"A backyard"

Well, you can certainly tell what I've been watching lately. If you didn't know, that was a quote from Doctor who, but it is surprisingly relevant to what I have to say.

Most of you should know by now that I am Australian, and one of the little things that Australians do? They call almost the entirety of the country their "backyard."

That includes myself.

I'm 17 years old. I've traveled around. I've seen baby turtles in a race for survival. I've had kangaroos on my front lawn. I've camped on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. I've walked through rain forests and cities alike. I've swum in the ocean and wandered through caves. I've encountered spiders and snakes like you'd never believe. And I think nothing of it. It is my life. To me, it is nothing special.

So when I see people from other countries stand in awe of my backyard, I sometimes have to wonder why. It reminds me that I live in a unique and amazing country, unlike any other on the planet. It brings a little of the sparkle back.

Yes, there are still things I have left to see. I need to go to Uluru, visit Broome and see the Great Australian Bight, but I know there is more to this world that Australia. There are animals I've never seen, because they don't put them in zoos. Foxes, squirrels and raccoon. I've never seen them IRL. To me, these creatures are amazing and foreign. I want to go see them, but for now I can't. And that's not even mentioning the lack of snow here.

Well, there is snow. You can go skiing in Australia, during our winter, in the few select places it snows. But it's decently far away from where I live. About 1000km. To put that in perspective, that's the about the distance between London and Monaco. A little too far for my liking.

But still, I sit here and think, how cool would it be to see a fox or a squirrel.

Because Australia is my backyard, my home. It is special to me for this reason alone. Kangaroos and koalas are normal and squirrels and foxes are foreign creatures of mystery and wonder.

Yeah, it sounds strange, but that's what it's like to live your life in Australia. It's not foreign or strange or amazing. It's home.