G’day everybody.
I’m think I’m starting to feel settled in Melbourne now. What exactly do I mean by settled? Well I have a bed, a dresser, a desk that I built from a pallet that I found in my neighbourhood and a cast iron pan. I know where the nearest grocery store, liquor store (don’t worry Mom, just to buy cooking wine) and train station are. I am able to bike to work without having to stop and Google my next step and I’ve only gotten lost once while out on a run. I might even have a few friends!
Yes, that’s right, I said “my neighbourhood” in the previous paragraph. Meaning I have a place to live that isn’t a hotel. Finding a place to live was not a very enjoyable process, but keeping in mind that I only spent 9 nights in the hotel I consider myself lucky. Going into the process I knew that I didn’t want to live alone, meaning that I had two options: move in with someone looking to fill a vacancy in their home or group up with other people looking to share a place. Because I didn’t know anybody else who was looking for a place to live, I focused on finding a place with a vacancy. I ended up spending a LOT of time on various roommate-finding websites the week leading up to my move and the first several days in Melbourne.
A sneak peek of my suburb, Cremorne.
I ended up looking at 3 places, all with very different vibes: Do I want to sacrifice privacy to save money and be the fourth roommate in a cozy spot? Do I want to share a small flat with a social media professional/food blogger? Or do I want a home with more space, more character and two outdoor areas? Before I tell you which I chose, I want to explain the process. When I went to go see these homes, it wasn’t simply a tour. Of course I was looking at the place and determining whether I could see myself living there. However, it felt like some sort of fusion of a first date and a job interview. In each situation, everyone involved was doing what they could to learn everything they could about the unknown party. “Is this dude normal? Can I see myself chilling with him? Will he do his dishes consistently? Will he judge me if I spend a Friday night with a pint of ice cream and a pile of chick flicks?” Anyway, after seeing the third place that I described, there was no question that was where I wanted to live. At that point, it was just a matter of hoping he would call me back, which propagated the feeling that this was a first date.
““I hope he liked me!” I thought despairingly as I kept my gaze locked on my cell phone awaiting Alex’s call. Every second that passed was another second to think about what I could’ve done better during our meeting. “Does he know how funny I am? Maybe I should call him and tell him a joke…no, that may be a bit much. Would it be weird to offer to do his laundry for a month if he picks me?” Finally the phone rang and my heart leapt. It was Alex and he asked me to be his housemate – of course I said yes!”
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t quite that dramatic. Or was it? You might not be shocked to learn that it is extremely boring to live in a hotel room. This is especially true when all you want to do is move in somewhere so that you can stop navigating the explosion of suitcases that is your hotel room floor when you move 9,600 miles.
Alex, my housemate, is a really good guy. We've been getting along great so far. He's a 29 year old Australian who run a small private physio (physical therapy) business and practices as a physio a couple of afternoons each week. I'm excited to hang with him more and get to know him better.
My suburb is called Cremorne, which is very small. I tell locals that I live in the south part of Richmond because many people aren’t familiar with Cremorne. Surrounding my home is a warehouse district with quite a few warehouse buildings that have been converted to apartments or offices. It’s pretty quiet outside of business hours but only a 5 minute walk east to Chapel Street and a 10 minute walk north to Swan Street, both of which are filled with cafes, pubs and restaurants. Not far to the west are Melbourne’s largest and most famous sports arenas, Rod Laver Arena (home of the Australian Open) and the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground, host of cricket and Australian Rules Football matches), as well as the gorgeous Royal Botanic Gardens. To the South is the Yarra River, which cuts right through the CBD (Central Business District). There’s a bike path that runs along the river that I take to get to the office. It’s an absolutely lovely 20 minute ride – sometime I will take a video of the ride so that I can share it.
Allow me to give you a very brief tour. I only took photos of a couple of rooms but we also have a living room, an office, a family room and a deck. Here’s what the kitchen/dining room that leads to the patio looks like:
And here’s my bedroom:
And here’s what I was doing on my balcony before writing this:
Now that I’m feeling settled in Melbourne, I’m working on getting to know the city as well as getting some adventures on the books. The latter may take a little while because work is busy with go-live coming soon but after that I hope to get the chance to go on some trips. I will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Ben