alone but never lonely

I know that the heading sounds quite depressing and emo, but allow me to explain!

I went to Melbourne this past weekend, on a whim. I was sitting around on Wednesday evening, just after booking my flight to New Zealand for April, and as I browsed, I noticed how cheap flights were to other places in Australia. And then I looked up the weather around the country. Welp, Melbourne looked like it was going to be really nice out, so I decided, "why not?". I really didn't feel like staying in Wollongong for the weekend... just getting anxious to travel I guess, and also just craving a new bit of scenery. I booked my ticket soon after and hopped on a plane the next day! It was a bit last minute to ask for a travel-pal, so I just went on my own.

I finally got to the hostel at about 6pm, called The Nunnery... it apparently actually used to be a nunnery, way back when, and has since been transformed into a temporary holding place for cheapie travelers, looking for a bit of comfort amidst a big city. The place was absolutely lovely, and not as dodgy as I expected it would be. I shared a room with six others, and it wasn't awkward, and they didn't stare. Phew. And there was a porch that overlooked Carlton Gardens, which I went out to read and pray on in the mornings.

On Thursday nights, they have a pub crawl, which given who I am, I wasn't too keen on going to. But I went out to the courtyard at the Nunnery to meet a few people so that I wouldn't be such a hermit crab, and I then decided to just walk along with them, have a drink, and get to know a few people. Well, I was bored after having half a glass of beer, so I walked home with a chick from Sweden, and we had a lovely conversation. It had been a long day of travel (lots of fast-walking through the airport... you all know that I'm never on time anywhere), so I went to bed right away.

The next morning, I ventured out to find the famous Victoria Street Market, and somehow I couldn't find it! The thing is huge. There's signs everywhere. I felt defeated and went back to my home-base, and walked up and down Brunswick Ave (cool, artsy, shops galore)... no worries, just window-shopped. And then of course my timing sucked again, because I almost missed my dance class that I had signed up for... I sprinted back home, and sprinted to the tram, then sprinted to the class. I was only seven minutes late. Not bad at all! And I got a warm-up in the process!

The class was amazing. It felt so good... my muscles were refreshed. And now I can't stop thinking about dancing more! I met a lovely friend in the class as well... Her name is Alexis and she happened to be from San Fransisco. We did a duet together at the end of class, which was wonderful, and then decided to go catch some lunch at a neat little alley-way cafe, whilst wandering a bit more though some galleries n such. We found the most terrific vintage shop: Lost and Found. Good name, hey? It was overwhelmingly fun to browse through, but if I was in there for longer than 3o minutes, I probably would have begun to sneeze like mad, due to the excess dust particles in that place. After going back to our own places for the evening, I settled down and then realized at about 9:20 at night that I still hadn't had any dinner, and I didn't know how I would get any. So... I sprinted down to Brunswick Ave again, because I was hungry and walking is just too dang slow for me. I sat outside and had a lovely seafood salad, while watching the nightlife come alive around me, and reading Jane Eyre. I didn't quite make sense in that scene, but when do I ever? haha no shame. So after eating, I ran back home, cuddled in bed and called it a night. Mmm sleep.

The next morning I did find the Victoria Street Market, had a hot-cross bun from an organic bakery, took pictures of the fruits and veg, people-watched (like always), almost bought a leather jacket, realized it was probably fake and/or overpriced for its worth so I didn't, then went to a dance performance. Which blew. my. mind.

The performance was by this group called Chunky Move, based out of Melbourne, and I swear it looked like they were floating in some parts of it. The piece was called, "Connected", and it most certainly was. Every movement they made was deliberate, even to the fingers and toes. It was like each person's movement effected the others. Oh, I was overjoyed! And I wanted to jump on stage and do it too. Not gonna lie, as I walked to the city after, I took a moment to dance a bit when I noticed that no one was around me. I couldn't hold it in!

After browsing some shops with another new friend of mine from the Nunnery, Jodi, we ended up at a fantastically healthy place called "Green Foods" and got us some delicious green curries. Nom nom. And ice cream :)

When we got back to the Nunnery, everyone was hangin around, all cool like, talking about their travels and their adventures and their parties and all the stuff that makes a person worth-while, ya know? ;) ((sarcasm)). They were all planning on going out to a few pubs. I went upstairs, grabbed my book, and went to a pub on my own. I know that sounds lame, but I just wanted to relax and get away from the hub-bub of trying to be someone you're not. I wanted a gosh darn glass of wine and a good book and a comfy sit to read and sip to my leisure. The Pumphouse Pub was right next door and lucky for me, business hasn't been too good for them lately, so it was just me at my own high-top tabel with my lovely wine and my lovely book. And it just so happened to be the climax of my book, so it was perfect, and I was content.

When I went back to the hostel, I was tired, but decided to be social before going to bed. Well, and I didn't really have much of a choice because there was a gang of people all chatting loudly on my porch anyways, but I didn't mind. We talked about one guy's rapping career, about rolling cigarettes, about what Japan is really like, about tattoos, and dance-fighting. It was a nice night and the breeze was warm. End of night two.

I woke up early the next day, and jetted back to Sydney. And still made it to late night church service, which was fantastic.

Oh, and the whole weekend, I realized how fun it was to be "alone". In fact, as I was flying out, I heard Jesus telling me, "hey, take me with you. let's go on a vacation together?". and I said yes, and thus we had a lovely time together. so it may seem like i went on a weekend getaway on my own, but the truth is, jesus and I had the greatest time together. and I even met heaps of new friends in the process. I think that anyone could go on a getaway on their own as long as they're confident enough to talk to random people, open enough to allow new friendships, and comfortable with sitting alone at restaurants.

Obviously, I am rather okay with all of the above. Although I thoroughly enjoy the company of my friends. It's just good to have a healthy balance though, ya know? I'm all about healthfulness, and not just with food ;)