3. Travel to Australia

Okay... when I was making this list...maybe this one was a bit of a cop-out. My boyfriend is Australian so of course I was going to make it to Australia to visit his hometown sooner than later and in July, that's just what we did! Chris is from the Sydney area, in a rural area by the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains were gorgeous and I enjoyed Sydney no matter how much Chris griped about it (most people gripe about their hometown, right?) I honestly felt quite similar to the West Coast of the United States/Canada so I felt quite comfortable. Everything was more expensive and the plants were more exotic but over all the structure/age of the cities were the same, the rural communities were much like the one I grew up in, cars are valued over people in term of transport, and the cultures were quite similar (no matter how much Australians would like to not be associated with Americans).
When I was 18 and trying desperately to escape my small hometown and get as far away as possible I got a job as an Au Pair in Australia, I decided to turn it down in the end and take a job offer in Argentina instead. Now that I have been to Australia I am glad that I made that decision when I was 18. Australia was beautiful but it would have been far too easy for my rambunctious mind back then and even now, I am looking for more of a challenge but I am more than happy to say I have experienced this place....even if I didn't see a koala!

Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge from one of the Ferries

Chris and I in front of the Opera House

An absolutely gorgeous winter sunset we enjoyed thoroughly