Blogger: Abbey Little

Program: CISabroad – Newcastle, Australia

Opportunity cost (noun): the loss of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.

I have been educated on the concept of opportunity cost in courses like economics, but I tend to overlook the real-life application of the matter. My experiences in Australia so far have given me an authentic insight on what an opportunity cost truly entails. I would like to defend this concept and preface my explanation by saying that choosing one alternative over another is not necessarily a negative action. However, the reality of it is absolute.

It was obvious that I would be sacrificing some parts of my everyday life when I made the decision to pack up and come to Australia for a year. I would miss celebrations such as birthdays, holidays, and graduations. I would miss family, friends, and all the familiar faces I encounter in a week’s time. Ultimately, I was sacrificing familiarity and comfort for an unexplored world full of excitement.

Melbourne, Australia

Throughout the month of April, I was fortunate enough to do some traveling in southern Australia. I visited Melbourne, which is a lively city booming with art.

From there, I traveled to Tasmania, which is easily the most picturesque place I have ever been to. Worlds could never truly describe the sense of happiness that Tasmania gave me, and pictures will always fail to capture the true beauty of it.

While in Tasmania, I was given back a little piece of joy that I had sacrificed to come abroad – a group of friends and I rented a car. That may sound silly, but constantly checking bus times to get around and hauling groceries from bus stops across campus is far from appealing. The fear of driving on the opposite side of the road from the right side of the car was masked by pure excitement. There were two groups of us, with four to each car. We all agreed to take turns driving, respectively.

The morning of our first full day in Tassie (Tasmania) rolled around, and it was my turn to get behind the wheel. I would be driving the first two hours of our four-hour road trip to a destination in northeastern Tasmania know as the Bay of Fires. From there, we would head south back towards our AirBnB in Cremorne and make a stop at Wineglass Bay for sunset, then return home for the night.

The sun was not properly risen as I pulled out of the driveway, and there was an eerie mist amongst the mountains. We were finally in control of where we would go. Josh and Josh made themselves comfortable in the backseat as I passed the aux cord to my trustee and co-pilot, Elena. we were on our way.

A sense of freedom was upon us. The boys both dozed off in the backseat as the sun began to come over the caps of the mountains on our right. Ahead, I could see a wall of fog, but did not think much of it. Within minutes, I was driving up a mountain through a thick cloak of fog. The road was demanding that I take sharp, slow turns. Eventually, I hit a patch of unpaved highway. The sense of accomplishment after getting through that drive was sublime. I have been given the opportunity to drive again; I was in control. That privilege had been absent from my life for months.

Our journey continued, and we had the glory of properly seeing Tasmania by means of the most outstanding road trip I have ever taken part of. Ever since, I seem to dread public transportation a little more, but again, I remember that I will get to be in control of my direction again someday. The privilege of driving daily was something I sacrificed by studying abroad in Australia. This sacrifice along has led me to the most glorious days I’ve had the chance of living. I have been in the land down under for approximately three months now, and I have come to the realization that I have indeed sacrificed a lot of normality since my arrival. Nevertheless, I would not trade any experience I’ve had for its alternative. I can confidently say the payoff of each opportunity cost I’ve encountered has been well worth it.

Cheers! xx

Abbey