My sojourn in Australia will come to a close tomorrow as I fly out of Melbourne at noon. I'm really not ready for this moment and I don't think it's dawned on me how this trip is really ending. It's as if I'm just getting ready for another big trip but will be coming back. By this time tomorrow, I'll be sitting on a jet plane over the middle of the Pacific. How do you leave a place that has become your home for the past year?
Today has been filled with packing and last minute shopping at the Queen Victoria Market, the bazar-like market located about ten minutes from my flat. Just yesterday, my online advertising for my furniture paid off and I sold off my desk and futon. With those pieces of furniture gone my room is quite empty, and it's a bit sad to see it all go. It's as if my Australian life is being carried or packed away bit by bit until it's either some else's or crammed in a suitcase. It's odd to think that almost a year ago, I arrived in Melbourne, a city of strangers to me and now I'm leaving the place feeling like it's mine.
Home is a fluid concept and after leaving home for college five years ago, my 'home' has fluctuated quite a bit. For the past year, though, Melbourne has been my only home. The city has been my dwelling place for eleven months straight and I feel quite settled here. It's what I've come back to from the amazing trips around Australia; the place I've met some amazing people and made life-long friends; the place where I've explored ideas that have challenged and broadened my perspective; the place where I've learned about the world and the people in it. A city full of strangers has become my home. And leaving home is always hard.
Melbourne, I will miss you.
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