Goodbye 2010

2010 was an emotional roller coaster that took me on a ride I will never forget – from the happiest point of my life, to the saddest, to finding a happy medium, let’s take a look at how the year unfolded…

I rang in the New Year at no other than the happiest place on earth; Disney World. At the time, I was interning with Disney and working at Cirque du Soleil’s, La Nouba which is located at Downtown Disney. Although I had no family close by, I had a bunch of people surrounding me that I love and care for and that had grown to be my family away from home.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried more in my lifetime than I did in 2010. I blame this over-productive tear year on goodbyes. I may come across as the big tough tomboy, but as soon as it comes time to say goodbye to someone I’ve grown fond of, it’s water works galore. This year was a series of goodbyes; goodbyes to friends who finished up their internship before me, goodbye to friends and colleagues that went on to broaden their horizons, goodbye when it was my turn to leave… you get the drift. It wasn’t all goodbyes, however, there were those little shimmers of sunshine that were, in fact, hellos; hellos to new friendships…

I celebrated my 24^th birthday; my first ever away from home and my family!

And was lucky enough to witness what some can only dream about in their lifetime. At 6:21am on Monday, April 5, 2010, Space Shuttle Discovery Launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida and I was there to witness the last night time shuttle launch ever in Florida! It really was incredible…

I became friends with some of the most amazing people from all over the world…

And then had tearful celebrations with them before they left to go back home…

During a two week Cirque dark period, I took a trip to Akron, Ohio with Bryan to visit his amazing family…

I successfully graduated from the Disney International College Program J1 Internship three months before I even finished my program because that’s the only time they could fit us in…

And after not having seen my parents in 10 months, they missed me so much they just couldn’t help but fly all the way over from Melbourne, Australia to Orlando, Florida to visit (but really, who could blame them?)…

Just after the parental unit left me, I was blessed with another delivery from back home, this time, it was a bunch of my mates who flew up for a visit…

I witnessed the prettiest fireworks display of my life at Disney’s Magic Kingdom in which I cried my eyes out because it was just so magical and beautiful I didn’t know what else to do…

And made the four hour drive down south to the spectacular South Beach, Miami…

After an amazing 12 months, my last few days of being a Disney World employee were drawing near so we had one last dinner together…

And then, of course, was my final shift ever at Cirque du Soleil. I’m really not sure I’ve ever cried so much in my life. I’m lucky I was still able to communicate with all the guests coming through…

But they weren’t able to get rid of me that easily. The end of my program called for yet another crazy Miami party…

Followed by a five day Royal Caribbean cruise to The Bahamas…

And because I couldn’t bare to part them just yet, we took a whirlwind trip to Vegas before I said a final good bye and flew out from Los Angeles back to Melbourne, Australia…

<Insert five weeks of boredom and depression here where I looked day in day out for a job and spent most of those days crying because I missed the life and everyone I left behind in Orlando so, so much>

And that brings us to November where a quick weekend getaway was scheduled to Sydney to reunite with the same group of Aussie friends that flew up to visit me while I was working at Disney…

And of course to Christmas Day where, although I missed the amazing Christmas I had last year at Disney I celebrated happily with my wonderful family right here, at home, in Melbourne, Australia.

You’ll be happy to know I did find a job and stopped the daily crying episodes. This doesn’t mean I stopped missing my Disney family, I just learned to deal with it. Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Facetime, Kik and Viber helped me find my happy medium.

2010 Cities Visited:

• Orlando, Florida – USA
• Naples, Florida – USA
• Akron, Ohio – USA
• Cleveland, Ohio – USA
• Miami, Florida – USA
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida – USA
• Coco Cay, The Bahamas
• Nassau, The Bahamas
• Las Vegas, Nevada – USA
• Sydney, New South Wales – Australia

Where will 2011 take me?

I’m hoping to spend some time in either May or June back in Orlando, FL to visit all my amazing friends over there and we’re hoping to fit in another trip to Vegas and to Los Angeles and Anaheim to visit Disneyland within that same trip.

Also hoping to go to Singapore for work related purposes!

I’ve always wanted to experience a white Christmas, so I’m thinking maybe Christmas in New York City and then back to Orlando, FL for New Years! This one is a little far fetched though, but who knows… anything can happen…
.

Here’s to hoping 2011 is a safe and prosperous year for you all!

Bring it on, baby!
.
.

If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read this year, ‘like’ Live Travel Blog on Facebook to stay up to date with fresh, new content in 2011!

.

.

.

.