Hobbies in a new country

Moving to a new country, in my case the US, provides new opportunities in terms of hobbies and things to do. Here is the list of things I have planned so far.

Travel. I don’t have a list of places I want to visit because at the moment I want to go anywhere I possibly can. See different landscapes, get the feel for the cities as well as the county towns, go to the coast and the desert, travel to Canada and South America… Any specific ideas? Just leave a comment!

Photography. It has been my hobby since my parents bought our first digital camera and expended when I got my DSLR Nikon D40X in 2007, before my first visit to Australia. Discovering new places and things makes me want to document them and those moments of excitement. In that sense the last year or so was very quite for me and the camera stayed in the cupboard most of the time. I believe that the move to Denver will reignite my passion for photography and I just can't wait! Also, with cheaper prices on cameras and lenses, I hope to get some new gear. 

Shopping. I really look forward to shopping in the States and taking advantage of the wide range and low prices. Clothes, shoes, electronics, nice bedding and kitchen stuff… I don’t plan on going crazy with shopping (well, not more than I can afford) but just to get you the feel for the price difference between Australia and the States:

Spanish. I did 2.5 years of Spanish at uni but of course there is only so much you can study during a course and without using the language on a daily basis. I plan on taking another Spanish course in Denver (if I can afford the international fees) and hopefully will have a few friends that have Spanish as their first language.

Swimming & biking. When people hear that we are moving to Denver, they think about winter activities that are available there. Well, I'm not into winter sports and I can't imagine getting into it. I think I'm going to hibernate in winter and enjoy the summer with swimming (hopefully there will be a pool near by our house) and riding a bike (which I still need to learn how to do).

Shooting & maybe archery. I shot an M-16 a few times about 6 years ago and I didn't like it. I still remember the very first time I used it and it was terrifying - the weapon is so powerful and so deadly. Then I shot a few different pistols and revolvers in Australia through a shooting club and it was actually fun. It's one of those things that help you socialise and meet new people and also it gets you a bit competitive with yourself and others. With shooting licence being so easy to obtain in the US, it will be too hard not to get them! 


Not so sure about archery as I've never tried it before and I'm not sure how popular it is in Denver, but we'll see. It sounds funs as long as people don't dress up...

Postcards. I used to participate in the Postcrossing project in which you basically exchange postcards with people from all around the world. The system works on a random basis so you don’t know who will send you a postcard and where from. It was fun receiving postcards from different people from different countries and the website is kind of a community which makes it even more fun. When I moved to Australia and started uni I stopped taking part in the project but I’d like to get back to it.

I also used to make handmade postcards from recycled materials like clothes tags, old postcards, cuts from magazines etc. I think I might get back to it as well. 

This will do me for now. There is one more thing but it deserves a whole new post at a later stage.

Going to the Denver, Colorado

It’s official. We are relocating to Denver, Colorado for a minimum of 2 years! This is the first post in Alternative Arrangements with hopefully many more to come recording my journey in the US.

For those who don't know me, I better give some background.

My life story began in Russia 24 years ago. When I was 6, my family immigrated to Israel, where I spent most of my life. Unfortunately, I never found my place there and since grade 6 I had been seriously dreaming of going to Australia. An amazing holiday around the east cost of Australia in 2007 confirmed that this is the place for me and half a year later I came to Canberra as an international student.

I love Australia. I’ve lived here for over 3 years and I love the people, the landscapes, the wildlife… even politics here aren’t too bad. In a way, Australia is heaven on Earth.

And then came this opportunity for my hubby and I to relocate to the States for a few years. Once in a life time opportunity to see a complitely different part of the world. So we took the opportunity and we got it and in a few months we’ll start our adventure in a new county. This blog is my place to record this journey.

According to Google maps, it's possible to travel from Canberra to Denver by car. I doubt we'll be taking that rough...