I took a recent trip to the Darwin, the Top End of Australia. It was dry season, 34 degrees with a burning hot sun every day. It was a spontaneous holiday when a free weekend appeared on my calendar and between lockdowns (literally). I had travelled to Darwin previously and had no expectations for the trip, only grand visions of being by a pool with a Great Northern beer in hand.
As it turned out, I had the most amazing experiences and met many generous people. My friends Dave and Nic played tour guide for the weekend. They graciously looked out for me and ensured I was always laughing, had a drink in hand, and who continued to switch on the heated car seats just to see how long it would take me to notice myself cooking.
After feeling the daily grind more than usual, the darkness of an Adelaide winter and some challenging times personally, this trip was just what I needed. Here are my reflections from the holiday that I will be embedding into everyday life.
Create more moments – the experiences in Darwin were not focused solely on which pub to go to next (mind you, there were a lot of pubs visited). With a small group, we attended a quiz night and came 3rd out of 10 teams. I’m no quizmaster, but I surprised myself with my random knowledge. The next day a short trip to the museum and gallery to cram in some culture and history, followed by an outback pub lunch. The dip in natural springs was simply stunning and warm, however I was told to keep an eye out for swimming snakes – is that really a thing?! I’m still scared.
By creating more moments in our lives, we have a richer life experience. We expand our references and grow. Too often we find ourselves absorbed in things that don’t really make us happy and wake up one day feeling in a rut. My promise to myself is to focus on creating these fun, memorable moments more often.
Conversation is key – I’ve written before about we humans being social creatures. Travelling solo means you run the risk of feeling lonely. As much as I enjoy my own company I knew that I needed to talk to people regularly as my energy comes from being connected to others. Fortunately, it seems everyone in Darwin is up for a chat. I made friends by the pool, started conversations with people at the pub and chatted to other travellers. This just goes to show that it really is so easy to strike up a conversation with anyone and how many people are looking for genuine connection.
Do that one thing – when I was booking the flights originally, I had a friend planning to join me. We had talked about going on a jet ski. Now I’m a safety first person – never drive too fast, always buckle up. The thought of being on a jet ski made me feel nervous and worried that I wouldn’t know how to operate it. When my friend couldn’t make the trip, I didn’t think any further about the jet ski. However, other travellers I spoke to raved about the experience.
So one night after some liquid courage I booked it, not just to be a passenger, but to drive one solo. When it came to start the tour, my internal self-talk reminded me that if there were crocodiles everywhere and it wasn’t safe the tour would be cancelled. Then I was informed the jet ski goes too fast for the crocodiles!
At the start I was hiding my hands shaking because I was nervous and once onboard, I drove the jet ski very slowly. Then my confidence started to build and half way through the instructor was calling me “speed demon”. One the best experiences I’ve had was going 55km/hr on the jet ski, almost spinning out a few times then regaining composure and watching the sunset. I would never have those memories if I hadn’t done that one thing. My reflection - just back yourself and you will be surprised by what you can achieve.
Digital detox – holidays are a great opportunity to have a circuit breaker in consuming media and technology. Throughout this trip, whilst there were many opportunities to have sat on my phone scrolling the gram or replying to emails I purposefully kept the phone packed away. The first day I sensed that automatic reach to check my phone but after 24 hours it went away and the phone only came out for photos or the obligatory Covid check in.
I took the opportunity to sit in coffee shops and daydream. I was reassured of my detox needs when I noticed how many others were being consumed with their phone - they needed that technology dopamine hit that I was too reliant on before the trip. I listened to playlists and podcasts over zoning out to tv and news. I found country music sounded better in the dusty outback and the sun still rose each day regardless of me knowing what was going on in the World. It is a liberating feeling.
A final note - you may be wondering why I would travel when Covid and quarantine risks are high. Yes, it was definitely a risk but I choose not to always play safe and deprive myself out of fear of what may or may not happen.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this more personal post. If you want to reach out to connect for a jet ski race, I’m your girl. Until then, go do that one thing.