November has been an unpredictable and stressful but ultimately rewarding month! I barely spent any of it in New York City, because I spent three weeks in Australia, getting my working visa for the US. I mentioned last month that I was super stressed about this, and I’m so glad to report that I’ve finally got my visa and am back in New York.
I flew to Perth, Australia for my visa appointment at the US consulate, and waited for my visa to arrive in Melbourne. I loved catching up with my friends in Melbourne while I waited! There were some delays, so I ended up having time to go to Brisbane for a few days too, so I was lucky to be able to see my family too.
Highlights
- I got my US working visa! I’ve officially moved to New York and started working. All my dreams have come true this month. David & I celebrated with drinks at Balthazar and Peppi’s Cellar, some of my favourite bars in downtown Manhattan.
- My family’s visit at the start of the month. I loved seeing them and showing them around.
- I love my new job. There’s so much to do and I’ll be working much longer hours, but I’m so excited about the team & company I’m joining.
- Visiting Perth for the first time. I only visited because it has the US Consulate with the shortest wait time for a visa appointment, and despite it being very expensive to get to, I loved Perth and will definitely explore more of WA when I’m back in Australia.
- Spending time back in Melbourne. I lived in Melbourne for 4 years, and this is where most of my friends live. My heart grew about three sizes when I caught up with my friends and former colleagues, and I loved getting about a million hugs in the short time I was there. I adore Melbourne & the people in it.
- A surprise trip back to Brisbane. Once my visa had been delayed due to an annoying admin requirement, I had a few extra days in Australia. By this time, my family had returned from the US, so I visited them in Brisbane for a couple of days while I waited for my visa.
- Upgrading to Business Class on my Qantas flight from Melbourne – Los Angeles (14 hours). It cost 98,000 Qantas points and it was worth it! My 14 hour flight felt 10x shorter than my second flight, which was a 5 hour Economy flight from LA – NYC ( I didn’t have enough points for both).
- Being back in New York and knowing I don’t have to leave any time soon. I’m so excited to finish decorating our apartment!
Lowlights
- The long & frustrating road to getting my visa. I’m SO glad it worked out in the end, but there were some really pointless and unexpected delays, which were very frustrating. At times, it felt like it was never going to come together and there were many frustration tears during this process. My heart goes out to people who struggle to get a visa with higher stakes – for example, if their loved ones are permanently in another country or they feel they need to leave their own.
- I missed most of my family’s trip to the USA. This was a major disappointment, but I couldn’t control my visa timelines. Fortunately I had four days with them in NYC.
3 Weeks in Australia
I did a mini tour of Australia, spending time in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. I loved visiting Perth for the first time, and had so much fun catching up with friends and family in Melbourne and Brisbane. I also got to check out a few new restaurants and bars in both cities which opened since I left. I’ve already written a post about my trip to Perth, more on my trips to Melbourne and Brisbane soon!
NYC with my family
It was so much fun showing my family around New York! Some of my favourite moments were trawling Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg, visiting the Eldridge St Synagogue, exploring Central Park, dinner at Da Nico in Little Italy, a night out with my sister at my favourite bars in Nolita and eating knishes from Yonnah Shimmel’s in Elizabeth St Garden.
I wish I could have been there for their whole trip, but I am so grateful for the time we did have together!
Thanksgiving
I was back in New York just in time for Thanksgiving, so we went to the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. It was super crowded, so we only got a few glimpses of the floats from a distance, but it was still fun. We had breakfast bagels from Ess-A-Bagel after the parade, which was the perfect welcome back to New York. The next day, we celebrated the end of my first working week with a drink at Balthazar, one of the first nice restaurants we went to in the city on our first visit, five years ago.
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