Australia 2016

Australia 2016 

Back in February this year I went on my first ever holiday abroad, yes I'm 20 years old and I have only just been on a plane. As you can probably guess by the title, I didn't go far... only to the other side of the world. No big deal. 

It actually took 2 full days to get there, and in total 28 hours of flying time. I was a sweaty mess by the end of it. 

After 3 plane journeys, a mental breakdown in the middle of an airport and a flight I never want to experience again, I finally arrived in Perth Australia where I would be spending the next 3 weeks of my life. 

It was a joyful moment as I stood there with my sister on the other side of the world having just spent what seemed like forever getting there. Honestly, you should see the photo's (I'm not showing you - they are really bad) we looked horrendous. It wasn't the best moment of my life when I started coughing uncontrollably after getting off a flight and having people stare at me like I'd just contracted the zika virus (it was a high risk at the time). 

I enjoyed the flying - right up until the last flight anyway. The turbulence from planes rocked me to sleep most of the time and I had a pretty comfortable journey. We flew with Etihad, first from Manchester airport and then from Abu Dhabi airport. It was nice. The food was lush compared to what others had said about it. They even handed out popcorn at one point, so we could sit watching a film with a nice snack. 10/10 for the service on both of the flights, there and back. 

My sister on the other hand, had spent the whole journey wide awake and boy was she grumpy. 

I felt her pain though; on the third flight from Melbourne to Perth (we had to fly straight over Perth just to return to Perth a few hours later - yay for cheap flights).. I had slept so much on the other two journeys, that by the time we landed in Melbourne I had never felt more awake in all my life. The flight was not great and not one I want to revisit anytime in the future. The plane was smaller, therefore nothing like the planes we had previously been on only a few hours prior. We used Virgin Australia and although I knew it was only going to be a short journey, I thought it would of been a little more comfortable. The seats were mushed together, there was no entertainment system and I was awake. I tried so hard to sleep but it just wasn't happening. On top of all that, I was wearing cosy joggers and a fleecy jumper which I was quite thankful for at the time because that plane was freezing... until we got off and I was sweating like a snowman in an oven. I had tried so hard to look after myself during those flights, not to mention I was still recovering from a 3 month chest infection. But the fact is, that coming from England all the way to Australia in 2 days, spending 28 hours on a plane and not knowing whether you're coming or going is never going to be plain sailing. 

I'm so happy that was my first ever journey abroad because I ended up learning so much about myself; like how confident I am when I really need to be, how the exchange rates work (I never knew), and that I actually love plane journeys (well most of them)

 Now after that journey of a lifetime, I am now 100% ready to go back and do it all again but this time for longer. 

I've never wanted to travel more than I do now, and next year I'm going to make that happen.