In fall of 2023, decided relatively last-minute that I would spend my senior year Thanksgiving Break marking a country off my bucket list that I've always wanted to visit - Australia. Better yet, I had an actual reason to go now that my cousin was beginning a half-year au pair program in Melbourne. Not only would it be my first time flying somewhere completely alone, it would also be my first flight longer than 10 hours. Flights were expensive; they were booked using points on United due to the nature and timeline of my trip. I decided to fly direct from LAX to Melbourne, allowing my cousin to join me to explore Sydney for the latter half of the week. In an effort to try and save money, hostels were to be used as the primary form of lodging; I wanted to devote time to exploring the cities and recovering from jet lag, and as such I sought out a hostel in St. Kilda that was decently reserved, while the one in Sydney was booked by my aunt. In a moment of sheer terror I realize the night before I'm supposed to leave that I was not in possession of a visa, which I promptly found out was very necessary for all tourists. The wait times for US citizens was long; I thought I was screwed until I came across the Australian eVisitor subclass for European citizens, that had a wait time of less than 24 hours. The second it was possible, I was sent my passport information, and to my relief, I was instantly issued my visa. Were it not for my dual citizenship, I'm not sure how this debacle would have played out.

The flight between Denver and Los Angeles was very enjoyable; upon takeoff I was treated to views of the entire northern half of Denver, as well as Boulder, Longmont, and more. Not long after, Grand Junction and Las Vegas followed, where I was able to very clearly observe the strip. Only the outskirts of Los Angeles were visible before the sky turned foggy until just prior to touchdown. It being my first time at LAX, I wanted to ensure that I would be tired on the 16-hour flight to Melbourne, so I took a fast-paced walk from Terminal 8 to the International Terminal and back, making it just in time for boarding. This allowed me to do some planespotting of the copious amounts of heavy Asian aircraft boarding for their flights across the ocean. Relieved to see that my row was still empty, I took half an Ambien just before the dinner service. My half of the economy class cabin did not have working entertainment; the gate agent warned us about this and offered those booked there to move, but I kept my seat in order to maintain my makeshift lie-flat situation. Listening to music, I fell asleep after filling out my customs form about two hours off the coast of California and woke up close to the Fijian Islands to a gorgeous sunrise. With free entertainment on the United app, I was able to watch half a movie, but the views kept me so distracted. A measly breakfast was served, not long before making landfall over the Cape Howe coastline. As we approached Melbourne, I was treated to crystal clear views of still-snowy mountaintops of the Alpine National Park.

No, I didn't skip a day! I lost one day of precious travel time thanks to the International Dateline and the flight time. Somehow, the flight didn't feel like 16 hours, as it was not much worse than my typical 10-hour rides to Europe. I'd made it, but now it was time to see whether my visa would be valid while going through customs. To my surprise, everything went smoothly, and they didn't even need to see my proof of visa. Boom, I was outside figuring out how to meet my cousin, who took the liberty to connect on several trains and buses from Elwood in southern Melbourne to pick me up. On the way into the city, we caught up on life. We exited the train at Southern Cross, and as I walked onto the street and looked up at the skyscrapers and at the left hand traffic, I could not believe I was in Australia. It just didn't feel real yet, and my cousin and I were in awe that the two of us, who already live on opposite halves of the planet, would come to meet in Australia of all places. The first thing we did was get on a tram to head into the city while I waited for my hostel check-in. Dragging my bag through the streets, she showed me the Melbourne Central Mall and the Victorian State Library, in a part of the Melbourne CBD that she was already familiar with, having had two months to acquaint herself with the city.

The next thing we did was take a train up to Collingwood, to meet with some of her other au pair friends she had made along the way, all of them also German. We ate at a well-known burger joint called Easey's, which was one that had old train cars on the roof. Soon after, we arrived back in St. Kilda via bus, where I was able to check into the Selina St. Kilda hostel. I was booked in a 12-person shared dorm room that had clothes strewn everywhere and was decently empty during the day. I picked a bed toward the end of the room with a view out toward the street. I wasn't very social the first night as everyone kept to themselves. My cousin promptly went back to Elwood to take care of her tasks for the day. I was on my own, and decided I would spend the gorgeous evening strolling through St. Kilda and checking out the beach. With it being November, the temperatures were not yet too hot, making for a very nice evening setting. I put in my earbuds and walked along the promenade and out to the St. Kilda pier, enjoying the atmosphere created by the numerous people out on their evening strolls. Out on the pier I was able to observe the skyscrapers of Melbourne reflecting in the orange evening sunlight. As the sun went down, I took off my shoes and walked up to Middle Park Beach and subsequently back to St. Kilda. I passed Luna Park and the Palais Theater, which just finished a showing and whose guests were spilling into the street. On Acland Street, I took in the ambience provided by all the bars and small shops, and stopped by a Cole's on the way back to the hostel, by which point my jet lag had caught up to me and I went to sleep.

I made my way down to Elwood, where I would accompany my cousin on some of her daily tasks with her host family. I met her in Elsternwick Park and we took a long stroll with the dog of a friend of the host family. Once we returned to her house, I was able to meet her host parents and their children. A French Canadian family of five, they had three daughters of various ages that were first shocked to see a random visitor in the house. The family seemed both very busy and very lax, thus justifying the need for an assistant in the house. With her host mom I had a brief discussion about how I came to travel to Australia and my studies in the US. It so happened that I was visiting on the day that the host dad was planning to surprise the kids with a new Saint Bernard puppy; I would have to wait until dinnertime to see their reactions. I wanted to devote part of the day to traveling down to Brighton, the upscale southerly suburb of Melbourne, to see the Victorian-era bathing boxes at Brighton Beach. The family offered to loan me the bike that my cousin uses to travel short distances, so I cycled down the coast from Elwood to Brighton. From the city center I walked over the beach. With the weather being mostly cloudy and a little chilly, the lighting was suboptimal to properly see the color of the boxes, so I needed to rely on the few times that the sun peeked through the clouds. From the rocky southern end of the beach one could observe the skyline of the city peeking through the boxes without any obstructions.

From the beach I walked back to the center of Brighton, where I took a stop to eat at a local sandwich shop where I wouldn't feel weird seated by myself. Soon, it was time to cycle back. Alongside the railroad track and once again riding along the coast, I returned to the host family's house. The kids returned from school in the late afternoon and were enamored by the new puppy. In French they discussed what to name him, and due to his brown coat and fluffy appearance, gave him the fitting name "Nougat". Prior to dinner we had to run a few more errands in Elwood, and my cousin and I took another leisurely stroll along the windy coast. Upon returning, a casual dinner I was graciously invited to be part of allowed the host family to get to know me better. After a bit, I took the bus back up to St. Kilda. Although it was only around 8 PM, I returned to the hostel ready to go to sleep due to the time adjustment. In the musty shared room I returned to several British girls on a working holiday talking amongst themselves. Eventually, they took up conversation with me, and while they thought it was odd that I was spending only 8 days in Australia given that they had been touring the country while looking for work, they were very kind. The bed itself was actually very comfortable; the headboard was broken but the privacy was unmatched with wooden paneling, and people generally kept to themselves.