Sadness, that sadness that you feel when you’re leaving a place too early, or that it’s not the time to leave yet. That is probably the worse part of travelling. You get used for it, for sure, it happens almost every few days, then you’re in the new place and everything starts again. However, despite getting used, it always hurts a bit when you say the last goodbyes and just walk away.

Well, that happened also now, for the first time in Australia. And I’d say…finally.

I feel that I didn’t start with the right foot in Australia, maybe the lack of sleep, maybe the impact to pass from Asia to a Western country too similar to England. So similar that made me feel home and think that the trip was over.

Organised tours, the necessity of a car and of course high prices (I spent in 4 days here what I spent in over 2 weeks in Indonesia), these are still things I don’t like here.

This might sound like a stupid reflection, but I find it fascinating how the weather can change things for humans. To see young people from Europe slaving away in farms or cleaning boats for months just to stay more time in the country. “Leaving the dream” they say. Imagine people doing that in England , everyone going to England is seen as miserable in some sort of way. I often get asked, why do I live in England rather in the beautiful country where I’m from, where the weather is nice, the food is amazing and so on and so forth… And surely I don’t work in farms or clean anything (my flatmates will never read this blog 😝), instead I do the job I love in a country which offers me the probably the best competition in the field.

Australia is, of course, not only good weather, it has incredible landscapes and coastline, while the UK has nothing like that…ah no wait…it has Cornwall, Devon, the Lake District, the Scotland islands… well quite a bit to be honest. The truth is that the UK is an island in the middle of the ocean as much as Australia, but the weather sucks. You can’t really enjoy the coast or the beautiful towns and countryside, because it’s always miserably wet and grey.

So maybe it’s this grey…grey is the problem. That grey has been reflected in the people. Britons moan continuously, they’re self-critical, pessimistic, and probably that sarcastic, black humour comes directly from the grey.
On the contrary, Australians have an incredible positivity, they’re always happy, smiling and friendly. Boosted by the good weather they surf, they BBQ, they glorify outdoor activities, they’ve got pools, lagunas and all the possible shits like that (going to the sea seems to be a bit dangerous a bit all over the country). I must say that Australia does have a unique vibe and I think in the end that is really given by the sun.

I repeat this is just my first impression, obviously Australia has nothing to do with the UK geographically. Yes, I simplistically said that they’re both islands in the middle of an ocean, but their dimensions are not comparable, as well as their characteristics. However, given their historical connection, Australia’s towns look incredibly similar to UK’s towns, as well as people’s culture and traditions.

Maybe I’m wrong, I’m looking at this a bit superficially, maybe it’s just the shock to be back to a Western country after two months in Asia. I have at least one more month to spend here and I’ll see how many times my mind change again, for now one thing is sure. I’m starting to enjoy it quite a bit.