Life is good to me

Between a lot of events over the past few weeks, a lot of moving, backpacking again, and moving from one place to another, it finally feels like I've arrived. In a place that I get to call home for a while.

After leaving the art gallery, my home for a few weeks, and staying with a friend for a few days, I managed to get one of the last beds in a hostel. This is where many travelers meet. Some stay only for one night, others come again and again, and others live there. It is a constant coming and going. And each individual brings so many exciting stories with them. Experiences and plans of where to go next. Some come with a vision, others live in the day and see what the day brings without thinking only about tomorrow. Like-minded people who are in a similar situation.

Meanwhile, here in Fremantle, I have found my places, a routine and friends. And I've noticed that I don't really want to leave at the moment. Right now I don't have the big urge to move on again. A few weeks ago it was still my plan to travel to the south. But even here the seasons are changing and the further south we travel, the colder it gets. I am really enjoying escaping the winter so far. So for now I stay in this beautiful place. But staying in the hostel for a longer time was not an option for me. Sharing the room with 11 others, having no privacy and having so much incredible new input without being able to retreat is not for me in the long run. It's fine for a while. I chose my life that way myself. To be a traveler. And I consider myself very lucky to have gone this way. By a happy coincidence (whether there really are coincidences, or whether it should have just happened that way, I will write about that another time) I met Olly in the hostel. He seemed likeable and I had a nice conversation with him about traveling - until I found out that he wasn't sleeping there at the hostel at all. He was just there to visit friends. He only had a few days left, as he was traveling on to Indonesia again. And so I was invited by him to a dinner in the house where I live today. It was a nice evening and we laughed a lot. Among other things also about the fact that I own a Jacuzzi. Yes, which backpacker already has a Jacuzzi with him? I had gotten one as a gift and wanted to sell it and was looking for the right buyer. And what can I say - we still laugh about this story today. Because now we can all take a bath together in the garden. Not only that, but also the small, fine room, where the first rays of sunlight fall in the morning and the view from the window falls on a large bush of heavenly smelling frangipani flowers, also the large garden and the people who live there with me, give me the feeling of being at home. After 2.5 months I finally have a closet where my clothes hang, my own bed with a decent mattress and a small, fine nightstand.

Every morning I am greeted joyfully by Faith and Parker, the two dogs, meet my roommate with a cup of tea for journaling in the garden before heading to work on my bike. On the way there, however, I take the time to put my feet in the waves and walk along the beach. Starting the day by the water, watching the dogs romp and play, and catching a few breaths of fresh air is the lifestyle I've wanted for so long. And I'm lucky because my commute to work is along the beach.

For now, I've found the place I want to be.

I'm learning a lot, I'm enjoying life, I feel like I've arrived. I know the feeling from my home country when I meet familiar faces by chance on the streets. Now, after two months in this city, I have a very similar feeling. I have my greengrocer at the market, my favorite coffee and the nice salesman at the ceramic store.

Even though the temperatures are not quite summer anymore and it is clear that it is heading towards autumn and winter I still stay. I like the fresh air in the morning and the cool breeze. It's not a European autumn - it's Australia.