Life in a nutshell:

I grew up one of four girls, the third eldest, second youngest, not quite the middle child but somewhere in between. Home was Ballarat, Victoria, and we were lucky to have grown up with a stack of pets - Amelia the rabbit, Pearl and Einstein our chooks, a number of budgies, Jack our beautiful retriever and Moses our current retriever to name a few.

Some of my fondest memories as a child involve being at the beach with family. Although a lot has changed over time, I’m still very much the same knotty haired, smiling and sandy girl standing on the beach I was at 4 years of age.

Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads were the go-to beaches for us and although the location has now changed, being close to the coast continues to elicit a feeling of being home.

More of my childhood memories involve country drives and stopping off to pat cows and any horses we might spot.

I remember driving along corrugated dirt roads to get to farms that dad was familiar with. Each of us kids taking turns sitting on dads lap driving the car (steering the wheel). Playing with baby lambs, chasing sheep and yabbying with sticks in the dam. I also remember squealing and running in the opposite direction whenever we went rabbiting with ferrets - that’s a story in itself.

When I reflect on how I grew up and what contributed to an insatiable desire to travel, adventure and explore, I reckon I’ve got my childhood and parents to thank for that.

Most of my life has been spent at school. I took a break after my undergraduate degree, but aside from that the only time I haven’t been a student was before I was 5 years of age. Wild.

Primary school, high school, undergrad, honours, masters. After finishing up 6 years of tertiary study, I’m finally on the back end of my student career! I was involved with uni as a student mentor, participated in uni games (mixed beach volleyball, what a blast), and even managed to complete a semester abroad in Canada as part of an exchange. I studied at Deakin University in Geelong, Simon Fraser University in Canada, Southern Cross University on the Gold Coast, and finally the University of New England in NSW.

Now? It’s time for a break.

I’ve assigned myself 12 months of travel. It might be shorter, might be longer, but that’s the rough idea I’ve planned for myself. And I couldn’t be more excited about it. The first half of the year will be around Australia, then I plan on heading international. Did someone say Eurotrip?

Too many people wait around for retirement, completing the mundane routine, remaining in careers they despise, their bodies aging as they wait for the “golden years”. Well fuck that, we’re not getting any younger.