It's a match!

by Fernanda Olivera (Peru)

A leap into the unknown Australia

It’s July of 2018 and a big swell just arrived, bringing passionate and extremely hot -like the weather- surfers from all over the world. The island is flooded with happiness, you can hear “Bagus” and “Terimakasih” everywhere you go. Yes, you guessed correctly: I’m in Bali! And as much as I had been here three times before, this felt like the first. Why? Because, for once, I was single! So, like any other young, single girl in Bali I opened up my Tinder account (don’t judge me) to check on what I had missed the previous times. It took me about 10 seconds to give my first swipe right and BAM! It’s a match! So this is how I met Jesse, the cute surfer boy from Port Campbell, a small coastal town of less than 200 people located in The Great Ocean Road of Australia. Actually, I should rephrase this statement. This is not how I met Jesse, because we didn’t actually meet on this occasion. We had the worst timing ever, as he had just left for a surftrip to neighbour island Sumbawa at the time I was in Bali. So, we never met. Sad story. The end. Did you buy that? Naah, of course this didn’t end here! Although it’s true that we didn’t meet in Bali, we kept in touch after I had returned to Australia to start a new job placement. Did I mention that I live in Australia too? Yep, coincidence much huh? But, at that time, I was living on the Gold Coast, very far away from him. However, thanks to Tinder, Instagram and WhatsApp we managed to communicate everyday and grow our “friendship”. We had a crazy, inexplicable connection that made no sense since we had never seen each other’s faces, not even on FaceTime! And talking about crazy, I decided to embark on an adventure way outside of my comfort zone, a leap into the unknown, a local connection and something -or someone- that I didn’t expect to find. One day, out of the blue, I bought a ticket to Melbourne, the closest city/airport to Jesse’s hometown. When I told him about this, he didn’t believe me. He thought I was crazy, but the good type of crazy (I hope). A few months later, I arrived in Melbourne and, the next thing I know, is that I am on a 4-hour train headed to Port Campbell, alone and hangover, about to meet this mystery man whom I had been talking to for the past 10 months. I can’t even put into words how excited but nervous I was on my way there. I started to question myself and my decisions… am I really crazy for doing this? What if I don’t like him? What if HE doesn’t like me?! Some of my friends even told me he might kidnap me… But I had already made up my mind, there was no turning back. I arrived at the station and he was standing there, waiting for me with his big, beautiful smile. I know this is probably going to sound fake, but as soon as we saw each other, it was as if we had known each other personally this whole time. I stayed one week at his house with him and his lovely mother, both whom made me feel like home at all times. We did The Great Ocean Road together, showing me the Twelve Apostles and all the little spots which only the locals know. Needless to say we had a massive party on our last day together at the local town pub. I’m still in shock when I remember this story, as I thought this only happened in the movies. But, after having this amazing experience, I realised that you can make this happen in your life too if you have the guts and courage to just go for it. Don’t listen to what everyone says, forget the what if’s and have no regrets. If your plan doesn’t work out, at least you will learn from it. And what is life if not a journey where you learn of everything and everyone that comes your way? Let’s live it!