Australia - Step 8.5: Changing of plans and short trip to Gold Coast

So, now my cat-sitting is over, and instead of sitting at the desk with a view of the dense greenery of trees, bushes, and branches illuminated by gentle sunlight, I am now sitting in a café in Burleigh, looking at a construction site with the corresponding noise. Yes, I chose this café myself, but I had to pee, and it was raining a bit, so I just sat down here and ordered a cappuccino. Sitting here with my iPad in a café and typing many words into my Notion reminds me a lot of Bali.

Currently, I'm feeling lost again and repeatedly asking myself why it's so hard for me to let go, to go with the flow, to trust. I had assumed that I would start working on the farm right away and consequently move into the room I organised close to the farm. Since I haven't received a clear statement from the farm about when I can start, I'm lost.

I don't want to move there if I'm not working there, just waiting for them to call and spending money for the room. Thing is I want to go in the Byron area at some point but need to be careful with finances; That's why I want to work on the berryfarm: to replenish my financial reserves a bit.

Moreover, I would only have 4-7 weeks to work there anyway, because at the end of June I have a dog-sitting job in Perth. Yes, things are not going as my german, control-freak, meticulously planned mind would have liked, which brings me back to the point: let it go and go with the flow. I'm trying, but my head always wants to know what the best and most logic plan is now.

So yesterday evening I decided that instead of sitting around somewhere and waiting to be able to work, I would go to Gold Coast today. I only packed my tote bag with a few things and today I'm going to check out Burleigh, and my hostel is in Coolangatta. Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend I met in Lombok.

I know I always say and preach things like "comparison is the thief of joy" and honestly I mean it and know that it's true. And yet my mind can't let it go. I always hear and see what everyone else and my friends are doing while traveling; riding bikes through South America, spending three weeks on a boat along the Amazon, and camping in a van on some coasts. Then that voice inside me says, "Somehow you're doing everything wrong, you're just bumming around doing house-sitting jobs because you're broke and don't know how, what, where to do things." And I know it's actually pointless because everyone just does what they do and travels how they travel, and some things I don't even necessarily want to do. I have to make peace with that too.

So yes, I think it's time to practice what I preach and just let go of the urge to always know and control everything, and instead go with whatever comes. And above all, to stop thinking that I have to do things differently or be different in order to be happy, because that's not going to happen. Deep down in my heart, I just want to pick strawberries, please. 🥺

Anyways, I started writing my confused and whiny thoughts, when I was there in the café in Gold Coast. Now I am already somewhere else finishing to capture this trip. I met someone from spain on the first evening and he gave me some inspiration how to get jobs.

The next day I went back to Burleigh, because thats where my friend lives. It was raining like crazy so I came back to sitting in a café, where she met me. We had a long chat and then started walking around, checking out thrift shops and she did all that carrying her surfboard. At some point we headed to her house, where she lives with three roommates. It was such beautiful and nice place in the greens, with a great view.

Meeting her and spontaneously ending up in Gold Coast, was exactly what I needed. And thats why the universe brought me there. Thats why the farmjob didnt work out.

She is the kind of person that travels in a super spontaneous way, full of unexpected adventures and crazy stories, without fear of anything as it seems. Since three years she is collecting theses experiences while traveling and with the stories she tells, one could fill a book which would be a pageturner. You could say in some ways she is the opposite of me, as routines and structure might be her only fear, while for me it is something I try to establish while traveling to stay sane.

The day we spend, it was very easy for me to not overthink or to be in the urge of a plan, as I just followed her flow. (I think if I re-read this, it sounds like I am the most structured and planned person, which is actually a lie, as even when I work and live somewhere my calendar is usually free as I don't like having things planned in advantage. Its more the frame that I like, the idea of having something that I know is good for me, like doing sports daily and cooking my own meals)

We strolled around Burleigh, her with the skateboard and me on her bike, witnessed the most magical full (!) rainbow and then got some groceries to cook a curry. During that all we had so many nice conversations and exchange, which gave me new energy to come back to myself. All of a sudden things made sense.

The next morning I went for a run (first one since 577 years) which was so nice. We chatted for a while before I started my journey to head back to Brisbane.

I had a dogsit just for 2 days to get clear for myself whats my next move, which will follow in the next chapter.