Summer Vacation 2024 in Australia | Travel expanded my life's options.
My son's summer school was the beginning of our journey
From July 26 to August 6, 2024, I traveled with my two children to the Gold Coast and Sydney, Australia.
The purpose was for my third-grade son (8 years old) to attend summer school.
Since my daughter (6 years old) was still a preschooler, there were almost no options when looking for a school she could attend, so we decided on the Gold Coast.
Looking back now, perhaps this trip was meant to be.
A morning where I longed for a life by the sea
We stayed in a sea-view apartment.
When I woke up in the morning, the ocean spread out before my eyes.
I was originally a mountain person, but I started to think that a life by the sea would also be nice.
At night, there was a sky full of stars.
Scenery different from my daily life was there every single day.
In the morning, I would drop my son off at school, and then my daughter and I would go to a cafe together. (We originally planned for all three of us to attend, but after thinking it over, only my son went to school.)
Even though it was winter in Australia, it was refreshing and warm, and the city would start to stir around 5:00 AM.
The atmosphere was truly pleasant, and I thought many times, 'A life like this would be nice.'
What I felt at summer school
On the other hand, the summer school was a little different from what I had imagined.
We spent a lot of time with other Japanese people, and the atmosphere was more like 'coming on an overseas trip with friends'.
What I felt there was that English is something you can only acquire through daily practice.
That is why I now think that when my children are around high school age, I want to give them the experience of diving in alone through a homestay.
An encounter that expanded my life
And, I had an unexpected encounter on this trip.
At the time, I never imagined that this person would have such a huge influence on my life a few years later.
I still clearly remember feeling, 'This person must be a sincere person,' when I saw how quickly my children took to them.
Because of this encounter, I learned about a world beyond just 'investing in mutual funds'.
I learned about the option of 'increasing assets through trading,' which gave me the push I needed to eventually quit my job.
Spending time with family is also the charm of travel
But, encounters were not the only thing I gained from this trip.
In Sydney, we played Janken Glico in front of the Opera House with the kids.
It was the most fun time of the trip, and I still laugh when I think about it today.
Even though it's a game we can play in Japan, for some reason, we can enjoy it to the fullest while traveling.
While traveling, I can naturally focus on my children properly.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I love traveling.
A flight I didn't want to get off of yet
On the way back, we flew JAL Business Class for the first time.
The seats where the three of us could sit together were more comfortable than I imagined, and my daughter didn't sleep once, enjoying herself until the very end.
I did yoga in my fully flat seat and relaxed with the hot eye mask I was given before landing.
Instead of thinking, 'I wish we'd arrive sooner,' I thought, 'I don't want to get off yet.'
This was the first flight where I felt that way.
What travel brings
The purpose of this trip was for my son to attend summer school and to fly JAL Business Class.
That's what I thought.
But looking back, the biggest thing about this trip was the unexpected encounters.
In travel, the encounters you didn't plan for change your life more than the events you did plan for.
That is why I want to keep traveling.
What kind of scenery will I see?
What kind of hotel will I stay in?
Of course, I look forward to those things too.
But now, more than that, I find myself wondering, 'What kind of encounters are waiting for me?'
Perhaps that is the reason why I cannot stop traveling.