A little introduction about myself to begin this journey with me. My name is Ashley Sabol and I am a graduate student at the University of South Florida studying Global Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. If I could travel anywhere in the world it would be Australia which is why I looked for an internship opportunity here when deciding where I needed to do my internship for my final credits in my degree.
I am currently in Melbourne, Victoria which is a southern state in Australia located north of Tasmania. I must say that it was not an easy trip to get here and the jet-lag really got the best of me. It took me about 32 hours of travel between waiting in airports or actually flying on the plane, but GOOD NEWS is that I have finally re-calibrated and am no longer waking up at 5 am every morning!
I am interning with a local company that is reaching many milestones this year. The company is called ettitude and serves to make sustainable living easier for the average person by supplying home goods made from organic bamboo, a product that requires less energy to grow than cotton and regenerates more rapidly than cotton. Some of the milestones that ettitude is reaching this year is that it is turning 5 years of age, it has expanded to the US and Canada markets, as well as expanding to a larger warehouse and office building. This is the perfect fit for me and compliments my studies very well with working with an entrepreneur and her inception of a sustainable business. I am very excited to be a part of this expansion while working with their logistics, an integral part of the business.
I have only just gotten settled into Melbourne, both with my internship in meeting everyone as well as learning the transportation system for getting around. I do look forward to sharing exciting news about my experiences in working and traveling. I hope you enjoy being on this journey with me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, I would love to hear them.
Thanks!
My experience was similar to yours in terms of travel. I think my journey was a total of 24 hours before finally landing in New Zealand. It took me a couple of days to adjust to the time difference as well. I too was waking up at 5am!
I was browsing the ettitude website and it seems like a really good concept; especially because most of the products being sold are things we use everyday. As you mentioned, bamboo is more sustainable than cotton and can be used to make similar products. Hopefully more businesses will follow suit and begin to use bamboo instead of cotton for their products. I’ve always like the look and feel of bamboo; it’s very natural and organic.