The End

Well this is it.

The end to what was, without a doubt, the best year of my life.

[This was written over multiple sessions and is all over the place but oh well, I sort of tried. And I'm back as of last Thursday.]

The amount that I want to be going back to the states is virtually 0.  The one thing I'm looking forward to is seeing my friends but aside from that, in no way shape or form do I want to be going back.  It feels a bit like I'm coming back from uni for summer break except I don't get to return. I've established a great little life here and really do not want to go back to the land of $8 an hour work, crazy high rent, hipsters, astronomical health care costs, and now Emperor Trump.

Because I've been asked this a million times, no, I can't stay.  Permanently moving to another country is not something you can just do.  You have to deal with visas and unfortunately it is very hard to get a permanent visa for Australia.  There are a few ways it can be done which I will pretty much be devoting every free second of my life to trying to accomplish. I can come back for up to 3 months at a time on a tourist visa but you can't work while you're a tourist which makes things hard. The visa I was on is a one time deal so I can't do that again. So if any Aussies reading this hear of a job that would sponsor, or wants to be business partners and open something up, I'll be on the next plane there (seriously though - that's a 100% genuine statement).

I remember returning to Adelaide from my trip to Queensland. I was getting excited because it felt like I was coming home. I then had a terrifying realization that even though it felt that way, I'm not allowed to stay. The same thing happened when I got back from Kangaroo Island (haven't updated this in a long time - I went to KI).  I'm well aware this is sounding like the biggest first world problem but this really is hard.

It's so frustrating that because I was born in a certain place, I'm not allowed to live in another.  That's not to say the US is bad but from the start I've felt so comfortable in Australia.  I feel like I get along so much better with Australians.  The laid back style of life, casual attitude, and especially the sense of humour, are some of the things I'm going to miss the most. I've lived in 4 different cities around North America, Europe, and Australia, and Adelaide has by far been the one I could actually see myself living in long term.

This was the first time doing everything completely on my own. I had some help at the start getting logistical stuff together but after that, I figured everything out by myself.  This was also the first time I was completely financially independent as well and it was a great feeling.

Like I expected, this experience wasn't always easy.  There were some very hard times, especially towards the beginning. At the end of December/start of January, I seriously considered going back to the states. I was living in a hostel, had an exhausting job that barely paid the rent with no money left for anything else, had nothing to do during the days, and at times was overwhelmed with a feeling of loneliness.

Things got better though.  I moved into a house, found a much more appealing job which allowed me to quit the other, started to meet some new people, and was settling in. Everything seemed great until the housing situation fell through without much time to find a new arrangement.  With only days before I had to move, I found an even better house in a great location with the best housemates I could ever ask for.

I did most of my travelling when I was here last year but did make it to Cairns this time around and got to swim at the Great Barrier Reef.  But besides that, the day to day life was such a unique experience. Just heading out to bars in town with old and new friends was always such a great time. My original plan going into this was to work for 6 months and then travel the rest of my time.  I got so settled into life that I wanted to make the most out of living in Adelaide.  Plus, as I have discovered over the course of this year, I'm not a massive fan of solo travel.  It's fun every once in a while but I like to have someone else with me.

One of the biggest reasons I came over to Australia and pretty much the only reason I went to Adelaide was so I could spend more time with two people I met at CSU. They were only there for about 5 months and that just wasn't enough time for me. Although there were some speed bumps along the way, I feel like I got much closer to both of them and will forever be appreciative of having Liam and Vlad as friends.

So what's next for me? Please don't ask. I have no idea and being reminded of that constantly doesn't really help. My goal is to get back to Australia once a year.  The ultimate goal is to figure out how to live in Australia permanently. Like I said, I will be on the next plane back the instant I can make it happen.

With that said, although there are too many to name, a few of my favourite memories that come to mind:

• Walking in thongs with some red tinnies looking at rock faces in the hills
• Weekend at Marion Bay
• Australia Day  (+ carrying the West End case down Stephen Terrace)
• Watching local Saturday footy and later abusing monopoly money at the footy club
• Lucky's Beach Club
• My birthday evening/night
• Last day at the RCC
• Convincing people I was a pong champion at a housewarming
• My housewarming party
• Connect 4 at the Woody
• Jessica not putting us on the list

There are some people I have to thank without whom this experience would not have been what it was:

First off, yet again my Aunt Cindi for hooking me up with some crazy flight deals. Money would have been much tighter at the beginning if I had to pay full price to get there/back.

Second, the Rella family, who welcomed me into their home for about a month and continued to be absolutely wonderful the whole time I was in Australia.

The Rella Clan (minus Amy and Shane)

Third, but probably the most important, is Liam.  This guy is the definition of an absolute legend.  He went out of his way so many times to help me with logistical things, invited me to do stuff with him and his friends, helped me move, hooked me up with free drinks on nights out, was always down to do anything, and was just a fantastic all around friend.  I 100% think I wouldn't have made it the year without him. Liam, there are really no words to describe how thankful I am for everything you did for me and I'm going to miss you like crazy. Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon.

A little rough at this point in the night. Best housewarming of all time.

Next, and along the same lines, are Liam's friends who were all so welcoming and genuinely nice people. Oh boy moving to the other side of the world by yourself can sure be lonely. Having people to socialize with really helped. Kieran, Henry and Jono specifically, you guys are awesome.

Jono in the back, Kieran, Liam

I also have to give a shout out to my workmates at Scroll.  I met some pretty cool people there and made some good friends.  Special mention to Lynn and Linda because they asked me to.

Linda and Lynn

The bosses

And lastly my Gilles St. housemates. I can't believe how incredibly lucky I got with my housing situation. After moving around the city, living in 4 different places, I ended up with the most amazing, friendly, awesome, and best housemates I could have ever asked for. Haydn and Cassie, you guys are freaking incredible and I'll miss you both terribly! Thanks for all the laughs, nights in, nights out, card games, Survivor/Bachelor viewings, and so much more. I expect you both to visit me in the states ASAP. And an invite to any special "celebrations" that might happen in the future...and Cassie I look forward to you being my boss at Society when the time comes 'cough' 'cough.'

Quite possibly the grossest picture of all time but I kind of love it. Me, Vlad, Cass, Haydos

Alright well the tears are starting to form so let's wrap this up.

Thanks to everyone I met this past year. I miss you all already. I'll be back as soon as possible to sleep on all of your couches.  If anyone is coming to the states, let me know and we'll have heaps of fun. Please stay in touch!

That's all for now, Australia.  Bye.    :(

The End of an Era

Breakups are never easy.

You were my first smartphone and forever changed the way I look at mobiles but today, I must retire you for what hopefully will be the last time.

We met back in 2012 and although I left you for your much better and newer family member 2 years later, you came back to me in 2015 when the new version was imprisoned by the evil AT&T.  

You're painstakingly slow and because of your age can only run about 2 apps but you did what you could. You're also a little too stuck in the past with your 3G hipster ways and I'm ready to move on.

You accompanied me to Ireland and although I only used you for internet, you always managed to help me find my way when I was lost.  One night in Prague you were taken from me but I chased your kidnapper down and got you back.  

Goodbye, my ever faithful iPhone 3.

If none of that made sense, I no longer have to use my ancient iPhone.  My usual phone was locked to a US network until the 2 year contract expired which it did today.  That means I can now use it as my Australian phone.  Hooray!  First world problem solved.

That's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Back to the States

Well I'm back in Oregon. I normally try and keep these things fairly upbeat but I'm going to be completely honest.  I really don't want to be here. 

The day before I left, Vlad and I went to a dessert cafe called Chocolate Tree.  It lived up to its name.  I drank probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had and devoured a chocolate and strawberry waffle.  The sugar coma was great.

The next day we headed into town for some last minute souvenir shopping and Vlad had to go to a class.  Later that night we went out with Charlotte to a few bars.  Adelaide sure is wild on Tuesdays (sarcasm is hard to come across in writing) but it was a good time.  The rest of the night we stayed up, officially making this a tradition (we stayed up all night before Vlad left the US).

From the first day I got to Australia, I felt at home.  Australia is kind of like a hybrid of the US and the UK.  More specifically, from the time I spent in Adelaide, parts of it almost felt like a bigger version of Fort Collins.  I love it. 

It's not only the big things like getting to see my best friend everyday or traveling around doing incredible things that I'm going to miss, it's also a lot of the small things.  For example, I'm eating Tim Tams and watching Kath and Kim while writing this.  Won't be able to do that much longer.  When I woke up this morning (or night because my sleep is so off) I was craving an ice coffee and a meat pie.  Also seeing completely different wildlife than I'm used to like birds and possums (and Ziggy).
 

As bummed as I am to be back, what a unique experience this was. Yes, I was in Australia and got to go to 4 states which was amazing enough as it is but I also got to live with an Australian family for roughly a month.  Not only that but I got glimpses of Serbian life as well since they are Serbian.  Not many people get the chance to live with a family from another country and see day to day life.  Because of this, the only people I met were Australian (I only talked to 1 American the whole time which was wonderful). 

So some things that have really confused me about the US now that I've been to Australia:

• Chip and pin cards.  Seriously, why is this not a thing here yet?  The card I used had a chip but no pin which made it a crap shoot if it would work in machines.  I'm pretty sure the US is one of the only places in the world to not have this.
• Metro cards in Portland.  How is it that a city which is supposed to be ultra green and environmentally friendly still uses paper tickets for public transit?  Spend a little money and put in card readers!
• Censorship on TV.  People swear on Australian TV all the time.  I think some of it has to do with the time the show is airing but TV in the US is so restricted with what is allowed to be said/shown.  Lighten up!
• Tim Tams.  Not much else to be said.  Why do we not have these?
• Rounding up change.  There's no equivalent to a penny in Australia.  Their smallest coin is five cent.  If something costs $5.99, you give $6. 
• Kind of on the same line, they include their "sales tax" in the price so you know what you'll pay when you get to the register.
• For fear of starting a debate, I'm just going to say the minimum wage in Australia is $17.29... 
• Airport security. 
• Radio stations are way better.

I don't want to sound like I'm completely hating on the US so there are a few things I do like in comparison:

• Customer service is much more a thing here.
• Everything is cheaper (but let's think about minimum wage again...).
• People in general are a little more aware of things they say
• You can use your card pretty much anywhere on anything without charges.
• Being able to buy heaps of different things in the same store.

No words will ever be enough to say this properly but a massive thanks to the whole Zecevic clan who are some of the nicest, genuine, funny, and friendly people I have ever met.  Giving me a bed to stay in, copious (and I mean copious) amounts of food, driving and picking me up from the airport and other places, the list of thank yous goes on and on.  I feel like I have a new home/family now and will 100% be back.

Also, this is kind of weird but it was on my mind.  Thanks to CSU.  Without that school, I would never have met Vlad which means I probably would never have done any of this.  That and they don't put expiration dates on their student IDs and I got away with saving a ton of money using mine on concession tickets because of it.

Start of the shrine

The jet lag hit pretty hard coming back which has made me stay up all night thinking about some scenarios.  If certain things go according to plan, I will be returning a whole lot sooner than I originally thought...

That's it for David Down Under (I cringe every time I read that)...for the moment.

That's all for now.  Bye.


Oh wait one more thing!  I completely forgot to post this when it got put up but here's the little video Vlad and I filmed in Sydney.



Ok now that's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Going to Australia!

Let's just start this out with saying I've gotten amazingly lucky with alliterations.

The time has finally come!  I booked the flights back in February and since then, I'm pretty sure time has stood still.  The bags are (almost) packed, passport is located, tickets are printed, and although the mental readiness of traveling over 30 hours hasn't been achieved, I'm heading to Australia!

Leading up to today, what an awesome week!  Last Saturday I climbed in a competition at ClubSport.  I hadn't competed since freshman year of college and didn't climb that well but it was fun!  I got to climb outside with some friends on Wednesday at French's Dome which is always a good time.  

Friday night, as a semi-early goodbye, some friends and I went to the last summer session of Camp Jones (AKA my friend Hannah's house) for card games, hide and seek, late night chats, and a fair few festive beverages.  I'm really going to miss those guys!  

Not going to get too political on here but wanted to say good job to the USA for getting some common sense and finally granting marriage equality this week.  If all that wasn't enough, a new Harry Potter play was announced to be premiering in 2016.  What a week!

Over the last few days I've tried to shift my sleep schedule so I'm not hit too hard with the 16.5 hour time difference (yeah the extra 1/2 hour is weird to me too).  We'll see how that works out.

So what's the overall plan?  I fly to LAX tomorrow and have a lot of time to kill (which will likely be spent gorging myself with In-N-Out) before the long flight to Sydney.  I'll be getting into Adelaide in South Australia on the 1st (local time) and the next day going back to Sydney (mildly long story).  After a few days there, I'm headed to the Gold Coast and then back to Adelaide.  At some point, I'm going to Melbourne for a bit.  Other than that, I'm just going to play it by ear and see how long the funds last.  Hopefully I won't have to resort to asking people to give me money online.  

The 3 most important goals I set for myself in Ireland seemed to work out pretty well so I'll be applying them to this trip as well:   

• Don't get deported

• Don't get arrested

• Don't die

I'll do my best to post every week like I've done in the past but no promises.  

With all that said, goodbye USA.  Australia, here I come!

That's all for now.  Bye.

So Long, Farewell

Well this is it.  Post number 52.  

I have now successfully created new content for this blog every week for the past year.  Not trying to be too boastful but I think that's quite an achievement.  I believe it was around July or August I made the decision to do this for a year and as of today I have officially done it.

That being said, this will be the last weekly post.

It may not appear so but making a new one of these every week is actually quite a bit of work.  Some weeks it's much easier than others but thinking of an idea, writing, editing, taking pictures, choosing pictures, editing pictures, etc takes a fair amount of time.  If I'm going to be putting in the time to make these posts, I want them to be interesting to me.  Nothing terribly exciting is happening right now and so it's not as fun to create new posts at the moment.

That being said, I don't want this blog to die.  

So what's next?    I'm not going to be posting every week but if something new/fun/exciting happens, I will put something up.  That could be in a few days or it could be in a couple of months (hopefully something new/fun/exciting happens sooner than that).  I'm headed to Colorado in less than 3 weeks so that will likely be next.

I'm also going to stop with the stupid song titles because that was a horrible idea for so many reasons. 

Even though this isn't goodbye, I do want to say a big thank you to the people who found the time to read and interact with me through this blog.  I continued writing it after leaving Colorado because I wanted it to be a way to keep in touch with people (which sort of worked) and went from there.  It always makes me happy when someone mentions they read something on here.

Thanks again for reading.

That's all for now.  Bye.

Auld Lang Syne

New Years is kind of an odd holiday if you really think about it.  Nothing magical happens between December 31st and January 1st but it somehow always feels like the end of an era and the beginning of another.

For celebrations, a group of us gathered at a friend's house to bring in the new year.  There was food, drinks, games, and good times.

2015!

2014 was one of, if not the most, craziest years of my life.  There were some extreme highs and some extreme lows.  It marked a major shift in the life that I knew and forced me to start almost completely over.  I try to keep these postings light but have a feeling this one might be a bit heavier.

So what big things happened in 2014?

• Despite going borderline insane due to being enrolled in 21 credits, I had my most fun semester at CSU of the time I was there
• Was able to have a fantastic time traveling across the country from New York City to LA (where I finally got to experience Disneyland!)
• Got to see some of Canada for the first time and made some (hopefully soon) travel goals
• Graduated from university.  That still hasn't really hit me yet
• Mentored and made a noticeable impact on a 10 year old's life
• At least for me, made what I hope to be a lifelong best friend from the other side of the world who has been through an eerily similar amount of identical life experiences/situations as me
• Lost one of my oldest friends but still think about him often
• Had to say goodbye to my two best friends and all the other people I got really close with after 3.5 years living in Colorado.  I think about them everyday and miss them terribly
• Moved back to the Northwest
• Even though the process was long, I got a job that was number one on my list
• Started writing this weekly blog which is both fantastic and frustrating.  It's great to look back at something for every week and see when I had nothing to write about or when the ideas were flowing

What will 2015 bring?  I don't really do the whole resolution thing but I do like to set some goals.  What might those be?  I don't want to give away too much so those are just for me.  

Hope everyone had a memorable year and that 2015 will be just as eventful.  I've got a feeling this is going to be a good year.

Happy New Year!  

That's all for now.  Bye.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Well, I'm back in Oregon, at least for a while.

Packing commenced on Monday this week and took me about three days to get done.  Packing might be the worst thing in the world.  Trying to fit your life into 3 bags is not enjoyable.

Packing sucks

My friend Sophie came up from Denver on Monday so we could hang out a bit and say goodbye.  We ended up going to Odell's brewery on a spur of the moment decision but missed the last tour of the day by five minutes.  Oh well.  It was my other friend's birthday on Monday as well and we went out at night to celebrate.

Courtesy of Will

On Tuesday, Heather arranged a surprise activity for us.  I tried to figure out what it was but was unsuccessful.  It turned out to be paddle boarding!  I had never done it before and the weather was beautiful which made for a great time.  That night we went out to dinner.  I originally thought it was just going to be Heather and me but was surprised when other friends were there as well.  If you don't know, Fort Collins has copious amounts of restaurants and almost all of them are delicious.  Unfortunately, this place is in the top 2 for worst places I've ever been.  I had to send my food back twice (I've never sent back food before).  If you're ever in Fort Collins, do not go to The Boot Grill.  Although the food was terrible, it made for a good laugh.

Courtesy of Heather

Wednesday was a pretty depressing day.  My flight wasn't until almost nine at night and I still had a fair amount of packing to do.  When the packing was finally done, Heather, Will, and I walked around campus and then played a game of Gin Rummy.  After saying farewell to the house, CSU, and Fort Collins, Heather drove me down to the airport and we had our last goodbye (at least for now).  Having to say bye to your two best friends in the span of less than 3 weeks kind of sucks.

Empty rooms are sad

I flew into Seattle because the ticket was about $100 cheaper for some reason as opposed to heading to Portland and my dad was driving down anyway.  The added 3 hours to the trip was not the greatest thing in the world but it all worked out.

Congratulations to all the West Coast people graduating today!

That's all for now.  Bye.

City Of Roses

It's a little strange doing a travel post about the place I lived for 18 years but traveling is traveling.  Right after my graduation ceremony concluded last Saturday, Vlad and I headed to the airport to catch a flight to Portland, Oregon.  There was traffic on the way down which made for a sprint through the airport and a photo finish for making the flight but we did it! 

When we arrived at my place in Portland, we walked around the neighborhood a bit before heading to Washington Square shopping mall so Vlad could get things for family and friends back in Australia.  After getting back and a quick nap, we took the MAX into Portland and had good times at one of my favorite places in Portland, Deschutes brewery.  Before heading back, we made a stop at the oh so famous Voodoo donuts.

The next day after watching a disappointing Heat game, we went to Pittock Mansion before heading downtown again.  When we got downtown, we walked along the waterfront and then towards Pioneer Courthouse Square.  The weather was pretty bad so we stepped into the mall to try and find more gifts but didn't have much luck.

Pittock Mansion

Portland!

Benson Bubbler

On Monday we pretty much spent the entire day going in and out of shopping malls around the Portland area.  Later on, Vlad and I stayed outside almost the entire night in my backyard having one of our "deep" late night conversations.  That night will probably be one of my favorite memories ever.

We headed back to Denver on Tuesday after our flight was delayed due to sever lightning storms.  We were worrying a bit because Vlad's journey back to Australia was supposed to start Wednesday morning and we weren't sure if we would make it back in time.  Luckily we did but it took about 11 hours to get from PDX to Fort Collins which put a damper on our last night activities.  We did get to walk around campus one more time before Vlad shuttled back to the airport in the morning.  Saying goodbye to your best friend is not a fun or easy thing to do and has made for some rough days after.  I'm so glad we got to spend his last few days together and I will be counting down the time until we meet again.

That's all for now.  Bye.