An Unforgettable Experience (revised 3)+final

    Away from the hustling and bustling urban city life in Taipei city, this summer, as a backpacker, I traveled  to Australia with my friends. During our journey, we paid visits to major cities along the eastern coast of Australia--- Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney. 
    Each city has its extraordinary features and attractions so it is without a doubt that memories for each city are precious to me: Brisbane is a city with carefree ambiance. Residents there lead a slow pace of life. I admire them a lot because they know how to live life to the fullest and they are able to be in the moment to enjoy their life; Gold Coast is a remarkable resort and getaway for both Aussies and travelers. The time you get there, you will be stunned by the pristine coastline and soon you will fall in love with Gold Coast--- the blue clear sky and turquoise ocean water. It is like a paradise to lads and ladies and people of all ages; Melbourne is a city of British culture. Walking on the streets of Melbourne city, you will have a sudden illusion of being in Europe; Lastly, Sydney is renowned worldwide for its Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge adjacent to which. Briefly speaking, in my point of view, Sydney is the most lively city amongst the four I visited due to the fact that it is fused with numerous foreign cultures. However, of these four cities, I would like to mention Melbourne particularly, mainly because it was not on our list initially. Now, you might be curious about how it appeared as one of our destinations in our itinerary. The fact is that the first week we arrived in Brisbane, it rained all day long. For several days, we could just hang around in the downtown, which, compared to that of the other cities, is relatively petite. To be frank, we got a little bored and I remembered my friends and I were busying in looking for where to visit another day in the travel guides. Then someone in the hostel suggested that we should go to Melbourne. He said it was a worth visiting and great city, remarkable for its buildings and culture influenced by the British colonization. Impressed by his awesome illustration of Melbourne, we thought ensued, "Why not take the chance, since we have flown a long way from the north to the south hemisphere?"
    We booked a flight to Melbourne immediately because budget flying tickets fluctuated every moment, which meant if you hesitated for a second, the time you decided to book the ticket, the price might be twice as much as that of the previous one. On grounds of the budget, we booked the tickets on the spot but here came the problem---- we did not book our accommodation for one more night beforehand, which meant we had no place to stay that night! Most important of all, we were on a tight budget and generally speaking, it cost a lot if we intended to stay for just one night, in whatever hotels. As a result, thinking of a way that is low-cost and accessible, we came up with the idea of sleeping at the airport! It seemed like a crazy idea because there were risks hidden behind: we did not know what would happen and we had to pay attention to our properties in case of being stolen. What's more, we would not have a good sleep because we had to take turns to heed on our luggage at night. After a long discussion, we ultimately made up our mind to take a chance to stay over at the airport.

    The day before transferring flight from Brisbane to Melbourne, we waited for a long time at the domestic airport, watching travelers come and go. Until late at night, only me, my friends and less than five travelers like us remained in the airport, other than that, no more. People were gone, stores were closed and the desolate small domestic airport seemed vast to me at the moment. A sense of loneliness suddenly swept over. In the midnight, we took a rest in turn. Sleeping on the chairs made my back ache. Without a doubt, I did not sleep well and was waken up by the lousy noise of cleaning machines in the morning. However, to my astonishment, sleeping at the airport was not that horrible and terrible as I preconceived before. Actually, it was quite a special experience for me! After all, my friends and I saved a bunch of money on fares and accommodation so I guessed it was a good bargain--- backache and headache for a one-night shelter at the airport!

    From this unforgettable experience--- a stay-over at the airport, I realize sometimes no matter how carefully we make our plans, things just turn out differently. Plans can never keep up with changes. All I need to do is learn to flow with tides and take every possibility with an open mind. In that way, whatever condition I am in, I can deal with it calmly. These surprising and inevitable episodes will always pop out in the middle of nowhere and sometimes we will feel frustrated when our well-planned schedules are messed up. Yet, it is what makes life interesting, isn’t it? Without these abrupt challenges and surprises, we would lead a monotonous plain life and would not know how to appreciate the beautiful essences of our life. Try to embrace and deal with every possibility that comes across to us as they nourish us into better human beings! Hooray!