Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bedbugs Bite!

I stayed in Perth for about a week and was sick for the better part of it. I think the backpacker diet caught up to me- basically a lot of carbs and sodium. So I spent a good amount of time in my room at Hotel (and I use that term very loosely) Bam'bu...

One word: EW. I'm no neat freak, but sharing a room with seven guys is just plain disgusting. It smelled absolutely awful and I definitely hopped out of bed on multiple mornings, only to land in a sticky glob of dried beer. Then there were the cockroaches, which are pretty standard around some of these older buildings. I can actually live with them now as long as they're not in my bed or bag. But the bedbugs!! I didn't know bedbugs were real until this trip! I've now been bit by a bedbug and a tuna. So dumb- I should have switched hostels, but I stuck around for the free internet :)

When I wasn't in my room, I spent my time at Cottlesloe Beach. It's so warm here that I couldn't do anything else. The sand is a blinding white and unbelievably fine. The beach looks so INNOCENT- children playing in the sand, keeping cool as the waves lap at their heels... however the undertow that day was incredible- so insidiously powerful it was frightening. Just your average Australian beach- striking beauty spiced with danger.

This (below) is The Shed- a big open-air bar right next door to my hostel. I LOVE this bar-relaxed and friendly, with good beer, cute bouncers, and great live music. However, I made the mistake of coming here by myself one night... not normally a big deal since I'm by myself a lot now... except that they were playing cheesy 80's and 90's classics... totally the kind of music I would dance to with Jasso, Jen, Brit, Deels... actually, every single one of my girls from back home. But I can't do it alone... or with randos at the bar. It was the first time I've been homesick since I left.

Since then, I hit a bit of a wall in my backpacking- I actually love being on my own and meeting new people (a lot more than I thought I would!) but it's very tiring to start all over every couple weeks. I had such a great group back in Melbourne- between Dave & co, the Canadians, Has, and the entire UK... it made the pangs of leaving and starting anew even more pronounced.

Thankfully, I met Nic on the plane. She is Dutch and I have no idea how to actually spell her real name. But she is a Perth vet and not only befriended me when I was at my worst, but led me to my hostel and helped me to meet these lovely people!

Irish Martin, Phillip, Lis, German Martin, Leo, and Dan (and Aimee, the photographer!)

We explored Perth together- it's a nice city... they claim the best in the world... I'd like to discover why but I'm starting to realize that I don't have the time to become one with every city I stop in. I've been officially backpacking around the country for about a month and a half now. My original plan was to move to Melbourne and actually LIVE there and travel around in my last month. I brought a lot of nice clothes, expecting to be city chic for three months, meeting the sophisticated and suave at happy hour after leaving my nice hospitality job, ending the day in my small but comfortable apartment...

What happened? After the first three weeks, I realized that I didn't fly 8,000 miles to do exactly what I'm going to do when I go back home. So, in the fashion capital of Australia, I went to Savers (like Salvation Army) and spent $30 on clothes I don't mind getting rid of (since everything gets destroyed in hostels... and the desert). I dropped all of my nice clothes off at Dave's, except for a pair of black slacks, a white button up, and an outfit to wear to the Sydney Opera House (whenever I get there), and headed west.

My bag of goodies, post-Savers.

Despite my current cravings for the Bay and everything familiar, I know they will pass. I've made three truly life changing decisions in the past four years... Going to Dominican, being single, and coming to Australia... and this one tops them all. Each choice has been a step towards asserting myself in this world... even in my own world. I'm forced to rely on my own judgement, have faith in myself, and to MAKE DECISIONS, and lo and behold the world hasn't come crashing down :)