Those fans of Doctor Who will get the “the girl who waited” reference and those don’t watch Doctor Who probably don’t care about the reference. I honestly battled with the title because I have felt like little Amelia Pond waiting on the Doctor’s return and have felt like Amy Pond when she waited for Rory and the Doctor to return to Apalapucia, but also at the same time, I have felt like Rory, “the Last Centurion“.

It’s the waiting, the wishing, the hoping, and more importantly the believing in the Universe.

Little Amelia waited and believed.

Amy waited and believed.
(Amelia & Amy are the same person if you’re not a Doctor Who fan).

Rory waited and believed. 

There is this wonderful line the Eleventh Doctor says, “I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improblable dreams.”

That is me.

The dreamer of improbable dreams.

I took a leap of faith that The Universe would catch me if I jumped at chasing my Australian dream. So on November 11, 2015 I left my home in the US and landed in Australia on Friday, November 13th. Many knew I didn’t really have a game plan other than get to Australia and that I did. I ended up spending the rest of 2015 traveling this beautiful country. Seeing nooks and crannies, paved and unpaved roads and everything in between. My love for Australia grew even more. I knew from the moment I stepped foot into the country in 2010 that Australia was my forever home.

651 days later, I am still in Australia with my visa and tax file number in hand.

It’s amazing how big several sheets of paper can feel when your hopes and dreams are riding on them. How one phone call or one email can make a dream, your dream, a reality or a nightmare.

After years of dreaming and planning and then finally saying fuck it and jumping, the Universe proved to me that if you do jump, it will catch you. The Universe proved to me that it does conspire for you and not against you.

This isn’t the end of my journey in Australia.

It is only the beginning.

And every morning, I pinch myself and ask, how does it get any better than this?