{"id":724452,"date":"2026-06-09T04:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724452\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T04:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:51:12","slug":"why-i-waited-until-almost-30-to-take-my-first-trip-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724452\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I waited until almost 30 to take my first trip overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The moment my body hit the ice-cold lake water, my breath fastened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I climbed the stairs of the jetty quickly, my lungs gasping as cold air rushed into them.<\/p>\n

My breath hung in the air like smoke.<\/p>\n

“Breathe, deep breaths, now it’s time for the sauna,” my friend said.<\/p>\n

I wrapped my towel and looked around. The lake was frozen, a hole cut into the ice where we plunged.<\/p>\n

I was a long way from my home in the Kimberley, and I couldn’t have been happier that my first time overseas was here, in Sweden.<\/p>\n

As I approached the age of 30, I longed to travel outside of Australia, but there was always an excuse, always an obstacle.<\/p>\n

Last year, however, was a turning point. I was ready to open myself up to the world.<\/p>\n

Overseas travel seemed daunting\"Molly<\/p>\n

Molly Hunt at home in the Kimberley, in WA. (Supplied: Matt Sav)<\/p>\n

Despite having seen a lot of my home country, there was always something in the way of taking the leap overseas.<\/p>\n

Work commitments. Money. Timing.<\/p>\n

There were moments I came close, like when I started a group chat with friends and said with enthusiasm that seemed like I might be serious this time, “Let’s book flights!”<\/p>\n

But I never committed.<\/p>\n

And if I’m truly honest with myself, it was fear.<\/p>\n

Overcoming anxiety to travel solo <\/a><\/p>\n

Sonia dreamed of travelling but was trapped by anxiety. In her 30s she finally decided to tackle her fear.<\/p>\n

Not necessarily fear of the world itself, but fear of how the world might see me.<\/p>\n

Would I be accepted? Was I enough? Would I be able to move through unfamiliar places with confidence?<\/p>\n

It was a quiet, deep insecurity that sat beneath everything. It wasn’t just about travel. It was about identity.<\/p>\n

So, I stayed with the idea of travel, rather than the reality.<\/p>\n

Why I finally left Australia<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s the Capricorn in me (we are known to prioritise work over leisure), but it was a work opportunity that led to my first overseas trip.<\/p>\n

I was invited by The Museum of World Culture to contribute to an exhibition in Gothenburg, Sweden.<\/p>\n

Asked to contribute to the Dreams and Power theme, I said yes without hesitation.<\/p>\n

\"Molly<\/p>\n

Molly presenting her art in Sweden. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

I created a comic format to tell an old Yolngu Dreaming Story, “Darrpa-King Brown”, a special moment to bring culture and storytelling across the ocean in this contemporary form.<\/p>\n

This felt more than opportunity, it felt like responsibility.<\/p>\n

To be invited to share a story from my culture, across the world, that carried weight.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t just about me travelling overseas. It was about carrying something with me and honouring where I come from.<\/p>\n

A second coming-of-age\"Molly's<\/p>\n

Molly’s art featured at the Swedish exhibit tells an old Yolngu Dreaming Story. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Around the same time this work opportunity presented itself, I had been going through what felt like a second coming of age.<\/p>\n

Not the kind you have in your teens, full of firsts and figuring things out for the first time \u2014 but a quieter, deeper one.<\/p>\n

The kind that comes after everything has been stripped back.<\/p>\n

I had recently been through a heartbreaking separation that tore parts of me.<\/p>\n

But that pain forced me to confront a truth: I had been trying to make something work that no longer aligned with who I was becoming. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, I lost someone I cared about. But I had gained a new understanding about myself.<\/p>\n

I felt free and was ready to put that freedom to good use.<\/p>\n

Seeing the world seemed like a great way to do that.<\/p>\n

What travel taught me\"Some<\/p>\n

Some of the icy cold waters Molly saw in Sweden. (Supplied: Molly Hunt)<\/p>\n

My fear of travel kept me at home. But after what I had been through last year, I felt almost fearless.<\/p>\n

Before leaving my town of Kununurra, I set some intentions: have a good attitude, lead with kindness, don’t carry assumptions, and don’t overthink it.<\/p>\n

Just go \u2014 and meet whatever is there.<\/p>\n

What surprised me most about travelling overseas was how quickly the unfamiliar became familiar.<\/p>\n

At first, everything felt different \u2014 the cold, the language, the rhythm of life.<\/p>\n

But the people were still people. Kindness, laughter, and connection all translated.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t as intimidating as I had imagined.<\/p>\n

This trip taught me that I can go anywhere in the world and experience joy, friendships, romances, career opportunities and the simple pleasure of discovering something new.<\/p>\n

Back home in the Kimberley \u2014 my feet pressed into the red dirt, the smell of bushfire in the air \u2014 I think about Sweden and the frozen lake.<\/p>\n

Two completely different worlds \u2014 but both I am now familiar with, and I can’t wait to explore more.<\/p>\n

Illustrator and journalist Molly Hunt is a Balanggarra and Yolngu artist and writer from the Kimberley in WA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The moment my body hit the ice-cold lake water, my breath fastened.\u00a0 I climbed the stairs of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11480,64,63,2331,134,31401,12618,350896,3792],"class_list":["post-724452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-art","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-holidays","tag-indigenous-culture","tag-the-kimberley","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}