It has begun

---

It took me a while to come to terms that I will was leaving my friends and loved ones. I had been wanting to travel the world for the past 8 years but at the ripe old age of 29 I was mentally and financially ready to take the leap. So I quit my amazing job, purchased my tickets and before I knew it I was on my way to Australia.

Two nights before my departure I held a going away party which turned out to be quite boozy and emotional ... not the smartest of combinations. But I can surely say that I don't regret it one bit. I got to see friends whom I had not seen in a while and got to spend my last few hours with the people I love the most. It may sound a little strange to some but I needed my last memories of Malta to be the most memorable. The reason for this being that I was and am still not sure how long I will be away for. As this is my last and only chance of being able to work around the world before I settle down and have a family, I want to make the most of every single second.

My trip began at 5am travelling from Malta to Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur and finally arriving in Melbourne, Australia. I had a 6 hour layover in Istanbul and I was actually considering going out and roaming the city but to my amazement that was not to be the best of ideas. Being as it was my first time in Turkey I was unsure of the process involved with visas. However this was not to be the most nerve racking part ... it was trying to get assistance from the Turks that proved to be most difficult. So I decided to stick to the airport for six hours and get some sleep. In my opinion the best way to get over jetlag is to switch the time on your watch to the time of the country you will be ending in. So due to lack of sleep I had no energy left to do anything else but sleep. But on the whole I must say it was an interesting and very very very very long trip to Australia ?

Note to self: learn a few words in Turkish before re-visiting Turkey

---