Women Who Wander: Reece Kovacs

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Women Who Wander series! I’m excited to introduce my good friend Reece and her most recent adventure. Reece and I have quite literally known each other forever. We’ve traveled together several times before, and we were actually able to meet up when we were in Australia at the same time. 

Where She Went

Last semester, she was in New South Wales, Australia, for a study-abroad program. When she had a break from classes, she took a 20-day trip to Queensland. She started in Cairns, then made her way to Beerwah, Noosa Heads, Byron Bay, and Brisbane. She stayed in a variety of accommodations and enjoyed them all. 

Her Reccomendations

• The Australia Zoo in Beerwah 
• The Great Barrier Reef in Cairns 
• Fairy Pools in Noosa Heads 
• Cairns Aquarium
• Fitzroy Island in Cairns 

Challenges She Faced

The biggest challenge she faced during her trip was all the traveling between cities. All she had with her was her backpack and carry-on, but she said it felt like so much with all the different forms of transportation she had to take. She took a lot of trains and buses, but they did not always show up on time. Oddly enough, she said that flights were the easiest part about traveling during this trip even though she gets flying anxiety. 

Her Favorite Memories

The highlight of her trip was Irwin Day at the Australia Zoo. In fact, she had planned her whole trip around it. She has been obsessed with the Irwins forever, so this was a really special experience for her. She described the moment before Robert Irwin came out for the Croc Show as surreal. She said the old intro to Crocodile Hunter was playing, and the crowd just started going crazy. 

Another moment she carries with her from the trip is waiting at a bus stop one day with an older woman. The bus had failed to show up on time, but she ended up talking to the woman for about an hour. The reason this moment stuck with her is because the woman resembled her grandmother, who had recently passed away. She also spoke like her. She described the experience as serendipitous. 

What She Learned

This trip helped Reece become less anxious when approaching new things. It taught her valuable problem-solving skills, and she learned that sometimes you just have to throw money at a situation, especially if it’s an emergency. 

Her Advice

Reece’s advice is to make the plan, execute the plan, prepare for the plan to go off the rails, throw it away, and make a new plan. She had planned this trip down to the very second. Some things worked out great, like her accommodations, but some things happened that were out of her control. However, she had planned for the unexpected, which ended up helping her a ton. 

Reece, thank you for letting me share your travels in the land down under. I can’t wait to see what other adventures the future has in store for you!

Thank you so much for reading. In case you missed my last Women Who Wander post, you can click here to read it!