It's a feeling that Caitlin Foord hasn't become accustomed to in recent times. Pure relaxation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As she floated down a river in Switzerland last week, all of the Matildas star's worries washed away. And, just a few hours later, that joy was doubled when she would find out the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was heading to Australia.
Foord will return to group training with Arsenal next week, where the Gunners will start preparing for their UEFA Women's Champions League campaign. But the 25-year-old will also have thoughts of the World Cup in the back of her mind.
Before then, she will continue to enjoy a holiday.
"When lockdown was on, I was in the UK and was just waiting it out because there was still hope that our [English Women's Premier League] season would continue and finish," Foord said.
"Once we found it won't go ahead, obviously we went into an off season period. I was fortunate enough to have one of my teammates invite me to her hometown and spend the summer with her, and enjoy Switzerland.
Obviously I considered coming home as well, the quarantine situation of needing to go into a hotel didn't sound appealing to me. We head back next week to start pre-season training. We've already kind of started the pre-season process of training on our own, but we start up as a team next week.
"With everything that's been happening, I've only got to play two games [for Arsenal] and neither of them were league games.
"So I'm yet to make my league debut.
"But in the two weeks I had [at the club], I extremely enjoyed it and I've said before in an interview that I'd kind of found my love for the game again. I'd lost that a bit. It felt like the right move and now it's driven me even more to get started and pick up from where we left off.
"Everyone was extremely welcoming when I came in which made it a smooth transition. I want to be back to playing good football. It's a team full of really good players so I feel like I'm still learning and can learn off those players.
"If I can get into the starting team and become a regular in the side, that's a goal for me. Obviously I was signed as a forward so I need to do my job. Set up goals, score goals and help the team as much as I can.
"I don't want to get my hopes up too much [about being picked for the 2023 World Cup]. It's a long way away and I've got to be picked and stay healthy as well. So I'm not looking too far forward but obviously if I'm there, it would be extremely special for myself, family, friends, and everyone else to be part of it."
It will be Foord's fourth World Cup and she, along with Sam Kerr, is set to be the face of Australia's campaign.
The Albion Park junior made her Cup debut in 2011 as a teenager and also represented the Matildas in Canada four years later and France last year.
Australia's best performance came in 2015 when they reached the quarter-finals, losing 1-0 to Japan.
Since that first outing nearly a decade ago, Foord has become a mainstay in the Matildas side. She has played more than 80 games for her country and is a key attacking weapon alongside the likes of Kerr, Hayley Raso and Kyah Simon.
So does Foord see herself as a leader in the team? The answer is yes and no.
"I don't really look at myself like that, but I'm sure that comes naturally," the Illawarra talent said.
"I think that's one of the special things about the Matildas, we don't really have one leader: we have so many. I may think that someone is a leader to me, and vice versa. I feel like that's all the way around the team, it's not just one person. I look at people who probably don't think they're leaders, and same for me. I think it just comes with how this team has grown."
With the carrot of representing Australia at a World Cup on home soil, Foord also believes the coming years will provide the perfect opportunity for the next generation of female footballers to make an impression.
"For girls who are in that age [group] where they could potentially be at that World Cup, it's massive to help drive them to want to improve over the next couple of years," she said.
"Even if they don't [make the Matildas team], it's massive to have in your backyard and have all the best players in the world and see that first hand. I think it's going to inspire so many young girls, and even males and older people. I think it will do massive things for the game in Australia and help take it to the next level.
"It's crazy. Even when we put the bid in, it sounded extremely nice but in my head, I was kind of like 'it won't happen' because you don't think it will happen in your country. As it got closer, it started to feel like this could actually be real. It's crazy and it's going to take a while to sink in and actually feel like it."
2023 will mark the first time a senior FIFA tournament has been held on Australian shores and will take place between July and August that year.
As part of their bid proposal, matches will be held in 12 cities across Australia and New Zealand.
Foord remains proud of her Illawarra roots and would love to see Wollongong get involved in the Women's World Cup.
"Being my hometown and I know how much everyone down there loves sport, it would just be huge," Foord said.
"But just for Australia in general, and even if we don't get a game down there, to have one in Sydney is very rare and I think a lot of people from Wollongong would make the journey to be involved. It's a once in a lifetime thing to happen in your country so it's a massive opportunity for everyone to be involved."
Foord, who has been part of the Matildas squad for close to a decade, said getting the chance to host a World Cup shows there has already been a "massive change" as football continues to grow in Australia.
"If you look at attendance from our games in Australia, it's just the recognition that comes with the success of the team as well," she said.
"For us, it's like 'thank god' that this is happening because it's how it should have been, and it's taken a while. It just feels nice to finally feel that. It's obviously not why we started playing the game, we started playing because we love it and this is kind of a bonus. It's just nice to see that people see what we have for many years."