I haven’t been on a holiday in over two years. This really unfortunate situation happened across the world, which made it impossible for anyone to travel both nationally and internationally. So, I’ve been stuck in the suburb of Malvern for far too long. We were finally given the all-clear to travel nationally a couple of months ago, and so I booked a holiday with my boyfriend straight away. We’ve literally been counting down the days for months.

Because (up until four hours ago) we were driving up to Airlie Beach, we’ve spent the last week getting our car ready for the journey. Just five days ago when we thought we’d still be going away, we got a car service in the Glen Iris area to make sure our car was working properly. It’s a very long drive from Melbourne to Airlie Beach, so we wouldn’t want anything going wrong with our car. Nothing was going to get in the way of our trip, or stop us from arriving in record time…. Except for another unfortunate situation occurring.

I just can’t believe how quickly things change. This time last week I was booking waterfall tours and island adventures. Everything seemed so normal. I had literally no idea that less than 72 hours before our holiday it would be made illegal for us to travel. I’m so upset. You think this wouldn’t still be a problem after two years. Why haven’t we figured out any sort of solution for this unfortunate situation? Will I ever feel comfortable visiting a mechanic in Glen Iris again? Or will I always doubt that no matter what work they do and how safe my car is, I won’t be able to take it anywhere out of the state? It’s just a joke.

I wonder if I’ll ever be able to go on my holiday. Will I get to travel around Australia with the love of my life? Will we ever experience the rite-of-passage of backpacking around the world together? Or are we stuck here forever?