The Second Half

I'm in the "second half" of this Australia trip, and I always hear what others are doing, sometimes I question my plans, then again, do I need plans?

Spontaneity. It can be from something as simple as seeing a mate in the street, and saying "fuck it, shall we get a coffee?" or - with some slight differences to typical spontaneity - moving across the world, essentially on a whim. Mine was planned, but in some ways, spontaneous.

I've come to a realisation, as time is something I'm anxious about, and always have been anxious about: I have so much fucking time. I don't NEED to travel all of Australia on this first of three visas available to me. I don't NEED to go to Asia travelling now. I don't NEED to learn Spanish while hiking in the mountains of South America.

But I want to; the crucial counter to that is remembering you have time, and to knuckle down, plan for these events, but in some respects maybe not specifically for them. Make a travel savings pot, work your arse off, and then whatever you have, travel with it.

I haven't done the hostels, uncomfortable backpacks, organised pub crawls - it wasn't my thing when I moved here. I opted for more comfort, and to "stay" somewhere, get used to a place, a community. The exciting part is, while looking at social media and seeing others being more 'nomadic' so to speak, I have time to do similar. I used to, and sometimes still worry that I won't get that opportunity, because of time, and worrying about careers etc, but what is life really for? Sorry to go all "live, laugh, love" on you, but it is for living, and this last part of this trip, I intend on doing exactly that.

My plans

I have two plans, one of them a travel plan, the other a generic plan:

1) Melbourne - Watching Window Kid, a local Nottingham-based artist, loved by me and my mates at home in the UK, for his first Australia tour. Flight or train, few days in Melbourne, will be awesome

2) Take on an extra job - I want to not necessarily have money to pay for plans now, but for later. A bit for when I land home, just as foundation savings, but before that for any last minute trips before I fly back to the UK. Imagine, the last 2-3 weeks, beaches, maybe a return to Gold Coast, anything. A bit of random fun, then go home, now that would be pretty awesome

I will go home in May. I miss home, my friends, my family. Birthday, Christmas, all of it without them, has been really hard. At the same time, a new experience, a place that has become home to me - so much so, I've not really wanted to move or leave, there is so much to do and see here. It's such a unique, warm (literally) and welcoming place. Beaches are awesome, I'm not the biggest swimmer or 'beacher,' but to have it next to a big City, that's pretty awesome, gives you so many options.

Having no plans sometimes makes me feel like I'm stagnant, but in reality, it's just an open calendar for me to explore. Perspective is so important, and I think I'm learning the lesson of just zooming out, seeing this experience through a different lense, and seeing the opportunities that lay very clearly ahead of me.

January realities

Work has dried up a little bit. Ah. It's always a bummer to lose hours, but again, using that perspective, I'm very grateful to have my job still. What Cabana has done for me, I will always be so grateful for. Almost went home. Damn, I still think about that sometimes. 

Hopefully hours should increase soon, January is a rough one for most people - expensive Christmas, probably most still hungover lol. But this is hospitality. If you're reading this and hoping to travel, the likelihood is that regardless of where you are, most hospitality jobs quieten down a lot in January. Save well over Christmas, I even paid rent in advance so I could budget better, just another strategy you can use. Basically, just prepare. I'm lucky, I have my job, not everyone gets that lucky - so also prepare to search for work again. Travel is fun, working builds you a community of mates, but just prepare for any eventuality, nothing in the industry is guaranteed.

Other than that, despite some rain, January has been a great start to the year. Hot weather, 43 degrees in some cases, i've made a little whiteboard that says: "do this, this week!" the aim is to basically do three things I've either never done, or love doing, every single week until I go home.

A sunrise, a sunrise swim, morning sunrise walk? Okay, maybe I want that sunrise pretty bad. Fuck it. I need to sort my sleep schedule out, that's one thing hospitality will do, make those late nights waaaaay to common, especially over the festive period. Brace yourself.

I'm not going to count down the time till I go home, that will only make me feel like time is flying quicker than it is, instead, do those three things every week, journal more, and make some memories.

In fact, while on the topic of habits, have a watch of this, a real eye-opener: https://youtu.be/kLGFVaJ4eUs?si=XAvPz9hALP2wPEfj

The habits I'm really trying to work on

The phone. Sorry to swear again, but the fucking phone. A horrible little block of anxiety, dopamine hits and just random shit I don't need. But, an essential tool for every day communication. However I need to reign it in. Less time on it, especially at the start and end of the day - it has a bit of a chokehold over me, especially while I have more time, and that is seriously unhealthy.

In 2026, I don't just want to acknowledge the issues I have, but treat them at the root cause. Phone on my desk at night means I must get out of bed to turn alarm off, and also staves away the opportunity to check phone at random times in the night. It got so bad, I'd wake up at 2/3am, check my phone, and sleep. That's not healthy. Since, I haven't woke in the night, and anxiety levels have decreased around that time. The problem, when I pick it up, I "make up for lost time" and just scroll. I'm trying to get rid of that, especially when this beautiful country is still demanding I explore it.

Better sleep schedule. Yes, 'hospo' makes that tough like I said, but I can try. I don't mind having less sleep if it means I go on that walk, that swim, or meet that mate for a coffee. But when I just get up, kay in bed and do nothing but procrastinate, that's a problem.

So, by next week, I'd like to report that I've completed my "do these three things" for the week, and a reduced level of screen time.

That's my goal, let's see how it goes.

My week, summarised (sort of)

A summary sounds a bit lengthy, and to be honest I don't want to bore you too much with more work stories, you know how much I enjoy it, and I will just say how nice it has been to see all my work mates again. Feels like forever since we all last saw eachother.

In essence, a good few days at work, met some new mates, a couple of late nights, topped off with a pretty late night out on saturday, Adjusting back into things, also got some new projects coming, in the pipeline, hopefully I can reveal them next week...hopefully.

A good week. Getting there with habits, but nonetheless always working on it, and while I will never be perfect, and don't intend to be, that 1% better every day, it will make all the difference.

Take aways from this week?

First of all, listen to my latest podcast with my good mate Dan (Making It? Podcast - youtube & spotify) because we had a chat, and it opened my eyes on a different level.

I was thinking about risk lately, questioning wether I take enough of them. The answer? Honestly, no. I need to take more. Yes, I take risks, and maybe I'm demeaning the steps I've taken this past year. Pretty big risks. But, I always want more. That's both healthy and unhealthy, it's about balance and reflection to fully feel grateful, but still want to progress.

"Is there more risk in the action, or by facing scrutiny from others?"

Think about that question. I tried to word it the best I could. But is there more risk actually in what you do, or by sharing what you do, and facing public opinion. I worry about others views way too much, Australia has certainly lessened that, but I still do. Right now, it's about breaking away from that, remembering opinions are just opinions, and those who take risks never ever move. But is there even a risk in half the things I worry about? No. I just feel as though my writing comes with a risk of someone not enjoying that; wanting to please people with your writing/content shouldn't translate to being terrified of someone not enjoying it. That's key, and I'm continuing to learn this.

I've got this next half of this year-long trip, it's time to take some risks, have some fun, and make some memories.

Have a great week, keep doing your thing, I'm proud of you.

Reach out: imbrokeinsydney@gmail.com

See you next week, Tuesday, every week in fact.

Jamie x