I can’t remember the exact moment the initial seed was planted, but it probably revolved around a likely drunk conversation about ‘you could earn loads out in Aus mate, just get in the mines and you will be laughing’ which after hearing that meant my interest was always peaked, but having never stepped foot on Aussie soil I had no experience of the country whatsoever, other than a boomerang my Auntie and Uncle had got me from their travels their many moons ago.
I can remember when the seed really began to grow though and thats at London 2012, which ironically was also the build up to us leaving the country on a 12 month backpacking trip and had all just been set in stone (read: https://acastling.wordpress.com), which at the time I was probably a bit overwhelmed by everything going on, so talking about moving to Australia was only but a pipe dream at that time and didn’t bother really.
During that time at London, the drunken banter of ‘get yourself to the Aussie mines and earn your big bucks’ became more of a reality, when it turned out the company we were working with to deliver the internship was Clean Events who operate and are based in Melbourne, the self proclaimed events capital of Australia. They had not only secured the biggest cleaning contract at the Olympics, but also brought a huge Aussie work force to manage the Uk/European workforce they were taking on. This meant during down time (very little) and any opportunity available, I was rubbing shoulders with numerous Aussies who lived, breathed and worked the Melbourne events industry. Giving me a fantastic and hands on account of what its like out there and I was absolutely blown away by the working lifestyle and general standard of living in regards to how not only that industry, but the majority operate in Australia, leagues apart from what I was used to here in the Uk.
Overall the whole Olympics experience was awesome, including my make shift apartment inside a converted shipment container (see above) which I made as homely as physically possible and this marked the end of my Leeds Met career. Leaving on a massive high with the Olympics experience and I was very fortunate enough to get severance secured before embarking on the London project and therefore knew after this, there was an end goal of me moving back home and then going travelling, now with the fuelled ambition of ending up in Australia after we had travelled the world for a bit. This is the mindset we left the Uk and would spend the next 12-13 months going back and forward about whether we should, whether we shouldn’t, is this the right life choice for us, is Bangkok a better option, how about Singapore, ooooo Rio seems nice lets stay here. Read all about the trip here: https://acastling.wordpress.com.
As I proposed whilst travelling, it only made sense to now head home, given that our siblings and close friends had got engaged and already planned their weddings, it was high time we faced reality and headed back to the UK. To enjoy these events, spend time with family and obviously plan our own wedding too.
To be continued….
Castling's Upside Down 