Here comes goodbye...

There are moments when I am struck with the sheer amazement of how quickly people can come into your life. They’re not there one minute and then—POOF—you’re sprawled out on the soft brown corduroy la-z-boy in your apartment in Montreal waiting for the nightly phone call from a boy living in the Vast Canadian Northland.

But that’s another story for another time, because at the moment I am startled by a different direction of movement. A departure.

Today is my last day at my Big Girl Day Job and marks, in my mind, the first of many Goodbye Days before I board a west-bound plane to Melbourne, Australia. Days marked with the weight of knowing I may never again see some of the people who have been in my life over the past few months. Days where I sit stunned and unable to grasp the concept of leaving, of people left behind.

Rosa, the beautiful, kind-hearted receptionist whose name I proudly announced as I wished her Good Morning! with as much excitement I could muster that early each day. I doubt she knew my name—why would she when thousands pass her smiling face daily?—but it was always a pleasure knowing hers.

And some of the regulars at the pub, the ones who feel a bit like extended family when you’re waiting out a slow dining room shift and they are perfectly inclined to update you on the goings on in their life.

“I have a new baby niece named Lauren. I went to visit her over the holidays. Would you like to see a picture?”

Goodbyes are always the most difficult in my mind, and I daydream that the people I meet walk a one-way street into my arms and my heart and nestle there warmly, forever. But inevitably, someone honks, or I buy a plane ticket to halfway across the world, and I am brought back from my reverie to the middle of a windy six-lane highway where people are rushing in and out of my life at speeds I could never hope to control.

So instead I hold onto the more menial questions whose answers I can grasp and direct with a firm hand. How many shoes should I pack? Should I bring all my SLR lenses? Or just the ones that I use most often? What should I make for dinner tonight?

And the rest rolls by me, chaotic and calm and if I squint my eyes I can see the metropolis of Melbourne and the sandy beaches of Sydney and the adventures that loom large on the horizon just a few short weeks away.

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FAQ... otherwise known as "You're doing WHAT exactly?"

Alrighty, here goes. Don't quote me on any of this, by the way... I have no clue what I'm talking about.

Q: Where are you going?

A: Australia!! (so excited!! can you tell?)

Q: DUH. I mean where in Australia.

A: Oh. Right. Well, more specifically, my boyfriend and I are landing in Melbourne and the tentative plan is to stay for a few months and then head to another city (likely Sydney, and then we'll just move on up the Gold Coast).

Q: Will you be working? Or is this more of an extended vacation?
A: We will be able to work legally (hooray to my mum for being Canadian) because both Australia and Canada, being commonwealth countries, offer easily accessible temporary work visas. You can work a maximum of 6 months for an employer, but are not limited to the number of jobs you can have. The idea is to work and play! I'll keep you posted on how successful this mission is in reality.

Q: How long are we going for?
A: Well the work visas are valid for a year, with the possibility of extending them another year if we meet certain criteria. So... a year? Or two? Or a two months if we can't find jobs and run out of food and money and steam? Trust me, you'll be among the first to know.

Q: Do we have jobs?
A: Ha! No.

Q: Do we have places to stay?
A: Um.. not as of right now, no.

Q: Have we bonked our heads and gone insane?
A: This is highly likely.

Q: Hmm... Ok, but you guys will probably be fine because you have been in a long-term relationship and know how to live with one another?
A: Yes... And no. We're been together for a couple years but we've... umm... never lived... umm... in the same house for more than two weeks.

Q: ...
A: ...

Q: So, you've never lived together and have both--and I'm assuming no major head injuries here--decided to attempt to do so 10,182 miles away from home?
A: Yes.

Q: So, this means one of you is likely going to strangle the other, right?
A: Yes.

This shall be interesting!

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The flights are booked!

In the "Travel Details" section I'll be updating details about (you guessed it) our travels! as we figure them out. (Where we're headed, for how long, etc...)

So far:

- On February 5th, we're flying out of Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, where we'll be staying for two nights in a lovely little boutique hotel in Beverly Hills.

- On February 7th, we'll be spending an excruciating (intoxicating?) 15 hours on a plane from Los Angeles to the Tullamarine airport in Melbourne!

Then... who knows?

(certainly not me.)

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Hello!

Thanks for stopping by.

Here I'll be chronicling my various and sundry mishaps adventures as I leap halfway across the world to Australia with my boyfriend, Curtis.

Why are we going? Really, I have no idea. What are we doing there? Not. A. Clue. Would anyone care to enlighten me? In my FAQ section I attempt to answer these large looming questions, but I make most of it up.

So here we go.

Blind.

And in love. (Yuck, really?)

Anyway, I really hope you enjoy reading this little piece of the web as we wander about the Australian continent.  I'll try not to post too many photos of us sprawled out on warm, sandy beaches whilst you all bake in the balmy winter weather of the Northern Hemisphere.

Thanks and stay tuned for what promises to be a vair, vair interesting year. (Or month, or week, or... who knows!)

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How to reach us

One of the reasons I decided to create this website was so all of you (all two of you, "hi mum and dad!") could keep up with where we are and what we're doing in Australia. But I also want to know what you guys are up to, where you are in the world, what you think of the blog, what you think of snicker-doodle cookies... anything!  

You can find us on e-mail, via Skype, or by carrier pigeon. I don't care much about the method (though the pigeons can get a little demanding sometimes) as long as you keep me updated.

+61 410 660 381 (we got a cell phone! yay!)

lauren.dalbello@gmail.com
curtis.fortier@yahoo.ca

Skype @ lauren.dalbello (I think that's my account name... let me know if it doesn't work)

Also, if you e-mail me your address, I will do my darnedest to send a postcard your way (and maybe some snicker-doodles if they can get through customs).

Thanks!

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