My husband and I were married four years before we had our daughter and had never taken a separate vacation, nor a business trip, alone until our daughter was eight months old. At that time, the company my husband worked for was sending many of their employees to Australia in shifts of two weeks. We were to be separated for how long? But he had to go and he wanted his new family with him. I, on the other hand, was not thrilled with taking our baby on a twenty-two hour flight to a different time zone for just fourteen days. So we compromised; we both flew to California, first for a two-week vacation and then he took his flight to Australia and I stayed with my sister in Hayward. After all, it was only going to be for two weeks.

Two weeks later he was convincing me to fly Down Under because the company had extended everyone’s stay for an indefinite time and he wanted us with him. No more missing us. We also both felt quite sad that our daughter learned to walk on the very day she turned ten months old and he missed her first steps.

The first month and a half in Melbourne were quite upsetting for me. My baby developed severe “nappy” rash because she was allergic to the baby food and the chemicals in the diapers. I was unable to make her food so she had to eat pre-made baby food . We were living in a tiny apartment with a tiny crib that barely fit in the bedroom. Though the Australian people were, and are, some of the friendliest in the world, I was miserable and did not want for my daughter to celebrate her first birthday in a different country without any family members present. We flew home. I was determined not to go back.

But I did go back. My husband’s bosses promised to send diapers from the United States and also set us up in a wonderful two-bedroom apartment. They actually paid $180 to ship a package of eighty-eight diapers each time!

I used to take long walks with my daughter along the Yarra River in Melbourne. Everyone would constantly stop us and hold conversations with me just to hear my accent! How funny was that! Me! An accent!

I learned all the Australian terminology for things: flat, cooker, pram, nappy, capsicum, fillets, g’day mate, billabong, joey, and others. The thing was that living in Australia was not that much different than living in the United States. Both countries are about the same age and the city was as modern as any in the United States; smaller, but just as cosmopolitan. When it was time to go back, in November, I was not happy about it. We had adjusted to everything and had many friends.

I always remember living in Australia with much fondness. We purchased a bottle of wine that we were told would not be ready for drinking until the year 2008. I cannot believe there are only four years left!

We have not gone back since. My daughter only has pictures of her feeding kangaroos as proof that she was ever there.. that, and her stamped passport.

"All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it."
~Samuel Johnson