and only wash full loads so I have to wear shorts in the igloo that is my room for days on end. Silly. I shall remedy this, amongst other necessities. Like socks. Has anyone embarked upon a study of lost socks? Honestly. 

**The photos of the places would inform the vibe of person I am talking about but just think the places and people who are just happy doing what they do in the arts realm of life and money is a bonus, not a priority. 

Checklist Part I

Zara | Faux Leather Biker Jacket

Left: Country Road Argen Throw  

Right: Country Road Benedict Throw

Club21 | Collage A-Line Skirt 

ASOS | Thick Black Tights 

ASOS | My Life on a T-Shirt

ASOS | Arguably Ironic Dream Believe Achieve Lounge Leggings

ASOS | Apparently Life-Changing Pants

Huddle & Co. |  iPhone 5 Engraved Map Phone Cover

American Apparel | The Almost Perfect Striped Tee

Margaret Zhang | Everything in the photos. Maybe possibly even Margaret herself. To be my beautiful, intelligent, articulate, well-dressed and witty best friend. 

I've really overhauled my surroundings lately. I've cleared out probably half of my wardrobe for donating, selling, tossing. I'm heavily in the midst of redecorating my room and throwing things away and all that jazz. Winter is here. My uni break has started. 

Long story short, many 'clear outs' have taken place this year incidentally or purposefully and now, midway through the year, I find myself fundamentally lacking things in several departments. Most, not all, of these objects fall under the category of will make life more practical yet nice. For example, my pants selection is now very dismal. I am wearing shorts right now as we speak because my only two pairs of at-home long pants are in the wash. The above is a visual list I can refer to when I'm out and about of what I need to pick up. My to-buy list has actually built up so much so that I feel jumbled enough to need to structure it visually. 

Not listed because I am the pickiest of them all when it comes to selecting images:

#1 Vegan/cruelty-free dark lipstick. I don't think I have ever been properly makeup shopping. It's hard enough and now I want to purchase good quality, vegan lipstick. I will probably find myself in a labyrinth of specificity and heartache. 

#2 Nail polish. I haven't painted my nails in over a year and a half (excluding formal AKA Stubborn Shellac Time). I just lost interest because it takes my meticulousness and I literally hours to paint my nails. And then I do something dumb like nap and ruin them. And it also just felt weird to have polish on my nails. But winter is depressing, I want some colour I do think. 

#3 Lighter for my candles. All the candles. So many candles. I went from the smokiest Dusk matches in all the world (it would actually overpower the candle smell they were so ridiculous I tried so hard to use them all but I just gave up, they were awful) to a regular lighter (that I stole from my brother's desk and have yet to return) that I burnt the tip of my thumbnail with. Yeah, that actually happened. A long lighter would be wise. 

I keep thinking of more things. I have decided to do a Part II. Compiling a list of things to buy is weirdly taxing. That's pretty anachronistic of me to feel/say considering I am deeply within the trenches of the consumer generation/society. Anyway, lots of love and light to everyone. Think about what practical, yet wonderful things you can productively fill your life with. 

Attempted

There is this peculiar thing that takes place practically every Sunday night at approximately 4-5pm. It has taken place for myself and in the lives of people around me as I found out several weeks ago.

You see, I happily go to church on Sunday evenings. The service starts at 6pm and it takes me roughly half an hour to arrive. This translates to an uncanny, overwhelming need to be productive when the skies slowly start to dim and I realise that it's almost time to leave for church. Panic settles in. I have accomplished nothing all day. How did I spend my entire day watching a candle burn and drinking six cups of tea?! 

And suddenly, it's like a miracle has touched the productivity cells within me. I write 1000 words for an essay that's due tomorrow in 20 minutes. I clean my entire room and re-arrange my furniture. I  write half the study for youth group due 6 days away. I take over the world and have a heart-to-heart with the sun and we amicably agree that it will never again be winter* because winter is the worst. It is actually a mildly amusing experience being/watching me in the time leading up to leaving for church. The productivity and efficiency is impressive. And fairly irrational, but hey! I get stuff done. The meta-cognisant reflecting upon this faux-phenomenon makes me laugh and shake my head at myself. 

And also, to meta your minds even more; I chose precisely this topic because I have tried all day to get around to/in the mood to write something (even though I've been itching to) to no avail. Until I realised it's that magical time again. Voila. 15 minutes to go until I get picked up to get to church. *dusts hands off* Only way to do it.

*Perhaps just not ever winter in the immediate vicinity of me. Think Olaf's snow cloud but the antithesis of such. I understand the earth/humans need seasons. I am willing to be reasonable.

18 things learned in 18 years

I spent a good handful of hours chain-clicking through Bloglovin' blogs and posts last night and there are some serious gems on here. So much so that I wanted to go ahead and whip up my own version of a post that I particularly enjoyed. It's pretty appropriate too because I recently remembered (yes, I genuinely forgot) my birthday is next month so we're getting in there just in time. 

Here are 18 things I have learned in my 18 years of being alive and stuff. 

1. If you want things to happen, make them happen. Take initiative. Don't sit around waiting. 
2. 'I grew into myself' is a real thing for the most part. Both physically and mentally. (It's an on-going process, I'd say but it does plateau nicely when you're in your late teens) 
3. Grown-up domestic things like cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes/laundry etc. are all important things that you should learn to do relatively well. 
4. A good cup of tea is essential and comforting, especially in cold and/or stressful times.
5. When deciding on whether or not you want to keep something, ask yourself: 1. Is it useful? 2. Is it making me happy? (Aesthetically, sentimentally etc.) 
6. Don't fill your life with social media accounts. Pursue only those that inspire you, keep you connected and enhance productivity and keep it to a minimum. 
7. Document things you want to remember. Photos, videos, journals. 
8. Your phone is simultaneously your best friend and worst enemy. 
9. Music is really important. Go out of your way to find music you love and then spread the love.
10. Being kind is worth it. 
11. Always consider the other person's perspective. We all have bad days. See the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. 
12. Fresh bedsheets and sunlight will transform the atmosphere of your room and also your mood.
13. Most people, if not all, are just as scared as you are when it comes to making friends. Everyone has a little shield up and is waiting for someone else to do it first. Don't overthink it, just say hi. 
14. Things won't always be okay and sometimes things get really, really bad but bad times always pass. Time does heal. 
15. Friends and family are really, really important. Always make an effort to love them and tell/show them this love all the time. Go out of your way. Remember stories, birthdays, present ideas, quirks. 
16. Take care of yourself, you literally only have one body. Exercise, eat a balanced wholesome diet, drink lots of water, pamper yourself, meditate, do yoga, pray, think good thoughts. 
17. Make things. Help the earth and your soul and use what you have. Re-purpose, recycle, donate etc. Get the creative energy flowing all the time in one way or another. Making music, drawing, dancing, writing.
18. Read and write and get inspired. 

A List

(This post was started on Saturday morning)
I have been really inspired this morning by some sentiments shared by a few bloggers I follow and this is quite greatly out of my comfort zone and therefore precisely something I should do.

I've had a really, really long week. I'm emotionally and physically exhausted and my brain is in a complete tangle. Initially, I was planning to whack out a easy-going, thinking-free fashion post because I'm still goldilocks-ing my way through what I like to write about but I decided against that, at least for this morning. I'm going to instead talk about me. Me in the purest sense.

Last night, before leading youth, Amelia and I met up just to catch up and spend time with one another. I ended up just talking more than I really had all week. The whole day yesterday I was craving a good talk with a close friend. So by the end of the day I guess it had really built up because I just didn't shut up. Thank you for listening, dear Amelia. Anyway, we got on the topic of being refined through the fires and both agreed that we feel like we're still in the flames. I know that I've changed a lot since the beginning of the year or from last year but a) I'm not sure exactly how and b) I'm not sure I necessarily feel 'refined' or even if I like this new self.

However, I do feel like with 'growing up' it's pretty non-refundable. You can't exchange, you can't refund. You might as well find ways to enjoy this new thing. That's basically my explanation for this list I'm about to do. This list of things I have found myself to be like innately and things I enjoy about who I am.

A LIST

1. Resulting from a combination of finishing school and becoming veg, my cooking has actually become pretty sufficient. I genuinely never, ever thought this would happen. This was validated the few times I've cooked for the fam (heavy veg-emphasis, one meal even completely veg) and they all actually loved it. I've even baked recently! I baked. For the first time in years and years and years. I had so much fun doing so that I was actually a bit confused. 
   
2. I now make a fairly conscious effort to keep looking for and collecting music, especially now that I have Spotify. Bus trips, short walks (long walks I prefer diegetic), cooking, blogging, living. 
3. I like my sense of humour. Even when other people don't understand, I still personally find some (most) things I say funny and I think that's a handy thing if you're constantly spouting fairly absurd quips around people you're not familiar with. 
4. While a big, exhausted part of me is constantly frustrated with how clumsy I am it does provide a source of entertainment to both myself and my nearest and dearest friends and family. 
5. I've learnt to be more assertive and speak my mind after swinging from one extreme when I was younger of being blatantly rude to completely euphemised and way too timid a few years on to a steady assertion nowadays. 
6. This one is undecided but I will choose to look at it in a good light. I believe in, and act accordingly, to the idea of wearing my heart on my sleeve. If I feel a certain way about someone, I will openly express it. This may be seen as 'courageous' and 'carpe diem' but it might actually sometimes be more clever to just shush. The bitterness that can ensue is something that makes me question the productivity of this trait.
7. I'm dealing so much more. Dealing with people, bad feelings, getting through long days. Things that may not be hard for the general public but can sometimes feel like climbing mountains for me. I feel like my endurance is seriously benefiting. There was one day recently where I genuinely could not stomach the idea of even getting out of bed let alone going to all of my classes 9am-4pm and then leading youth group until 9.30pm. I was proud of myself even if it sounds hardly monumental. 
8.