It’s Melbourne Mate!

November 1 – 5

Travel with your heart.

Let it be filled with endless experiences.

For one day you will grace the earth with its bursting seams.

Lately, I have been obsessed with inspirational travel quotes, always seeking new and poetic words to fill my changing wallpaper, to remind myself of whom I am and why I do. As I sit here in this plastic and cold chair in a dimly lit corner of the library, I can’t help but think, “Why do I search for quotes to explain my travels? They don’t define my experiences but lightly murmur the surface feel.” 

Therefore, I have decided to quote myself – as shown above. I believe there is a poet inside all of us. It is hidden but always present. The difficulty is in pulling those experiences and translating them into a few words that punch the gut of the reader and send ripples down the spine and electric shocks to the heart.

The poet arouses the sentimentalism and brings the emotionally dead to life. She is the mirror to her own adventure and the vicariously lived. So don’t be surprised if she often stares, facing her own adrenaline, daring it to grow a thickening layer of maturity to coat her naïve heart.

Although far from a poet, I am a young woman with an adventurous spirit, always thirsting for growth through travel and an exigency to lengthen that growth through reflection.

Dear Day One: A Strange Endearing City

My latest escapade with my best mate (Cristal McClure) was to the breathtaking city of Melbourne (literally breathtaking, since I caught a bug that made it hard to breathe between coughing fits).

Melbourne, a city paved in art and filled with cute cafes and delicious coffees. The city is quite large with sidewalks that double in width and buildings that tower overheard. Although a vast city, there seemed to be a small disproportionate amount of people filling the streets. In other words, a large city with not a lot of people. I digged it. I enjoyed walking the near empty streets with my mate, getting lost within the parameters of the district and the constructs of my own mind.

Melbourne

We explored the streets and watched the people, one of our favorite pass times and method of growing comfortable in a new place. The day was spent on foot at a ground perspective, as Cristal and my adventures usually are. We stumbled across a digital arts type museum and a Nepal festival that aimed to preserve the Nepali cultures. Cristal and I enjoyed the art and farmers markets while appreciating the chilly weather in comparison to the heat of Sydney. We ate out and feasted on the delicious food Melbourne had to offer: a pastry snack from a local bakery, a grilled sandwich in a cobblestone backstreet littered with cafes, and a hot bowl of pho from a Vietnamese restaurant we couldn't possibly pass up.

Thanks to the kindness of a mate Cristal met during a case competition at the University of Washington, we stayed with her and her boyfriend outside the city along the water. The apartment was beautiful and the hospitality of Nicole and Alex was beyond what we could have ever asked for.

If this day taught me anything it’s that genuine compassion and heart span beyond the cold walls of evil that surround the selfish and spread light on our natural human tenderness. A city may just be a concrete jungle to some, but it is much more than that. It is a place where diversity festers and communication between cultures never stop. It is a platform for travel where the only limitations are the ones you put on yourself. People are inherently good; it’s just searching far enough and long enough to realize how kind communities choose to be.

Thanks Melbourne.

Although the city provided us with an outlet to feast on our curiosity, we wanted more. Something was missing and that something would become the most memorable and important part of our trip – the natural world.

Dear Day Two: You Are Magnificent (The Twelve Apostles and Great Ocean Road)

The Twelve Apostles

Sea salt, clear skies, white beaches, one winding road.

The long and winding road…. Yes, the start of a song and an overused metaphor that has been “metaphored” to death. We are all guilty of it. I am guilty. But in this case, the road played a crucial role in facilitating a pathway to beauty.

The road trip

Cristal and I booked a Great Ocean Road tour for our second day in Melbourne. Our day commenced at 6:00 A.M. and ended at 9:30 P.M. 

The tour consisted of morning tea along the beach with new mates, koala and bird watching, a pleasant walk through a forest and the main attraction, the Twelve Apostles.

Based off the shore of Port Campbell National Park in Victoria, Australia, the Twelve Apostles (Eight are left), stand tall against the crashing Pacific waves and frothy white water. The comparison of rigid cliff and smooth sand provide two drastically different perspectives of beauty that coexist in complementation.

I stared in awe, feeling as if I too could be a pillar. A pillar of strength and resilience to keep standing no matter what tribulations come my way. Just like those magnificent limestone stacks, I felt the roots of divinity and the power of physical existence.

Dear Day Three: A Race to the Finish (Melbourne Cup 2014)

Cristal and I at the races

“We’re those people”

Hello Flemington Racecourse. The journey to the stadium was no easy task. Instead of taking a cab, limousine, or helicopter, as most of the fans seemed to have arranged, Cristal and I decided to work our legs and walk to the Race Course in our fancy ($15) dresses and floppy sun hats. Being the economical travel buddies that we are, we wanted to save some cash and enjoy the hour or so walk to the races. We ended up walking next to a highway, speeding under overpasses trying not to get hit. 

We cracked a couple jokes and laughed the way there although having sore feet and tired arms from holding our hats down against the rushing winds.

As soon as we arrived to the outskirts of the racecourse, we knew we would be in for an interesting experience that we would take with us back to the states.

We walked through the gates under a tunnel of blossoming roses and sunshine peeking through grey clouds. The people were dressed in their fanciest attire. Men wearing well fitted suits and shiny shoes and women wearing colorful intricate dresses and matching hats.

Some of the spectators at the race dressed up in their finest attire

Champagne and blended cocktails was the drink (and meal) of choice for most gathered at the stadium, waiting for the horse races to begin.

Cristal and I took our place among the “general seaters” on the grass and positioned ourselves right next to the railing that blocked us from the athletic horses and jockeys. The announcer tuned on the loud speaker and the horses gathered in their stalls. The gun was shot and the race was off. We saw them racing on the big screen as the crowd went wild. The horses finally appeared from the distance as the ground started to shake from the speedy race to the finish. They zoomed past us in the matter of a split second with a wind that caught my hair and fluttered the strands until coming to a dramatic halt. People all around jumped in their fanciest attire and spilt their drinks while cheering for their favorite horse, hoping for some kind of payoff for their calculated bets. The horses, bolted past the finish line with the jockeys whipping them sore. They crossed… and another race would presume.

Start, Repeat, Start, Repeat.

The Melbourne Cup would become an event we would never forget. I don’t think I will ever be able to forget the picture of the wealthy and those pretending to be out of my mind. I felt fortunate to have attended and been a part of a historical event that is Australia’s most popular race. But I realized who I am is not what others would want to be. Most people I have come across are in a frantic race, a race to the finish line of wealth and prosperity. Money. Money is the goal and money is the motivation behind the step. To me, money is a means, not a lifestyle. I realized the depths of my values and the disgust I find in superficial living. People, never wanting to challenge themselves and pursue their passions for the greater good out of fear of failing without a security net of funds to catch them. But then, what’s the fun in knowing the ending when the best part is not knowing where you’ll end up?

The experience taught me life and sport. Two horses died that day, one from over training and another from a wound acquired during the race. After learning about the devastating deaths I decided to do some research on horse racing in relation to Australia and the world. Like any business, this business had its skeletons in the closet. I felt ashamed. How could I have participated in a sport that encouraged animal abuse? Although feeling guilty, I felt grateful for the event and all that it taught me. If we hadn’t attended, I would have never thought to research and find my standing ground on the controversial issue of horse racing.

The day concluded with a laugh and a sigh in growing together as mates and taking part in a new found knowledge of who we are and why we travel.

Because it is never a race to the finish, but a ride along the contours of experience and integrity in being exactly who you are.