Factual Story Telling

The World is a Book -

Those who do not travel read only one page

I consider myself an extremely lucky person.  I have had an idealistic upbringing and childhood, one that many people would only dream of.  I believe that the two main reasons for this is because I have been given every opportunity I could possibly ask for by my parents, and they have taken me travelling all around the world.  These two factors have really influenced my life and the values I hold today.  Unfortunately, with the rush of life I often forget how lucky I am and take my experiences for granted.  But in the moments that take my breath away, those moments of pure bliss I am able to stop and reflect on how truly blessed my life has been and only pray that it will continue like this in the future.

Mum and Dads’ willingness to support my dreams was completely obvious when they not only allowed but encouraged me to move to Sydney in January 2010 to study ballet full time.  At this point dancing was the biggest part of my life, and being a professional ballerina was my lifelong dream.  It was something that I had always wanted for as long as I could remember but had not thought about seriously until I was offered a scholarship to Allegria Ballet Studios.  Unfortunately, dancing in Sydney did not work out like I originally thought it would.  I found it very hard to completely dedicate myself to ballet, and my passion for ballet began to fade.  I soon realised that I did not love ballet enough to make it my career.  My dream of becoming a professional ballerina, which I had dreamt for as long as I could remember came to an end.  Although it had to happen, realising this was completely heart breaking and very hard to come to terms with.  When you have a particular vision in your head for such a long time it is incredibly difficult to let it go.

Times in Sydney were sometimes very hard; I often felt home sick, I missed my friends so much and hated knowing they were finishing school without me.  Despite this, it is not the hard times that dominate my memory of Sydney, I look back on my time in Sydney with such fond memories.  I believe that living and dancing in Sydney is something that really shaped who I am today and what I hope for the future.  Discovering that I was not entirely passionate about ballet made me realise how incredibly important it is to find a career that you love and can see yourself doing every day of your life, one that is both challenging and rewarding.  I hope my university degree will help me discover this, and I hope that now I am at university I am one step closer to finding something that I am really passionate about.

As I stated earlier an aspect of my life that has made a huge impact on me is the fact that I have been lucky enough to travel quite a lot throughout the world.  Although I could write about every country I have visited, there are a certain few that I feel particularly passionate and have taught me something special.  In 2010 we took a family holiday to New York City, before we went I was incredibly excited.  I had watched so many films set in New York and had wanted to go there for a very long time.  I had developed the highest expectations for the city and was not let down the slightest bit when we finally arrived!  New York was everything I thought it would be and so much more!  It has specific vibe and atmosphere that made me believe that no matter what my dreams were, they could come true!  Although it is materialistic of me, New York made me want a life of excitement, glamour and success, one where I never feel bored and am always able to indulge in the things I love! 

It is always nice to come back home after holidaying overseas but I do strongly believe that Australia cannot offer you all the lessons that need to be taught and learnt.  I have seen quite a lot of the world and each country I have visited has taught me something completely different about life; I have loved them all for totally different reasons and have learnt to appreciate their uniqueness.  They have all made me grateful for different things in my life and made me admire the way other people live in their country, which made me realise that we do not necessarily have it right here in Australia.  We are such an advantaged and lucky country yet there is so much sadness here that is not in places like Bali and Thailand. 

I was fortunate enough to visit Bali at the beginning of 2011 for the second time, and I love it for being the total opposite to New York.  Bali is so slow paced and relaxed, it is extremely humble; the people are so friendly and believe smiling is very important.  Unlike many of us, people in Bali actually have a reason to be sad and depressed.  It is a country where many people live in poverty on the streets, where disease is incurable, terrorism and threats are constantly feared, the government and police force is incredibly corrupt, there are minimal opportunities for education, housing is extremely basic and many people still live without running water and electricity.  Despite all of the setbacks and challenges the Balinese are faced with on a daily basis they are such happy and kind people.  They are all spiritual in such a beautiful way and have so much respect for their culture and for each other, which is often hard to find in Australia.  The Balinese are able to be so content and have such a thrill for life in extremely hard circumstances, which makes me feel silly for ever thinking that my life is difficult when in fact my problems are so insignificant compared to theirs.  I hope that one day I will have the strength and positive spirituality of the Balinese, and be able to realise that my problems, whatever may be, are infinitesimal compare to many other people around the world. 

The valuable and unforgettable lessons about culture and life are learnt through adventure and travel.  It is when you enter a world that is so different from your own that you truly learn about life. You are able to discover yourself, and realise what is really important.  These meaningful lessons cannot be taught in a classroom or lecture theatre, only through firsthand experience.  Every different country I have visited has taught me something special about culture and life, they are all so unique and offer something that may not necessarily be able to be taught or learnt in the previous country or city.  I am so thankful that I have had a head start in my life to travel the world and experience what I have; my past has only made me want to travel more in the future!  It has been since I have come back from Sydney, matured and reflected on my upbringing that I have been able to appreciate how lucky I have been so far in life.  I hope that this luck will continue into the future.