Self realizations and proclamations: 2013 in a nutshell.

Two months ago, after quite limited research and impulsive thoughts I applied and was granted a working holiday visa to travel and live in Australia. My flights booked. On January 14, 2014 I leave my hometown in New York and depart for Sydney. That leaves me one month to finish planning my itinerary, update my iPod, buy things I probably don't need (but want to need), prepare my goodbyes, gather my thoughts, and mentally prepare for the adventures to come. I am both extremely excited and scared shitless. I am heartbroken over the idea of leaving my loved ones behind and immensely enraptured with the concept of exploring parts of the world I have never seen.


So much of my young adult life has been spent in front of a computer screen, a tv, a phone. I've spent hours stalking people from my past on Facebook, staying updated to Miley Cyrus's latest behavioral mishaps, reading articles about the benefits of kale and watching an embarrassingly large amount of cat videos on youtube. I've been a textbook example of a Y-generation kid. We grew up with digital gadgets and came of age during the invention of smartphones. We panic in places where 3G and wifi is unavailable. When I lost power for 3 days because of hurricane sandy I was devoted to find power sources to charge my iPhone at the nearest Starbucks. The place was packed.


We are described as a generation who prefers emails and text messages over face to face communication. (I blame my mild social awkwardness on all of this.) I came to realize these unfortunate facts in the beginning of 2013. Harsh breakups tend to lead to an immense amount of self-reflection. After I acknowledged the fact that I had been wasting too much time googling memes (mexican word of the days are the best) and playing clash of clans (which may very well have been a factor in my ending up single), I promised myself I would get off my lazy ass and do more with myself. Because there I was, almost a quarter into my short life with barely any passion or experience to show for it.


Don't get me wrong, I still spend plenty of time on the internet. I'm IG obsessed, and lets be real, I'm sitting here blogging as we speak. But this giant epiphany resonated in my head and I stopped nowhere short of fulfilling this self proclamation. I stopped watching SVU marathons and deleted some apps on my phone. I spent my year running outdoors, reading more books, saying yes to pretty much any invitation I got, meeting new people, picking up new hobbies, improving old ones, and bettering my relationships with my friends and family. With 2013 coming to a close, I am happy to say that I am that much closer to being someone I am proud of, and I am so looking forward to the exciting yet terrifying events that I have planned for the future.


Life is too short to wait for my wants, and during this period, while I lack any serious obligations, I find it's a perfect time to travel. I want to get my hands dirty. I'm ready to watch sunsets on the coast of Melbourne and carpool with strangers on the Great Ocean Road. I have plans to celebrate Mardi Gras in Sydney, cuddle with koala bears (if they'll have me of course,) and snorkel with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef. I'm ready, I'm going, I'm panicked and I'm stoked. 32 days until my Big Aussie Adventure.