Hello family, friends, and stalkers! Welcome to the first official blog post of this crazy adventure!

After an obscene amount of time spent on planes and in airports I finally touched down in Sydney and managed to find my hostel. Apparently following the poorly worded directions and obscure landmarks mentioned by transient hostel workers on their website is a skill that needs to be maintained or it gets a little rusty, resulting in me walking in circles while lugging my backpack… Eventually, though, I cracked the code and arrived at the Elephant Backpacker hostel. It’s a pretty cool place in an old building with tons of character (read: doors that don’t close, cracks in the ceiling, and a construction site directly next door), but also hot showers, clean sheets and a little café where I can get my morning coffee, so I’m happy.

It’s also only about a half hour walk from the harbor, so I can easily go check out the bridge and Opera house, which I’m planning to do later today. It’s still a little early; I was in bed at 7 and up before the sun (thanks jet lag), so I’m waiting until it’s officially ‘morning’ to do anything.

On the way there’s a really nice little park and botanical garden to wander through, and an art gallery with free WiFi, which is pretty convenient considering the hostel has none, paid or otherwise. So I’ll be sitting on the steps with a bunch of other people all using phones and computers when I post this, which makes me feel like a genuine starving traveler, which is pretty fun. Of course I’ll eventually go check out the art, but for now I’m extremely grateful for the charity.

Which is a perfect segue into a rant I’ve been working on since yesterday: Australia is freaking expensive!!! I was warned ahead of time, but still almost cried when I found out that a case of (awful) beer averages $56, a small bottle of booze $36, and a spaghetti dinner (entre only) almost $30! So I’m having to undergo some drastic lifestyle changes already, because the only affordable booze here is one brand of wine that costs $11 for a 4 liter box. Yes, box. Don’t judge, these are desperate times! My budget simply can’t handle the horror of a $15 six pack of Corona. Oh Lagunitas, how I miss you already…

I also found out last night that lunch specials at most restaurants are about half the price of dinner entrees for the same food, but of course it was way past lunchtime when I puzzled that out, so I’m very much looking forward to lunch today, and my first real meal in Australia! Yesterday I subsisted on beef jerky (thanks Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Mike, you’re lifesavers!) and wine that tasted like antifreeze.

So all in all it’s so awesome to finally be in Australia after years of wanting to visit, and I’m having so much fun getting back into the swing of traveling. It’s been a long time since I was backpacking, and I forgot how much I love it.

I also want to say thanks again to everyone reading this right now. I had such an incredible few weeks while getting ready to go; the outpouring of love and support from everyone in my life was just overwhelming (in a good way!)! I feel so lucky and overjoyed to have such amazing people in my life. I don’t think I could have gotten on that plane if I didn’t have so much positive support. So thank you, everyone, for that. I really can’t express how much it means to me.

Ok, enough sappy stuff, I’m gonna go explore Sydney!

P.S. A link to a photo gallery is still in the works, bear with me!