The Land Down Under

The adventure starts to wind down the minute you find yourself back at the Sydney airport, being dropped off by a dear Australian friend, at once bewildered about how your time Down Under moved as fast as it did - Didn't you just arrive, bleary-eyed and disoriented? - as well as confused about how your suitcase managed to get so damn heavy throughout the trip.

Once your (heavy) bags are checked and your boarding passes are issued, you begin your walk down toward the gate, treating yourself to "lasts" as much as you can. There is one last "flat white" coffee to have, one last purchase to make with your AUS dollars, one last chance to snatch up an Australian Vogue that was actually bought in Oz, one last chance to stock up on your favorite go-to sweet, The Tim Tam cookie.  Finally, with a lump in your throat, you breathe in one last breath of Australian air, handing over your passport and ticket to the airline attendant, and you make your way toward the rear of the plane where you'll be spending the next fourteen hours.

 And then, after what feels like the world's longest flight, you land.  In California.  You're home, but not quite.  You're back in the land of hustle and bustle, of tremendously long security lines, of Starbucks and American Vogue, of tipping the wait staff, of wondering when you'll get to hear that charming Aussie accent again. You're traveling solo for the first time in weeks and you miss your travel buddy immensely - if only because you want to point out something funny that you happen to notice while waiting for your next flight.   Much later, finally, finally, you land back on the East Coast, tired and beyond exhausted.  The humidity, the warmth of the end of June hits you as a surprise, as you've come from the land of fall and winter, that land Down Under where everything is sort of opposite ours..and sort of exactly the same.

When you've been looking forward to and planning for a trip to a place like Australia for more years than you can count, you might, at times find yourself wondering, as you lay awake trying to beat the 14 hour time difference at its own game, "Now what? Where to next?"  They say if you don't want a story to end you shouldn't ever read the last page.  In the case of travel, maybe you just don't ever unpack that suitcase.  Or, maybe, you take your time sorting through the many, many photos you snapped during your trip, somehow convincing yourself that before you go through them all, before they are edited and posted, that the trip still carries on somewhere in some parallel universe.

But now it is August, and new, different adventures await.  There are new places to go, memories are unfolding with every blink, every breath.  So, it's time.  Time to put together the slideshow and giggle to one's self while looking through the pictures.  Time to put all of your Aussie trinkets away, time to unpack every last little bag, every memento saved for the scrapbook. There's now a piece of Aboriginal artwork on the bookshelf, there's jewelry worn that when complimented gets the immediate tale of "Oh, I got this while in Australia..."  There are references to catch - to Oz, to Aussies, to that world away that would have gone unnoticed prior to the trip.  There's a new level of exposure to cherish, to remain grateful for.  And of course, there's always another trip to plan.  For in Australia, it is already tomorrow.

AUSTRALIA! from Kelli S on Vimeo.