Hi, I’m Paetin and at the age of 18 I decided it was time for me to start making the rules to my life and actually start living. Growing up in the US you’re raised a certain way by your parents; school, sports, college, job, family.. its the all American dream that I definitely didn’t want to be apart of. It was hard growing up in a small town where everyone knew your business and other parents wanting to keep you in line and everyone having the same goal of being the best athlete, the smartest kid in school blah blah blah. Let me just say that some kids peaked in high school and for me well, life just keeps on giving. Senior year was probably the hardest year for me I didn’t have a lot of things figured out literally nothing. While everyone was busy applying for scholarships I was just looking for new places on the map. I never knew I wanted to travel until one of my teachers sent me an email about a trip to Scandinavia and of course I thought how cool I’m going! So that was basically the only thing I was looking forward to besides graduating and when graduation was right around the corner I started looking for ways to travel and make money and stumbled upon au pairing which I had never heard before and I could go all over the world but a few people I knew had gone to Australia and I thought it must be safe. A few days before graduation my school does this thing every year where everyone gathers in the gym and they say where everyone is going to college, military, work, and my friend Emma and I were the last ones to be announced of going the furthest away Emma was going to Mexico to live her sun kissed dream and me to Australia I had never gotten so many awful and excited faces. Everyone told me I would fail which only made me want to prove them wrong. That summer I spent a few weeks in Europe and the rest with my mom in California before reality would hit me that I would be leaving and not sure when I would be back. A one way ticket is a scary thing at such a young and naive age especially when I thought my whole life had already been planned out. My family didn’t really know what to think some of them were happy and others confused on why I would throw my life away but it was simple to me. Ive always wanted to learn cultures, lifestyles, foods, life hacks, geography, literally everything by living through it and not by sitting at a desk reading a book. I always remember seeing the Sydney opera house in my school book and thinking how beautiful it was and when I saw it for the first time in person it took my breath away and continues to every time. The things I’ve learned and overcome at such a young age is so much more than an overpriced college book.