OUR SAY: There really is no place like home

Every time I travel overseas I come home to appreciate Australia in new ways.

G’DAY: Australia is a beautiful country. Picture: Kristy Muir

EVERY time I travel overseas I come home to appreciate Australia in new ways.

Throughout the past two months I've made my way across the United States of America, covering just over 22,000km, and it's amazing to see how similar our countries are but also the stark contrasts between the two.

I was always brought up by my parents to appreciate what we had, but nothing drives that point home more than when you see for yourself the extreme poverty some people are experiencing in a first-world country.

Australia truly is the lucky country.

It's the difference in the people you meet too.

It was like music to my ears when I heard an Australian accent other than my own for the first time in a few months when I arrived in customs on Tuesday just after dawn.

A simple "G'day mate, how's it going?" from the customs officer followed with a warm Brisbane winter morning breeze was exactly what I was missing while overseas.

There really is no place on earth like Australia and it's great to be back.