Friends and family more
commonly ask, “Where are you?” than “How are you?” these days, based on my
Instagram posts. I thought maybe it’s time I share what I’ve been up to over
the past few months, as well as what’s ahead.
Where am I?
I arrived back in Noosa two
days ago, after spending four days in Canberra and three in Melbourne. I didn’t
know how far south I was going to be when I booked my flights; I booked the
Gold Coast which meant I had to drive 3.5 hours prior to departure, then back
again afterwards. Before my trip to Melbourne, I felt foot-loose and fancy
free, so I gave myself a day to explore a few spots along the coast. I stopped
in at King’s Beach and South Bank in Brissy for a little looky loo and sight-seeing.
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Inside Yayoi Kusama's installation at GOMA, Brisbane |
At this very moment I’m
laying down on my king-single size bed (except it’s a little shorter in length)
in the van, my laptop screen surrounded by darkness. I would usually have dewy fairy
lights on for ambiance, but one wire snapped last week, causing mayhem across
the circuit. My left foot is itchy because a mozzie bit me while I was packing
clean dinnerware into the back slide-out cupboard.
My van is parked in the yard
of a family I now consider myself part of. We live two streets back from
Sunrise Beach in Noosa. I still can’t believe how I met them and how things
have worked out so perfectly. Prior to my arrival, I joined a Facebook group
called Noosa Community Notices or something like that. I posted an ad, I guess
you’d call it, asking whether anyone would let me park my van in their yard and
use their bathroom for a small amount of rent. My new family offered within a
few hours, and have since invited me into their home and lives with open arms. Last
night I took the 12-year-old to her dance rehearsals, and the night before
that, taught the 7-year-old how to play scrabble.
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Teaching the young chap how to play scrabble on the old board I brought up from Melbourne |
What am I doing?
It’s as though I haven’t been
working for a while now, given I only commit time to things that I really enjoy
doing. If that’s too abstract for some people to comprehend, let’s say I “work”
about 15 hours a week, if money is your preferred measuring stick. The rest of
my time gets divvyed up into helping others and doing things that make me
happy; sometimes the line between those things blur.
I usually write poems, songs
or nonsense, or produce some sort of art daily; most of which I erase or store
away. I talk to people in passing without worrying about where else I could or
should be. I only skip the beach on days when the rain is heavy; most times I
take a dip and get my hair wet and sandy. Lately I’ve been parking the van in
public places while I make lunch, which tends to intrigue those passing by. I
have given countless “tours” of my van to young and old couples who are keen to
begin their own on-road adventure. I’m getting used to hearing how “unusual” it
is for a girl to travel the country on her own.
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Inside my van, taken from the rear |
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Feeling sun-kissed and fabulous on Sunshine Beach |
Majority of those 15 hours of
“work” I mentioned are contracted out to me, based on my experience as an
educator and writer. Over the past few months, I’ve worked on projects such as
developing e-learning modules and units for schools and global online
communities, facilitating workshops to educate teachers and students, working
with young people to understand their needs and acting as an education
consultant for various organisations and departments. When I know I’m going to
stay put for a while I approach local schools to work as a casual teacher, or
offer to run my creative writing workshop with primary students. I really mean
it when I say no two days are the same; one day I’m designing the graphics for
a community garden’s road sign, and the next I’m reading words off a
Teleprompter for an educational video.
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Filming inside Stupid Old Studios in Brunswick, Melbourne |
How am I doing?
I’m happy and healthy. I’m
slowly learning how to be less critical of myself and others. I see the value
in reserving lots of time to let my instinctive creativity leak out. Without
needing to tend to house cleaning, gardening, sorting mail and bills, and all
those other mundane tasks that come with permanent residency, I have a lot of
spare time to just “be,” and base my decisions on how I feel in the moment. “Oh,
how lucky you are,” I can imagine some of you saying right now. What you
probably don’t realise is you can have a similar life if you’re prepared to
give up most of the things you currently have; secure housing, a sense of belonging,
things, so many things, community groups, a regular income…the list goes on. I’ve
worked out how to live without those things for now, but it’s certainly not a
life for everyone.
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View from inside my van, parked at Noosa Main Beach |
What’s Next?
I was recently in Canberra to
meet a group of “youth leaders” like myself who were selected to participate in
an intensive cross-cultural program funded by the Japanese government, starting
January 2018. We will arrive in Tokyo on the 17th and board an ocean
liner sailing to Sri Lanka, making brief stops in Singapore and India. There
will be 240 participants between ages 18-30 from countries such as Peru,
Mexico, Mozambique, Poland and South Africa. Over 6-weeks we will learn about
each other’s culture and perspectives on global issues.
When I return to Australia at
the beginning of March, I plan to pick up where I left off with the van, which
will be awaiting my return in Melbourne. I’ve learned not to plan too far ahead
because I’m forever changing my mind, but I’d really like to spend the remainder
of the year driving through the centre of Australia and back down the west
coast, to arrive back in Melbourne for Christmas 2018.
Next week I’ll be back in
Melbourne for another short stint of “work.” Come mid-December I’d say I’ll be
lingering around Byron. On December 30th I will be clinking glasses
with the fam in Coffs Harbour, as my big bro will be marrying his girlfriend of
12 years (or some other big number that makes people question why they’re not
already married).
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SWY30 Delegation with the Japanese Ambassador in Canberra |
PS. I know lots of you read this
because I see the stats. Don’t go through the whole rigmarole asking the
questions I’ve just answered next time me meet because you don’t want to admit
you read my posts. Be real. Let’s get deep and talk about how you’d
answer these same questions if you were given 1000 words.
Follow me on insta for regular updates @caseyhawkins_NLD