It begins with a empty shell van and a big Country to roam....

It also begins with a pandemic, an adventurous (and awfully similar) couple in love, wanting to start a life somewhere new, wanting to travel, wanting new experiences. But ultimately, it begins with what drives those laid out reasons.

I have always been very connected to my home, my family and friends. However, also very 'itchy in the but' as my grandmother says - that is, unable to sit in a place for too long. It's been challenging to balance how I seek the new in adventures and also connections to people and places, the dualism of my personality.

I suppose I found some harmony in being a full-time immigrant, and the itchiness took longer to appear, but it never fails to do so from time to time. I did my masters degree in Melbourne and then started planning a move to Perth, which would entail travelling the coast of Western Australia to really evaluate the scene. The 'west quest', how I like to call it, was postponed as the pandemic arose (the state totally isolated themselves) and amazing job opportunities came to be in Victoria. Moreover, with time, and my boyfriend's skilled and determined personality, we shaped our move to take place whilst enjoying the journey of cruising the whole of Australia. If anything, we evaluate all the scenes. However, the actual drive was much more than that. It lies on experiencing Country, in observing and feeling the so very unique natural and cultural landscapes. It seems funny, or at least interesting, that we would find connection to place in a journey of traverse. Perhaps it is a bit of all that 'journey is more important than the destination', 'live in the moment' type of stuff. Or more elaborate than that, is a thought on Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea, how some decisive events that shape the course of our lives are often not in our control, but indeed how we react to them. (I might be overthinking this a bit but thank you for bearing with me on this first attempt to blog.) What Ethan and I did with what we had at the time, to make the most of it, is what brought me here. Not to the blog sorry, but to this incredible adventure, from building our own van (with a big help from Ethan's family and still a lot of struggle on my clumsy end) to deciding our routes as state borders open and close, medical emergencies and vulnerable situations take place. Our eagerness in experiencing places, peoples and cultures was pounded. Although on the scales I am pending towards my adventure side now, the harmony is especially present, and maybe the balance lies in this ongoing search for nurturing our own sense of identity - with a little help from my friend and companion.

We are now cruising the great Australian Country in our van, finding connection to all that lays in the journey. To ourselves individually, to each other, to the van named Pearl, to nature, the people and the stories.