I have been living in a small fishing village in Australia for nearly three months. I flew from Christchurch, New Zealand, to Brisbane, Australia and was shocked at the physical difference between the two countries. At first I felt disappointed. The land seemed flat, arid, dry, hot and sparse. This was only in comparison to green, small, mountainous and sheep-filled New Zealand.

I've stayed here in Poona with a life-long dear friend, and within the course of three months I managed to find a waitressing/barista job in Maryborough, a 25-minute drive north of my village, which is more of a national park and important bird-nesting migration zone. Splendid birds here. Most days I don't want to spend in town, due to fear of spending too much money and also being so hungry, I'd just like to go home and cook and see if I can find some sun rays while floating in the pool ("have bikini-will float" could be my alternate journal title) and saunter along the beach and bush. Most days, I just drive straight home, maybe with an occasional detour. Today, the sun rays shining post-storm through the lumber forest made me feel nostalgic for my time here. I thought I'd stop and soak up the quietude on one of the forestry roads.

I pulled down a dirt road, and turned off the car, and stared down the line of tall pine trees, ferns below, listening to the birds echo through the forest. Such peacefulness. No cars. No planes. No people. No human sounds except my own breathing. And some thinking.

I began to think of how I first felt when I arrived. Relaxation from a big kiwi adventure, and the surprise at the new Aussie landscape. At this moment in the car, I think Australia is so incomparably beautiful. I haven't seen much of the country, but it is a massive continent! I did take a a fantastic trip to Sydney with B. I've been deliberating a trip to Cairns with the last drips of earned funds here from working at the Cafe. But I'm realizing how fast time has flown here. How the quietness has affected me. I feel sad to leave, as the past few days I lived in constant indecision as to whether or not to extend my stay. I already extended it once. I wasn't worried about the $250 cost to change, but this second round, I was.

Helenah, my Swedish friend I traveled with in NZ, was in contact with me my during my internal struggle, and she said, "it's always about the money, isn't it?" in a more bitter tone than that. I thought yes. But it shouldn't be. That perspective made me try and go with intuition, rather than basing my decision on lack of funds or potential to make funds. Family is the number one priority I'm going home now. And now that I'm headed home, I really appreciate this lovely country Australia. I've realized the travel high or live abroad high can last forever, but at some point, it's time to say goodbye. Once I realized that, I thought about that for life. We become so attached to things, but if we know that they won't last long, we squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of them. Or so we hope we do.