I realised a couple of months ago that I hadn’t gone away on holiday in two years. The first year I was finishing high school and all the focus was on studying, and the second year I put down to starting uni and working, figuring out the next chapter. Nevertheless, the holiday thing hit me hard one day after a long week and because I only had two months to plan something before going back to uni, surprisingly I decided to aim for somewhere not too far from Melbourne.
The next night was dedicated to scrolling through different websites finding rental places, narrowing my searches to budget, location blah blah blah. Then suddenly I got a message from one of the girls I was going with letting me know that her beach house was available and free to stay in. I was on a very consistent high that next day. The time was sorted, the people were sorted and we had a place to stay!
So come February on a sunny Sunday afternoon, with bags packed I drove myself and another friend one hour and twenty minutes to the beach, meeting the other girls there. I had never done a road trip type drive before and driving on freeways in literally the best conditions was a very encouraging experience. I’ve had my licence for over ten months now but it was still an exercise that was new and a challenge to think about. Luckily everything went smoothly and having very good DJ and google maps navigator sitting next to me, the ride went by like that.
Although it was only four days at the beach, it was everything I needed. The weather was beautiful and made you want to constantly be outside, swimming in the sea was something I had really missed over those past two years and I think it has this power to chill a person out. The atmosphere combined with the sea air makes you want to put your phone away and be completely present; you get some sun, you eat everything you want to eat (healthy or not) and you’re happy. Going with three other friends who were all interested in just relaxing before going back to uni also helped I will say, but yeah…it was a great trip. There were other little things we did like exploring the neighbouring towns, a hike towards a well known back beach and trying out some new restaurants for dinner which prevented any boredom that at least one of us was likely to feel after a while.
Thinking about it, I realised that I had a bad case of wanderlust which I hadn’t paid attention to and was long overdue to be treated. Even just travelling an hour away from Melbourne, a change of scenery made me feel happy in a new way I hadn’t expected. It was the first time I had gone on a proper trip without my family and I felt a lot of responsibility about it. We were in charge of getting ourselves to and from places, buying groceries and just looking after one another. I can’t speak for the other girls but maybe the best part of the trip for me was how capable I felt after it. It’s like this unexpected elation that you have complete faith in yourself; you can be a legitimate adult for four days.
Anyways going back to the title of this post, the one thing I would say is that I now understand the necessity of a holiday, or even just a break in somewhere new. For me the beach is my happy place, whats yours?
Time to stalk some instagram travel bloggers, I’m going to need some inspiration for next summer…
The Media Girl 