G’day mates!
My name is Allison Russakis, and I am a rising junior studying Public Relations. It has been just a little over one month since I left the most incredible country and even better friends.
After losing two days of our lives to flying, four other ADPIs and I finally landed in Sydney, Australia, and we could not wait to begin exploring the down under! In preparation for our month-long stay, we compiled a seemingly never-ending Google doc of places we wanted to visit. From the Opera House to the Outback, my friends and I wanted to see it all.
During one of our first days in Sydney, we headed to a lunch spot from our list after an early morning bus tour. After several failed attempts to locate the restaurant, a local told us it had recently closed. Still with high spirits, we decided to eat at a small brunch place we had passed on our walk. When we sat down in our corner booth, I don’t think any of us expected to enjoy such a simple, unplanned lunch as much as we did. Even though I had seen wonders such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge earlier that morning, the best part of my day was undoubtedly the three hours spent talking and laughing with my friends at lunch. It is moments such as these that I find myself wishing I could return to. One of the best parts of our trip was that we ate almost every mouthwatering meal together. We left every restaurant with our stomachs hurting from either too much food or too much laughing.
We were always on the move to see something new, but it was the time we spent sitting around with each other that was almost more memorable than any destination itself. Whether we were eating one-dollar dumplings, taking the bus to Bondi Beach, or watching the sun set over the harbor, we passed the time by playing games and growing closer to one another. Although we came on the trip as friends already, experiencing a new and unfamiliar country together allowed us to learn more about each other than I ever could have imagined. While I cannot deny that Australia has an abundance of breathtaking views, it is the company I shared them with that made me take a step back and soak up each and every amazing moment we experienced together.
One of my favorite day trips was walking the coastline from Coogee to Bondi Beach. The hike was about four miles, yet in the moment, I could have walked five times that. Everything from the houses scattered along the cliffs to the waves crashing far below us was remarkable. When I wasn’t taking in the view, I found myself laughing with the group about all of the food we were going to consume immediately after that entirely too rigorous walk. The scenery from this excursion is one of the things that I remember most vividly from my time in Australia; however, what really gave the coastal walk its color were the conversations and banter I shared with my friends while walking it.
Although my experiences snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and exploring Darling Harbor are things I will never forget, the small moments shared with my incredible sisters are what gave my time abroad more meaning than any place ever could.
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