Flashback: Jennifer in Australia, a Work & Traveler's Experience

Stateside and definitely currently plotting my next escape...

August 19, 2010

How’s it goin’ Cultural Embracers?

I’ve officially been back home in The States for what feels like FOREVER… a month if we’re being literal. Having been used to thirty day fly-bys packed with explorations through a new city or country, trying to find a job that both rationalizes my overpriced education and will allow my passions to flourish is making time run extremely slowly, and me a bit frustrated.

It IS still maddening being in a less-adventurous routine again, trying to figure out my next moves, jobs, potential career paths, and generally attempting to get my footing back in the city I grew up in, but it’s also wonderful and exciting in that absolutely anything and everything is possible. One concept I’ve taken from traveling is there is so much to do, see and experience and it’s really just about choosing a direction and going for it. The trick now will be actually choosing that one direction to take off in.

I’ve been following my own advice to the extreme and have been in constant contact with my “found family” and others from my travels who keep me inspired and amused, and it’s definitely helping keep my mind and eyes open. The problem might be that all this rousing-connecting may be feeding my growing collection of must-follow passions instead of prompting me to choose and conquer. I swear I’ve been a lightening rod for bazaar and seemingly non-lucrative occupational ideas.

But back to my back-at-home situation… it is tough to keep up the excitement for life and all its possibilities when you’re experiencing déjà vu more often than you are rejuvenation. So I’ve been doing things everyday to remind myself that I’m writing my story, and I need to be constantly be making steps towards writing the one I want to live. Before I came home I knew I’d be crashing at my mom’s house for the most part until I got my footing again. (And as you can imagine or even relate, living at home after having your own place and space can be a bit draining on your enthusiasm for life.) So, while I’m home I’ve decided to tend my mother’s garden, and as cheesy as it sounds, watching it grow and bloom under my care has kept me motivated to continue building great things for myself and has kept me in touch with the daily and big picture I’m striving for. Quoting Aristotle, “The soul never thinks without a picture,” and honestly, holding my picture at the forefront of my every day has been an excellent recent life choice.

So I encourage those of you who are just returning from your travels to find something that stimulates the part of you that drives your passions and experience it everyday. I also encourage you to continue to recognize the changes in yourself you’re probably noticing having thrust yourself back into a familiar and probably unchanged environment. The same old familiar routine may not be as satisfying anymore- which is both a jolting and wonderful realization - so continue to explore your surroundings and find new outlets. I suppose The North Face says it best… just simply, “Never Stop Exploring.”

Thanks so much once again for reading my blog, and continue to feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. I’ll be back on here shortly with my final blog- an all-encompassing representation of the Questions & Answers exchanged between you guys and myself from the last year about Cultural Embrace’s Work and Travel Australia program.

Live Fully,

Jennifer C Campbell

August 2, 2010

Hello Cultural Embracers, coming to you stateside and finally de-jet lagged.

Anyone who has ever traveled to a destination that truly speaks to him, or has tasted a particularly spectacular way of living can warn you that returning home or to a less-than-adventurous lifestyle can be a difficult transition. However, I’m finding out no amount of shared peer experiences or strategies for smoothly reacquainting yourself with the world you’ve temporarily left can fully prepare you for the reintroduction, for culture shock from your own home base, for the personal separations you’re enduring… but a few tips on readjusting certainly have helped. It sounds pretty dramatic but it’s a common reality, and I promise I’m not just “being a chick” as I’ve been rightly accused in the past. But as these struggles exist even as I write this, the lingering feeling of first hugs from family and friends I hadn’t seen in eight+ months helps me to remember where my heart has always been, even if I’ve invested pieces of it in places and people overseas.

So, as far as my goodbyes went…

The reality: My last thirty-six hours abroad were more emotional than I could have anticipated, and no amount of “its understandable” from family over the phone soothed my semi-panic state. Let’s be honest here, I cried my entire over-night flight from Bali to Melbourne, probably making everyone around me extremely uncomfortable, and picked up the tears again upon my connecting flight landing back in Sydney. I was a mess. I’d been scheduled for a few weeks by then to depart from my Aussie travels back to The States from Sydney the day after returning from Bali, and although the departure was expected and I predicted mixed emotions from saying bye to friends, heading back to “reality” and excitement in getting to hug my family for the first time in forever, I didn’t account for the major blow: leaving the actual life itself I’d built and lived behind! Missing my new friends, my found family- a reality shared by most backpackers who’ve stayed in one place for long enough to form strong bonds, however long that may be- was just part of what I was facing. These people, this family, were a part of the life I’d built for myself while abroad- a major part of the beautiful whole- and I was about to leave it, knowing it would never be the same perfect again. Devo.

But as I should have expected, upon my arrival back into Sydney this amazing found family of mine refused to let me dwell on my leaving, and prompted a new brilliant light I remind myself of everyday: the next chapter I’m moving on to write has every potential to be just as beautiful in its own way, and although we’ll all be moving on soon, we can use this chapter as a leaping stone (way better than a stepping stone) for the next.

I spent my last day in Sydney tying loose ends with taxes and bank accounts and my last evening soaking in the good people I was saying my “see ya laters” to in a matter of hours. The farewell shenanigans were perfect, but I did burst into tears all over the place at least once, which a girlfriend immediately followed with “Jennifer, am I going to have to slap you?”…. Sometimes you just need it. Quite a balanced closure I’d say. J

But now I’m home, and thus I begin my next adventure. It’s a time of reminiscing, taking in family and other ties to home, following advice and continuing to live my “new self.”

I’ve only just made it home, but a few tips I can give so far to help better balance the arrival process:

1. Take advantage of every support source you have access to! 1. Your family and friends can be a wonderful comfort and a constant reminder of the best parts of the life you’re returning to 2. Cultural Embrace and its past participants who have been where you are, and 3. the people you’ve just said your see-ya-laters to, a number of them have probably endured this process before.

2. Gorge wisely. Common longings Americans in Australia share are for Mexican food, orange cheese, Goldfish and any other treat with fructose corn syrup (because fructose corn syrup is mostly absent in Australia and surrounding countries, making some foods a little less flavour-full to a pallet used to it), and home cooking. Having been away from all of these foods and eating mostly oatmeal, beans and rice for eight+ months, my stomach took a brutal beating to my initial face-stuffing. Incorporate slowly!

3. Remind yourself through photos, keeping in touch with people from your travels and other treasures from your journey of your amazing experience and the courage it took to step out of the ordinary and into something unpredictable. You’ve just experienced something most people only longingly consider. Bask in knowing that you did it, and you’re capable of accomplishing and overcoming anything, even culture shock in your own city.

4. Throw yourself out there, notice the changes in yourself and embrace them. Friends and family keep telling me nothing’s changed, but still, everything seems different. I’ve grown a lot in my travels, and am proud of the transformations it’s provoked in me. Explore these changes in yourself and in your interests and the doors it may open, and begin to shape your next moves from there. Maybe you’ll end up finding a whole other side of your city or sides of friends or family you didn’t know before- sides you can further grow from.

I’ll admit, I’m definitely currently plotting my next escape into uncharted territory, but being back home is proving to be quite a journey of it’s own. And I’m anxious to see where this one will lead me.

I’ll be in touch to fill you in on any useful tactics and how the life of a returned Australian Work and Traveler is faring. And please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments!

Live Fully, 

Jennifer C Campbell

Black sand, Brown rum

Kate and Katie's Excellent Adventure came to an end just in time to meet Cami at the airport.

Cami is one of the volunteachers who I met in Chile.  Coincidentally, while I was in Guatemala, Cami and her family planned to volunteer in Guatemala City with an organization called ProjectWalk.  With our stars aligned, Cami and I enjoyed a short reunion before she prepared for a challenging two weeks in Guatemala City.  We had one mission: Get Cami to the beach!   

Monterrico is the closest beach to Antigua, but it is not quite like the beaches in Costa Rica or Panama. The black sand from the volcanoes makes the beach unbearably hot during the day.  So hot, in fact, that you cannot walk on it comfortably until dusk.  

Monterrico's intense sunlight and body-crushing waves kept us off the beach almost the entire weekend.  Aside from a few evening strolls down the coast, we stuck to the hostel's hammocks and swimming pools, the latter of which were more like warm baths by noon.

 With no where to go to cool off, we sought shade in the cafe at Johnny's Place, an infamous Guatemalan hostel.  When we walked in, Cami and I were greeted by excitable Guatemalans who insisted on buying us welcome shots of Guatemala's best rum, Ron Zacapa.  The generosity didn't stop there, our new amigos insisted on buying rounds of sangria, cuba libres, and even dinner.  

We soon learned why the Guatemalans were eating and drinking so excessively (if not just for the fun of it).  It is impossible to sleep through a night in the Monterrico heat without a few shots of rum.  We learned this one night too late.  

On our first night in Monterrico, neither jungle-strength bug repellent nor cold showers helped us sleep. Instead, we laid awake cursing the humidity and hungry mosquitoes throughout the night.  By Saturday night, we got the memo, and by Sunday, we were ready to get the hell off the coast and back to the airy mountains.

Before we left though, Cami and I explored the Monterrico nightlife.  With four options for dinner in the one-road town,  we stopped at the first cafe with a friendly face.  No menu to be seen, an older Guatemalan woman greeted us at the door then cooked up the plato del dia before we could change our minds. 

Served with heads, scales, tales and a huge citranella candle, Cami and I forgot about the heat long enough to enjoy a wonderful meal. 

On our way back to the hostel, we heard an acoustic guitar and cheerful singing coming from a local bar.  Unable to pass up live music, Cami and I spent our last quetzales on cuba libres and sat in for a song.

Too soon, Cami and I parted ways.  She stayed on to volunteer at a hospital in Guatemala City while I made my way back to the US of A with my adventures on hold. For now.

Le Vesinet-Centre - by Stephanie Pratt

Today I'm going to meet another au pair who lives in Le Vesinet. Her name is Linsdey and she's from California too! We're meeting in half an hour at the market in downtown. I think we are going to take the metro to Paris too! David took me on his bike today to show me how to use the tickets and where the metro is. The only other time i've been on a motorcycle was with my friend matt, who told me I had a death grip. I was terrified! but it was amazing to drive throught the city on a motorcycle!!! Now I'm off to meet lindsey.

A domain!
Stephanie Pratt
European Adviser Abroad

il pleut - By Stephanie Pratt

Bonjour!

I arrived in Les Vesinet this morning! It's beautiful here, the house looks like something out of an old book. The flight was long and hard, I didn't sleep much so I'm really really tired. Its 1030pm here and my bed is calling me and inticing me to go to sleep. Je suis fatigue, Marguax taught me that today. Let me start from the begining. I woke up at my house CA time 6am. I got ready, some of my good friends came over to see me off and soon i was on my way to the airport. The car ride there was filled with anxiety ridden chat. My friend amanda was luckily there to help calm me down. My dad drove and my mother sat in the front, and she radiated sadness and worry. She would glance back reach for my hand and give me a couple tight squeezes every now and again. All i could think was how much i was going to miss her. But despite the sadness of leaving the excitment of starting a new journey was bubbling inside me. I arrived at the airport, and a million hours later (really only like 16 hours) I was in Paris! I grabbed my luggage and as soon as i stepped out of the terminal there was my host family waiting.

I had thought of this moment time and time again. How am I suppose to great them? Are they going to think I'm a dumb american girl? But these horrible thoughts slide out of my head as soon as Chloe ran up and hugged me. After a traditional french introduction kisses and all, we we're off to the house. The kids seemed very excited and really wanted to speak with me as much as they could. Margaux showed off her counting with Chole counting all the way to 13 in english. Romain asked me simple question, and most importantly about Harry Potter. He loves Harry Potter, and so do I! We pulled up to their beautiful house and i was greeted by mimi! The cutest cat I've ever seen. She literailly looks french. Soon I was being shown around the house and soon I was in my room getting ready to shower.

It was the most confusing yet refreshign shower ever! After unpacking and sharing some of my things with the children it was time for lunch. It was delicious, tomatoes in olive oil for starting, chicken for the meal and apple sauce for dessert. After a wonderful lunch outside on the patio, me and the children settled down to watch Harry Potter. Harry is even more magical when he speaks french! Soon after that a little nap and then it was time for dinner. I was still super full from lunch but ate a little anyway. I had a salad and a little pasta. And now I'm here reflecting on my exciting day and wonderful day. And now I'm off to get some much needed sleep.

Bonne nuit!
Stephanie Pratt
European Adviosr Abroad

Au Revoir! - by Stephanie Pratt

Its 12:33 am. I guess I should be asleep, but at least I'll be tired for my flight. Tonight is my last night in California for a year. Its very surreal and it still hasn't quit sunk in that in 24 hours I will be in Paris. I'm so exited to meet the family and the kids and start my experiences there. My body is very weak and emotionally drained. The anxiety has made me physically sick these past couple days but as the hours tick by, i find that those feelings are replaced with excitement. I'm really going to miss a lot of things: family, friends, California in general. But I know that just around the bend is something amazing waiting for me and I can't wait to start my journey tomorrow. Well... See you in Paris!

Stephanie Pratt
European Advisor Abroad

"Simon dice toca tu nariz...otra vez." - by Caroline McCurdy

Today is my 23rd birthday. Yes, it’s my first birthday away from the States, but I have a feeling that I won’t be feeling any homesickness because of it. My host family has decided to throw me a party tomorrow with tacos because they know how much I love Mexican food. On top of that, I might be making a little trip to the Casino tonight; it’s a proven fact that people are 47% more lucky on their birthdays :-) . Plus the Casino here is super inexpensive by US standards; last time I went, I only took out about $10 in coins and only lost about $2 after 3 hours of gambling… and that’s with a significant amount of losing.

This past weekend I went to a town about 2 hours away from Iquique called Pica. Overall it was a very relaxing weekend, save the presence of an inquisitive 8 year old (the granddaughter of my co-teacher) who didn’t understand the concept of “speak slowly for the Gringa because her Spanish isn’t the best”. It was interesting to go on a road trip in the desert; sure, I know that deserts are supposed to be dry, but good grief – there was nothing but sand, hills, and more sand. Also, this desert (the Atacama Desert to be precise) is the driest in the world – there are some places that have no recorded rainfall in history. Seriously.

So far school has been going well. Last week we worked on learning parts of the body. Of course, no Parts of the Body lesson would be complete without singing “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and a game of “Simon Says”. Over the course of the week, I probably sang that song over 100 times; it will be years before I can bring myself to sing it again. Also, Simon is permanently retired; he gave out more orders last week than an army drill sergeant and has nothing more to say. Every week I am teaching the kids a new slang word so that they can keep up with the American vernacular like pros. Last week our word was “Sweet!” and this week it was “Dude!” I definitely made sure that they understood the diversity of the word “dude”, as it can be used in anger, confusion, excitement, and utter sorrow. They also enjoyed my impression of Keanu Reeves from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” as I demonstrated the theatrical application of the word “dude”. I’m still debating over what the slang word next week should be; if any of you have suggestions, let me know.

Ok, well I’m off to go do some shopping and other frivolous activities because it’s my birthday and I’m allowed. So, until next time, here’s my philosophical question of the day:

Is there another word for synonym?

-Caroline

P.S. – My host family changed Mateo’s sweater this week. As shocked as I was and as much as I miss the plaid, he’s looking quite dapper in his new tan sweater, especially because it is accented with doggie footprints and stripes.

**Update** Last night my family and I went to an aunt's house because one of the cousins was having her birthday too. There was a huge (delicious) strawberry cake that they had made for her, and my family made sure that everyone knew it was my birthday too. After she blew out her candles, they added 1 more candled (because she turned 22) and lit them again. Amazingly, a room of about 20 Chileans started singing "Happy Birthday" to me in English. Absolutely delightful.

Also, I won $10 at the Casino... then I lost it all and had the best time doing it :-)

Final Entry - By Chris Schave

What are three months in China like? Well, it’s an assortment of feelings and experiences. I started my journey in the city of Guilin. The first weekend was spent there, and I met a few people that I plan on keeping in touch with for some time. Along with meeting people, I discovered Guilin Noodles, a simple noodle dish with rice noodle, a few vegetables, and some meat.

I also had the chance to see some caves. I was on the tour with only one other English speaker. We saw some amazing caves and also stopped at a waterfall. This is where I saw the kindness of Chinese people. I also got a chance to be in about 30 high school aged children’s pictures.

After that first weekend, I left with Brit Chris, Georgina, and Julie. We headed to an incredibly small village called Fengyang. This was an experience that I will not forget. When I say small, I mean around 200 people. We lived in a 100+ year old house that was once owned by the wealthiest family in the village.

While in Fengyang, we went on various tours and even taught English to the village children for a week. That was a far cry from the teaching that I would be doing at the end of my trip. The kids were a mix of crazy little hellions, star struck girls that looked at me with longing eyes, and children that actually were interested in learning English.

The things that I will take away from those first few weeks are my first encounters with Chinese people in their own country, the crazy party that the local government officials held for us, and it was complete with an absorbent amount of Bijou. It is the drink that I would later grow to despise. I also met Isabella, a very sweet Chinese lady that was in charge of the whole program that we were a part of.

Next in the adventure was Yangshou. This was a rough time because of the weather. It is a great town and I highly recommend that people visit and stay at Monkey Jane’s hostel. It rained almost the whole time. We got to do some rock climbing, bike riding in the rain, that looking back was a lot more fun than it was while riding. I have funny stories about a motorcycle taxi driver trying very adamantly to get me to buy a massage from a girl, only to drop me off at the whore house. I walked home in the rain from there.

The time I spent at Monkey Jane’s will be some of the most memorable. I met quite a few good people there and had great times playing beer pong with people from around the world.

After the first week in Yangshou, we headed off to the rice fields. It was a long bus ride, but I was with my crew, so it wasn’t too bad. The one thing about traveling alone through China is that you have to be somewhat careful where you fall asleep. Not that everyone is out to steal your stuff, but I didn’t take out anything of value on a bus when I was alone. In the off chance I fell asleep. That takes me to this, while in China, for the most part, I felt incredibly safe. Many people I talked with viewed me as a guest in their country and therefore felt responsible for watching out for me.

Back to the rice fields. They were amazing and I really enjoyed myself the first and second day. That was despite that storms that kept rolling through. I still got some good pictures, but for some reason halfway through, I jacked my ISO up to 3200, and everything after that was really grainy. Not cool when you are excited to see what you shot and you get them on your computer to discover most of them are garbage.

On the third day, Brit Chris woke up with a swollen infected eye. I have no idea what happened, but it was pretty red, and he said it was painful. I went to the pharmacy and got him some medicated eye drops. Upon my return, I ran into Georgina, who had spent half the night vomiting. After talking it over with the group, we decided that it would be the best idea to head back to Guilin. Anyway, the World Cup was on and we didn’t want to miss it.

That was the group’s last weekend in Guilin, and we all parted our own ways. I met some new friends at our hostel that were headed to Yangshou, which is where I was headed for the following week. I got them set up at Monkey Jane’s and got a free shirt out of the deal. That week I did two days of rock climbing, though the first day was rough. I was a bit under the weather due to some overconsumption of spirits the night before. Regardless, it was fun

Halfway through the week, I took the British couple with me to Fengyang for a festival that we were invited to. I met Vicky and Lee in Guilin and they were the two that I took to Monkey Jane’s. This little festival was ridiculous! I was on some Chinese news station, and I saw Lee drink more bijou than I knew was humanly possible. He was also quite possibly the most hung over I had ever seen anyone. It was a great couple of days!

The next week was spent in Hunan Province at an orphanage. This part of the trip had the most impact on me. When I got there, I was sooo out of my element. I would say that there was about 60 kids there when I arrived, but some left throughout my time there. To clarify, this was not a normal orphanage; it was more of a boarding school for very poor children, that is subsidized by an American non profit. That being said, the conditions were still not very good.

Around the third day there, I had a little breakdown in my room. I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair life is, and how these kids really had nothing. It wasn’t until after that little episode that I realized these kids had it much better here than at their homes. Even though to me the food was incredibly minimal, it was better than nothing. I started to feel better about the situation as time went on. I realized that I wasn’t sent there to feel bad for them, I was sent there to make their lives a little better for that one week. It was a little rough because of the heat. Most of them went to school during the day, and the rest kept retreat in their rooms to stay cool.

When we did play, it was all about basketball, and I had a great time with them. I will remember a few of the kids specifically. One came from a mother that had lost nine children before him. She couldn’t speak, or maybe she could, but I was told that no one could understand her. The boy, had a pretty bad mental handicap, but he loved hanging out with me. He never said one word to me. He would just smile and look up at me. Another kid was a girl that followed me a lot and always wanted to hold my hand. She was about 6 and just cute as a button. She knew that I didn’t speak Chinese, but that didn’t stop her from speaking it to me. She loved to talk. That was a great week looking back. My parents and I donated enough money to buy all the children a new pair of shoes, so hopefully they will enjoy them.

Once I left the orphanage, I headed to Changsha to catch a flight to Chengdu. I was informed a few days before my departure that Isabella would be joining the group. Georgina was also going to be there, so I had a few familiar faces to look forward to.

When I got to Chengdu, I had a chance to relax for a few days. I tried to buy a new camera, but failed when they didn’t take visa. This was actually a blessing because I wasn’t paid my GI Bill for that month and would have been in the hole a good amount.

Looking back, there were more photos that I wanted to get, but shooting stuff everyday kind of burned me out at the time. Like right now, I spent the weekend in Beijing and took around 600 photos. I guess I love taking them, but without a place to sit down and go through them, it gets to be a little much. I think when I get back I will be much more into it. I just need a break after getting these last pictures edited. I took around 10,000 pictures in 3 months, and have deleted about 7,000. Although, I’m on a plane right now from Vancouver to Portland, and I wish my camera weren’t packed away because some of these islands have amazing cloud formations around them…

Back to China… Working with pandas outside of Ya’an, near Chengdu, was absolutely amazing! These creatures had such funny personalities and I am still shocked at how they were all so different. I was very fortunate that I got to feed them, play with the little ones, and clean their cages. Well, maybe not the last part. I also had the chance to hang out with some really cool people. I took a lot of pictures there, and even got some great waterfall shots.

After Chengdu, I flew to Yantai, via Beijing. Yantai was also awesome. About 10 minutes walk from the dorm was the beach. We discovered a great little restaurant that looked sketchy, but was awesome. They had the best eggplant I have ever had.

On this adventure with me were Katherine and Catherine from Middlebury College in Vermont. It is a small private college in Vermont. I found the to be much less stuck up than I had imagined kids from small private schools. Also, there was Kristin from Seattle. Her parents are from Hong Kong, and everywhere we went, people thought she was our translator. Truth be told, her Chinese was about as good as the K/Catherine’s, which is about 20 times better than mine. Then again, I have never studied Chinese.

Our purpose was to teach kids from the ages of 5-25 English. Most were Chinese, but I had some Korean students as well. In the upper class were some Brazilians. My kids were awesome. I really think I had the best class. They were well behaved, but just a little shy. My star student was Tom. He really stepped it up and volunteered for everything I asked.

I am not a teacher, so everything was trial and error. Many times, I thought I had a good idea, only to take it to the classroom and have it fail miserably. One such example was teaching the kids about the 7 natural wonders of the world. I even had plans to take it to other natural wonders. They just didn’t care. I made them suffer through it and came up with something different for the next class. It was all part of the process.

During our first few weeks, there was a group of Russians that were staying at the hotel. They ended up being really nice and we all hung out from time to time. I even learned a few Russian words. I’m not sure how the girls felt about them, but I enjoyed going out with them.

Yantai was a great place to be for five weeks, but as the end of my trip grew near, the more I was ready to get back to my routine in the states. That is one thing in life I need to stay sane, routine.

After leaving Yantai, I went to Beijing for the weekend. While there, I went on a tour of the “ancient” part of the Great Wall, went to Tian Na Men Square, and the Forbidden City. The low point of this trip was forgetting to bring enough water to the Great Wall, and being severely dehydrated the next day. I had a headache that may have been the worst I have ever had.

The tour of the wall was great. I’m sooo happy that I went on that specific tour because there were no crowds or even other people to move through the tour in a herd-like fashion. Some of the views were just amazing.

The Forbidden City, honestly, wasn’t that cool. I had scene many temples, so it wasn’t that great to see more of the same types of buildings. It was cool to see Mao’s painting at the entrance. Walking through was just a barrage of harassment. People wanting to give me tours, or sell me crap didn’t want. I never blame people for trying to make money, but when they are sneaky about it, I despise them. For instance, the two girls that wanted to practice their English. If I would have gone to get tea with them, they would have scammed me into paying a ridiculous amount for a few cups of tea. This happens all over the world though, and I’m sure it’s nothing new.

Beijing is a cool city that I would love to go back to. I really saw very little, and since the Olympics, many renovations have happened throughout the city. The air even seemed clear and clean while I was there. I was a big fan of the modern architecture that has gone up all over the city too.

When I got back from the Forbidden City, I checked my flight itinerary. I noticed that the date was incorrect for my flight back to Yantai. It said the ticket was booked for the 19^th, and at the time, it was the 16^th. I hopped on the internet and looked at the flights for the day. The last flight to Yantai left two hours from that time. I was already packed, so I grabbed my bag, and headed to the airport. When I got there, I went to the ticket counter. She had told me that there was one ticket left, so I bought it. I even got a refund on my other ticket, jackpot!

When I got back to Yantai, I checked into the Ramada. I had booked a moderately priced room, and when I opened the door, I realized that when it said “king bed suite,” they meant a full on suite. The bed was in a loft area up a nice set of stairs. It even had a full living room and kitchen. Though the bed looked like it would be comfortable, it was pretty hard.

The next day I got up at 7AM and finished packing everything up. After that, I headed to the airport and went home.

That’s it. For more information and details, visit my blog atwww.cschave.blog.com and for pictures go towww.flickr.com/photos/cschave

Thanks for reading…

Chris Schave

Flashback 4/18/10 "Truth Be Told" - by Tracy Guthrie

Before I came over here I was laid off due to a $1 million budget cut. I worked for an association of attorneys doing business partnerships and vendor sponsorships. My main role was to secure sponsors and exhibitors for the conferences hosted by the association. As a matter of fact, the Mid-Year Conference is going on right now in Austin, TX. And all I can think about is how bad I want the Mid-Year Conference to fail. I have visions that all of the vendors and sponsors are miserable and frustrated. So much so, that they demand for my return. I am fully aware that if I had not been laid off I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have the freedom to stay as long as I want. Yet, I still want them to fail.

I find it quite interesting that thousands of miles away from home I have feelings of vindication, jealousy and bitterness. I assumed all my worldly desires and insecurities would fade away while being over here. Obviously that is not true.

The truth for me right now is that I feel I have no value unless I am the best at everything. That is not God's truth. God's truth is that we are enough just by who we are, and He loves us even in our most vulnerable state.

Beijing, Beijing, Beijing! - By Chris Schave

I guess Friday would be a good place to start. The weather leaving Yantai was horrible. It was raining pretty much non stop all morning and we were nervous about not making our flight. The taxi ride was pretty sketchy.

So I made it to Beijing and the weather was great. It was a little warm, but better than rain. I was incredibly exhausted, and after dinner laid down for a bit. After feeling really lazy, I got up and walked around for a while. I made an attempt to buy deodorant, but it was unsuccessful. I bought something that the lady at the store thought that I wanted, but I think it was some kind of perfume. I sprayed it in my armpit, and it burned badly.

For dinner, I had some pizza and talked with some Canadian girls, but succumbed to the sleepiness that had been haunting me all night. It was only about 9 when I laid down, but it took me a while to get to sleep.

I had booked a Great Wall trip for Saturday and had to get up at 6. The taxi picked me up at 7 and made a stop to pick up another guy. Then dropped us both off at another hostel. We met up with about 18 other people and hopped on a bus.

The ride took about an hour and a half. I tried to sleep for some of it, but the seats weren’t that comfortable. On the way, we passed various sections of the Great Wall that were incredibly crowded and I was beginning to get a little nervous. If you know me, you know I hate large crowds. Luckily we kept driving, and eventually turned off onto a dirt road.

It seemed like we were going down the shabby road, through small villages, for quite some time. We eventually popped out of the trees and went through a nice set of gates. When we got to the end of the road, we were faced with a “Great” wall. It shot up the hill side, and appeared to be very steep. Even the walk to the wall was steep. It turned out that we were at the ancient, non restored part of the wall. The only other people that I saw there were a couple of workers painting hand rails.

The total trek was 10 km. It was all up and down hill, steps and otherwise. At one point the nice part of the wall stopped and we were faced with over grown rubble. Half way through, I ran out of water. The wind was blowing pretty strong, so that probably saved me from dying. I was very happy with this tour though. We got to see parts of the wall that had been knocked down by Mongolian invaders, and other parts that had just collapsed over time.

The guy that we picked up from the other hostel was named Bradley, and he was from South Carolina. We chit chatted the whole time and he was a pretty cool dude. He had also been in China for three months, but had stayed mostly in Xian, where the Terracotta Warriors are. While he was there, he was doing a co-op, which is similar to an internship.

We also walked with some girls from Germany, a couple from France, and a girl from Holland. They were all really nice and shared their water with me when they saw I was out. I keep running into really nice people on this trip.

I failed to mention how incredibly tiring this trip was. As I would lift a leg walking, it would shake until I put it back on the ground. I don’t think my pictures will do any of it justice, but it was steep, and really amazing.

For some reason, two other guys and myself decided to run down the last section. Looking back this was pretty stupid considering how tired my legs were, but it was fun, and I didn’t get hurt. We were jumping over things and stepping off of boulders that may not have been stable. Wooo!

When we got back to the bus, I bought two waters and chugged them without hesitation. That might have been the thirstiest I have ever been in my life. We took a ten minute drive to a restaurant and ate some pretty awesome food. As usual, the tofu sucked. I’m not a fan of the stuff, and I find that the only thing it takes the flavor of, is the bad components of each other ingredient. That and the texture is strange to me.

The rest of the ride was filled with on and off sleep, note passing, and talking with Bradley. When I got back, I hopped in the shower to cool my fresh sun burn. It wasn’t that bad, but the cool water felt good. After showering, I met up with Bradley, a British girl, and the Dutch girl.

We went to a bar called 37. Sitting outside is always interesting in China. People think you’re a display, and in a way, I think the restaurants try to draw the others in with westerners. I don’t blame them. The German girls ended up walking by and sat down with us. We all had some good conversation, some beers, and eventually went to grab a bite to eat.

At dinner, a man from Argentina joined us. It turned out that he is an artist. I asked him what type of art he does and he told me meat. I thought maybe there was something lost in translation, but it turns out that he really does carve various types of meat. Interesting… I guess there is a meat sculpting event here this week.

After dinner, we parted ways and Bradley and I walked back towards our respective hostels. We walked next to Tian Na Men Square. It really is just a big square. I know very historical events took place there, but it really isn’t that great to visit.

When I got back to my hostel, the Canadian girls were in the bar drinking, so I joined them for a quick beer. We ended up talking about politics, and though I sway towards their point of view, I played devil’s advocate, so they could see why people feel the way they do. It was fun, but I was tired, so I went to bed. I awoke around five in the morning with a massive headache. Normally, I would attribute it to the beer, but in this case, it was dehydration. I guess the beer did play into it, but it wasn’t a hangover. Apparently, from the time I got home, to the time that I started drinking beer, there wasn’t enough water consumption. The headache really didn’t go away until around two in the afternoon.

I was supposed to wake up and go to the Forbidden City with Bradley, then meet up with Floortja, the Dutch girl, for a bike tour. That didn’t happen. I went and got some Chinese medicine for my pounding headache. It didn’t help.

Around 11:30, I walked about 4 km to the Forbidden City and did a self guided tour. People are sneaky around there. I had people telling me that they wanted to go to a tea house to practice English, then when the bill comes, it’s an outrageous price and they threaten to call the police if you don’t pay.

When I got inside the walls, a man was very intent on giving me a tour. Then he said the line was really long and if I had a tour with him, we could bypass the line. After much talking, I got him to leave me alone. When I got to the ticket counter, there were about 5 people in front of me. Bunch of scammers. Luckily, I’m not into falling for these things

The Forbidden City itself was pretty cool, but my headache and the heat distracted me. It is old and had big buildings, with big open spaces. It had a really “forbidden” feel to it. The Imperial Garden was probably my favorite part. I walked through a gate to see more, and realized that I had exited out of the back of the city. A sign behind me read, no re-entry.

On my way back to the hostel, I stopped by a book store and found the three English books that they had, and bought something by Faulkner. I might find more tomorrow in the international terminal when I get back to Beijing.

The big news for the weekend is that I booked my flight back to Yantai for the wrong date. Not sure how that happened, but it did. I got online and looked at my flight info. Today is the 16^th, and the flight was booked for the 19^th. I hopped on the China Air site and saw that the last flight they had of the day was at 5:45. It was 3:05. I was already packed, so I grabbed a cab and hauled ass to the airport. It turned out that there was one ticket left for the flight, and I got it!

I’m now sitting in the airport waiting for my flight, which is delayed by 45 minutes. Now I just need to see about a refund on my other ticket.

Pictures will be posted Tuesday Evening, US time. I flow home in the morning!!!

Chris- Adviser Abroad China

Cultural Embrace @ www.culturalembrace.com

www.flickr.com/photos/cschave

Beijing - by Chris Schave

Well, I made it to Beijing today. We left the school in the middle of a torrential down poor! The roads were flooding bad, as Yantai has nothing in the way of water run off. It must not rain that much there. Some spot I could hear the water slapping against the doors on the van. We made it though. I flew out with the C/Katherines and our flight was delayed by about an hour I think. Couldn’t say for sure because I really never looked at the time. The flight did go quickly. I am pretty sure the pilot had the throttle hammered down the whole flight!

When I got to the the Beijing Airport I said goodbye to the girls. I was late for my check-in, so it quick. Now I am at the hostel and have booked a tour for the Great Wall in the morning. Good stuff. Lots of pics to post after that, I’m sure!

Chris out!

Final Day Teaching - By Chris Schave

So this is it. I just got back from graduation and saw the kids for the last time, maybe ever. It is pretty sad to say goodbye to them, even the few that annoyed me a couple of times. The last day was pretty chaotic, but fun. Nobody wanted to do anything and I don’t blame them. I won’t miss making lesson plans, or even teaching, but I will miss the kids. Most of all, I will miss Tom. He was my star pupil and reminds me of a Chinese version of me when I was his age.

Tonight, we will have a teacher and faculty dinner, which are always fun. I have some more pictures to edit from the graduation and I will do that tomorrow on the plane to Beijing. I will have one or two more post for this trip, and on the way home I will write a reflection of the entire trip and post that. For those that have followed my blog for the past three months, thanks. I’ve had a blast having all these experiences and writing about them.

Chris- Adviser Abroad China

Cultural Embrace @ www.culturalembrace.com

www.flickr.com/photos/cschave

Flashback: Jennifer in Australia, a Work & Traveler's Experience

Australia = the adventureland of my wildest dreams. Aside from its reputable surfing/ windsurfing/ kitesurfing/ spearfishing/ kayaking/ hiking/ camping spots/ famed beaches, diving and snorkeling the other-worldly Great Barrier Reef and its Islands sprinkled along the East Coast and adventuring through the surreal red outback and crocodile strewn northern beaches more than satisfy the adventure-seeker’s appetite.

June 9, 2010

On the road again!

So this time, it's Sydney to Melbourne to Darwin to Bali, Indonesia… and I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not, but for whatever reason, I have a really annoying knack for not planning/booking trips until I’m on a completely different one. This trip I booked (and recruited amongst friends for) while I was in New Zealand, and although it hasn’t completely backfired, it certainly could have used a bit more “outlining.”

Melbourne was perfect; I absolutely could see myself working/ living there happily ever after, and I’m bummed I didn’t check it out before! It definitely has a more Austin-like vibe about it. It’s a laid back, beautiful city with fantastic museums, live music and theaters, great restaurants and shopping (which I plan to enjoy when I return when I’m not broke J) and enough of a beach to attract sun worshipers like myself. It is also so much cheaper and more pleasant getting around via public transportation than in Sydney. The only true downside to our time in Melbourne was the terrible hostel I booked after doing absolutely zero research and having to stick to it/in the one area of the city due to pre-paying. We stayed around St. Kilda, which is near one of my new favorite movie theaters of all time, The Palace, the beach and some great nightlife- all excellent- but we would have loved to stay closer to downtown one night…. And most definitely not in the hostel we’d booked for three nights. Watch out for putting your card down to reserve nights without researching the hostel WELL first… big mistake! But aside from the few of negatives of our trip, I loved Melbourne. It is absolutely somewhere I would check out for your Cultural Embrace Work and Travel Australia experience.

From Melbourne we flew almost directly north to Darwin. Luckily, it was a pretty clear day so most of the way north we could see directly down into the outback. Red sand raked from wind gusts and dotted with the occasional green shrubbery flew underneath us for almost the entire four-hour flight. It was a pretty cool view. And even though looking at a deep red desert would normally cause thoughts of HOT weather, stepping out of the airport was still quite a shocker.

Darwin is way hotter and more humid than I anticipated- it took us a few minutes before we could breath comfortably outside! It sounds dramatic, but honestly I felt dumb not realizing how intense the climate was going to be. But aside from the climate, we also had a few other unnecessary surprises. Although we were working with a pretty tight budget as my friend and I were heading to Indonesia from there, we’d planned on hitting Litchfield National Park and/or Kakadu National Park in the few days we had in Darwin. Unfortunately, the parks ended up being about a hundred dollars more expensive than we planned for. It turned out we were going to have to book day tours due to no access zones for rental cars and so we ended yp opting out of them. It was disappointing, but we made the three days we had in Darwin work for us. We stayed at a pretty decent hostel with a pool (which is more important than I could stress because 1. It’s extremely hot 2. Although you’re on the northern coast, the Northern Territory is known for salt-water crocodiles as well as box jelly fish depending on the season so the ocean may not be the best option), went to the rocky shore for some attempted crocodile watching and trekked it to a local beachside market. Overall Darwin was a pretty interesting place to spend a few days, but next time I head that way I will not be missing the national parks!

One thing we do have to thank Darwin for is the travel pal we met heading out to Bali. Like I’ve mentioned before a billion times, it’s impossible not to meet fellow backpackers while you’re excursioning- and a lot of them will have a pretty similar travel plan as you. While we were in Darwin we ended up meeting a French backpacker who was actually on our flight heading to Bali, so, we picked him up for the first few days we were traveling. It is always great to meet people who’re as into chasing a full and beautiful life as you are.

Bali is home to all-around beautiful people, amazing rice field and jungle hikes, gorgeous beach and volcano villages and Puras (temples) to visit and is now where my “future house” coin jar is directed. Also great to mention, our flight from Darwin to Bali was around $150 and it’s only a 2.5 hour flight- excellent. So if you’re planning to head up to Darwin, check out Jetstar’s flights to Indonesia, or other nearby countries of your interest, they have incredible deals!

As I mentioned before, one of the best perks of Working and Traveling Australia is how cheap and easy it is to hop on an international flight for a few hours and be in another amazing country for as long as you have there. As a backpacker, Australia is a great hub from which to globe trot, and as this stent of traveling abroad is coming to an end for me, I can’t tell you how fulfilling it is being able to look back and know I took advantage of traveling to other destinations, especially since they weren’t in my original plans. My advice is to get out here and check out working in and traveling the amazing OZ, and hitting some neighboring countries in between. Leap out of the box, and explore as much as you can.

Live fully,

Jennifer C Campbell


May 25, 2010

Hello Cultural Embracers!

As I assumed, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was beyond extraordinary. Even our photos, which do the Australian national park little justice, are unbelievable! As I mentioned before, my chances of getting to dive the Great Barrier Reef, one of my lifetime dreams, was up in the air as my sinuses had been malfunctioning (the ultimate no-go in diving) for the last few weeks I’d been traveling New Zealand. But fate was on my side and by game time I was cleared to do a shallow dive and snorkel for hours on end during our two-day stent on the water.

Friends and I booked two separate boats for our trip, a snorkeling boat, which took us to the inner reef, and a dive boat, which took us to the outer reef. I suggest doing both!

The inner reef has far shallower reef spots over a larger area, which means more opportunity to snorkel longer distances to do a bit of unleashed exploring. Only caution: currents can sometimes take you much farther from the boat than you’d realize before popping back up to relieve your face from your mask, so check with your vessels crew for the day’s (ocean) current conditions before jumping overboard. My friend and I only had to be saved once but the ten minutes it took for the snorkel boat’s zodiac to spot us seemed a lifetime of treading in the waves and wishing we’d opted for a life vest. J The inner reef is also is sprinkled with tiny sand islands with the most beautiful and giant seashells I’ve ever seen, which visitors, like myself, leave for others to enjoy or for waves to sweep back out onto the reef where they become a part of the natural reef-growth process. (Don’t forget the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is a national park, which means you’re not supposed to leave with souvenirs anyway.)

The outer reef is made up of patches of shallow reef spots surrounded by endless distances of deep water, offering excellent snorkeling with more “untamed” sea life and epic diving - the best of both underwater worlds. Because of these surrounding deeper spots, there’s a much bigger range of larger fish and fish schools, turtles, and sometimes the occasional shark if you’re lucky, right around the reef’s edge. The snorkeling and dive boats come to these spots so often they’re able to introduce you, by given name, to most of the turtles and giant neon fish… however, sharks are a different story…

Unfortunately, shark sightings on the Great Barrier Reef have endured a massive decline mainly because so many of them are killed by fisheries each year. (According to Oceana, the world’s largest international conservation organization standing for the protection and restoration of our oceans, humans kill around one hundred million sharks per year.) And because sharks have such slow reproductive and growth rates, many Great Barrier Reef species are in jeopardy of catastrophic collapse, which would be devastating to the marine ecosystem of the marine park…. generating overwhelming domino effects, obviously. If you head to the Sydney aquarium you can check out the Great Barrier Reef section which holds a dozen live shark species (including a 13-foot grey reef shark which is probably one of the most insane sharks I’ll ever see), but this mock version of the reef is likely the place you’ll see any of them.

Back to it, a quick word to the wise: booking adventure trips through third-party agents are usually okay ways to go, but you’ll probably end up getting a much cheaper rate- and sometimes more reliable plans- if you book directly through the adventure company itself. Friends and I used the travel agent Wicked Travel, and are now on a running list of other Aus travelers whose trips have been compromised due to “casual mess-ups” by the company. Massive and expensive pain!

But if you’re not much of an open water lover, there are still plenty of things to do in and around the reef’s main access regional city, Cairns (which is where most backpackers, including myself and friends, stay for reef adventuring/rainforest trekking on the upper east coast route). Very near-by destinations, including Cape Tribulation, Daintree, and Mission Beach, offer activities such as rainforest and national park explorations, canopy touring, excellent skydiving, sailing, parasailing, jet skiing, just plain beach sprawling, etc. and there are plenty of nightspots to curb your craving for pool, beach side or pub partying. The upper east coast is a fun place to be, and even though you’ll definitely meet way more foreign backpackers than Aussies, it’s almost impossible not to feel like you’re really in Australia out here.

Head out to the upper east coast of Australia if you get the chance, it's definitely worth the trip. I cannot wait to make it back!

Live fully,

Jennifer C Campbell


May 15, 2010

Happy May fellow Adventure Seekers!

Let me preface by saying I'm writing this entry on a computer I believe is legitimately from 1990... without spelling/grammar check or the working letter “B.” Awesome.

Despite Sydney and the rest of south/south eastern Australia creeping into the fall to winter season, you wouldn’t believe it here on the northern east coast. In the mid 20’s to low 30’s Celsius (upper 70’s to upper 80’s Fahrenheit), the island is sun-soaked and warm with still vibrantly colored lush tropical vegetation. It turns out “Maggie Island’s” weather is much like spring year round. And having just spent an absolutely epic month in New Zealand bundled up in most of the north island (minus a few still warm gorgeous beach spots) and all of the south island (in the mountain and glacier towns, etc.), it’s nice to be bathing suit clad and toasting again.

I originally came up north to complete a two-day scuba recertification course, followed by a road trip up to Cairns with friends for the greatly anticipated Great Barrier Reef dive and snorkel. Unfortunately, I’m “sinus sick” which is the ultimate no-go in diving so I’m S.O.L. for my full certification for now. But great news! Most dive boats on the Great Barrier Reef, including the one friends and I are booked on, don’t require PADI scuba dive certification, offering instead a small dive tutorial the day of. So if I’m all clear in time for our scuba/snorkeling trip, I will still be able to dive and roam free in one of the world’s most prized national parks. And even though I’m stuck on land on Magnetic Island (which, by the way, Magnetic Island is one of the top ten rated locations in the world to get PADI certified, definitely a bummer to miss) I still get to veg out on the beach and explore this tropical island teeming with parrots, wombats, the occasional koala and giant butterflies. Not too shabby!

Changing gears a bit, I want to give you yet another reason to work and travel Australia, one I’ve recently becoming familiar with. While you’re down here working and saving, or working to make rent saving your savings, traveling Australia is just the tip of the roving opportunities in this part of the globe. Mixing Australia travel with trips to other nearby countries is easier, cheaper and more convenient than I would have thought. The Australian dollar is comparable to the US dollar, so you typically get a pretty good to great exchange rate for your earnings/savings, and travelling to surrounding countries is generally pretty affordable and a short plane ride away. Round trip flights to New Zealand, Fiji, Bali and even Hong Kong can be as cheep as $350, Thailand and Papa New Guinea are fairly reasonable as well. And because your Australian Work and Travel visa allows you to escape and re-enter Australia as you please, it’s pretty easy to globe trot a bit and come back and work when you run out of money J. Some causal work positions across Australia even provide you with holiday pay, which means you can earn a set hourly rate while you’re traveling. My bartending job in Sydney did! So after or in between your Australia experiences, hop on a plane for a few hours and go explore a neighboring country. Working and traveling Australia has about 20 million perks… the list just keeps getting bigger. So get out here!

I’ll fill you in on how the Great Barrier Reef is- I’m sure I’ll be reporting nothing short of an unbelievable experience.

Live Fully,

Jennifer C Campbell

Flashback: Jennifer in Australia, a Work & Traveler's Experience

An epic new years eve and day in Sydney, camping in Yamba with eight-feet tall kangaroos and Bluesfest in Byron Bay, the Blue Mountains, Australia Day, a move into a new pad, and road-tripping through Tasmania make for an excellent few months in the land down under.

March 18, 2010

Hello all!

Tasmania was absolutely amazing. Two of my good friends (and Tassie traveling buddies) and I had each been forewarned about a few of the off-beat qualities Tasmania is known for, such as the semi-crazed wildlife, “disconnected” people, general rough-edgedness, etc. and although I admit most of the descriptions turned our to be true, they only added to the experience and made the trip even more spectacularly memorable.

Our Travel Map: Hobart, to Port Arthur and the Tasmanian Peninsula, to Wineglass and Coles Bay in Freycinet National Park, to Bicheno and St. Helens and the stretch of Bay of Fires beaches, to Cradle Mountain, back up to Launceston- with several beach and other beautiful middle-of-no-where pit spots along the way. A few highlights in my Tasmania scrapbook look something like this:

1. Taking a ghost tour in Port Arthur, known as the most haunted spot in all of Australia, and camping out that evening only to keep each other up all night questioning shadows, creeping wildlife, and your standard bump in the night.
   
2. Hiking to Wine Glass Bay, digging my feet into the sand feeling for shells for my little siblings back at home whom I promised a small piece of Tasmania while watching the rain roll in.
   
3. Taking in a fifteen-mile stretch of empty bleach white beach with water such an unreal glowing turquoise it took my breath away.
   
4. Standing on one of the closest points in the world to Antarctica and wondering if (or when :) ) I’ll make it there. (Did you know there are actually people who will pay thousands of dollars to fly to Antarctica---12 hour flight from Aus--- only to circle over it for four hours and return home without ever actually landing… what happens if you have an aisle seat?... hah, a bit ridiculous I say.)
   
5.  Driving cliff side to the top of Cradle Mountain through flourishing forestry next to gorgeous canyons, making stops along the way such as exquisite lookouts and “enchanted” walks, and the Tasmanian Devil preservation facility, etc. (Tassie Devils are one of the only animals in the world who’ve ever been given a fairly exact date of extinction due to disease and drastic drops in successful reproduction. If you make it over to Tassie, be sure to stop by the facility. All payments made are donations to the devil’s preservation.)
   
6. And most random of all…. waking up next to the beach at camp at 5 a.m. with a report of a tsunami heading our way and driving as much inland and reception-bound as we could for two hours before receiving any real news about the earthquake in Chile and its effects. Although Tasmania’s effects ended up being minimal, it was unnerving realizing how disconnected we actually were from the rest of the world in most areas in Tas.

But even thought I still have Tassie and vacation on the brain, I’m back to my reality now, and it’s actually been a pretty huge week in our lively household. One of our beloved flat mates, our token male of the house, has moved on northward, and a girlfriend from The States has moved in and taken over his spot. Aside from the sadness of seeing a very good friend go and the excitement of having another join in the madness, the coming and going of good friends is definitely a reminder that eventually my time here and in this experience will be up… sooner or later, it’ll be everyone’s time to move on. It takes any kind of feelings of permanency out of the picture, really. I still haven’t decided which I prefer- the excitement of knowing that my experiences here have really just begun/not knowing what’s coming next, or the comfort of being surrounded by good people who provide me with a sort of blanket of stability (and pure entertainment I should add). It’s also an unimaginably tough feeling wondering when you’ll again see those incredible friends who are leaving on new adventures, but at the same time it’s really cool knowing you’ll make it happen, wherever in the world it will be. It’s very bitter sweet.

But for now, our pretty routine weekly lives of beach, hitting the city, small travels and work go on. Personally, it’s a pretty big next few weeks for me as I work and save for my camping trip in Yamba, Blues Festival weekend in Byron Bay and New Zealand trip all coming up before mid-April. It’s all coming so fast! I honestly have no idea where the time went, and I can’t believe it’s already mid-March! Whoa.

So after all my rambling, I’ll end with what I’ve learned these past two few weeks: People and experiences will most often come and eventually go, but that should never stop you from giving your full self in order to gain as much from each as possible. After all is said and done, I can’t imagine a more fulfilling feeling than knowing I’ve grown from so many diverse tastes of life. And so, it continues! Have an excellent weekend, and always,

Live fully,
Jennifer C Campbell


February 16, 2010

Good day all you Cultural Embracers!

I hope February has treated you well so far. Normally, my blogs hold some sort of recently stumbled upon life lesson, travel advice or semi-meaningful message, but this particular blog is a product of my excitement over my upcoming trips and recent activities and thus probably will not be quite as evocative : ). Everything has been superb in the land down under- February is going to be an epic month.

I had a successful move two weeks ago into an apartment with four of my friends just ten minutes from my old place on Coogee beach. And although I definitely do miss my twenty something building mates and waking up and walking straight onto the sand, I could not be happier with the new flat. Aside from the perk of living with four of my good friends, my rent is much cheaper ($115 per week from $180 pw), my name is not on the six month lease which means as long as I find a replacement I can move on string free, and I am in a beautiful area with easy access to the rest of the city as well as excellent running and bike paths through some of the most beautiful parks in Sydney. I would almost feel like I have moved out of backpacker territory and into permanent residency if it was not for our makeshift furniture- but blow up air mattresses, hand-me-down couch and table given by a random neighbor which we have surrounded with recovered mismatched table chairs, and the lack of normal kitchen appliances together emit quite the squatting vibe. Our place is a little random, but it is pretty perfect and my own person symbol of independence. For the first time in my life every dime of my rent, along with my living expenses and travel savings, etc., is coming out of my own paychecked pocket. It's a superb feeling.

Another splendid February event is my trip to Tasmania coming up in a little over a week. Two friends and I are flying over for about a week to camp on one of the top ten rated beaches in the world, Wine Glass Bay, and hit other famous spots like St. Helens, Bay of Fires and Cradle Mountain. Should be an amazing excursion, and an interesting one as we are renting a car and I am apparently the volunteered driver (probably not the best decision, hmm). But this trip is pretty monumental for me particularly. When I was five or six I asked Santa for a globe (do not judge me), and that Christmas morning as I was spinning it under my finger, playing "where I am going to live when I grow up" (you know what I'm talking about), I discovered Tasmania. It was so mysterious to me and I can remember wondering who in the world got to visit such a far away place. So, I suppose I am fulfilling a childhood ambition- I am getting to explore a destination I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit. Really cool.

With Tasmania set on the horizon and being in a better financial situation where I can start to save a bit more, I am definitely planning my next adventures more aggressively. A few weeks ago I booked my New Zealand travels and am currently drooling over all of the Kiwi awesomeness. Glacier hikes, sky diving over crystal clear waters surrounded by lush mountain ranges, white water rafting, trekking to the first point on the globe to see the sun per day- I do not think I have ever loved researching as much as I have lately in planning all of my travels. So with NZ planned for April (in order to miss the extreme cold that hits shortly after then and not sacrifice pure enjoyment in water activities) I am pushing my trip up the Aus east coast (to Cairns, the Whitsunday and Magnetic Islands which I declared were coming up in February and March on Cultural Embraces work and travel Australia Facebook group wall http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=416345310612&ref=ts) back to May. Fortunately for me, even though May is the beginningish of winter for Aus, the northern east coast essentially only encounters two seasons: rainy season (which is slightly rainy, scorching hot with lots of jellyfish) and not rainy season (which usually brings temperatures around 78 degrees F and no jellyfish), perfect! And because I will be spending a bit more time working before heading up the coast after New Zealand, I have more time to plan and save for it.

Life is good, and between making small beach and mountain escapes up and down the coastline with friends a weekly habit, cheaper rent, and remembering I am swapping posh evenings out for saving for a day of Whitsunday sailing, bungee jumping in New Zealand or kayak rentals in Tasmania, keeping a nice balance between play and traveling, and work and saving (key word) is easier than ever. All smiles in the world of an Australian work and traveler. And I can't wait to share my Tasmania adventures with you!

Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.

Live fully,
Jennifer C Campbell


January 13, 2010

Happy January Fellow Adventure Seekers!

I hope your holidays were spectacular! I have received so many questions via email and Facebook messages asking what it was like abroad over the holidays, spending New Years in Sydney, what my plan is now that the holidays are past, even questions about my New Years Resolutions having been abroad for the last three months. So I will start from the top!

My holidays were wonderful but being away from family on Christmas was definitely tough. Most of the people around me were bummed at one point or another on the big day, running in and out of our Christmas Day barbeque bash to Skype with family and answer their phones, but we did have an excellent out-of-the-ordinary celebration. We rang in the holiday with a swim in the sea, grilling burgers and, yes, shrimp on the barbie just to stereotype the day, exchanging gifts, and watching naked Santas (neighbors) run amuck down the street to quote-un-quote lighten spirits. Although we were missing our families, I am pleased to report all in all it was a joyous occasion.

But even aside from random shenanigans, great company from all over the world, Santa hats and Aussie lager on the beach, the one thing that definitely helped all of us get through Christmas time was the promise of an absolutely first-class New Years- the reason there are an extra million people in Sydney over the holiday season. Sydney has been rated one of the worlds top cities to ring in the New Year- And I will stand for it!

Friends and I spent the hot New Years Eve morning through afternoon just past Rushcutters Bay, across the water from the Sydney Harbor Bridge, with about a thousand other tent-poppers cheersing chilled beers and ice cream cones. (It felt a little like Fourth of July in The States.) Most of our group stayed to see the midnight harbor fireworks, which I have since caught on video and it is definitely worth Googleing, while a few of us went on to hit Shore Thing at Bondi Beach. Shore Thing is a yearly massive New Years Eve party featuring top DJs and guest artists from around the world, incredible light shows, count down and fireworks, and thousands of people going mad with glow sticks having the time of their life. Everything, especially the music was top-notch. Breaks in killer mixes were filled with short light shows choreographed to instrumentals by classic artists like Pink Floyd (including at the strike at midnight during the fireworks- Floyds Time- amazing). The glimpses of light twirlers on the beach also made for an absolutely eyegasmic event. (Eyegasmic is a word, I promise, look it up.)

We followed the epic New Years Eve with the noon to night Space Ibiza show in Moore Park, which featured world-renown artists from Ibiza, Spain and guests. The performances and scene was everything Space promised. And seeing the sun fall behind the park lined with giant butterfly-people on stilts, feather dancers and hundreds of body painted rave-goers dancing to music unveiled by artists for the first time was a truly surreal ending to the holidays. Positively one for the books.

Since the holidays have past, I have been working a few days a week, getting wear out of my new snorkel and fins, and traveling bit- I FINALLY made it to the Blue Mountains, about two hours west of Sydney. I had been holding out to make the trip in hopes of getting to camp, but trying to match weekends with mates was a tough task so we took a day trip instead. The mountains were breathtaking with plunging ranges and lush vegetation, rain forest hikes, troops of wild kangaroos, and at least fifteen waterfalls to dance around in. I spent most of the day behind the group with my camera, capturing everything I could and playing catch up when realizing I had not heard another voice around for a bit too long. The best part of the trip happened two hours into our first hike- at about one thousand meters up walking along an edge path, which ran next to a huge canyon of rainforest below, when a thunderstorm and light showers rolled in. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. The thunder echoed through the canyon as the dark clouds came over the mountains and the rushing water over the falls became heavy. I have never had a more magnificent moment just watching and listening. We were only caught in the rain for twenty minutes or so before the sky cleared again, but the flash weather left the air fresher than I have ever breathed, and the waterfalls and forests surrounding and below extraordinarily more beautiful than I can describe. I am definitely currently rallying future camping partners. Anyone in?

Now, for a fast change of feeling, I will admit last week after all of these superb festivities had past I had a pretty hard hit when I realized I had accomplished what I wanted in Sydney and I did not have a plan in action per say for my next move. But I figured, like I still figure today, feeling stagnant in such a beautiful country and time in my life is not an option. So I have been forming a sort-of plan (since backpacking is regularly a fine line between a plan and a few ideas that might sort themselves out) and am excited for what is coming next, semi-planned and not.

I have decided to stay put in Sydney, moving into another flat with friends just ten minutes inland from my current place, for another month or so after this lease is up to work and save money for my trips to Tasmania, New Zealand, and up the east coast. (Friends and I finally booked our trip to Tasmania and are throwing around the idea of camping in Wine Glass Bay. Google Images it. The scenery is dreamlike.) After that I would like to say I am moving to the Southern Gold Coast where I will land and work a bit before making a further ascent, or hit New Zealand first before it gets really cold there, but like I have said before, plans can change rapidly depending on whims, funding, job opportunities, etc. So instead of stressing about making certain timing happen, I will guide what is to come next when it gets here.

Really, the beauty of my current situation abroad is that I AM able to stay just to the right of making a set-in-stone travel timeframe and can focus on one month or so at a time. (One-month apartment leases are fairly easy to come by, I have not locked myself into a six month job contract, and I still have nine months left on my visa = flexibility.) Also helping me ease my way into feeling more relaxed about not knowing exactly where I might be in two months is the fact I have Cultural Embraces partner-company to lend a hand with certain logistics once I do make the decision. No matter where I want to move in Australia the partner company can assist me in finding a job and living arrangements. The partner company can even assist me in setting up job training for particular fields in advance, and can offer resume guidance as well. (Australia uses a much different resume model than what America typically uses, so that help is very valuable.) I also have the privilege of resting easy knowing I have Cultural Embrace, a company run by experienced travelers behind me wherever I am in Australia. So, even though I might be a tiny bit directionally challenged when it comes to where my next few months are going, I am confident I will be gaining even more excellent experiences than I have in the last few.

And finally yes, the last few months here has definitely shaped my first ever absolutely to be followed New Years resolution (or recent development turned commitment-to-self) which I will get to. It is hard to believe I have been in Australia nearly three months, but it is even harder for me to believe what all I have been privileged to get into since arriving. Living part-time in Gerroa my first month in Oz working for Surf Camp, spending my days surfing and ending them paddling down river to get back home to camp with a friend on high tide evenings. Immersing myself in the different cultures Sydney has to offer hitting scenes across the board. And most recently spending days snorkeling and beaching it in my own neighborhood with the amazing people from all over the world I can for certain say will be friends for life. I have been very lucky and am so thankful for every opportunity I have had. So, with that said, my three-part New Years resolution: Taking in my experiences, appreciating each of their significances and details and recognizing the opportunities they present. I have learned and grown from each of my experiences listed above, and know I am where I am presently in my life having had each one of them.

So, for those of you who were wondering if leaving right before a holiday season is bad choice -for fear you might turn around and fly right back home- keep in mind the reason you are traveling abroad in the first place: to gain and grow from new experiences. Consider yourself lucky to have the opportunity to be out-of-the box whenever you can, and take every detail in. After all, it is the details that make the great stories so great.

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I appreciate all of you so much and I look forward to hearing from you!

Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.

Live fully,
Jennifer C Campbell

Flashback: Jennifer in Australia, a Work & Traveler's Experience

Oi! from Aussie land, I'm Jennifer C Campbell, your Work and Travel Australia blogger. A country jam-packed with the ultimate three ‘S’s: Sun, Sand, and Surf, crystal waters and a no worries attitude, Australia is easily proving to be quite the backpacker’s dream. A few typical traveling twists and turns in the mix throw off my sweet semi-settled lifestyle, but as always, going with flow and keeping the drive to make my experience one-for-the-books prevails.

December 1, 2009

Oy! from Aussie Land,

The last few weeks in Australia have been filled with some of the most unconventional, even strength of mind searching, but wonderful and real days of my life. A few curve balls after another such as a job change, a move, new best friends leaving to travel elsewhere, lost items, exploding expensive electronics, etc have made for a pretty interesting time. But even though I have both found and face planted on these and a few other bumps in the road I’d been warned about from other travelers, I can honestly say I’ve still had the magnificent “I cannot believe this is my life” moment at least once every day. I’m embracing the twists and truly learning the meaning of going with the flow, which I believe is absolutely vital in traveling.

My brother recently reminded me of John Lennon’s famous quote, “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” In a traveler’s world, I’m taking this to mean your plans are going to scatter and change, so just enjoy this moment and have no expectations for the next. Because that’s what traveling is all about right? Taking on new chapters and adding onto your cultural gains whether they are expected or not.

So in saying this, I’ll share with you a few pieces of advice most backpackers I’ve met would agree on:

1. Never take good people you meet for granted. Enjoy them now and keep as many connections as possible, even if you are traveling with your best mates.
   
2. If you take the wrong ferry, bus or train and have time to explore where you have accidently ended up, do it. It will probably make an even better story than you started out to make in the first place.
   
3. Don’t try to cram your day full of attractions, because you won’t have enough time to let any single one of them sink in. Pick one or two and really take them in.
   
   Other important tips worth mentioning:
4. Take note of EVERY free Internet cafe!
   
5. Combine your travel book advice with the information the locals give you on a destination. You will usually find the destination to be somewhere in the middle of the two.
   
6. Watch your spending and use every kitchen you have available to you. Nothing burns money faster than eating out!
   
7. Pack light or get ready to get rid of some of your (maybe even favorite) items. There is nothing worse than hoping on a bus and whacking every person sitting in an isle seat all the way to row fourteen because you can’t fit everything in your backpack… happens to the best of us.

But apart from recent trials, tips and notes circling around in my head, I have actually had a pretty remarkable few weeks. The Manly Beach Festival of Surfing, which I mentioned earlier this month in my blog, was absolutely top notch. Aside from the Rip Curl and Billabong pro surfing legends and newer to the scene surf pros chatting around and battling through surf offs to settle twenty-year-old rivalries and competing to claim new glories, the beautiful weather and perfect surf brought heaps of other wave and sun seekers, all combining to complete my own perfect vision of Australia. Meeting pro surfing world champion Mick Fanning wasn’t a bad touch to the weekend either! I’ve still been living in a bathing suit and enjoying the sun and surf almost every day in beaches scattered from Seven Mile to Bondi, which is an incredible way of living minus the fact finding last minute hostels in the area you end up in can be tough this time of year and no matter how many showers you take you will still end up with sand in your bed. (Other items I have learned to embrace.) And since I finally moved into my first apartment in OZ (which is fifteen meters from the beach in Coogee, awesome) a few days ago with friends, it is even easier to commit to the beach-bum lifestyle. However, now that I am a bit more settled and done running in and out of hostels for a while, it is seriously time for me to brush the sand off and find another job to pay the rent.

And thankfully, because of my connections through Cultural Embrace, I have excellent job-hunting resources. The job database Cultural Embrace hooks you up with is a great tool for starting the search. With the time I have spent on the database I know the kinds of businesses in need of holiday employees, which kinds of jobs are keen on employing travelers and what areas of the city are most looking to hire making my on-foot hunts likely more productive. Another avenue I have been taking, which Cultural Embrace’s partner company helps you locate, are classes that certify you to work in bars, restaurants, and casinos, and other day classes that offer training in several different fields of work. And because the job market, even for non-technical jobs in retail or bar work, is so competitive at the moment with the extra million travelers in Sydney this time of year, I am glad to have the support of the partner company in my search.

However, if retail and bar work is not your thing, no worries, there are plenty more professional opportunities available here as well. Most of these opportunities require a six-month commitment, but if you are looking for resume building experience, and maybe even sponsorship to get your once-in-a-lifetime year visa back, it is definitely doable and worth it.

In the meantime, between online job hunting and stopping around at local businesses, I have indeed found a few things to keep myself occupied. Since moving into my apartment one of my favorite time passers is the amazing 6k Beach Walk (or run) from Coogee to Bondi Beach. On the route are several beaches, snorkeling coves and bays such as Bronte, Clovelly, Gordons Bay and Tamarama and a cliff view cemetery, Waverly. (All of which are Google Image worthy! Beautiful!) And I cannot forget to mention the beer festival going on a street over from me…. very excited about that one. I also have my flat mates, and the other twenty-five people from all over the world living my beachfront building to keep me company while watching the cricket and off season rugby matches in the palm tree surrounded field across the street, cooking out on our deck sized balconies, and taking exploratory excursions to a few of the less well known areas in our coastal neighborhood. And since I signed a two-month lease (which, in most areas in Sydney including the outskirt beaches such as where I am living, you can find flats offering one month to one year leases) I have plenty of time to explore, take in my surroundings and report excellent local spots your travel books left out!

So, because I’ve had the opportunity to seek and soak in so much the last couple of weeks, I will end with a word-to-the-wise’ish message I have been living by: Whether you are on your own or traveling with your best mates, every breathing moment is an opportunity to learn and progress in your cultural immersion experience. Letting go of your stresses and appreciating everything for what it is, learning from your mistakes and moving on to the next adventure with an open mind and a wiser point of view are all key in the imprinting process of your environs.

I urge you in your next adventure, whether it is visiting a new area in your city or another country, keep your mind open to all of the possibilities that lay ahead of you. And most certainly, enjoy the person next to you and invest in listening to what they have taken in as well. They might have discovered something you’ve wondered right past.

I’m so thankful to be able to share details of my life traveling in Australia with you, and hope they give you a better idea of some of the opportunities the Australian Work and Travel visa can give you. I still have itchy feet, and lots of expeditions planned so look out for my blog again next week! Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia. Cheers!

Live fully,

Jennifer C Campbell


November 2, 2009

Hey guys! Whoa. So much has happened in the last week and a half I am not even sure where to begin!

An unplanned landing in Fiji on my flight into Australia and catching the most beautiful sunrise I have seen yet, getting to Australia - yooah! Patio Salsa dancing in the harbor across from the Opera house, taking the wrong ferry to the zoo and ending up in Lavender Bay only to stumble across one of the most amazing gardens I will ever visit, Bondi Beach and rock art, Seven Mile Beach and kite surfers, Snakebites and crab racing, finding out what the term mixed shared hostel rooms ACTUALLY means, non-stop live music and beer festivals, meeting tons of awesome people, interviewing and job finding an incredibly unbelievable job, and the list goes on and on!

Let me just say that when Cultural Embrace, and any one else who has ever been backpacking in Australia, says it is easy to meet other travelers - this is an understatement. Within the first five hours of landing in Sydney I was having a beer with a group of locals at a popular outdoor cafe right in the heart of Sydney Centre and hooked up with an AWESOME group of girls from the UK whom I have been running around with ever since. A few other wonderful people I have seen quite often are the employees of the company Cultural Embrace sets you up with to receive hostel discounts, an orientation, and job, travel and other support.

The partner company has actually been one of my greatest assets since arriving- I use them way more than I thought I would, and I am so glad Cultural Embrace hooked me up with them. On my second day in Sydney, I attended an orientation with twenty five or so other work travelers, where I had help setting up my bank account, tax file number for paid work, online resume for quick submission when finding jobs on the database, and my phone account. They also walked us through the must sees and dos of OZ, safety precautions for the water and outback and met with us about specific job enquiries and such. Very helpful! And aside from all of the more professional offerings, everyone in the partner company office is incredibly welcoming, and ready to give you tips on fun hot spots around the city, and some are even ready to hit the scene with you! haha.

Speaking of hot spots around the city, Sydney has it all. Beautiful beaches and running routes, phenomenal museums and architecture, live music spots around every corner, awesome sports bars such as Cheers (perfect for a little football Liverpool versus Manchester United- I am still recovering), Scubar for a little crazy backpackers bar fun, Empire in Kings Cross for a bit of a classier evening- it is a great city for all interests.

But honestly one of my favorite things about Sydney so far is that there are a million different suburbs (Bondi, Coogee, Surry Hills, Glebe to name a few) so there is a great mixture of cultures offering something for everyone. Even the locals still appreciate hot tourist spots such as Bondi, Coogee and Manly Beach, and the night scene spots as well.

And although I have had an incredible time running around with my newfound friends from the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Holland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, I have actually had an equally mind-blowing time with the job that I landed six days ago. And actually, I am at work right now! And guess what I am doing? I am lying on the grass, forty yards from the beach, at the camp grounds of Surf Camp Australia, enjoying the sun in between surf lessons, and hanging with the surf coaches, crew and twenty plus camp goers. Yep, I am at WORK right now!

Through the connections that Cultural Embrace offered me, I landed one of the most proper wicked jobs in all of Australia. I am a promotions and marketing rep for Surf Camp Australia. My job requires going to surf camps to surf and hang out with the crew and camp goers at least Monday through Wednesday every week in Seven Mile Beach, Byron Bay, Yamba and/or Gold Coast, promote Surf Camp Australia at their events and parties and any surf festival and event around the Sydney area they attend. What is also pretty cool is that Surf Camp Australia is sponsored by Rip Curl, so this coming weekend, November 5- 8 I am attending the Manly Beach Festival of Surfing by day and Surf Expo by night, hanging out with pro Rip Curl surfer Mick Fanning and I am even getting paid enough to live comfortably and potentially even end up with a bit of savings. Pretty awesome huh? I still cannot believe this is actually a job pinch me! Thank you Cultural Embrace!!

Life could not be any sweeter. And it is pretty easy to get all of my friends and family on the phone and Skype. So although I miss all of the people that make my life so fantastic back in the States, I am in touch everyday. So I will leave you with this: take the leap and embrace your adventurous side, it will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Traveling to Australia has changed my life forever; it is a feeling I cannot describe through words in a blog or in conversation. So give it a go!

Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.

Live fully,

Jennifer C Campbell

Thank you for all of your love and support family and friends.

Mom, Dad, Marsha, Dan, John, Katherine, Adam, Claudia

All of my wonderful friends back home

And all you superbly awesome Cultural Embracers: Emlyn, Katy, Miranda, and Julie


October 22, 2009


Hello fellow adventure seekers!

I'm Jennifer Campbell, your Work and Travel Australia blogger.

A little about me: I'm Dallas, Texas bred, but a definite Austin, TX enthusiast. I love anything outdoors, including deep sea, surf and bay fishing, diving and snorkeling, zip lining, biking, running and hiking, and I'm also a photography and travel fanatic. This past May, I graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in Advertising, and a craving for a life altering next chapter.

A year ago, if you'd asked me what I would be doing after graduation, I wouldn't have said "Um, embarking on one of the greatest adventures of my life in the Land of Oz," like I would today. My original life after graduation plan was to attend law school directly after undergrad, work and save a little money before I set off to travel. Fortunately for me, Cultural Embrace helped me find a loophole. It turns out Australia's government recently widened their doors granting work visas for young adults, like myself- between the ages of 18-30, to work in non-technical fields for up to a year. With this opportunity, I will easily pay off the cost of living abroad while roaming the Australian country. Great news! This brilliant concept allows foreigners to travel with "no worries" about any limits of unearthing the awesome Australian lifestyle, sites, people and culture. So although my dream of law school still exists for down the line, I couldn't be more excited to start this new journey and take advantage of being young, string free, and adventurous at the most convenient time I'll probably have in my life. I've embraced the travel and adventure bug, and I couldn't be more excited for my ‘gap break' and to work and travel in Australia using Cultural Embraces support!

So why Australia? Although I'm not a fan of meat pies (ever so popular in Australia), I do fancy awesome beaches and surfing, a laid-back life style, outdoors, camping, shrimp on the barbie, kangaroos, and the occasional wombat. I even think I'll learn to appreciate cricket! On the more practical side of things, the fact that their infrastructure for tourism is one of the worlds best, helps reassure my (and my parents), with help and safety concerns. The dozens of hostel chain options, campgrounds, transportation options, and about 4 million tourists annually from countries such as the U.S., U.K, New Zealand, and Germany – great for networking - helps too. I haven't found a destination that sets you up to work and travel, and meet other trekkers more excellently than Australia. To top all of these travel Australia perks is the encouraging support I've received through Cultural Embrace with assistance with my questions and concerns, arrival arrangements, and granted access to a national job database with diverse listings across the Australian country (making it that much easier to find casual jobs to off-set my cost of living abroad). It's also comforting to know I have their support and assistance, from their Austin offices, throughout the entirety of my stay abroad. I feel more prepared knowing I have the backing of a company that has such extensive experience arranging (and participating in) travels abroad.

While I'm Down Under I'll be sharing my experience of a lifetime and the broadening of my horizons every step of the way with you. I'm extremely excited to report an insiders work and travel experience through Cultural Embrace, and answer your questions and even inspire you to take a leap into your own explorations (or better yet, join me in Australia!) Check out my weekly blog, videos and photos documenting my quest to achieve the greatest voyage of my life so far!

Live fully,

Jennifer C Campbell