Miles away...

This past summer I had a chance to backpack the eastern coast of Australia with my life-long best friend. We saved up the money we needed to buy our plane tickets and waited patiently for news of a seat sale... Our patience was short lived, and as soon as our passports arrived in the mail, we were seated with my travel agent. The three of us sat for over an hour looking for anything that even resembled a seat sale, but found nothing. We had months before we really needed to book, but in our child-like excitement we booked "whatever" and paid in full.

For the next few months we worked long hours to save for the rest of our adventure. Summer came and I'd been working night shifts full time for over a month. I felt like a zombie/vampire version of myself, and it was not pretty. I was drained, and for the first time ever, convinced that I was depressed in the middle of summer. Now, just to clarify, I am a long-time sufferer of winter depression. Summer is my salvation. So when I found myself dreading leaving the house, going out with the girls, enjoying the things that I usually enjoy, I knew something was seriously wrong. I became snarly and short-tempered. I also became an emotional mess. I would let all of my emotional stuff build up and then spew it out like a drunk college kid. It was messy.

It was meant to be the trip of a lifetime. The ultimate girl's month out. But I was everything short of pleasant to be around.

Day one of our Australian Adventure consisted of 24 hours of travelling, some bickering and a lot of jaded excitement. I spent the whole 14 hour plane ride across the Pacific Ocean trying to make myself "FEEL" more excited, but I felt really numb. Upon arrival, we were so tired that our only focus was on getting to the hostel. After resting for a bit, we went out to explore our new surroundings. Neither of us talked much, and I found myself questioning how much of that was my fault. I was trying so hard to understand why I was feeling so unbalanced still.

To make a month long story short, there were ups and downs the whole way. There were days that I felt like I was pulling out of it, and others that were really tough to face. I remember one night while we were in the Queensland rain forest, a girl asked us whether or not we thought that we would remain friends after our trip. This was my best friend, my confidante, the person whose influence has shaped me more than anyone else's in my life. The thought of our friendship ending made me feel sick. There was no way that I was going to let this slump ruin my life. I just couldn't understand how working nights for a month could effect me as much as it had.

By the last week of our trip I was ready to head home. I wanted so badly to sleep in my own bed again and get my life back on track. I knew that things would be different between us once we got back. The whole trip was a life-changing experience.

Since our return in August, we've remained close, and I am so thankful for her unconditional support. When people asked about our trip, all of the petty stuff seemed so unimportant. We told them about all of the amazing things that we got to do. We laughed about the silly arguments we had and the crazy people we met. We decided that it really was the most amazing trip, and that we had both changed for the better. It also made me realize the true importance of her friendship.