Life Is A Rollercoaster, Just Got To Ride It

Oh god I can’t believe I just quoted a Ronan Keating song. I apologise. Let’s pretend I actually came up with a much cooler title and move swiftly on…

This morning I sat down to write a proper update about relocating but instead this was on the brain and felt far more relevant: The one overriding thing I have experienced since relocating is that the perception of my current situation can completely change from second to second. One moment I’ve lost focus and just want to be stuffing my face with nachos and cocktails with my best friend, then the next moment the sun is shining, I’ve met someone who restores my faith in humanity and I don’t want to be anywhere else. Days later they leave, I’m back to wanting the nachos then, as I give my reflection a pep talk about staying positive, I get a phone call offering me a job interview and I’m back to loving being here again… only I have no one to share the joy with!

Fortunately, the majority of my time in Sydney so far has been pretty good (touch wood!). I’ve had so much positive feedback from recruiters and potential employers that it’s completely restored my faith in my professional ability - I actually feel like I might not be the waste of space the London recruitment world led me to believe I was! Over here I have people who are genuinely helping me and I am being encouraged to aim for jobs I want and apparently deserve rather than things that are below my ability. I’ve had more feedback in the last two weeks than I had over the whole two years I was job searching in London and it’s the most incredible breath of fresh air.

The only thing I’m really struggling with is being completely alone. Not that I am actually alone, just in the sense that I have no one familiar around me. There are moments when you just want to call your parents and when you want to tell a friend about an encounter with a cute guy but you simply can’t because they’re asleep on the other side of the world and won’t get your message for another eight hours! I’ve found this leaves you feeling a bit empty, but you just have to get on with it and process those emotions yourself. I can only assume that this is what they call a “character building” experience. It’s also massively crap.

Don’t get me wrong though, I love being over here alone and figuring everything out for myself. I feel like this is mine and mine alone. Everything I achieve (and fail at) is completely down to me - which I’ve come to realise was the main attraction of me coming out here. If I’d come out here with someone I knew, the experience would be completely different, and the thought of anyone I know from home coming out to join me at this point would completely rain all over my koala bear themed parade (although I encourage visitors once I’m sorted!).

So basically what I’m saying is that this transitional stage is a bit hard-going given that it’s constantly changing, but it’s also opening my eyes to new things and giving me the confidence to push myself. I’ve met people across the last week or so who, although I have only spent a few days with them, have made me look at things completely differently, and I genuinely hope that our paths cross again in the not too distant future.

And now, as the sun is shining and it’s like a good British summer day outside (even though it’s early spring), I’m off to the beach. Just because I can!

Oh and I didn't have a relevant picture to post, so I thought I'd share this with you instead. Because it makes me smile...