Travels of Shepp

My time I'm Byron is often spent around a lot of people. In fact, as a traveller in general it's rare to have a moment completely to yourself. Meeting new people, communal living spaces and hostels often mean there are so many people around you can't even get any privacy. While I of course love being social, recently I'm finding increasingly more joy in spending time alone. A few days ago I took myself out on a date. This might sound mad to some people, but please don't pity me as the single girl. It's actually really fun and I'd recommend you do it too regardless of your relationship status. I had received some sad family news that day and I wanted to do something nice by myself to cheer myself up. I drove into town and went to a little Asian restaurant. It's so nice not having anyone to compromise for and no arguments over where to go for dinner! I had veggie gyozas and a miso ramen and it was sooo good. ...

I'm now finally settling into my life I'm Byron. Since I got here a month ago, a lot of change has come into my life. I've started new jobs, moved around, and had to adapt to a whole lot of new-ness. I've struggled to write as putting all this into words felt difficult, but I know it's important to share and document my journey. Firstly, I've moved back into my van! I'm living on a campsite with lots of friends where we share the space with three vans, a tent and a roof tent. The best part is we have a gazebo in the middle which acts as our communal living room! When I was staying in hostels, I was nervous to move back into Ian. I felt like I had just spent the past month living out of the van and I was pretty exhausted, so I kind of just wanted the luxury of a bed and air conditioning for a while. But, circumstance and the prices of hostels in Byron at peak time did not make staying in hostels over the N...

As of the 8th, I've been in Australia for a year! It feels so amazing to say this, and I can't believe I've come this far. 2020 was obviously a dumpster fire of a year for the world, but for me personally it's been incredible. The most exciting, terrifying year of my life. I've done so much and I've come so far, and yet some part of me still can't believe I've been here for a whole year. I get homesick when I think about the fact I haven't seen my family or hugged my parents in a year, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. But for now the challenge isn't over! I've still got so much I want to do and see in Australia. Whenever I move on to the next thing or the next place when travelling, there's a period of integration. For the first few days or even weeks I feel misplaced and at times a bit sad. It's always strange when I move onto the next part of my adventure, as it feels like I'm...

Our road trip came to a swift end when we decided to come to Sydney early. Australia had near enough eradicated Covid, and things were almost completely back to normal. Then, when we were in Newcastle, one stop away from Sydney, we got the news that there had been an outbreak in the Northern beaches. It's only around 30 cases, which is nothing for the UK or elsewhere, but this is a big deal for Australia. It meant they put just the Northern beaches into a mini lockdown. From here the cases crept up and up, and it was a really nerve-wracking time as we had no idea what was in store for us over the next few days and weeks. My anxiety went absolutely through the roof. We made the snap decision when in Newcastle to come straight to Sydney early, as then at least we could see our friends before the city locked down. It was scary knowing we could be making a huge mistake, as if Sydney locked down we would be stuck there with no money and no job. I hadn't planned o...

Mine and Keiran's road trip has now come to an end (update on that to come in a separate post). It's been so fun but it has to be said that there have been some hard and emotional times. Constantly figuring out where to go, where to stay, what to do etc can be stressful and a bit scary. Often we wouldn't plan ahead enough and we'd be somewhere at 9 o'clock at night with nowhere to stay and no food. This means we would often have to resort to stealth camping which wasn't always ideal and once resulted in a $220 fine. What would an Aussie road trip be without a fine, ey?... Plus, the bad weather really messed with our plans more than I had anticipated. It was a shame when all we wanted to do was lie on the beach but it was raining, but obviously there are always things to do inside to keep you busy. The main reason the rain was annoying was the fact we were living in the van so essentially camping. Waking up in the morning to everything being we...

Something about farm work is so unbelievably not me, that I feel I've come back to myself. I'm the most myself when I'm travelling, and I like this version of myself the best. Of course this isn't the first road trip I've done, but it's the first time I've stayed in my own van properly for a longer period of time than just the weekend. I'm loving van life but it's certainly something to get used to. Since we are going to the beach most days, you can imagine how much sand gets in the van. It's everywhere . We also get a lot of bugs in the van. At night, it's so hot that we sleep with the doors open, so the bugs follow the light an just come right in. Meaning we are covered in bug bites. But that's all part of it! Van life is essentially camping and all this just makes it even more exciting and part of the adventure. I couldn't be happier than when driving in my van singing at the top of my lungs. I h...