Bye?

I’ve recently realised that it’s June . I’m generally about a week or six behind since I’ve been on my perma vacay. So I thought it was somewhere around April. Incorrect . It’s June . That means I’m leaving WA soon. As in I have six weeks left (!). This is blowing my mind , I feel like I just got here. Now I get to make plans , I love making plans ! Kidding , I don’t, I’m without a doubt the worlds most indecisive person . As of right now my plan is to travel for about a month after I leave , then head East and au pair some more for the rest of my visa . That’s as detailed as I can plan for now . For now however I’ll drink my smoothie out of my coconut and stare at the beautiful ocean . I love my job : )

Obsessed

Every once in a while I remember that I love reading and books and words , and I go insane and read ten books in a week . That week is this week . I started off with the fault of our stars , I’ve read other books by the same author and felt so so about them , but I literately devoured this book in a day . I laid outside all day on Monday (when it wasn’t raining) , and finished it in no time . I’m now obsessed with this book and it’s consuming my brain. I haven’t read an amazing book since Gone Girl and Fault of our Stars definitely filled the void . In love !

It’s not minus fifty but it’s almost as equally un fun ..

Now that it’s full on autumn/winter I am turning into a baby , I.e I am whining about the fact that it’s 18 degrees . I’m from Manitoba . Our winters live in the minus 25’s up to minus 50’s. I should be able to hack this so called “winter”. It’s the rain that’s the worst , the crazy, torrential downpours that come out of no where then two minutes later it’s beautiful out . Then rain . Then wind. Then sun. So confusing . I feel like my emotions are being toyed with constantly. Poor me , perma vacation life is tough .

bali time

Like a true W.A. resident I made my first trip to Bali a couple of weeks ago. I ended up with about ten days off cause Anzac Day melding into a week I already had off, so that was perfect. I’m always down for a solo trip,  so I booked a ticket and headed away for ten days in beautiful Bali! Everyone back home should note that Bali is like our version of heading down to Mexico, cheap, easy enough holiday and everyone and their dog goes like five times a year, so Bali’s no big thing to Aussies, but of course for me, the ever keen tourist, it was amazing! I ended up meeting an insane amount of Canadians which was so nice just to hear that accent and be around people who are talking about hockey playoffs, Tim Hortons and winter. I even met someone who worked for the same restaurant company I used to work for! So nice to have some familiarity a million miles away from home.

I generally avoided Kuta at all costs besides one big night of partying. Fell madly in love with Canggu and Sanur, everything just felt more calm and kind of zen in those areas. Kuta was everything Id heard it would be , tourist central and just a bit.. too much,  but if you wanna party then its the perfect place. I had an awesome, dance till 4am kind of night on my last day and it was great.  Canggu however, literately owns a piece of my heart, I can absoutley see why theres so many aussies and foreigners settled there. So peaceful, and had such a good mix of local people, expats and tourists.

Rooftop frolicking in Canggu with my green hair. And sweating to death. Of course.

 

In a nutshell, I got a sick tan, lived like a hippie (showering, no.), saw monkeys, got lost for a solid 3 hours on foot, my hair turned green from pool water and I survived motor biking. As I’ve said before, I’m a fairly high maintenance girl so for me to do all of those things (and do them with a huge smile), is a big thing. So grateful I got that nice little bit of time off. And the best part is I go back in a few weeks w/ the family I work for, albeit for a bit more of a luxury kind of vacay and not the poor, dirty traveller kind of trip.  But I’m perfectly OK with that. Obviously.

 

Last day sunset in Kuta

 

 

 

Why finding a random family to live with abroad is a great idea :

Lots of people ask me about au pairing , how it works etc . And for me it’s always worked out pretty good. You literately cruise the internet for a family hiring , use your best judgement to determine if they’re gonna kidnap you or not and book a ticket . Which to many people I suppose sounds crazy , but hey it works !

Moving to another country requires alot of organization, finda job, home/hotel/hostel, friends, car, etc etc. However, choose to be an au pair and BAM none of that stuff is an issue, it’s pretty much done for you. Being an au pair has both pro’s and con’s of course, but it’s got a whole lotta pro’s…

1. You have an actual home to live in. Not a hostel, not a hotel and not couch surfing. Normal bathroom, bedroom, furniture. Having a TV w/ Foxtel/satelleite channels. I also have the huge bonus of a pool and hot tub or “spa”. You literately get a home away from home.

2. FOOD, most au pair jobs come along with “room and board” which covers your groceries. I’ve seen some families that only say they offer a strict “3 meals a day” kind of thing, but still thats 3 meals a day you’re not paying for. For the most part though most families I’ve worked with and what my nanny friends tell me, most families just tell you to throw whatever you need in the cart when you get groceries. My family even shares their wine 🙂

3. A vehicle- not all au pair jobs have this perk, but many do. I have a vehicle at my disposal every single weekday, and weekends and evenings, as long as I plan ahead. I cant even begin to explain what a plus it is to have a vehicle when you’re abroad. Lots of people travelling don’t get this huge plus.  I’m even still allowed to drive it after I’ve scraped into a pole .. or 3.

4. Family- You get an insta family. This can be good or bad, I’ve always had it work out really well personally. The family I’m currently with even came along with an awesome neighboorhood with the nicest people. Just on our street alone I met a ton of people who’ve been so so kind to me (boat trips! Parties! Extra side jobs!).

5. And you get paid- Sometimes I forget, this is actually a job. I have an amazing situation where I only look after one child, who is in school the majority of the day (besides school holidays of course, then I legit WORK).  This would be pretty plum even if all I got out of it was the room and board, but I do also get paid a good weekly wage.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but it’s a pretty sweet way to see the world, get paid and legitimately LIVE, not just travel through, another country.