The benefits of 'settling down'.

                                                                                                                   20/07/15 - 22:26

The four week mark has come as rapidly as I expected it to be. The 'Holiday Feeling' of moving to a new country has faded away, also as expected. I must admit I haven't been outside the city yet and I can imagine that seeing kangaroos and koala's will definitely bring this feeling back. Hopefully I get the see the jolly jumpers somewhere in the next 2-3 weeks. Other additional benefits of 'getting settled' are the regulation of expenses, routine and personal development. 

      Sunset at Albert Park

Regulation of expenses speaks for it self. I do groceries like normal people do, I make my morning Single Estate Nicaraguan Juan Santa María in my Cup2Go (Cheap version of KeepCup, you may judge) and I sneak in some cookies from time to time. Routine involves working casual days in the office and F&B shifts around that, on top of that come after work runs, Tuesday Taekwondo, and beers in the weekends. 

                                                           Street art at Hozier Lane

As a person who is driven by change and novelty routine always seemed like the end of days to me. But routine brings me to the last benefit of getting settled: personal development. In my routine I devote most of my time to soaking up information at my internship and that has shown me new skills and opened many new doors already. Furthermore I have adapted a fairly new life-style to support this devotion; I've become decently healthy. Routine allows me to focus on a few things only and that is showing results.

Deli Shop at the Queen Victoria Markers

Back in the Netherlands my life support existed of beer, pizza, kebab and occasionally a ready-made salad. Only once or twice a week me or my room mate would gather the energy to get of to couch to make a decent pasta or risotto, grabbing a beer from the 'beerfridge' on the way to the kitchen. Throw in a few nights of going out a week and you'll have the recipe for a pretty neat student life; I loved it. 

Carlton Gardens on a cold winter morning

As mentioned earlier I love change. Changing from the laid-back student life to the hard-working office life doesn't make a difference in that. Thus far I haven't thought a single moment of missing the 'lazy life', I might do in the future. I suppose that, for me personally, development is hugely boosted when I am challenged and thrown in the deep. On top of that change will keep me excited. Sounds a bit like a formula for a 'happy life' doesn't it? I'll see how I feel about that in a week or two. 

Iconic CBD at nightfall