Wow, thanks for all the friendly greetings!
What got me into diapers? I suspect I've always been into them. I remember being fascinated by age regression stories in cartoons and the like when I was really little, and distinctly remember my little sister and I getting into a box of disposables left over from when she was younger one day when I was about five or six. They still fit her but I was too big - I was SO jealous! Then I never really thought about it again until I was sixteen, I was poking through naughty furry art and I stumbled across a certain short comic by CargoWeasel that re-ignited my fascination! I sort of wrote it off as a weird taste in porn without ever really thinking that it was something you could actually DO... Then I wound up chatting with Cargo himself, after his mate Axiom put us in touch, and it was all downhill from there! He made the very wise suggestion that if I was gunna buy a carton of my own diapers I should go with Abenas, so I did, and have never looked back - they're my brand of choice to this day! So I'd say Cargo is directly responsible for this.
I was never really into the AB side of things at first - in fact, as a teenager I was quite angsty about being into diapers at all, and thought that, y'know, at least I wasn't one of those adult baby people who talk funny and draw in colouring books and stuff - they're the ones who REALLY have a problem... But, it crept in, I bought myself a teddy bear when I was 18 and cuddled him every night until I was 23. When I moved out of my Dad's house and into shared housing - provided by the hospital where I got my first job after college - it was with a bunch of other nurses, who could probably spot a carton of Abenas being delivered from a mile away (they are the adult diaper used by the majority of hospitals in Australia) and who knew EXACTLY what a wet diaper smelled like. Hence why I haven't been padded for the past two years!
I'm lucky enough to have a friend here in San Francisco who made sure that there was a carton of my favorite diapers waiting for me when my plane landed, and... For whatever reason, my AB side has really taken over in the two year break! The first time I put one on, my friend was there (I made him stand in the corner and face the wall because I'm shy about how chubby I am!) I instantly felt VERY little and VERY vulnerable and needed lots of hugs from him before he went home... That was my first time being diapered around another person (who knew about my diaper, anyway) and there have been more first times since then! In the past week I've had my first time being changed by someone else and my first orgasm in a diaper with someone else! I've even started talking a little bit silly when I'm in the right head space...
I haven't told any of my friends or family about my ABDL side. I've told a few people who I had sexual relationships with... It was no big deal 'coming out' to them, but none of them were interested in it. I always used to think that it would get in the way of me finding a normal boyfriend - now that I'm back in diapers and my need for diapers is stronger than ever, I don't think I could even seriously date a guy who didn't have an ABDL side too! It's obvious to me now that this is a huge part of me, and not something I can hide away!
Finally, life in Australia? Having finally seen the US I'd say it's nothing special. There is a lot more freedom here than back home, there's more diversity, people are less afraid of being different. Plus the food is better! On a less superficial level, though, Australia's healthcare and education systems got me to where I am today - my parents simply don't have enough money that I could have afforded the illnesses I have had, or to go to college, if we had lived here... So it's a give and take scenario! If you just want to visit, though, you absolutely should! We have lots of awesome little animals you won't see anywhere else and the countryside is AMAZING. Also, since our money is worth NOTHING compared to the US dollar right now, you could get everything really cheap!
Oh, and I'd love to visit Italy, actually! Especially if I had a friend who could make sure there were diapers waiting ;P