Well a wise man once said that “The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men, Gang aft agle”. Well my plans were not best laid and they have certainly gone agle! First there was my brothers wedding which meant I had to re-write my plans to go home before going to New Zealand next year. At first this freaked me out but once I worked out the details and realised I could afford to come back to finish my Australian visa before going on to New Zealand I managed concentrate on the wonderfulness of him marring the woman he loves and not panicking about choosing between living the dream or attending their wedding. Then there was Josh’s sister. Originally I had wondered if I should come home or stay on. I decided to come home for a few weeks and then head back out once I had my second visa. This plan was changed when she asked me to wait a month or two and go back with her instead. I agreed and decided it wouldn’t hurt at all to take the chance to earn some much needed cash since I would be home long enough to seek employment. She did ask if I would stay in Perth with her but I explained that I’m not the kind to get a proper job and settle anywhere. If I were I wouldn’t be out here in the first place. I think this really hit me the other week when she talked about how she was on holiday. See I’m not on holiday. I am trying to make this lifestyle my life. It’s not a break or a time out anymore it’s my life. Which is why the last plan didn’t work out either.
I was fortunate enough to have some money in my Australian account which I had earmarked for going north and finding work but a couple of weeks in the city made quite a dent in it. After two weeks I made a decision. I could have risked going north and looking for work on what I had but instead of meandering up I would have to take a more direct route. That wouldn’t have been terrible but it would have been a shame. My other option was to stay put for a while longer than planned and build up my financial reserves. I choose the latter option for a few reasons. One it’s always nice to be earning money when you aren’t paying for your accommodation, it does make it so much easier to save. The other was the sister-not-in-law. She knew when we came over that I always planned on leaving but she wasn’t getting work as easily as we thought she would due to the differences in the way her job is carried out over here. She tried temping but she’s really more a permanent kind of person I think. Though technically she has asked me to stay I know she would understand if I left but if the wedding panicking fiasco taught me one thing it is this: People are more important than plans. I may not be one of her friends and I know it’s not fun that I’m not drinking at the moment and now I’m working too, actually..... I’m pretty sure I’m the world’s most boring companion right now, but for the next wee while anyway I’ll hang about a bit. You never know I may yet come in use.
It’s a shame I’ll not get to travel the west coast in the dry season this year but if I don’t manage it this trip then maybe I can do it next May when I return. I haven’t checked out where I’ll go now when I leave now. I want it to be warm and sunny yes but most importantly I want it to be somewhere new. Australia is a massive place and it’s won’t be surprising if I don’t get to see it all. The wise scot also said that plans “lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!” which is why I think I stopped making plans in the first place. Making a plan was an interesting experiment but I think on balance I’ll go back to having intentions. I get too annoyed when the plans don’t work which they rarely do. So now I intent to see as much of Australia as I can over the next 8 months, I intend on going home for my brother wedding and I sure as hell intend on returning afterwards. But plan? I think not. I think the planning I’ll leave to the grown-up from now on and go back to enjoying the randomness of the unplanned backpacking life. After all the way I live my life and the choices I have are luxuries that not many people have so I think it is only right that I embrace them and remember to be thankful for all the amazing opportunities they bring me.
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