VirtualTourist Member AmazingAdventures
| Page Views: 8,301 | * * * Smiles from Susan in Sydney * * * by AmazingAdventures - last update: Jan 15, 2008 |
ENJOYING LIFE AS AN AMERICAN IN AUSTRALIA | Kings Canyon, NT- Nov 2002 |
Well, it's been 2 and a half years since I've been 'home' to America. I admit it, I'm homesick. I miss the things that I spent the first few decades of my life taking for granted.
October 2008:
For soooo long I just wanted to live in Austraalia, now I've been living here for over 5 years and I still can't believe it sometimes. After piles and piles of paperwork and nervous waiting, I received my permanent residency in Oct 2006, so I'll be eligible for Aussie citizenship (which means I'll be dual citizenship!) in Oct 2008. 8.5 months to go!
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July 2005, we had a 4 week holiday to the USA. My boyfriend and his two kids and I spent several weeks touring the West Coast of the USA. We spent 4 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, then went to visit my family in the Seattle area followed by a drive to Sandpoint Idaho for a BIG family reunion for a long weekend. After that we flew to Las Vegas and spent 4 days there during a major heatwave (117 in and out of the shade). Finally we flew back to California and spent a few days in San Diego, then back to L.A. One of these days I will be able to put aside time to post those photos and add some tips, which I'm anxious to work on.
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Oct 2002: Left Seattle, and arrived in Sydney... been here in Australia ever since!
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AN AMERICAN LIVING IN OZ
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I was born in Michigan, spent most of my life living in and around Seattle. I worked in many aspects of the travel industry for over 15 years including spending 4 summers working as a tour guide in Alaska.
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. Thanks for visiting my pages, please leave a comment and let me know you were here!
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| My boyfriend & I at Bondi Beach |
|  | THINKING ABOUT CALLING AUSTRALIA HOME ??!??
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Here's a very comprehensive LARGE LIST-o-AUSSIE LINKS (fully updated April 2007) to help if you are thinking about moving to the beautiful land of Australia.
My advice? First of all, where there is a will, there is a way. You also need to study the Aussie Immigration (DIMIA) web site inside and out and the online support groups are invaluable in many, many ways during the entire process.
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| Oceanside, CA - with my BF and his 2 kids |
| | IT ALL STARTED HERE.....
Life for me began in Michigan and I lived there until I was 5. Thankfully my parents moved to Seattle and I spent the majority of my life there (except when I was travelling) until Oct. 2002.
My interest in travel began when I was about 12 years old and I met a flight attendant who told me she travelled and got paid for it. How cool was that, I thought. (I later found out when I started job hunting that I was just an inch too short to meet the flight attendant height requirement. Oh well) I was always interested in geography, other states, countries and cultures for as long as I can remember. I've been fascinated by travel ever since.
After high school and a stint at University, I went to Travel School (where they teach you about all the different aspects of the industry and how to be a travel agent, etc..) and after graduating, I got a job with Avis Rent-a-Car in Seattle, which included 2 weeks of training in Miami!! Being in my twenties at the time, I got bored easily and changed jobs many times, looking for something that kept me interested. I worked at a travel agency, several Seattle hotels, a cafe at the Seattle airport (just to be around all the travellers was exciting). I worked for several years as a hotel operator and got bored with sitting in a basement office and saw an ad in the paper to be a tour guide ... in ALASKA! I never thought in a million years I would actually get hired because I was shy, but I guess it was meant to be. I was hired immediately by a Canadian tour company that operated tours in the YUKON and Alaska.
TOUR GUIDE MGR IN ALASKA 4 SUMMERS
I was a tour guide in Alaska for 4 summers. The first summer began in early May after driving 36 hours north on the Alaska 'Highway' we spent 2 weeks in Whitehorse training for our field offices in Alaska.
I spent 2 summers working in Fairbanks, one in Skagway and my last summer there I was promoted to Alaska Operations Manager in Anchorage for the company. Check out my ALASKA TRAVEL PAGES
Working as a tour guide in Alaska was just a summer job, and it had lots of cool benefits. After two different summers in Alaska, I ventured south of the equator to meet penpals and travel around Australia - a country I had always been intrigued by.
AUSTRALIA - THE LAND OF WONDER
For some reason, Australia has always held a special interest for me. I had my first penpal in Australia when I was in primary school. Maybe that started it. Then came along Crocodile Dundee, Expo 88 in Brisbane, Paul Hogan's 'throw another shrimp on the barbie 'commercials for the Australian Tourism Commission and I was hooked on this fascinating land down under.
My first trip to Australia was after my first summer working in Alaska - 1988. I met some penpals who became like my Aussie family. I travelled around and I loved everything I saw & did during that 6 weeks.
After my 3rd summer in Alaska, I returned again to Australia and booked a 15 day tour Contiki Tour from Sydney to Cairns - I had a great time and met some wonderful friends, who I still keep in touch with.
I stayed in Australia for 4 months on that trip, and aside from the Contiki tour up the coast, we also went to Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, Canberra and mostly spent time in and around Sydney.
In 2002, 10 years since my last visit, I returned to Oz and have been here ever since. |
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A VT member since 2001 |
| Feeding 'Roos at Waratah Park, NSW |
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| Palm Beach, NSW - Australia |
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| The Red Centre of Australia - Ayers Rock |
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Welcome to Amazing Adventures!
Listen to your heart.....Follow your dreams
Thousands of photos to sort thru and choose which ones to add and where!!!!
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| | FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS
If while pursuing distant dreams
Your bright hopes turn to gray,
Don't wait for reassuring words
Or hands to lead the way.
For seldom will you find a soul
With dreams the same as yours.
Not often will another help you
Pass through untried doors.
If inner forces urge you
To take a course unknown,
Be ready to go all the way,
Yes, all the way alone.
That's not to say you shouldn't
Draw lessons from the best;
Just don't depend on lauding words
To spur you on your quest.
Find confidence within your heart
And let it be your guide.
Strive ever harder toward your dreams
And they won't be denied.
- Bruce B. Wilmer |
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 Comments for AmazingAdventures | | | | |
kooka3 Sat Jun 7, 2008 17:48 UTC
Lucky you, living full-time in Oz! I almost didn't come home after studying there. Thanks for the links for visas/immigration -- and for the pics! They're making me a bit homesick for Oz. :) | travelagent4thailand Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:22 UTC
thank you for the well wishes to the bday! - - hope all is good on your end - ...any plans for Thailand? would be a nice gathering if you are in the neighborhood. i'd like to add you to friend's list :-) | XtravelloverX Sat Apr 19, 2008 15:25 UTC
Happy Belated Birthday! | barbskie Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:55 UTC
hi susan! be lated birthday wishes to you. all the best from the Philippines. julz |
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