Tag Archives: Travel

In Transit

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I feel as though time has stopped. I’ve felt like that a lot since I departed Sydney a few days ago. It’s a combination of different time zones, emotional exhaustion, odd sleeping habits and anxiety. Singapore is a nexus: I’m not at either of the places I call home. I am getting impatient, too. That pool of anxiety about the flight, the time, the weather. There’s nothing more I want than to just climb aboard and settle in.

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So I am waiting in the Snooz Lounge where the American and I spent some time in the middle of our 37-hour flight all those months ago. My body cries out for a nap, but I want to use the time aboard for such things. Outside, a tropical storm is rolling over Singapore, and I am watching the spectacle from the comfort and safety of the best terminal in the world. Little people below race around in oddly shaped carts servicing the Singapore Airlines 777 that just arrived to Gate B2.

It’s been a very emotional few days for me, and I am just spent. It was so hard leaving my family and friends, and it always is. But this was extra hard. I’d spent three months back in home with the whole crew, and so it’s understandable that the bonds are stronger than usual. It’s getting harder and harder to leave them. One day, I don’t know if I will be able to.

But I know that even in this state of fogginess, I’ve been so incredibly lucky to be able to spend this time with my family and friends. And time is the most important thing: you can’t make more of it. All this emotion reminds me that I am alive, that I am loved and that I love. A good friend of mine told me that ‘crying is feeling life physically’, and I appreciated hearing that. These tears are a happy, sad, tired, anxious tears. But the one thing these tears are not is regretful. I have lived these last three months fully, and I am proud of that. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

And so in the midst of wallowing in the sadness of not being with my family and friends back in Sydney, I turn my focus to this next phase. I am about to board a flight back to SFO, back to the place I have chosen as my home, and back into the waiting arms of the man I love. I’m incredibly fortunate to have such lovely people around me in Sydney and San Francisco. When I get there, I will unpack and prepare for the next chapter of my American life. But there’s always a piece of my heart still back in Sydney.

Anzac Day

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I am winding up my last week here in Sydney before I head home to San Francisco via Singapore. I have been enjoying the frenzy of activity that usually comes with the wrapping up life in one spot: impromptu coffees, trips to the footy, dinners with old friends.

I am also in the throes of trying to work out the most effective way to get all of the stuff home with me (posting? shipping? excess baggage?) but I won’t know until I actually just pack. You see, the issue of packing is really quite mundane, but I am only concerning myself with this because if I stop to consider how sad I am to leave my loved ones, this whole last week will be miserable. Onwards, Bec, with strength and filing the happy memories away for the future.

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Tomorrow is Anzac Day and it’s a big day on the Australian social calendar. It’s the one day of the year we pay tribute to all those who have served Australia and New Zealand in battle. The day starts with the Dawn Service at thousands of venues around the nation, and a few other sites worldwide (such as Gallipoli in Turkey). I love the tradition, the history of this day. I love reciting the ‘Ode of Remembrance’:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

There’s something about a crowd of people repeating the last line of the Ode, and the lone bugler playing the Last Post that makes me cry.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Just beautiful.

A Digger is flanked by two young men displaying the medals of a relatives in the Anzac Day Parade, 2011.

A Digger is flanked by two young men displaying the medals of a relatives in the Anzac Day Parade, 2011.

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Following the Dawn service at the Cenotaph in Martin Place, there’s a televised parade featuring the vets and those currently serving, and the families of those who served. Everyone heads to the pub for a beer and a yarn, and then there’s plenty of BBQs, barefoot bowls or footy games to watch. Tomorrow, there’s even AFL being played in New Zealand: the Swans take on St Kilda in Wellington, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. It’s my favourite Aussie holiday, alongside Melbourne Cup day.

I’ll raise a glass of Waterfords Blood Orange to the Anzacs tomorrow, and enjoy the day with family and friends. Lest we forget.

The American's view from the game.

The Start of the Baseball Season and of Something New

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I switched on the TV and the lounge room flooded with the familiar voices of Kruk and Kuip. The channel was already set to FOX Sports so without even searching for it, I was plugged in to the SF Giants – my World Series-winning baseball team. I was overjoyed to see the boys, the ballpark, the Bay, thecity. I felt a pang of home-sickness.

Feet up, baseball on.

Feet up, baseball on. The view from my end.

Local boy Brandon Crawford was warming up in the on-deck circle and I settled in to enjoy the last two innings. Soon, I was feeling a little less excited and more melancholy. It’s the sadness that comes when you’re away from the one you love. I knew he was at the game: he’d sent me a photo earlier from the third deck. And half a world away, I, too, was at the game.

The American's view from the game.

The American’s view from the game.

For the past few days  returning to the Bay Area has been at the forefront of my mind. And the universe always seems to send little messages: catching this baseball game was more along the lines of

‘We miss you, too. Life goes on without you, but it’d be better if you were here. We’ll keep doing what we’re doing, and look forward to your return’.

I’m back in a handful of weeks, and checking the days off on my handmade calendar.

The handmade post-it calendar, blu-tacked to the wall.

The handmade post-it calendar, blu-tacked to the wall.

New news

So it would seem most of you either thought I’d checked myself in to a facility, decided to get a divorce or just wandered out into the Tasman Sea, never to be heard from again. I’m happy to report none of the above is true.

My time has been more than accounted for, with two uni classes, training for a race in San Francisco, meeting with friends, and working very hard on a project for a client set to launch in June. It’s such an exciting job and I’m so fortunate to be working with one of the most talented and professional designers around. It has also been quite the learning curve and am so very lucky to have a client that puts total faith in us to produce something incredible. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Riding CityRail trains for fun.

Riding CityRail trains for fun. Makes BART look like amateur hour.

New blogs

In other news, I was so pleased to have my snapshot feature on Jill’s blog, Battered Suitcases, this week!  I have really enjoyed reading about her adventures around Australia recently (I haven’t visited the Big Merino since 1986!) and particularly love her section on novelty snacks. It’s something the American and I do when we go travelling, too.

I love stumbling upon new blogs, and finding real like-minded people. Do you have any good ones to share with me?

My brother even bought me a present: the newest Sim City, with a German Cities expansion pack. Be surprised if you hear from at all!

My brother even bought me a present: the newest Sim City, with a German Cities expansion pack. Be surprised if you hear from me at all!

New music

I have barely oscillated from the Belle & Sebastian / Pulp / the Beatles fad I’ve been on for about two months. But this week, I found something new via a friend on Twitter. The song is ‘Royals’ and is by a young Kiwi girl called Lorde. I’ve played it 30 times at least. It’s super catchy!

New buns

Babies are what is happening in Sydney right at this moment. So much so, I’m certain there’s something in the water (and my friend, C, calls it H2Grow. Ha!). But it’s all rather exciting.

I even gave up a chance to see the unfurling of the Sydney Swans’ 2012 Premiership flag at the Swans game (tear!) to have lunch with two of my closest friends. I guessed they had some news for me, and it turns out my instincts were right. I was so happy to share it with them! Baby G will be here in September.

Is there a better way to share good news than over pizza? probably not. Pizza from the Clock & Oyster.

Is there a better way to share good news than over pizza? Probably not. Pizza from the Clock & Oyster.

New travels

In a few short weeks, I’m heading back to the US via Singapore. I am really looking forward to returning ‘home’, to see the American and to start our next adventure.

But it’s also bittersweet, because arriving in one home means leaving another. It’s going to be much harder than I imagined. I have really bonded with people, and my family and I have become so close in this short space of time. It’s been such a wonderful adventure, and I am so lucky to have been able to do this. I have much more to say on this matter, so I’ll compose my thoughts and save it for next time.

Life’s good.