Surprise! I'm going to Australia.

If you're reading this, there is a distinct possibility that you've already figured out that I, Ashley Hughes, am going to Australia. And if you haven't, well...I'm going to Australia. I know what you're thinking; "why, Ashley, would you ever want to leave America when a frosty Ithaca winter fast approaches, you don't have a career or any real commitments at the moment, and a bunch of wealthy old white male politicians are crusading against your uterus?" Despite all these compelling and enticing factors about the motherland, I'm just plain ready to get out, be wayward, and enjoy being young and untethered to a job, significant other, a family (may God help the world when I finally do procreate) or any other serious commitment at the present time. Strikin' while the iron is hot!

All snarkiness and eloquently written sarcasm aside, I have been planning to go back to Australia since I studied abroad there in 2009. There is no way I'm going to live the rest of my life without going to the Great Barrier Reef at least once more...that place is literally the most amazing and jaw-dropping experience I think a human can have. I was going to go sometime around next June when my lease in Ithaca was up, but this summer life decided to throw me a lot of curveballs and I went through quite a bit, the most significant being  that I was finally hit very hard with the passing of my Mom. I also realized that my life was just in a rut and although I have thoroughly enjoyed living with my best friends, working at a fun and care free job at a cafe, and basically living the lifestyle of an undergraduate, it was time to make moves and do something different because I simply wasn't truly happy anymore. I realized (with a lot of help from patient and loving friends and family, of course) that one of the best things that I could do for myself was to just get up and go and find happiness now, because sitting around doing the same thing day in and day out waiting for it to find me sure wasn't working. And for me, that is in Australia. Shout out to all my friends and family who helped nudge me in this direction, too...this plan may have never come to fruition without all the love, support, and encouragement I received!

Anyhoo, onto the who what where when why and how of my trip! My plane ticket is actually a one-way into Melbourne, and I'm leaving this trip very open ended and I'm ready and excited to take things as they come one day at a time. I think mi padre may have thrown up in his mouth a little bit when I dropped that bomb... Of course, my return to the good ol' US of A is also very contingent upon my ca$h flow situation, if I'm content with all that I've gotten out of my journey, and of course, home sickness (don't tell my Dad but I actually think he's pretty swell). My goal is to also hit up New Zealand for a few weeks on my way back. My flight is out of JFK this Tuesday. Yes, I know. 9/11. Worst. Omen. Ever. But hey, I like to live on the edge! But by that I mean the ticket was the cheapest on this date. Wonder why...

While I'm there I'm doing a program called WWOOFing (Willing Workers on Organic Farms), which is basically a network of organic farms that you work at for 4-6 hours a day in exchange for housing and food. My first place that I'm going to is about 15 miles (excuse me, 32 kilometers) outside of the town where I studied abroad. While the family does have pigs, chickens, bees, and a whole lot of other stuff going on, they also cultivate and sell native flowers. SUPER PUMPED FOR THIS because 1) I love flowers and 2) I've tossed around the idea of being a florist and 3) omgomgomg I'll be in Australia! My stay there will be a couple of weeks probably and then I plan on working my way up the east coast til I can gets me some Great Barrier Reef!

Since I don't have my own computer anymore (thanks a lot, dick who robbed my house this spring), I can't promise that I'll be able to provide really regular updates, but I certainly will as often as possible. So stay tuned for some amazing pictures, stories, and the occasional dingo-at-my-baby joke!