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.    :(

2016

Well happy new year!

I thought about going to Sydney to see the fireworks but a lot of people online said it gets insanely crowded and with the heat, can be miserable.  Plus prices in the already expensive city skyrocket for New Years.  I ended up not really doing anything for New Years.  I could see some fireworks from the hostel balcony which was nice.

So what big things happened in 2015?

• Made a group of completely new friends from work which I can confidently say will remain friends for a long time.  The PG family are some of the best people I've ever met.  Miss you guys!
• March marked a successful one year of weekly postings on this blog.
• Got to climb outside way more than I have in the past.
• Went back to Fort Collins to see some people I hadn't seen in a while and had so much fun!
• Had the incredible opportunity to travel around Australia for a little over a month.
• Took quite a fall and broke my first bone.
• Probably the most significant thing, I actually moved to Australia with the hopes of being here a year.
• Got my first Australian job. 

I was reading over the post I did at this time last year and mentioned having a few goals.  I ended up achieving the main one which was to get to Australia (actually did it twice). Honestly don't really remember what the other ones were so let's just call it an overall success.    

The main goal (or at least public goal) for 2016 is to successfully remain in Australia for a year (or close to). Hard to believe but I've already been here for almost 2 months...crazy.

I moved out of the hostel today and into a house for six weeks.  I've only been here about an hour and am very happy with the decision.  We have a cat and he already loves me.

3rd home sweet home

Once again, happy new year!

That's all for now.  Bye.

I MOVED TO AUSTRALIA!

Well there's really no eloquent way of saying this.  If you haven't figured it out from the title...

Holy crap this actually happened!

I moved to Australia! 

Such beautiful prose.  But let's rewind a couple of months...

Last July I visited Australia and fell in love. My original plan when I left the states was actually to stay in Oz but due to a number of circumstances, that didn't happen.  When I got back to the states, I wasn't happy.  The whole return trip I was thinking about how much of a mistake I was making coming back.  Returning to the same day to day life as before was pretty disheartening.  I couldn't imagine doing it for much longer and continued to research about moving to Australia.

The initial research began before the first trip.  I had a general idea about the logistics but really started the studies about two weeks before I came back to the states.  I was looking at places to rent, job offerings, how the visa worked, and lots of other little important details.

On September 5th, I applied for the Work and Holiday Visa. About 45 minutes later, I got an email saying my visa has been approved. I broke out my last package of Tim Tams and the celebration/minor freak out began.

A tip I found rummaging through online forums was to get certain certifications before looking for work. A few days later, I earned two certificates that basically allow me to serve alcohol/work in a place where there's gambling in Australia.  The "courses" were both online and incredibly easy. Some of the information was actually mildly interesting since laws are a bit different country to country.

Quite the setback presented itself in the middle of September when I took a bit of a fall and fractured part of my spine. I was out of work for 2 weeks which took a hit to the finances and I wasn't sure how long it would take to be healed. Would I be mended enough by November to travel for 30+ hours? Would I be able to carry a decently heavy backpack without keeling over? Luckily I made a speedy recovery and felt comfortable enough heading over with the almost healed injury.

The last major step was figuring out how I would get back to Australia. When I went the first time, it was pretty much the peak low season which made return airfare relatively cheap. As it was getting more towards southern hemisphere summer, that was no longer the case. Lucky for me, my magnificent Aunt Cindi happens to work for Delta and was able to hook me up with some ridiculously cheap tickets. Thanks Cindi! You're amazing!

There was a fair amount to do beforehand

The only caveat to the cheap airfare was I had to fly standby the whole way. Flying standby, you have no idea if you're getting on a flight or having to wait hours or even days to try for the next one. Since I didn't have a deadline to get to Australia, this wasn't that big of a deal.

A few days before leaving, I had to get my phone ready for use abroad. This seemed like an easy process but ended up being a huge pain. Basically, AT&T sucks. Long story short, it's still getting figured out.

"Down low" goodbye party. Thanks to whoever took this. Already missing some of the best people I've ever met.
Visit me!

On November 11th, I headed to PDX with my fingers crossed. I was able to make the flight to Los Angeles but the flight to Sydney had a bunch of people on standby with not a whole lot of seats available. Flying standby was a new experience for me. It's a very odd feeling not knowing if you are going to be flying.

Names of what I assumed to be standby travelers going to Sydney began to be called, allowing them on the flight. I knew my name was fairly far down the list but there was some hope. Each time the intercom turned on, the stomach got some butterflies and the heart pounded. Then it happened. The wonderful sound of the gate agent saying "all standby passengers have been cleared." I made the fight (and even scored a window seat)!

My cheap Delta ticket got me to Sydney but after that, I was on my own. After the wonderfully refreshing 15 hour flight to Sydney, I made my way to the domestic terminal and checked for flights to Adelaide leaving later in the day. That was also a new experience booking a plane ticket at the airport for the same day.

When I arrived in Adelaide, my buddy Liam who I met at CSU picked me up from the airport and we made way to his place.  That was it.  I made it through the weirdest traveling experience I have ever done!

Side note, huge thanks to the Rella family for letting me stay with them for a bit!

Now at this point you might be thinking, "But David, why didn't you post this stuff when it was actually happening?" Well, rest your curious little head because I'm about to tell you:

One night in late August I came up with the crazy idea to keep all of this on the semi-down low so when I got to Australia, I could surprise Vlad.  This happened today/yesterday depending on when/where you read from.  It's not very often you get to shock someone who lives on the other side of the world by showing up at a bar and saying "hey." Special shout out again to Liam for helping me with the surprise and to everyone who knew what was going on and kept the secret!

So what exactly am I doing? To be completely honest, I don't really know. Basically my visa allows me to stay in the country for a year traveling around and working. The only limitation to the work is I can only keep a job for 6 months at a time. The hope is to work in some sort of hospitality setting but I'll pretty much take whatever I can find. I'm starting in Adelaide since I know a few people but am open to moving around. After I get settled/readjusted, I'll start looking for hostels to stay in or possibly a place to rent, depending on the job situation. Other than that, I'm just going to see where things take me. 

Yes, this is slightly terrifying. Moving to the other side of the world without a job lined up, without a consistent place to stay, and without a massive amount of funds to live off is nerve-racking. That being said, I am not the first person to do this. Not to be too boastful but I consider myself to be pretty smart, self-sufficient, and resourceful. A massive part of my research before heading over was reading about other peoples' experience. If they could do it, why couldn't I? This actually is a once in a lifetime opportunity (unfortunately US citizens can only get an Australian work visa one time) and I really have nothing to lose. I can do this.

So yeah, here we go! This is going to be insane. I'm predicting heaps of good times, a few struggles, and the most adventurous year of my life. I'll try and post on here as much as possible. Same ways as always to stay in touch so please do (except I'll have an Australian phone number so you'll need that for the iPhone things)!

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.

Heigh Ho Heigh Ho It's Off To Work [I] Go!

I'M EMPLOYED!!!

I'm going to be working for Planet Granite Portland and I couldn't be more excited!  This is the job I interviewed for in May and got the offer on Wednesday!  When it opens, I believe the gym is going to be the eighth largest climbing gym in the US.

There was a preview event on Thursday for those who work/live in the Pearl District.  It was my first time going into the gym and I was overwhelmed.  This place is amazing!  I've been to a lot of climbing gyms around the country and I honestly think this is the coolest one I've seen. 

Being in the gym before the walls are climbable is kind of like putting a kid in a room full of candy and telling them not to eat anything.  It was torturous.

Although the walls are finished, there's still a fair amount of construction that has to get done before opening day.  For anyone interested, here's a virtual tour of the gym:
    

Planet Granite Portland Virtual Tour from Planet Granite on Vimeo.

That's all for now.  Bye.

School's Out

College classes are officially over!  I've got one exam on Monday and then I'm done!  It hasn't quite hit yet that it's over but I couldn't be more thrilled!

For this weeks post, I figured that after being at CSU for roughly 4 years, it was time to finally take some pictures around campus.  So here is a little tour of campus:

Here's the business school (Rockwell) where I pretty much lived.

Pride Rock looking building is the gym/climbing wall.

Moby Arena where basketball and volleyball games are played.

Cool little nature park on campus.

Found this building today...

This is where the youth mentoring program was held.  Prison? Maybe.

Sculpture that could easily turn into a lightning rod.

Tall tower in the back on the left is where I lived freshman year.

Behavioral Sciences Building where I had a few classes in years past.

Monfort Quad where I saw Obama speak last year.

And of course the most photographed place on campus, The Oval.

So yeah, there's a little bit of CSU.  Highschool friends, come and visit! 

That's all for now.  Bye.

Ghostbusters

This last week I got to do something I've been wanting to do since freshman year.  Living in the dorms four years ago, someone on my floor told us about this graveyard just outside of Fort Collins that is said to be haunted.  She said that people regularly would leave the place sprinting out and crying because of what they saw.  She wouldn't tell us the name but after some research, a few of us figured it was the Bingham Hill Cemetery.

Bingham Hill Cemetery was "discovered" in the 1860s but was likely used before then.  Buried there are Colorado pioneers, many of whom died from unpleasant diseases and by other, slightly disturbing, means.

We tried to find the cemetery twice freshman year but had no luck.  It's off a dark road and hard to see so we sort of gave up after the second try.

Last week, me and two others tried to find the place one more time and we were successful! It was a little frustrating becasue when we found the entrance, I realized it was about 10 feet from where I looked freshman year.

It was too dark to take pictures so I pulled this from Google Images.

Walking along the path towards the cemetery was scary enough.  It's a dirt path with wooden planks along the way.  There are old trees drooping over the walkway, not to mention it's in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farms.

As we got to the actual cemetery, I noticed everything got a lot colder.  I'm not going to lie, it was creepy.

We walked around the cemetery a bit.  The whole time I felt like someone was watching us.  At one point, I swear I heard footsteps coming up from behind us when we were standing still.  Vlad says he saw an old woman standing behind one of us for a split second.  There were also two deer looking things standing by a fence.  Those were probably just deer.  People on internet forums said there was an old chair against a tree that if you sit in it, some people feel their arm being grabbed.  Two of us sat in the chair.  I didn't feel anyone grabbing my arm but it did feel like someone was flicking my hair sticking out from under my beanie.

When we decided to leave, I felt the temperature rise almost immediately.  Very weird stuff.  My theory is that 95% of supernatural things people experience are made up in their mind.  However, I do think that things can happen.  Even if none of it is true, it was a fun night and another thing to cross off the Fort Collins to do list.


That's all for now. Bye.

Come Together

Last week on Saturday, I once again got to go up to Horsetooth.  Although I did climb a little, I was in guide mode most of the time to help out the three other people I went with who hadn't been before.  The weather was perfectly warm and overcast!

This isn't from Saturday but here's the reservoir.

On Sunday I went on the New Belgium tour again with roommate Heather and her parents.  That's always a good time.

 

 I stayed up Monday night to watch the lunar eclipse do its thing.  It was big...and red.

This weekend I played in a one day, 5v5, soccer tournament.  It was not organized very well and we ended up having to play three games in a row but it was a lot of fun!

In other news, social media exploded this week around Fort Collins over the announcement that the Westboro Baptist Church is going to be protesting CSU's graduation day in May.  In case you're unfamiliar with this lovely group, I'll let you look it up on your own seeing as I in no way want to help spread their "message" of complete ignorance and stupidity (but don't go on their websites since those generate ad money for them).  My graduation time is at 8 AM and they're scheduled to be here around 5 so unfortunately I don't get to be protested against.  Why are they protesting a college graduation? Great question!  Apparently they don't like that a lot of my college educated peers are accepting of a wide range of people and so aggressively telling us we're going to hell will change that. 

One of my favorite things about CSU is the sense of community.  The second people found out about this, almost everyone was posting positive messages and coming up with ways to support peoples' hard work in finishing school.  My favorite comment I saw on Facebook was "It's my personal belief that if the WBC is protesting you, you're doing something right."  Within hours of the announcement, a counter protest had been organized and over 1300 people have already said they're coming to support the graduates.  Students are also organizing donations for charities that the WBC protests so them coming is actually kind of a good thing.  There's a lot more I would love to say about the WBC but restraint is a virtue.

Lastly, seriously though you should go on that website I helped make for class.  Part of our grade is on how many people go on the site so...click away

That's all for now.  Bye.