Review: 2022 In Travel

Each December since I was 14 I’ve written a year-end document to reflect on goals and achievements met. At first these took the form of a single white piece of paper with 12 sections drawn, each representing a month with a bullet list of highlights. In college I began writing yearly reviews on my online journal, moving into essay format — like an elongated version of the common year-end Facebook status. I enjoy reading my previous entries as much as I do writing each new one. This being the first full year with my blog, I’d like to share a condensed version of this material here for my readers.

For me 2022 was a comeback year — not for the act of travel itself, but for the undertaking of specific trips that had been delayed by covid.

They say time flies when you’re having fun, but my days in 2022 passed slowly … and yet I still had fun. It feels like eons ago that I was hiking up Table Mountain and Lions Head back in Cape Town, South Africa, where I brought in the new year. This was one of the best trips I had ever taken, but as the year continued it was inevitably out-shadowed in scope and purpose.

My working holiday visa in Australia and my backpacking jaunt through Southeast Asia accomplished goals from both 2020 and 2015, respectively. I wanted to experience what it was like to live in Sydney and to push myself through a rigorous and culturally immersive backpacking trip. These journeys provided both in the same year, and it was fascinating to compare the two.

My time down under was less of a “travel” experience, and more of an experiment in expat life. Regarding my move to Sydney, I haven’t felt as strongly about a city since 2016 when I moved to Miami for graduate school. While Magic City attracted me through the likes of resort vibes and artsy neighborhoods, Sydney shined like a beacon for young people from all over the world (particularly the Asia-Pacific region) to come together and forge better lives. I’ll never forget walking across the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time one afternoon — I nearly teared up, telling myself pandemic be damned, I made it back to Australia.

I’m not one to linger on regret, but my only considerable regret of 2022 is that I left Sydney. It was the first time in my life that I worked outside of the arts, and it was an incredible (if not daunting) experience — particularly considering I did so in a foreign country. Working hospitality while also doing occasional gig work as a musician allowed me to juxtapose two very different types of work. Part of me thinks I left Sydney because the hospitality jobs I had weren’t the best fit, but I should have had more patience. A livable amount of music work probably would have come my way soon enough.

I lived in a hostel the entire time I was in Sydney, which saved me money and gave me a built-in friend group (albeit a constantly fluctuating one). Day-to-day life in my hostel often felt tedious, but I liked the companionship — with nearly everyone there also on a working holiday visa. I miss the people I knew. It’s been strange to see many of them still there on social media, they seem like internet ghosts from a past life. I had some wonderful acquaintances — friends with whom I shared day trips, and others I worked alongside for some amusing shifts (I will surely never work in a buffet again). With one friend I kept making excuses for why I couldn’t ask them out on a date. I wonder if I’d still be there had I not doubted myself.

After leaving Sydney I spent another 50-ish days in Australia, but sadly they were mostly void of substance. First I volunteered for almost a month at a Mad Monkey hostel in Cairns. I found friends with the other volunteers at my hostel — some of my favorite memories were of us cooking and eating together in our “staff” kitchenette. Sadly almost everything else about my time here felt off. Cairns is a resort town, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a place that requires a car to see all of the spectacular nature and rainforests lining the area. The backpacker scene there is typically heterosexual, and coming from very gay-friendly Sydney I sometimes felt like I was living alone in a fish bowl. There were also so many backpackers in town that I decided against trying to compete with them for work. And besides, I wanted to enjoy the “holiday” part of my working working holiday visa.

From Cairns I flew all the way to Western Australia, the city of Perth. Here I again intended to work — however I quickly found the city to be overwhelming spread out. Furthermore the hostels were sketchy, and opportunity for music work seemed low. At this point I ran out of motivation to be in Australia, and my mind was already wandering. So, I booked flights back home to America — spending my final days in Oz on a lovely little rental-car road trip around the Margaret River region, in addition to day trips to Fremantle and Rottnest Island (home of the adorable Quokka). I wanted to return to traveling in developing countries, and Southeast Asia was calling my name.

I was home for a month between Australia and Southeast Asia. While still in Oz I had been curiously applying for flight attendant jobs, and by the time I got home I was offered an interview for United Airlines. A big part of me was ready to jump into a new career, to have a “stable” job, and to still get to travel. But another part of me was saddened at the idea of giving up the freedom that I had found this year while mass pandemic restrictions finally eased. I already had flight benefits from my parents (which is one of the primary reasons people desire to become flight crew in the first place) — so I ultimately canceled the interview. A couple weeks later I flew to Hanoi, Vietnam, to commence my long-awaited journey through Southeast Asia.

This trip could not have been more different than Australia. It satisfied a craving for a non-stop itinerary that my 22 year old self fantasized about years ago after my first (short) trip to Europe. For Asia I swapped my suitcase and viola for a modest backpack and a small day pack. I moved from city to city, village to village, and country to country via crowded buses and the occasional flight. While Australia brought out a more extroverted state of mind, Southeast Asia left me to my introversion. I was surprised by how well I was able to navigate the journey alone, and how I stuck to my pre-set itinerary. Had it not been for the coming holiday season and a dwindling bank account I probably could have kept going on autopilot.

As I traveled around Asia I realized that I had found exactly what I had craved in Australia — inexpensive freedom of movement. Of course it’s not like I couldn’t go places in Oz, but I was limited in such a large and expensive country without a car. On the flip side, having this freedom in Asia created other problems. Given the affordability of the region I was able to move extremely quickly, often every two to three days. When you are visiting so many places in quick succession there is only so much you can take in. I tried to embrace the pace of the trip as best I could, and all the stops significantly added to the longevity of my year. Three months felt like six.

The journey through Southeast Asia was something my younger self wanted but that my current self couldn’t always fully enjoy. I nearly forgot to mention the physical difficulties of this type of travel — I rarely found adequate space to do yoga or stretch. I ate very healthily, but my body was tight from the constant time spent on vehicles from point A to B. Still, I am beyond happy that I saw myself through it. I will never wonder what it feels like to hop-scotch my way through the Banana Pancake trail that has become so legendary amongst backpackers. And on another note, this trip was fertile ground for photography with my Fuji-film X100V. Together with the Australia trip I have never better documented a year of my life in photos.

Overall I feel that 2022 gave me diverse travel experiences, harking back to 2019. I’ve learned a lot about what kind of life I want as a worker, and what I’m willing to put up with. The Asia trip has shown me that I can in fact forge a grueling multi-month itinerary and stick to it. But most of all this year I felt the potential that I can thrive as an expat, if only I gave myself more time to sink into the opportunity. This is why I’m currently about to bring in the new year with the start of my second working holiday visa in New Zealand. I tend to do things better the second time around, so I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2023!