Everybody's Looking for Something

Travelling is as much made up of fellow travellers as of places. All of them have a story to tell, a goal to achieve or an inner depth to discover – whether you want it or not travelling gives greater understanding both of yourself and of the world. Sometimes this can be hard.

I did not get to meet anyone on this last night in Oz but when I arrived at one Cairns Airbnb a few weeks back the other room was occupied by Elise and Hanneka, 2 German lasses. They had arrived the night before, just starting out on their Gap year. It was the first time they had been abroad without family nearby but they had a plan worked out for the whole year – where they would go, what they would see and how this would be achieved. ‘Today we will buy a car’, they announced. ‘We are meeting a man at the Esplanade’. That evening they returned looking a bit dispirited and indignant. ‘We waited for 3 hours and then he texted to say he had already sold the car! ‘

However, another part of the plan was to get a job, so for the next 24 hours they concentrated on this, scrolling through indeed.com and gumtree. Australia is still seen by back packers as the land  where jobs can be picked off the tree. But fruit picking and farm work is very sporadic and seasonal – and usually rumoured to be in the next state. Bar and café work require paper evidence of having done a course on alcohol responsibility and quality service.

By the next evening things did not seem so rosy and at about 8.00 storms of sobs issued  from the bedroom. Homesickness, which Skype can exacerbate rather than relieve had hit hard.  Tea and tissues came into play until emotions calmed down and a few teary giggles were managed.

The next day they moved on to a hostel where there would be a better chance of networking. ‘We are seeing another man about a car today’, they said happily as they left. ‘He is coming from Mission Beach’.                                                                                                      Mission Beach, miles away, dirt roads and dodgy ‘Don’t’ ……. I start to say but they are gone. Discovery of the perfidy of car sellers can perhaps only be experientially acquired.