Hippie Yoga Paradise - New Friends Included

DAY: 9
LOCATION: Sydney, Byron

After visiting Australia’s two largest cities, I craved a change of pace. Melbourne and Sydney had been a great kickoff to the trip, with awesome food, plenty of sights, and the new boy, but I was ready for something quieter. A place where I could go deeper inside myself, connect a little more to source. Heal the physical and the spiritual. Like a vegetarian yoga homestead at Byron Bay.

First, though, I had to check out with Janet, which meant getting my deposit back for the keys. She wasn’t answering texts or her bedroom door, so I looked for her in the kitchen area, dark and creepy as ever. On the balcony under the drapes I spotted a pair of feet.

“Janet?” my voice cracked, as if this might be a horror film and she might be wielding a knife.

No response. I made my way past the boxes posing as furniture, and pulled back the curtain.

“AGHH!!” a bespectacled Chinese kid in his boxers leapt up and grabbed the curtain shut.

“I’m so sorry, I was, uh, looking for Janet?” I stuttered. Who was this random guy? Why was he in his boxers??

“She just went out to run an errand,” he reappeared in pants. “She’ll be back in a minute.” Behind him was a whole living arrangement, complete with bed. Janet had a roommate on the balcony and I hadn’t even known! Oh well, as long as he wasn’t an axe murderer.

She returned a few minutes later, and we completed the transaction. She wished me a safe journey, and I wished her a good engineering career. And with that, I headed back to Newtown to spend my last morning in Sydney.

I couldn’t really explore, with my luggage and backpack weighing me down, but I could enjoy a latte at Campos Coffee. It was a total 180 from Gumption. The guy next to me read Voltaire, an old man gazed thoughtfully out the window, two women in yoga gear discussed prana, not one person wore a suit. I pulled out my notebook and journaled.

If I hadn’t already been sold on Newtown, lunch at Superfood Sushi sealed the deal. I got there right as it opened at 11, the only customer at that early hour. The combo with Mad About Yuzu and Tofu for You rolls was exceptional, but it was the service that really impressed me. The manager brought over a green smoothie on the house and sat down and chatted as if we were old friends. I told him about my seeking, he showed me his art, we followed each other on Insta (@jamymadison, @genius1genius1genius1). I even broke the No Facebook Rule I’d concocted with my therapist by checking in and raving about the experience.* It was the perfect Sydney send off.

Well, almost. As I called the Uber for the airport, David the producer messaged me asking for a synopsis on one of their projects. I instantly felt nauseous. The last time I’d done this sort of writing assignment was at UCLA in 2010. My perfectionist nerves fired on all cylinders. What if I do it wrong? What if it’s not what he wants? What if he thinks I’m a moron? This was the exact opposite type of thinking I wanted to bring to Byron Bay. I knew what I had to do – finish it on the plane.

I didn’t, but I got close. And a funny thing happened as I started writing – I really enjoyed it. As soon as I got past that initial fear of judgment and just did the damn thing, it became fun. A challenging puzzle to be solved, not a test of my self-worth. On the shuttle into town I wondered how many puzzles still lay in pieces due to my fear of what people might think.

“I used to live on this street, nice neighborhood,” the driver reminisced as he dropped me off. He’d spent his whole life in Byron and had no intention of ever leaving. I couldn’t imagine that, but I guess if you live in paradise, why leave? He helped me with my bag, and I hauled it to the backyard, per the hostess’ instructions.

It looked like paradise indeed. Tropical plants overflowing onto the walkway, a yoga studio with wall to wall glass doors, Buddhist sculptures, a wild turkey. It wasn’t fancy, but it was serene and teeming with life.

The door was open, so I stepped inside. A super cute dark-haired girl came bounding in from the hallway, followed by a tall pretty blonde.

“You must be Amy. I’m India, this is Alex, we’re also guests,” she smiled. “Follow me, I’ll show you your room.”

It was a quarter the size of my room in Ultimo, with a lumpy twin bed, but it opened onto the patio and was splashed with color. I could not have been happier.

Especially when I started talking to the girls. They were getting ready to go out for the evening, putting on makeup and styling their hair, but that did not stop us from a deep dive. While Alex was more of the rational, big sister type, India was a closet conspiracy theorist.

“I know this all sounds crazy Alex, but I swear there are other dimensional beings!” We were talking about Law of One, which I’d just started reading. This was going to be a fun few days.

They left, and the hostesses arrived shortly after. Jenny, a statuesque hippie goddess in her 60s, owned the house, and Samantha, a gorgeous Italian Canadian with a mane of dark curls, was her assistant. Talk about a house full of feminine energy! Jenny greeted me with a loving embrace, the kind you get from your favorite aunt, then turned me over to Samantha for the tour.

After learning the house rules, I threw on a swimsuit, grabbed a towel, and walked the half mile to the ocean. The weather forecast showed rain the next three days, and I wanted to soak up the sun while it shone.

The beach was breathtaking. The wide belt of white sand stretched for miles in either direction, soft blue waters lapped at the shore, massive thunderheads threatened far off in the distance. Only a few other witnesses walked along the expanse. I chose a spot to post up and clear my mind. The vastness and quietude of the space made it much easier than usual.

I stayed until the clouds took over the sun. On the way home I grabbed some groceries at the store. The prices for organics were pretty steep, but doable. It’d only been a couple hours, and already I was plotting my move to Byron.

I ate dinner and finished the synopsis in the living room. Samantha joined me on the couch, and shared her story. She was my age, 31, and originally from Toronto, where she’d worked various jobs and lived a life that wasn’t fulfilling her. One of those jobs was a pole dance instructor, which she loved, but it wasn’t enough. I felt connected to her already.**

Then, she decided to do something drastic: she got rid of her apartment, sold off her things, and went backpacking in India for a year with her boyfriend James (the similarities were piling up!). They broke up halfway through, and she ventured out on her own, completing her yoga teacher training at Dharmasala. Not wanting to return to Toronto, she headed to Australia, where she’d been living for over a year.

“Wow, that’s so inspiring,” I looked at her in admiration. “I’ve been getting into Hinduism, reading the Bhagavad Gita and going to the Self Realization Fellowship in LA. I would love to go to India, but I’m afraid to go alone.”

“Oh, it’s safe, you can do it,” she replied. “But I know what you mean.”

“Is it hard being so far from your family and friends?” I asked. “Because I’ve also been thinking about moving abroad.”

“Yes and no. Sometimes it’d be nice to be closer. Like, I missed a friend’s wedding last summer. But honestly, I’m on such a different path from my family now. We just don’t really relate to each other. I feel more at home here.”

We talked for a little while longer before calling it a night. Something about her made me feel slightly intimidated – her beauty? her sense of self? her experience? – but also very attracted to her. She was living proof that I could completely change the direction of my life if I wanted to, that I could actually move somewhere like Byron. But was that what I wanted? I had a feeling the next few days were going to be very instructive.

• Okay, so maybe there was one rule to the trip. It sounds more extreme than it is. I have a lot of addictions – sugar, exercise, men, cell phone - but Facebook is not one of them. At most I post or check it a few times a week. I don’t even have the app on my phone (although more for privacy purposes). But my therapist and I agreed it would be healthy to get off it altogether while traveling so I could stay as present as possible and not monitor my experience through likes and comments. Also why I’m posting this blog after the fact and not during as I did with 40 Dates.

** I love pole. I wrote about it a lot in my book, and created/produced the short film Why I Dance. I’ve sort of moved away from it and towards yoga, like Sam, but it holds a special place in my heart.