A year in boxes & bags
About a year ago today, I was newly single; living at home with my parents. I was in a stable job, but I didn’t know where my career was headed. My weekends were uneventful, unplanned & only really picked up when someone else decided to do something & invite me along. I had my friends, but I wouldn’t call it a colourful social life. Then I made a new friend at work. I learned that he lived in Paddington, together with his mates. He had a girlfriend, who he was moving to New York with in October. I’d hear about how his weekends went-- a long weekend in Palm Beach; a road trip to Mudgee; a cricket match in Moore Park; or a round of golf. He was always going out’ve his way to enjoy himself. And he was 28.
I was 28, & he made me realise that there was a lot more to experience. There’s this great little video that uses a man on a travelator, like one you’d fine at an airport terminal, as an analogy to life. Facing in the opposite direction to where the travelator is headed, the man is walking; only just keeping up with the speed so that relative to the viewer-- he’s in a stationary position. “Life is like a walking escalator..” the video narrates. “If you just walk, you’ll never get ahead. If you stop, you’ll move backwards”. The man stops walking & is whisked out of view by the travelator. The man is then seen running in the opposite direction, overcoming the travelator & disappearing on the opposite side. “The only way to get ahead is to hustle.”
I was the man walking. So I moved out. I found a single bedroom apartment in Surry Hills. It was independence. It was freedom. It was me earning money & living off of it. It was me taking responsibility of how I lived. As it turned out, I didn’t live in squalar-- I kept my apartment clean & tidy. I paid all my bills on time. I didn’t drown.
I lived extremely close to the bars & clubs lining Oxford Street, but funnily enough they never appealed to me. I spent the first few weekends running to Mrs Macquarie’s chair & cycling to Centennial Park. I’d have early nights, realising that I much preferred sacrificing a big night out, in order to start the next day as early as the sun did.
Living alone & in the city lead to a lot of new experiences. I’d have dinner with friends during the week. I started taking parkour classes out at Tempe with the wonderful people at AAPES (JP & Monique are incredibly friendly). I made some new friends there (hi Will). I started rock climbing for leisure, which is where I met Viv, Frank & Athena. Through them, I met Andy, Bosco, Steph, Mitch, Christine, Michael, Sung & Yae-young.
Meeting these people lead to more experiences. I did my first half-marathon. I achieved a new personal best at the City2Surf. I went camping for the first time in the Blue Mountains. Canoed down Kangaroo Valley. Went canyoning for the first time. I went to Adelaide. I went to Mt Kosciuzko. I did Tough Mudder. I cycled 200km on my folding bike. I raced in Australia’s first Brompton championship. I discovered User Experience Design was a career I enjoyed. I took a part-time course in UXD with General Assembly & have fun at work everyday.
Nine months ago I decided that I was going to take a year off & move to London when the lease to my apartment expired. I started making preparations. I got a career break approved at work, so that if I returned in a year I’d still have a job. I applied for a Tier 5 visa with the UK. I bought a one-way ticket to London. I would move back home for a month to sort all my gear before flying out.
All my stuff, packed & ready to go
And that’s where I am today. I sit here in my room in my parents’ house, reflecting on the last 12 months. Reflecting on whether or not I hustled. It was certainly a lot faster than the pace I was going at before I moved out. But I think I can go faster. I think I can do more; experience more. And why not?
