The Life of a Digital Nomad: Meeting Internet Friends in Australia
- Jess Nadeau
- May 9, 2023
- 5 min read
Australia has been like a second (or third or fourth?) home for me. And when I decided to skip the Canadian winter this last January, it seemed like the obvious choice. I wanted something simple. I wasn't craving novelty, I was craving connection.
So, with a handful of old friends, and old and current colleagues scattered around the country, sunny Australia was my destination.
I landed in Brisbane, Queensland, and went straight to the Sunshine Coast. An old colleague, whom I had never met in person, kindly picked me up from the airport and welcomed me into her home. Our first in-person encounter! Risky? Perhaps... But when you're used to connecting with people online via Zoom and chats and meetings, you get pretty good at sensing what is real and what isn't.
After some chilling by the pool, early morning coffees, delicious dinners and a camping adventure, it was time to start moving around. I stayed on the Sunny Coast to visit a friend I hadn't seen in 13 years. Now, a lot can happen in 13 years! A new house, a husband and a kid in fact :) But no matter how much time had passed, I still received the warmest welcome.
Back in Brisbane, I met with current colleagues. One of them I had been seeing in Zoom meetings an average of once a week for the last 5 years. That's a lot of conversations! I went from having a 2D friend who knows so much about the last few years of my life, and vice versa, to having a 3D friend who's life I got to witness in person.
Australia attracted many people I know this year... A friend whom I had recently driven across Canada with passed through Brisbane while I was there. What are the odds? Not sure, but these awesome coincidences seem to define my life.
Not far, on the Gold Coast, I also got to spend a beach day with another Canadian friend who was on a short layover. There, I had a whole team of more real people waiting to meet me. Coffees with an old manager, brunch with a current one. Every encounter felt so natural. I truly felt at home. Some colleagues becoming even closer friends than before. The digital life is great, but it is true that the energy sensed and shared with others is much more powerful in person.
All these catch-ups were both fun and funny. However, I'm someone who very much enjoys her time alone, and needless to say, just under a month into my trip, I was craving some.
The trip also wasn't without its challenges, of course. Housesitting opportunities were not lining up, and old traumas/patterns were being brought to the surface. Escaping to Mount Tamborine was not the simplest adventure (not having a car) but it reset my energy and provided the space I needed to reflect and grow from said challenges. The area is like a "hidden" gem. It's small enough to explore on foot or bike, and hippie enough for me to embrace my spiritual practice and reground myself.
But as much as I love Australia, I could hear the call of New Zealand, so close. Queenstown lured me over the ocean for a quick 9 day trip. I had no expectation. No idea how I would spend my time there except for catching up with another old colleague from Auckland, who happened to be there for a wedding.
My 9 days were filled in the blink of an eye. My friend extended her stay due to the imminent cyclone passing over the North Island. I caught up with yet more old colleagues (from my hotel work there 5 years prior). So my blank calendar turned into brunches, dinners, hikes, cruises, and just enough adventures alone.
I fell in love with Queenstown all over again. And left saying see you soon, very soon.
Back in Australia, I had a work exchange lined up. My very first one, on a farm outside of Mullumbimby. Turns out I needed novelty after all and farm work is definitely not my comfort zone. In between planting seedlings and picking up manure, I met lovely people, had interesting conversations, and helped out the best way I can: with my "computer skills".
After NZ and country farms, I was ready for some more beach time and 10 days in Byron Bay sounded very appealing.
It is always interesting to visit places we've been before and see how they've changed, as well as how we've changed ourselves.
I discovered Byron with new eyes, more appreciative, more patient. And those eyes also spotted a very sexy celebrity. I'll let you guess who...
Pretty much out of the blue, I remembered that another friend I hadn't seen in about 13 years was in the area. Thanks so social media, we got to catch up too! Another chance to witness how life can change, another friend now with a house and a husband and a kid :)
One of my last adventures before flying to Sydney was at an Airbnb I had randomly spotted and fallen for, which happened to be right back in the farmland outside of Mullumbimby (a decommissioned sailboat, nothing less!). Another serendipitous coincidence was waiting for me there.
In short: I finished reading a book I had bought in Byron there. I got chatting to the owner and turns out the author of said book had staying on that very same property just after publishing it! Now, I usually love to pass on the books I read, but this one made it back to Canada with me and has a place in my forever library!
The Airbnb owner also happened to be finishing writing her own book, which I just purchased and received this week :) The sort of unexpected story that makes traveling so special!
One more visit to the Gold Coast allowed me to set foot in a client's office. Wow, it had been so long. I didn't even know what to wear, or what to expect. It was funny to have lunch in a lunch room again. Everyone was nice and it was a lovely day. But I can confirm that it's much easier to be productive working outside of the office! Definitely not ready to leave my digital nomad life behind.
There was one last, important adventure I wanted out of my trip: to go back to Sydney. I have lived there a couple times and so I couldn't wait to visit my old favourites. I stayed with a close friend in Manly and spent my last two weeks just doing the Australian things I love. I visited my old love, Bronte, where I caught up with, yes another, old friend who welcomed me into her home for a couple days. I saw how much her kids have grown and how much I appreciate her.
I could have stayed longer. No one was waiting for me anywhere. My friend wanted me to stay for much longer. And it was almost easier to work from the Australian timezones. But I felt it was time. I wanted the fresh Spring mountain air of British Columbia. I wanted to be in Squamish before planning my next adventures.
And so I left. A mere two months after landing in Brisbane. And the beauty of it is, I can go back whenever I wish, because that's the life a digital nomad :)
Comments