THE ADVENTURE ABROAD BEGINS (AND ENDS)
GOODBYE AUSTRALIA: Here we are just before taking off from Brisbane to Bali on March 1, 2020. We’re equally excited and terrified!
When we left Australia on March 1, toilet paper was aplenty on supermarket shelves, New York had only just confirmed its first case of Covid-19 and the humble handshake was not yet taboo. We were terrified, but not because of a virus. We'd rolled the dice, trading our dream house and familiar lifestyle for an uncharted, open-ended escapade around the globe, our three-year-old and four-year-old daughters in tow.
KEEPING POSITIVE: We’d just checked into our villa in Ubud, Bali when things started to take a turn for the worse.
We were blissfully unaware that our dream global adventure was about to overlap with a global crisis of epic proportions. Nor did we anticipate that in a matter of three short weeks, we'd return to Australia and an entirely transformed world.
Landing in Bali, the streets were pulsating with fellow Aussie and European wanderers. Indonesia had slammed its doors to Chinese visitors since January, but the atmosphere was still carefree and buoyant. We spent our first week basking in the tourist glow - lounging by the pool, catching up with friends and soaking in some quality time with our girls, a perfect antidote to the pre-departure frenzy. However, before we could truly immerse ourselves in this paradise, the world began to tilt. Social media memes of toilet paper shortages started cropping up, and harrowing news trickled in from Italy. In a dizzying whirlwind of just 11 days post our Australian adieu, a global pandemic was declared.
When panic buying started to worsen back home and videos of women fighting in supermarkets surfaced from Sydney, life in Bali still seemed calm and relaxed. Hotels were still greeting new travellers daily and we went to bed each night listening to the faint sounds of music and laughter from the street. Our heads were starting to spin though. With two little ones to think about, we knew we needed to make some tough decisions and quick. Our house back on the Gold Coast was tenanted so it wasn’t as simple as just heading back. Should we dig our heels in and stay put in Bali? Or press on to Vietnam, where healthcare facilities were more robust? Or do we turn around and head back to Australian shore where we would have to go into total self-isolation with two kids for 14 days? We knew the answer – it was just the hardest pill for us to swallow.
Just hours before the Australian Federal Government broadcasted an urgent call for all Aussies to hightail it back home, we secured flights to Perth, one of the closest points of the Australian mainland to Bali. By March 19th, not even three weeks into our world travels, we found ourselves on a homeward-bound plane.
Despite the unexpected twist in our journey's onset, we were grateful to be safe, healthy and together. In some ways, the lead up to our adventure prepared us for the global crisis. We had already chosen to leave ‘normal’ life behind. We’d already said goodbye to friends and family, left work and were living off savings. We'd already made a pact to be more present with the two most precious little people in our lives. We didn’t need a pandemic to bring life’s priorities into sharper focus.
And in striving to adapt, we found ourselves steered towards a journey across Australia in a caravan—a course we'd never anticipated, but one that opened our eyes to a breathtaking lifestyle. Now that the dust has settled, we truly appreciate how fortunate we are to have gained a greater knowledge of our own backyard and the freedom to explore our beautiful world again.
