Moving To Melbourne

In less than 10 days, I will be zipping up my suitcase and hopping on a one-way flight to Melbourne, Victoria. It might not sound like that big of a deal, but for me, it is.

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While the thought of strolling through Melbourne’s bustling streets with its quirky coffee shops, cafes and graffiti filled lane-ways, finding a new place to live and making a room my own with unnecessary cushions and decorations, starting a new job and a fresh degree definitely excites me, it’s still hands-down fucking daunting.

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Pictured: Hosier Lane, Home to Tourist-Attracting Graffiti Art.

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Pictured: Hosier Lane Side-Lane

You see, I’ve never lived out of home. All of my friends still live at home. Everyone is still very much stuck in the same town with the same friends with the same drama with the same old bar and club events on the same nights of the week.

Me?

I want more.

I’m also a tad crazy because I still want to keep studying. But really, working 9-5pm every day? No thanks. Not me. Not yet.

When I visited Melbourne back in October, I loved strolling through the grounds of my soon-to-be-uni and feeling a sense of place. A sense of studiousness (is that even a word?) too bad, I’m making it one. The point is, I could see myself here.

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Pictured: The University of Melbourne

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Pictured: The Univeristy of Melbourne

And so I’m picking up my life, or what’s left of it once you count all the things I’m leaving behind – family, friends, the love of my life, my cat, my bedroom – half my shoes! (oh the horror), living for free, a stable income… you get the picture…and moving to the city with better coffee, better lane-ways, better shops and well, let’s face it – better everything. #sorrynotsorry

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Pictured: Melbourne Emporium Shopping Centre

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Pictured: The Infamous Chadstone Shopping Centre, largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Perth is getting there, though, and a part of me wishes I was staying to see it flourish.

But, to be brutally honest, I just can’t wait to be gone.

I was going to say that I can’t wait to leave – but that wouldn’t be right. Leaving will suck. Leaving will be the hardest thing I have to do. Leaving will be gut-wrenching, anxiety fueling and all-consuming.

But actually being gone, whisked away into a whirl of new and busy and challenging?
That will be worth it.

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Pictured: Another of Melbourne’s quirky lanes in the CBD.

I booked an Air bnb for my first week over there. My first experience with the app actually – and so far so good. It looks like a cute little apartment in a prime location – Footscray – and a roommate who had colourful, positive reviews. Maybe I’m crazy heading over with no solid place to live, but it’s all part of the adventure.

I’ve spent way too much time browsing Flatmates.com and hovering my mouse over various listings with a racing heart. Finding somewhere to live will be my number one focus during my first week, though I suspect I will end up wasting quite a bit of time sipping cappuccinos and sneaking off to Chapel Street.

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While I’m exhilarated at the thought of tackling this on my own, it doesn’t mean it isn’t daunting. And it’s funny how many people are surprised at what I’m doing.

I mean for starters, the most common question I get is;
“Do you know anybody in Melbourne?”

And the answer is always, “No. Not really”.

But you know what? I love that. I’ve accepted that.

And you know why? Because it is a chance to meet new people. People I will meet fresh and without judgement, at this point in my life. It is a chance to reinvent myself. (They say your 20s is the best time for this kind of thing, don’t they?). It is a chance to be friends with new people, not just people I’ve known for my entire life, or from high school.

Don’t get me wrong, friends like that are great. I love those friends. I have a soft spot for them and a history that will always be there. But, sometimes you are only friends with those kinds of people because you’ve known each other for years. The sad truth is that if I met some of them today, we probably wouldn’t be friends. So I’m glad that we are, but we all mature and change as we grow up and it will be nice to make friends who see me for the person I am today.

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Pictured: Me in Hosier Lane, “Call Upon The Author To Explain”.

The second thing I need to accept is that it’s not all going to be sunshines and rainbows. There will be tough times, times when I will feel lonely. Times when I will question what the hell I’m doing; what the hell I’ve done.

But if I accept that, then I am on the right track.

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Pictured: South Wharf Promenade

More so than any of the bad, though, I am overwhelmed by the good. It’s something about Melbourne as a city that fuels and inspires me. I’ve only been to the city twice – once with my family and once on my October trip, alone.

And yet, being in the city, I become a version of myself that I am proud to be. I become independent, confident, stronger. I love how you can sit in a cafe until the cows come home, feeling welcomed and not at all judged.

It is very difficult to feel that way in Perth cafes, with staff member’s sassy attitudes, hurriedly clearing your table and asking you if they can get you anything else in a way that says I-really-hope-you-don’t-want-anything-else-actually-and-could-you-just-be-on-your-way.

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As well as the great cafe atmospheres, Melbourne oozes in the kind of art and culture that I need to keep me writing, smiling, living. I hope that it will bring many more exciting things to my blog; places to explore, things to do and a life to – for lack of a better term – grab by the balls.

I think I am ready for the adventure, though it feels kind of surreal and as though it hasn’t quite hit me yet that I’m leaving. But it will.

And at the end of the day, it’s only a 4 and a half hour plane trip away from home.

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Pictured: Melbourne CBD at Sunset.

I don’t quite know what possessed me to write about this. I guess sometimes it’s hard to have it all swirling around in your own head. But in any case, I guess I wanted to share the journey, to prove that I’m not alone. To prove that we all feel a little daunted and excited and overwhelmed with the changes and decisions we make in our lives at times.

I’m not sure why you would care about me ranting on about my move to Melbourne, but I hope you take something from it at least.

After all, aren’t we all just people…

trying to get by…

in this crazy little thing called life?

2 comments
  1. […] kicked off 2017 by picking up my things and moving across the Nullarbor to Melbourne, Victoria. That might not sound like such a big deal, but it was my first time living out of home, away from […]

  2. […] kicked off 2017 by picking up my things and moving across the Nullarbor to Melbourne, Victoria. That might not sound like such a big deal, but it was my first time living out of home, away from […]

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