Camping Paradise — Victoria, Australia
Before my move to Melbourne, Australia from the UK at the start of 2019, I had never done much camping. Prior to hiking the GR10, a remote long distance hiking trail in France, I can probably count the number of nights I had spent in a tent on one hand — the time I stayed with a friend on the Isle of Wight, a festival I attended in the Netherlands, and as a teenager when 6 of my friends and I tried to spend the night in a 2-man tent on one of the fields in my home town. Despite my limited experience with tenting, I had always envied the earthy, minimalist, and nature-filled relaxing experience that is camping. It was just not something that anyone I knew really did as I was growing up.
In the past, as a fortunate globe-trotting Millennial, my savings were often spent on trips around Europe and beyond where I could surround myself with new cultures, experiences, and people. I was addicted to travel in an age of commercialised backpacking which only espoused the many positives of expanding your horizons and bridging the gap between the cultures and peoples of the world. I was aware that moving to Australia meant that I was moving further away from many parts of the world I still wanted to visit, not to mention many of my loved ones, but the idea of camping was still ablaze in my mind when I set foot on this desolate and awe-inspiring continent.
