Back in the States...And Still Traveling...I Guess

So I arrived back in the States. We arrived late because the plane left from Fiji on Fiji time, which was 2 hours late. No worries man, it's Fiji time. Well the world doesn't run on Fiji time and there were several people on the flight that were not pleased about missing a flight transfer because of that. Back to reality. Trent and I weren't ecstatic about it either because it meant that we missed out on having a few more kava bowls before we left. We snagged 2 beers right before we left with the rest of our Fijian money. The flight was decent. I sat next an old Indian couple that kept getting up while I was trying to sleep on the aisle seat and that was annoying. But I felt pretty ok to be back in the States. My Aunt Laurie picked me up and that was pretty awesome. Also awesome how we were able to coordinate it with me not having a cell phone working. But I jumped right into doing stuff. I went over to my Aunt's house and very quickly my sister and my two cousins were there. We then went to Trader Joe's, got a bunch of food and went to a new brewery to hear some live music and an interview from a guy that used to tour with AC/DC, drink incredible beer and eat awesome food. And I just kept doing cool stuff in LA. I was there for 3 nights. I was hoping it'd be two but I couldn't set up a rideshare in time. It worked out fine though. Friday my sister and I hung out around UCLA. She took me out to lunch and I got my cell phone sorted out. Then we met up with my Aunt and cousins again and went to a sort of promotion for my cousins play. Very family/community oriented. I got to see my Uncle who I hadn't seen in a long time which was nice. After, my sister and I went out with all of her friends at the UCLA scen and it was a pretty wild night. I was definitely sleeping in after that. The next day we just took it easy but we did go see Dazed and Confused at an outdoor park and got some food at a food truck right there in downtown LA. It was pretty cool.

So coming back up to the bay nice too. The guy I rideshared with turned out to have been in the same dorms as my brother at Stanford, which was pretty cool. He was a chill and very easygoing guy. And it was a quick ride up which, included a stop off at In-N-Out! Yes! I got dropped off in Lake Merritt right off the freeway and coincidentally ran into my friend Paul and he was walking to do his grocery shopping. So I walked with him for a bit but then turned back because my Step Dad was coming to pick me up. Turned out Paul was coming up on a weed brownie high so he was pretty tripped out by randomly seeing me. Anyways same stuff in the bay. I had a nice dinner with my step-dad, step-brother, step-sister and Mom that night and then my Mom headed out that next morning. I kinda chilled out too. The next day I slept in and just took it easy. I came down to my Dad and Step-Mom's and had a nice dinner with them and caught up on everything. Later that night I went over to my friend Ryan's down the street and had a couple of drinks with him and his roommate. We just goofed around for a bit and then he had to go to bed. During this time I was just doing some laundry and getting some things prepped for the rest of my journey through the States. I helped my friend Farhad move into his place and then we went over to my friend Yo's place for dinner with their girlfriend's. Great to see some good friends again and great to report to them that I was for sure moving back to California. It was nice to see them be as excited as I was. So after that I just did family stuff and set up my rideshare to get up to Oregon for my friend's wedding...one of the main reasons I decided to come back. I was only in California for a week and the bay for 4 days but I knew it'd be cool since I was moving back.

So this rideshare was alright but man it took a while to get going. The guy left from his job later than he wanted and got caught in some serious traffic. I ended up leaving later and waiting for an hour and a half even after that. He was in his early fifties and we didn't exactly click, but he was sociable and we were able to power through the drive up. He also complimented the way I was driving his stick shift car so he wasn't uptight or anything. So we rolled into Eugene at midnight and just went off the highway to a gas station in the boondocks. Who was waiting to to pick me up but Patrick Newson! With a rolled cigarette and some beers in his car ready to go! Set! So we cruised back to Pat's and just thought we'd stay up for a little bit and chill seeing as he had work and I was a bit tired. Well several beers, cigarettes and spliffs later when the sun was rising we realized we hadn't done what we set out to do. Bedtime indeed and a good start to my time in Oregon. So getting ready for wedding stuff basically. The next day was a Friday and a day before the wedding. I mostly just hung out in Eugene a bit. I cruised down to Pat's wine shop and kicked it. John came by and I saw him. But Pat and I went to a concert in newly remodeled basement in the Whittiker for a pretty impromptu concert. Claire and Jason showed up and of course we went out and had a wild ass night. Lots of late night drinking and I was pretty ridiculous myself. The next day was the wedding and man it was great. I'm really glad I came back from Australia for that and was just excited to be back in the States. The wedding was on Bailey's parent's plot and it was fantastic. Perfect weather, green pasture with the right amount of shade provided by the trees on the property. Great catering, it was really great to see everyone and it was really just a great wedding. There were a lot of college friends there but there were also some people from Pleasant Hill there that I had gotten to know well through Pat and living in Eugene for 4 years. That night though, man it was a wild one. I think the part that sums it all up is when we were driving from the wedding at the Pope's to one of the PHill girls after party everyone slowed down on this country road. John and I were thinking wtf!? Well Mike goes into the other lane and it turns out Kenyon is driving the golf cart with his friend Cora to the party with a bottle of wine. I will never forget that image. I, again, got a little too wasted and had to go home. Nothing horribly atrocious but it was time for me to leave and crash out. Fortunately Johnny S was there to take care of me, Kenyon and all the other hooligans.

The next day and week was just pretty mellow. Typical Oregon style. Those of us in town for the wedding met up at a couple points during the day. We threw the football around on campus and just went wherever. Throughout the week I was just kicking it with Pat and John and others. I got lunch with Shelly at Cornucopia! Awesome dude. I hadn't been there in a couple years. Jason and Claire were nice enough to cook Pat and I a dinner. We met up with them again for a dinner at Pat's parents which is always on the agenda. Great to see them as usual. Went to Bingo at Sam Bond's, had loads of amazing beer. When I was in Portland I had some fun times as well. Went on a nice bike ride with John, went out with Spencer and Kenyon pretty late, had a nice goss session with Whitney Winsor. I got to see Bailey and Khoa after the wedding as well so it was nice to spend time with them because you usually only get to see people at a wedding real briefly if it's their wedding. I had a blast and I partied a bunch. Tons of partying with Pat and his crew as well. Man those guys smoke some spliffs. Dude it was a great Oregon trip but most importantly I got to all of my friends and spend some time with them. It's really great to see everyone. One thing I noticed when I saw Margaret and Sarah is that we don't keep in contact a whole lot but when we do see each other it's like no time has past. That's what I finally got comfortable with right before I left Chicago and then for sure solidified it when I was back in Oregon. A lot of my college friends have moved on and we're doing different things but whenever we get together it's like no time has past. We got to spend so much time together through such a formative period of our lives and it's great to see that, that bond hasn't left and will probably be there for a while if not the rest of our lives. It makes me emotional and I also love Oregon because of it. I also love Oregon because of all the other stuff there too but it always holds a special place for me. I could move back there for sure. But after a successful trip back it was time to move on and I was ready. I hadn't been in Chicago since I had left and I was missing a lot of people there. I was excited to go there and be there for a long period of time too. So I took off to Chicago not knowing how long I'd be there but glad to be there for a while. After getting to spend quality time with people in Oregon I wanted to do that in Chicago before I came back to the bay.

Man Chicago was cool. So this whole time I was wondering if I should've left because of how some things had come together. Money was tough, the weather over the winter was unbelievable, I could've lived with these awesome girls, dating scene was going well. I could've easily waited another year and left at the very least. Well for the most part I had these questions answered. After a week of being in Chicago I was loving it. I was having a blast and honestly felt like I could move back. After 3 weeks I recognized that I was ready to go. So I got there and I stayed with Ben right away. I made sure to show up with some whiskey and a bottle of Diet Coke. We had a late night of course but we had a lot of fun. It was mostly just hanging out with him, Vanessa some, Kirsten some and his neighbor Tim who's a pretty wild guy. I would go explore and kick it in different parts of Chicago. Sam was in town just for the beginning of my time there at least so I met up with her on my second day actually and went to my old job at Lakeshore. That was a blast! There was an ice-cream social going on and I did a lot of socializing but not much ice-creaming. There were a lot of people working that day and it was great to see so many people. Even people I didn't know all that well but had come to recognize over my time there. They had done a bunch of work on the hospital and I was just in my social zone. It was also cool to spend a lot of one on one time with Sammy Dammy. Her and I were real close and we just weren't able to talk much while I was gone. My phone in Australia for some reason would not connect to hers so I could only leave messages. Sam is a really great friend of mine. I can honestly see us being close for a long time whether we live in the same area or not. So that weekend I also went camping in Wisconsin with Sam, her best friend Shari and a whole group of us. I met Shari's new boyfriend Marshall. By the end of it I needed a break from him but he's a good guy and overall I liked spending time with him for sure. That was a cool thing to do right off the bat. Before that I also went out with some co-workers the night off the ice cream social. I hooked up with my friend Izzy who I had been keeping in touch with while I was gone. I spent another couple times with her during my three weeks and it was a lot of fun. She's a great person, totally down to earth and very sweet. But alas, I was not going to be staying and quite frankly wasn't in the mood for dating anyone at that time. I'm still trying to get my life in order and I wasn't about to move to Chicago just for her. But I really did enjoy my time with her. She's a very cool person.  I also spent a couple of nights with my friends Amy and Steve. First night I stayed with them was just the 3 of us. Steve got a little bit too drunky but we've all been there and I didn't think any less of him. He was a hassle to deal with though. It was cool to catch up with them. They helped me move last minute and took me to the Michigan game. The second night I stayed with them, which was much later, it was more of a big dinner party. Amy invited her friend and her boyfriend over for watching Breaking Bad and also this couple Scott and Melissa (good friends of theirs from Michigan) came over and we just ate good food, played some bags and explored a Rogers Park bar for a bit while the girls watched some Breaking Bad. They're doing excellent and it was a super nice place they were in. Nice to know I'll probably be able to keep in touch with them over time. I additionally stayed with my friend Casey for 2 nights that I used to work with at the hospital. She's great, and super friendly. It was basically a couple of easy going nights with her though. I cooked her a zucchini pasta dinner one night and she cooked me a BOMB lasagne the other night. It was definitely a good time staying with her and catching up about a lot. I also stayed 2 nights with my buddy Allen. He's been pretty busy with his job, kids and an MBA program but he was just finishing it. I got to hang with his kids during the day some and we helped his wife get set up in her classroom. Dude he really is a great friend of mine. I know we'll be close for a very long time. He took me out to get some Peruvian drink which was pretty rough dude. Then we went out to deep west side where I made a total ass out of myself. I don't want to get into the details but man I was embarrassed for about 2 weeks after. All those people I stayed with though were awesome. It was a good way to spend some quality time with a lot of people. The other 10 nights I stayed at Ben's. That was really cool too. It was a bit much but it was good to spend that kinda quality time with him. Dave was in town too for about 7 days so we had some quality time with the 3 old roomies together again. We played Carly Rae's Call Me Maybe over and over again while Dave tried to learn the chords. There was a lot of drinking overall with Ben as well, and just in general. I went out with old co-workers from both places in Chicago and spent a lot of time with Ben and some of our mutual friends. I went to some of the old hot spots like Art of Pizza, Hop Leaf, Bar on Buena, etc. I explored all the old neighborhoods again, dropped by both old work places a couple times and saw loads of people.

It was a great trip. It gave me a great chance to reflect on my experience in Chicago. I felt like I was jumping right back in and really hadn't missed much time. I would've been able to get set right back up there. But in being back and talking with a lot of people everyone was moving on. Things at the hospital had been pretty bad because of a reconstruction that went on. A lot of people were unhappy and some of my friends had left or at the very least moved to another department. I barely knew anyone or any of the kids at Rice, Ben had bought a condo and was really getting set up with his life with his fiancee. I came back to get a sense of how things were in Chicago but really to get some closure for my time there as well and I felt like I did. I felt like it would be a place I'd like to keep visiting and seeing people at. I also felt like I could possibly live there but really it made me sure that I was ready to come back to the west coast. Going back to Chicago would've been a step back. It was time for me to move on and I was ready to do that. I was tired of traveling and excited to start my life in the bay area. Oregon would've been great but with people leaving, the economy doing poorly in Portland and the prospect of my family and others moving back to the bay things just lined up right. And I was getting excited about all the positive things of being back in the bay. Close to the sports teams, exploring Oakland and San Fran again, being around and running into high school people again. I felt like I didn't need to do any of that anymore in Chicago. I had done it and got what I needed. At that point I really felt like I had gotten what I needed to get that weight off my shoulders and feel more comfortable getting settled. I knew I had a little more exploring to do which was gonna work because it meant I had completed everything I had set out to do on this trip. I took a lot of satisfaction in that but I was ready for it to be done. Leaving on the overnight bus felt good but a little sad too. Chicago was and is a special place for me. Like Oregon I feel that it played a big formative role for me. Perhaps all places and experiences I have I'll feel the same way about but it may not be as formative anymore. I still miss it.

But alas, it was time to go. It was kind of cool to be on the road again for the last time. My friend Ben put it perfectly when he said I really like to do the overlanders. Taking that train across Australia and road tripping to Seattle when I left Chicago. Well he's right. I like to see the landscape change and take my time with it like that. So I was on an overnight bus to Kansas City. I had been to Saint Louis before and I just happened to wake up just in time for when we were driving through and stopping, getting to see the arch again. The rest of the way to KC was in and out of sleep but when I got there it was early morning. I had another overnight bus so I gave myself a full day to just explore. I was not enthralled. I had a read some about it and was expecting more and it was disappointing to be honest. Now I didn't get to see every area and that's not to knock the city but it kind of reminded me of Cleveland. More going on than you'd think with some pretty cool neighborhoods but just not a lot of action and not a whole lot of culture. I doubled down on the BBQ during the day because it rocked. I bought some sauce called Sweet Heat which described it perfectly. This was in the historic black neighborhood and that had some culture and history for sure. I went to the Negro Baseball Museum and the KC Music Museum. I explored downtown, walked over to the Kansas part of KC and just explored. It was alright. Cool to check out and I have a feeling there's probably more than I got to see but I have no desire to rush back or spend a lot of time there. So I cruised over to the Greyhound station for my overnight bus to Denver. 2 things. Greyhound is extremely sketchy and I was reminded of this. The people there were just seedy as hell. I took Megabus the night before and that was fine. Friendly people. Not so here and I was freshly reminded of that. Second is what horrible service they give. With Megabus I'll at least say you get what you pay for if you get bad service. But Greyhound has no reason to be treating customers the way they do with what they charge. So here's where it takes off. My bus was supposed to be leaving at 12:30am but instead the bastards overbooked and knew that they did, but didn't decide to handle it until it was far too late. So what they did was they put the majority of us on a bus to Omaha leaving at 1:30am and giving us a 3 hour layover there until we caught a bus to Denver from there getting me in 6 hours later. They were so fucking rude about it too. But I made lemonade. I had never been to Nebraska and I figured I might as well explore some while I'm there. It wasn't the best time to explore (5:30-8:30am) but I still got a quick glimpse of downtown Omaha. There's a lot more going on there. Some big businesses, a pretty sizable bar area, a couple colleges and a nice river separating Nebraska from Iowa. Not a bad place considering it's reputation.

So on to Denver. Nebraska is flat. Thank God I was tired cause I was able to get some sleep on that part. At this point the people on the bus were all pretty recognizable because most of us had been on this trek since KC. It was cool how it just goes from being flat for so long to all the sudden these massive mountains. That's one thing about Denver that most people don't know. It's huge mountains one one side but the flattest plains on the other side. Finally though, cruising into Denver was great. Man I was amazed with this city and Boulder for that matter. At this point in my travels I did not think I could really be amazed by a place but I sure was by these two. And I felt like it would've been more if I wasn't so burned out with travel at this point. I took a bus up to Boulder and met my brother Arran for a fat burger dinner and a couple beers which was desperately needed after my adventure from KC. The next couple days I got to hang with friends and family. I came down to Denver the next day and hung out with Lauren, her brother, sister in-law and a friend. I hung with Arran in Boulder some and we also went down to Denver on my last day to meet up with Spencer and Julie who were in town for a wedding. We went to a Rockies game with them and I was so impressed with that field. It looks weird on camera because of the forest in the outfield but man it's cool. It's high up on a hill and overlooks the Rocky mountains in a breathtaking way. So Denver is much bigger than I thought. The downtown is packed with people, restaurants, bars and things to do. Huge skyscrapers everywhere. I also explored the neighborhoods a little bit and there's some developing going on but it's not very condense. It's lots of cool neighborhood stuff but a little spread out. Plenty of parks and official buildings and the gorgeous Rockies in the background. Boulder was great too. It had that college town charm to it but it was definitely its own city. The downtown walkway area was right next to the campus but it was people of all walks of life going through there. There was constant action and energy to it. The campus was extremely nice and there was an off campus strip with some other places to hang. Another thing that draws people to the area is easy access to the mountains from there. And Boulder is the perfect example. I rode his roommates bike up to the Flat Irons. These mountains protruding out at the foothills of the Rockies. Literally 10 blocks from the campus. Great hiking and unbelievable rock climbing. Honestly, it's one of the few places I could maybe move to someday. Colorado and the Denver area is awesome. And it was great to see Arran too. I felt like him and I really clicked way more than we have in the past. he was a great host and it was fun to hang with him.

Again though, ready to move on. So the last night I stayed with Spencer and Julie in their hotel room. It was a big Brown reunion. But we got up early the next day and took off. We took our time a little bit. Taking the southern route and stopping off at a lot of places. We even cut down to Moab, Utah to see Arches National Park. I could've enjoyed that so much more but man it was not in cards. It was cool to see these sights that I had seen a lot of but I couldn't see them all. I remember understanding that what I was seeing was significant but not being able to feel it. Usually I feel when I'm in significant places but this time I couldn't. I think that speaks to how truly burnt out I was with traveling and going on adventures. I will still remember it for sure though. The great part about that was getting to spend so much time with Spencer and Julie. I personally felt like their relationship was stronger than I've ever seen. It seemed like they really enjoyed each others company. With their up and down relationship over time I was really happy to see them being happy together. I got to have some one on one time with each of them too. Julie is working hard and seems to like what she's doing. Her and I met Spence for lunch and then we were going to go explore the Mormon center of the town. One of the first places we went ended up being a center for looking up your family tree. The Mormons keep impeccable records. We ended up spending 2 1/2 hours there and had to leave because we had dinner plans. I found a lot of really interesting stuff about my family on my Grandma's side. I think it'll be the beginning of me doing some thorough research on the topic. And it was cool to find out about Julie's British Isle roots, which kinda makes sense if you know her. Spence I just wish would take charge of things more. He's so intelligent, great with people and he's got a good work ethic. I just wish he had a little more confidence and realize he's a great guy with a lot to offer. We had a couple drinks and I told him about this in not so subtle terms. I hope he didn't take it too harshly. I love the guy. Another day I had to myself and I just walked around. They live in the hipster area of Salt Lake which is really not too crazy. I did walk around on the University of Utah campus and man it was nice. It was huge too. But I liked it a lot. Overall I had liked Salt Lake more than I thought I would or remembered. I didn't think I would go back there until I found out Julie and Spencer were moving there. But there is kind of a counter culture scene there against all the Mormon principles and histories which leads to the hipsters and such. It's beautiful too. I also enjoyed it because I was reading Under The Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer which is a fantastic book about the Mormon history and a vicious murder that took place in the area by Mormon Fundamentalists. It was cool to be driving through this area and recognizing certain things while I was reading about it. But it was time for my last transit route! I had an overnight train from Salt Lake to Richmond, CA...direct! It left at 11:30pm and I had two seats to myself.

I liked taking the train. I slept through most of the Nevada desert but I woke up in time to see enough of it. We stopped in Reno and me being an idiot completely ignored the advice to not leave the train station to get coffee and damn near missed the train completely. I felt like a fucking fool and rightfully so. But back on the train it was cool to come into the Sierra Nevada's. These mountains that I grew up with and spent so much time in were a welcoming treat on my way back to being settled. Then of course stopping in Sacramento, coming across the bridge into the bay and going along the water until we got to Richmond. I was finally home and for good. I just sat at the Richmond BART parking lot waiting for my Dad to pick me up. It was a lot colder than I thought it would be. Very chilly really. I was tired from poor sleep and felt kinda gross from no shower. But I felt good and energized. Really ready to start doing what I needed to do to get set up. I went to my Dad's court house and said hi to some people. I also had a nice dinner with my Dad and Step Mom that night. The very next day I got to work on writing cover letters for jobs I had researched a little while I was in Salt Lake. I was ready to hit the ground running and that's just what I've done so far.

Now I'm back. It's been a little over 3 weeks and things seem to be going well so far It already feels like I've been here for a long time but that's just from bouncing around so much I'd say. Just over 2 months ago I was in Fiji. That's usually a big trip for people and when it's recent like that it supposed to feel recent. But it doesn't feel that recent. It feels like it was ages ago. I've had 2 interviews with the Seneca Center and at this point I'm just waiting to hear back from them. That's why the first thing I did was apply to jobs. I can get other things done while the bureaucratic process is taking its course. I also recently realized that I am a ways from where I want to be. I'm in poor financial standing because of all this traveling. But I can say it was worth it because I finally have that monkey off my back. That's been a fantastic feeling. I'm not quite ready to be settled because of how jarring my life has been the last nine months. But what I am doing is getting set up to be settled. I want to take care of my finances. I want to get into better shape. Working on my upper body again and eating better. I want to do more active things too, not just working out but hiking and living an active lifestyle. I want to get my career going with some more focus. I want to be in a leadership role at whatever job I land in. I want to be focused on what grad school I want to go to which also means getting taking the GRE's. That's intertwined with career stuff though. I want to make sure I live in and really find the right place to be in. I'll take my time finding that. Socially I want to re-establish the connections with my good friends and family here but I also want to make some new friends and develop my own network here beyond what I grew up with. Honestly I give myself a year. I think that's good reasonable timing and it'll keep me focused. So far I'd say I'm on my way to that but the job stuff will really help. I have all my other little projects that mostly involve getting organized but they'll all take a while. Organizing the stuff in my Dad's basement, setting up the family tree, workout routine/development, my music, my pictures and learning about my car just off the top off my head. Then grad school/career stuff. This is all going to take time. Not to mention dating and getting to the point where I feel ready to date seriously again. I feel optimistic overall though. I feel blessed to be where I'm at and I feel like some big stuff is coming up. Some really big stuff. This is where I wanted to be after all my college and Chicago stuff. It was especially on my mind in Chicago. But it's kind of funny. When I left the bay area I remember very seriously thinking that one day I will move back. That opinion has changed at times. For a while I thought it would definitely be Oregon that I moved back to. There were times where I considered staying in the Midwest but never too seriously. But now I'm back after having seen the world and experienced a lot and I'm ready to build something serious now. I'm more focused but yet I'm also ready to experience the next things in life. It'll just take some time to build. But I'm extremely glad to be back.

Traveling Around and Coming Home...

So it's been about 6 weeks since I left Perth. I have only 2 weeks left in Australia and I'll be back in the States on the 5th. Time flies. I remember crossing the Pacific and looking down on it from the plane thinking, "Wow, it'll be a while before I cross this again and that'll be a trip."  Well that time is coming up. It feels a little weird to have things coming to a close in Australia. It doesn't even feel like I've been here that long. Most people here are asking why I'm leaving so early when I still have loads of time on my visa. Most people come over for a couple years or so and literally see pretty much everything in Oz, New Zealand and SE Asia. Honestly if there weren't things to come back to in the States in the near future (wedding, seeing friends in Chicago before they move) I probably would just stay for a while. It's a pretty casual lifestyle. You can pick up and move to another spot and land shard job where you save loads of money or an easy job where you casually work and save a little at a time. Then just go chill and do whatever in SE Asia for some months because you don't need to earn money there. I briefly considered doing this in Darwin during the perfect time of year when I met some awesome people but I decided it wasn't worth it. An Aussie dude named Matt I met there summed it up for me. He said when he was in Central America he wanted to stop and stay everywhere but he couldn't otherwise he wouldn't see anything. Truth. Too bad. Sometimes you never know what could've happened if you went that alternate route in life no matter what happens. Major things can be just as much luck as chance and totally random. So I've been off on the road since then, but we'll get to that. My last weekend n Perth was when I last wrote an entry. Well it was a nice weekend. It wasn't mind blowing or the best send off in my life. Actually my send off's from other places have even been more memorable. I liked everyone I met there a  lot and was really glad about the time I spent there and what I did but I haven't regretted leaving once or really wished I was back there and I doubt I ever will. With Chicago, Oregon and Cali yes I have felt that way about those places. Haven't regretted leaving but I miss them sometimes. Basically I found someone to take over for me and I had them take over what was my last night but still got paid for it. OOOOOOOOOOOOO! It's alright, the boss ok'd it. So Vincent (my French co-worker) and I threw a grand finale BBQ that night and just went out on the town! It was fun. My Irish friend Martin ended up getting completely wasted, throwing up on the carpeted floor and getting kicked out but cutting his head on the doorway on the way out. My goodness Martin. I was in pretty fine form as well but nothing that bad. It was cool because a lot of people showed up, even people that I had really only interacted with some at the front desk. The next day I took one last stroll to the beach, but it was Cottlesloe beach which I hadn't been too. It's its own nice neighborhood with an awesome beach as part of it. I really liked it a lot. I sat there for a bit and took one last look at the Indian Ocean while the sun set. My first sunset on the Indian Ocean too. It was a bit cloudy and I've had better sunset but it was awesome and the ocean looked magnificent. Then I hustled back to town because my buddy Patty was back in town from the mines (as well as my buddy Ben) and he was throwing a birthday party for himself at the Witches Hat. Last night there and it was pretty sweet. Got to see even more people and have another night out, not as wild, in the Mt. Lawley neighborhood which was cool. Then on Sunday I went to that Aussie football game I had talked about. It was pretty damn cool. I have really gotten to learn about a lot of different sports since I've been here and it taken off since right around the end of my time in Perth. After having it explained to me a lot I've been watching loads more rugby, rugby league, soccer and especially AFL. They're really interesting sports and I hope I still get to follow them some more when I get back to the States. That Sunday I went with my friend Tom and then I really just went back and packed up to get ready to go on my red eye that night. I chilled for a little bit with some people at the Emperors Crown and then got a ride from my friend Tom to take off to Melbourne. It felt really good to be back traveling again. Plus I was super excited to see Melbourne and check it out. So I had done my research on Melbourne a bit. It's basically a super neighborhoody city lots of culture. I found the vibe to be kind of a mix between New York, Paris and San Francisco but with a bit artistic graffiti influence. So basically it definitely had it's own vibe. If I was going to live in Australia for a while Melbourne would definitely be it. It's a livable city that's multicultural and has easy access for doing anything and everything. I flew the red-eye so I just slept on the plane. I got in early in the morning and the main thing I wanted to do was just explore all the interesting and unique neighborhoods while I was there. Now one day I did a tour on the Great Ocean Road along Victoria. That was kinda cool and it made remember that tours aren't all that bad. It was fun to talk with other tourists and here their stories (where they're from, why they're here and where they've been, etc...). Plus it was an efficient way to see a lot. But let me tell you, overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the Great Ocean Road. The twelve apostles were cool, we saw some koalas which was very cool but other than certain areas the coastline pretty much looked like the Northern California coastline. Still beautiful but something I had grown up with and was used to. Most tourists and locals hate hearing Americans say "Oh yeah. We've got stuff like that in America." so I kept my opinion to myself. The koalas were cool in the wild but my God they're lazy. I saw one stretch out and dangle over the road because it didn't want to take the 5 seconds extra to walk back to a split in the branch and switch sides. 2 English guys and I had a good laugh at that. But like I said, mostly just long walks through Melbourne and different neighborhoods. I explored St. Kilda, South Yarra, Dowtown/CBD, Chinatown, Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood, North Melbourne, South Melbourne, North Fitzroy, Brunswick, the Botanic Gardens and the Queen Victoria Street Market (huge street market) all by just getting up and walking from place to place for most of the day. It was pretty awesome. The only one I missed was Richmond. And each place has a little bit of it's own vibe and even food specialty. Carlton had a big Italian influence. Brunswick had more of a Mediterranean influence. Richmond had a big Vietnamese influence. South Yarra was a bit posh on one end but grungy and university like on the other. Fitzroy and Collingwood were heavy on pubs and more English style food. North Fitzroy was more livable and local. Their downtown was cheap hole in the wall places, high end restaurants or hidden distinct dining and drinking places that only locals new about. There was unbelievable graffiti everywhere. Big sports city. Loads of AFL stadiums, a 100,000 person cricket stadium, Rod Laver Arena all next to each other. It was footy crazy the weekend I was there. The Victoria Market had everything at an affordable price. Great clothing and trinket souvenirs as well. I bought a West Coast Eagles jersey there. I loved it man. It was great. Plus I got to meet up with some Aussie girls that I'm friends with from Ireland that live there. We went to St. Kilda for a couple of drinks and caught up. I also met up with a friend I had recently met at the hostel in Perth who totally showed me around for a couple days. Diana and I went and got dumplings in Chinatown and then we bar hopped in downtown to a rooftop bar, a hidden alleyway science themed bar, and through what looked like a mysteriously nothing door into a swanky 20's themed cocktail lounge/bar. I discovered an awesome drink called The Last Call, an old Detroit socialite gin drink. The next day we met in her neighborhood where we cooked a curry dish with her roommate and his gf present and then went to her friend's 30th birthday party where we all got drunk and I had some pretty wicked banter back and forth with these cool Aussie guys. Good week man. But traveling is about seeing a lot of different places and experiencing different things so on the road again. That Monday I flew to Alice Springs. Now I told everyone that I was spending 3 weeks in Alice and they all said, "What? Why?" Well let me tell you why little kids. Cause I'm gonna do some bush walking (hiking). First I got there and started with another tour. It's this basic 3 day Uluru/Ayers Rock tour that takes you to 3 amazing and significant Aboriginal sites in National Parks. They are Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta and Uluru being the main highlight. Very cool all of them and with the driving it was a lot to see in 3 days. On the tour we also saw camels, kangaroos and dingos all over the place. One night we even got to try camel burgers. Delicious really. Tastes kind of like good beef but juicier. The tour was a lot of fun. There was a cool Dutch couple, 2 German girls traveling together, 3 English girls, 2 people from Hong Kong and so on... It was 13 people total which was a nice group size but what brought it all together was Jason our tour guide. Just an Aussie bloke but hilarious. He made fun of everyone for their nationality but in a good way which made people loosen up a bit. By the end of the trip we were all friendly and comfortable with each other and grabbed a few drinks back at the hostel we set off from. The places were amazing too. In each spot we did a nice little hike with Jason and then he would take off pretty much part way through and get some stuff set up. It was the sort of thing where we would help set up camp, cook the food and clean up together as well as hang around the campfire together. Kings Canyon was this giant canyon that was formed many years and just stunning. We walked up and around the whole thing. Kata Tjuta and Uluru were right next to each other and formed in similar ways. See both of them, as well as the mountains in the area were formed about 500 million years ago. Kata Tjuta is a mixture of soil and large rocks where as Uluru is a mixture of fine worn down rocks (kind of like sand) and soil. From the distance they look the same but from up close you can see the smoothness in Uluru and the rocks smoothed together between the hardened soil with Kata Tjuta. Now both of them were spilled of to the sides of mountains from tectonic movements 500 million years ago. But what happened after that was a giant inland sea in Australia was formed the compressed these down and turned them into the sturdy rocks they are today. Most of Central Australia is either at sea level or below sea level. They estimate that 2/3 of Uluru is actually below the ground because of all this. Kata Tjuta is split up into several different cone like mountains where as Uluru is one big rock. Both have/are sacred Aboriginal sites. They hold various ceremonies there, stories of their origins called the Dreamings take place at specific places there which is very important to them and many of them are still practiced today. I learned a lot about Aboriginal culture here and it's relationship with the land and the white settlers here butI still barely touched the surface at times it seems like. Well Uluru was one of the most amazing things I've seen and done before. It was incredibly memorable and just a fascinating, beautiful and spiritual thing to spend time around. It has a tricky relationship with tourists because there has been a chain linked pole placed on one side of it for people to climb up. It's very dangerous and the Aboriginals who own the land ask that you don't do it. The predominate thinking is it's their land so we should be respectful of it. Some Aussie's don't see it that way. The government has taken a stance saying offer more activities such as cultural tours led by Aboriginals and we'll outright forbid it. Needless to say it's complex. I didn't do it. It didn't quite feel right but I also didn't feel like I would regret it if I didn't. It also just doesn't look right to have this big natural and unique thing that you walk around all of the sudden have poles jolted into the side of it all the way up. The entire rock is orange/reddish except for this strip which is completely white next to the poles and chain from humans walking on it. One day the Australian government will probably forbid in maybe 15 or 20 years and I think it will be symbolic of white settlers mark on Aboriginals and how they overcame it. But the climate of their relationship along with all the social problems surrounding it just creates too much tension for thinking about it in that way right now. So back t Alice Springs. Really there's not much to do there except plan the next stage of your journey. So I got to work doing that for the bush walk coming up. Basically I just ended up printing off some maps, gathering enough food for 12 days that would last and arranging my stuff so that I could leave what wasn't necessary behind for the little while. The Larapinta Trail is 232 kilometers and it goes straight west through a long part of what is called the West MacDonnell Ranges. The trail starts at the northern part of Alice so I just started walking from the hostel. There's varying degrees of difficulty and different types of land that your walking through. It's 12 sections and some of the section stops are big tourist drive up points because of some natural wonder to see. Also good for stopping and talking to people and maybe even hitching a ride back. I figured I would just walk and do what I could in 2 weeks and figure it out along the way. I didn't know how tough and seriously remote it would actually be, especially with a 45 pound pack. The first couple days were real tough. What I would find over my time on the trail is that most people were not alone, had better and more advanced camping gear and maps then me, had food drops and had something like a satellite phone in case they got lost. Not only that but the trail wasn't that well marked in some areas. It took me 5 days to do the first 3 stages with a day off and I was exhausted by the end of that.  When I stopped at the end of the 3rd stage I set my tent up and relaxed in it for a little bit, stretching out and yawning and such. These guys in their 60's that were next to me later told me that I was too young to be making those old man noises. I thought that was pretty funny. Now the 3rd stage was more difficult, it really wasn't well marked and I got a bit lost!!! But, I got to the spot safe and sound. That was a hard stage but it was supposed to get way harder and more remote after that. I decided to rest for 2 days and then turn back. No way did I want to risk getting lost in the Outback like that. Ended up being the best decision ever.  So after that I was able to relax more when hiking. I knew the route back and didn't have to look for signs as much so I really got to enjoy the scenery a lot. The 3rd leg honestly looked like the dinosaur time. The mountains have been around for 300 million years or something like that so they're more worn down but they have much more definition and detail from all the wind and water carving over the years. More than I even saw in the Alps in Europe. They've also had a couple of wet years for that region so there was even more green than usual. It was amazing walking up and down those mountains and looking out into those crevasses. It was also along a creek bed in between certain mountainsides. At one point I had to scale a 20 foot wall and shimmy to the side before climbing in between a gap of 3 massive boulders all with my pack. It was a lot of jumping from rock to rock and working my way over, through or around little waterholes. I liked that part the most. The other awesome part was the wildlife. I saw kangaroos all over the place. Big red backs too that we're even as big as me or bigger at times. It got annoying after about the 6th time because they were on the trail and you don't want to sneak up on them or corner them because they will attack you by jumping and scratching you up. I saw about 30 just on the first 2 sections of the trail. There were also dingos, endangered wallabies, hoards of parrots, massive hawks, various spiders, etc... It was good wildlife watching in Central Australia for sure. The only thing I haven't seen thus far is the marine life and crocs which should be coming up. Also relaxing at the Stanley Chasm campground for 2 days was just what I needed. My muscles got the rest they needed so I was burning through the trail after that. I also got to talk to a lot of people coming in for the day and I got to know Ray and Sharon the Irish couple who run the tourist site there on Aboriginal land. We swapped some stories and they told me a lot of detail abut what they were doing out there to improve things. Ray's a very sharp guy too. I bought a little warm food from them and they hooked me up with it a little bit at times. I would just sit by the fire and read too. It was relaxing. I rocked back into Alice 12 days later and I had walked over 100 miles. I just spent the next 3 days showering, shaving my beard, getting a few things set up for Darwin, doing laundry and calling people back in the States. I was glad to be done with it and doubt I'll undertake something like that alone again but overall man, looking back, it was a good experience and a pretty cool thing to do even though it was real taxing at points (physically and mentally).  Well off to Darwin on the Ghan train 3 days after returning. It felt good to be off again. There's really nothing to do there and it can kind of be a depressing place. Plus it w as a long time I was there and in traveling it's really cool to be moving onto new places and seeing new things. The train ride this time around, not as great as the first one. It was cool to see things change and all that but it was just for a day. There was a nice German girl next to me that I talked with for a bit and we talked with these 60 year old Aussie ladies for a while which was real interesting but it was just an ok train trip. I'll tell you what though I was real impressed with how tropical and different the Top End is. It really struck me then part of what was so fascinating about Australia. It's an entire continent with so many amazing but COMPLETELY different climates and environments. Whether it's the tropics of the north (Darwin=more like Asia, North Queensland=more like Hawaii), the popular beachfronts of the east vs. the laid back serenity of the empty beaches in the west, the islands and unique marine life of Queensland, the Mediterranean climate and feel of Perth and the SW, the great sandy deserts in the outback, the red and surprisingly green center, the true bush land of the outback, the beautiful but rugged Kimberley, the snow capped mountains in the SE, the unpredictable rainy lushness of Victoria and NSW, the thick wooded mountains of Taz, the secret cultural hub in Melbourne or the grandness of a global-type city in Sydney you pretty much can get it all here. I mean it is a continent. So rolling into Darwin and it's tropical feel after being in the red center for 3 weeks really hit me. At this point money is getting pretty damn tight as it usually does in a trip. Even more so than I'd like to be honest. But compared to how it affected me and my mood now versus when I was in Europe and Chicago facing this I am much more positive and not as concerned, but it's still on my mind. So what this translated to unfortunately was not being able to see some of the National Parks everyone raves about around the Darwin area. Just too expensive to get out there to be honest. That's alright though. I figured you know what, I'm not working right mow and I get to sleep in and relax in the tropics. How often am I going to get to do that or be in a situation like this. Not very often, so I might as well enjoy it without going crazy. I felt like I got a good feel for the area. I checked into a real nice backpackers called Elkes. Darwin was like Perth in some ways in the sense that a shitload of backpackers are there right now looking for work because the weather is just right and shit everywhere else. The main strip in downtown is full of drunk backpackers like Northbridge in Perth. Elkes was perfectly placed a 10 minute walk from this but not in the heart of it. It's made up of old timber buildings that survived the 2 disastrous things to happen to Darwin amazingly. There's palm trees and a real laid back vibe all over the grounds. So perfect place to chill and that's just what I did. I ventured into the bar strip one night but didn't get anything and barely stayed. It's just not was I was looking to do there. I did explore the city though. I went to Mindill Beach which looks out on the Timor Sea and a great place for a sunset. They also have the Mindill Beach Markets which is a bunch of locals putting on a street market. Cool Aussie stuff and food. Nice local vibe there as well. The water was soooooooo light blue there. It was just amazing. I also went to the Northern Territory museum (free) which was a fantastic museum that had some interesting exhibits on Cyclone Tracy, Aboriginal art and culture and the development of different species in Australia. There botanic gardens were splendid and the downtown had a nice little bustling feel to it during the day. I also took this time to get shit done. Bought my flight to Chicago and looked into travel in the States, I put together a rough plan for managing my money, I regularly followed the NBA playoffs and read countless articles about what's been happening, and I sorted a ride share with 2 French gay guys and a UK girl to Cairns. I figured I should see the Reef before I go. But I'll get into that later.  Darwin is very interesting. It's the Capitol of the NorthernTerritory and it only has about 120,000 people. The Territory has only 200,000 total but it's maybe the size of Texas. So a lot of nothing, yet something. Darwin is actually way closer to Bali than anywhere else of significance in Australia.during WWII it was a big military hub and got completely bombed by the same Japanese air team that bombed Pearl Harbor. The city was leveled by that. But they rebuilt and continued to live in their tropical paradise. In 1974 in between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning a nasty cyclone came in called Cyclone Tracy. They had had a cyclone early that didn't do much damage so Darwin residents didn't think it would do much damage. There were about 1400 buildings and homes in Darwin at that time. By Christmas morning there 400. In the Territory museum they have a room you can step into with recordings of what it sounded like that night. It sounds horrible and to have to have gone through that for 6 hours is unreal. Some people are still traumatized by hearing that noise. But they picked up and in just a couple of years Darwin was rebuilt to new cyclone standards and even more people lived there than before the cyclone. As a result almost none of the buildings date back to not only before 1975 but especially before WWII. Well my hostel was and it was kinda cool. And honestly if I wasn't coming back to the States I would've picked up work and stayed. I liked the chilled out tropical vibe and I met some awesome people at my hostel. This guy Ant stayed at the Emperors Crown in Perth for a while and he happened to be there on his first night when I arrived as well. That was my way in to the happenings at the social table. Ant is giant half Maori (New Zealand's indigenous) dude in his 40's. I met a couple dudes from England, 2 Canadian girls and some Germans. We just sat around having some drinks and talking for a while. It was a good couple nights. Then these 2 awesome English girls (Bella and Lori) came through with their travel mate and Aussie dude named Matt (super knowledgeable but very opinionated guy). Anyways I really clicked with them, especially the English girls. I would have loved to travel with them or stay longer and get to know everyone a bit more but like Matt said, you've gotta move on when you're traveling otherwise you'll never see anything. Touché. So move on I did. So I had 2 ride shares to decide between. One was with this German dude in his solar powered van. He was going to around Cairns he said and looking for work. He was in a group of 4 camper vans and some of them were going down to Brisbane. I could decide when we got to the east coast. Meeting up with him was a fucking hassle. He had no sense of direction and didn't even know simple landmarks in Darwin. I also wanted to meet the other people in the other vans too so I went down to this wharf where they were staying. Again a hassle. He was staying in the most random area and described it in the worst way. He also was so broke that he didn't have any credit on his phone to make a call and was dumpster diving for everything he could get his hands on (including vegetables and fruit). It was interesting seeing a load of about 30 camper vans all on this one wharf looking onto the water. Clearly a unique way to travel. These guys though I clearly did not click with. The other group on the other hand I clicked with pretty well. I only met up with the 2 gay French guys but they had a good sense of humor. They asked me if I was ok with traveling with them even though they're in a relationship and I simply informed them that I was from San Francisco and they had a good laugh at that. So we were off. There's really not much to see on this route to Cairns from Darwin and petrol is more expensive in rural areas because they know they've got you in the middle of nowhere. Still it was only $200 each for a big motor home that the 4 of us were in and 6 days of a lot of driving. It was interesting stopping at some random small town in Western Queensland for the night and just being in the middle of nowhere bogan (redneck in Australia) country. I was just thinking, "Man what am I doing here? How the hell did I get to western Queensland". That's always kind of a cool feeling. We had another interesting experience as well. Our first night we tried to stay in a campground but it was full so we pulled into a parking lot that other big rigs were parked in. One thing I noticed when the Frenchies were driving was we drove by a ton of what looked like strung out Aboriginals next to the campground. When we were getting set up I also noticed a bunch of them walked off into the bush and started making a fat fire in the woods. I also noticed that were placed pretty much in between the only bar in this small town and the area where the Aboriginals were hanging. General rule of thumb, alcohol/drugs situations and Aboriginals don't mix. I kept my eye out and my wits about me but I also knew no one else on the rideshare noticed any of this. As it got dark and we were sitting around eating food outside the Aboriginals started getting louder and walking around where we were more. Then one lady came up and tried talking with us some but ti was clear the whole point of the conversation was about her getting a cigarette or money for cigarettes off us. This is when the others noticed something was up. Right after that an older intimidating dude walked up and I think he was trying to impersonate an Aboriginal police officer. Except this fool was wearing a Victoria police officer hat. I called him on it instantly and his demeanor changed. He knew I wasn't intimidated and then started asking for cigarettes. We told him no but I guess the Frenchies and Chloe noticed that he kept messing around with his hands in his pockets. So at this point we packed up and I told what was going on and we agreed to move down the road. Looking on the map it turned out that we were right next to Aboriginal land and the only bar in town. Oopsie daisy! We carried on though to the East coast and coming through on the other side was amazing right back into the tropics. It's a little different here though. It's more mountainous and kind of like Hawaii where as Darwin was flatter or more like Asia I would say. Either way it was great. We stopped at a hot spring in the Northern Territory but that was it until Townsville and the beaches of the east coast. We also camped one night right next to a scenic beach with amazing islands off in the distance. Apparently it was a pretty croc infested sea area but we stayed away from the actual water. Just gorgeous rivers and sugar canes everywhere. It felt really cool to be on the road again and in northern Queensland. It was a nice group of people to road trip with but I was tired of road tripping with everyone when we got to Cairns. There was a lot of straight guy bashing on the trip which I was getting tired of. Especially because it was hypocritical in that part of their complaints were how straight guys generalize all gay people and then they were doing the exact same thing about straight guys with one sitting right there. But I just kinda laughed the silliness of it off. It was also funny because these guys talked about how they hated gay guys that acted like queens but these guys we're pretty damn prissy. They were still friendly but sometimes I kinda felt like the outsider at times.
(At this point it's been 2 months since I was writing this post. I just got tired of doing things like this but I'm trying to finish it up)
But then I arrived in Cairns. They dropped me off at the hostel. We said our goodbye's, no need for exchanging info we were all past that sort of thing.  Frankly I was glad for it. I walked into Tropic Days and was very blown away with it. Comfortable hammocks outside in a peaceful grassy area with palm trees swaying. An outdoor but covered pool table. I got set up with the little tent area in the back. basically just a flat gravel area behind a fence (next to the pool though) where everybody with tents was all lined up. It was way cheaper and kind of nice actually. It was more like having my own space. So while I was in Cairns there were a few things that I had set out to do. i had to see the Daintree Rainforest, see the Great Barrier Reef and meet up with my friend's Dave and Ashley from Miami (that I got to know in Perth). Plus Miami and OKC were in the finals at this point so I wanted to watch some of that for sure. The Irish woman at the front desk was just the most helpful and awesome person. She set me up with 2 tours that were awesome and exactly what I was looking for. I went to Daintree the very next morning in fact. Driving up the coast of the NE tip of Oz was pretty fantastic. the bus driver we had was pretty jittery because he had just quit smoking but a real genuine fellow. Interacted with everyone well, very knowledgeable made people some, etc. I particularly noticed on this trip what an overwhelming majority of women do tours like this on comparison to men. my initial guess is it's just safer. Basically it was me and 3 teenage Canadian dudes with a bunch of young women from all over the world. Daintree was great. it wasn't exactly what I expected but I'm glad I did it. I think at this point in the trip was when I really first hit the point of not being too excited by  new things anymore simply from traveling too much. The scenery was very rainforesty but I wasn't blown away by anything or loving it. It was just nice for the most part. We went up by port Douglas, (a cool town), had lunch at Cape Tribulation (named because Capt. Cook was marooned there at one point and wrote in his journal that this was the cape of his "trials and tribulations"), went to few different sites to really appreciate the rainforest and it was all pleasant. What I really did enjoy was going on a croc cruise where we saw about 8 active crocs and seeing 2 cassowaries. Cassowaries are large upright birds like Emu's but they look like they're from the movie Avatar. They're aggressive with humans and have killed the most humans for any bird. They're endangered and dying out fast. they can only be found in this one spot of Oz and in Guinea. Guinea has 3 types of these as well. The way we saw it was just in the middle of the road behind us as we were driving. And it was a pair of them as well. That was a long day though.
The other highlight of Cairns was going to the Great Barrier Reef. When I walked down to the harbor where boats set off every morning there were literally about 20 major cruise liners/large boats taking off with at least 100 or more people on them. this is everyday! The one I chose was a giant catamaran. The reason I chose this was because you still get to spend loads of time out there but on the way back they throw the giant sails up and you sail back to the shoreline. That was pretty awesome. After a day of being on the reef we sailed back catching these monstrous waves just watching the sun set and looking at the gorgeous land. Plus an older woman I had met had a coupon for $10 at the bar/food stand so I was slugging down 4 beers for $2 on my end while grasping onto toe side railing, looking at the view and chatting with some pretty cool people. the reef itself was pretty damn impressive. the way they break up which reef to go to is the companies actually have rights to certain areas in the reef. Some parts of the reef are much nicer and those companies cost a whole lot more. I chose a pretty fair priced reef. I didn't think it mattered. The reefs were enormous and I saw probably about 100 different kinds of fish species. I even saw a little reef shark swimming around. it was very beautiful and if I had the money it's something that I would do every year for sure.
Cairns itself...not that great. It's a tourist beach party town without an actual beach. I was getting tired of the normal backpacker party scene and that's just what this was. I met some people that were in town for over a week and didn't even go to the reef because they were just partying their ass off. No better example of this is the hostel Gilligan's. Honestly this sort of stuff made me think more about Europe and how much I doing stuff like that. Although I will say, I made a serious effort to get up early even after a night of partying and go explore the city and the sights for sure! I'm just sure I looked like a moron though to some based on all the tomfoolery I was constantly up to in the evening. Seeing Dave and Ashley was good too. Familiar face in a not so familiar place. We never actually watched a whole game because we always got the time change a little bit off. Too bad man. It was kinda tough though because Dave and Ashley literally ended their 3 year relationship while I was there. I know that was a pretty tough point for them. just happened to be odd timing. I also got to hang out with my friend Nora from Germany (also got to know her in Perth) a few times. Familiar face in familiar place again but I was just tired of talking with people all the time. I honestly was just keeping to myself a lot at this point. The last time I saw her she came to my hostel for a BBQ where kangaroo, emu and crocodile were on the list as well as many other fine options. it was a good night and the guy who was hosting it owned the hostel and does it regularly every week. He made it very personable. There was also a nice Canadian couple there too who actually ended up being on the same reef trip as me.
But I was ready to go. I had a flight to catch in Sydney in a week which meant that I had to get to Sydney. While I was in Cairns i just hopped on gumtree and found a guy the wanted to leave on the exact day I did and had a van all set up perfectly. 6 day trip down Sydney. I met him and he seemed like a nice enough guy. He turned out to be a total twat. he was nice guy but would not shut the fuck up. English guy that told stories about his stupidity at the pub or boring stories about his job. His quote was "I don't do silence." On a 6 day road trip you need to do silence at some point. Overall though we had some fun. We went to this beach town called Airlie Beach on the first night. It's the big jump off spot for the Whitsundays but we just didn't have time for it. We also drove down to Brisbane and spent some quality time there. Actually got to walk through some neighborhoods and go out and see the nightlife a little bit. I was supremely impressed with Brisbane. It's gets a real bad rep because it's not in the same level as Sydney or Melbourne but quite frankly it was awesome. There was plenty to do and some very scenic and beautiful stuff. Gets a vote of confidence on my part. then we drove down to Byron Bay (the true backpackers beach party town) but only to drop someone off and then make our way to a little town called Nimbin. Nimbin is inland from Byron Bay and is mostly known for having a day trip bus that takes tourists there because you can buy weed in just about every form. it's a hippy town of maybe 5000 people but it's got a nice charm. it's inland enough to have that rural feel to it, the little downtown is very small but it's got a cute charm to it. The hostel we stayed at was gorgeous. We just parked our car and stayed in it but the kitchen there was fantastic, there was a teepee as a sleeping area, wallabies were running through it, cows across the barbed wire fence, we got there just in time for a beautiful sunset. it was like staying on a hippy farm. I got to sit on one of the swinging chairs and watch the sun set while drinking some cheap wine and it was pretty nice dude. We ventured into town that night and had some drinks. We watched Ireland get the crap kicked out of them by New Zealand in a rugby match with some of the locals and a couple Irish girls. We were just chatting away. At one point we went outside and everyone was smoking weed. i decided to go next door and grab myself a pot brownie because I figured...as you do. I ate half of it and smoked a little too and I was having a good time. As we left we ran into two women outside that were locals and going to a sex toy party. I kid you not. So of course me and Dave were thinking absolutely! Well it was much more tame than we expected. We had some silly dirty names assigned to us but what ended up happening was I got so messed up and tired that I passed out in the kitchen and Dave was asked to assist me on my way out the door. Not quite a happy ending I'm afraid. So we woke up the next morning and split. I should say that we drove a lot on this trip. We drove about 2900 km's in six days. I got to drive on the left side of the road with the wheel on the right. it was pretty interesting. Stick shift as well. Before Sydney we stopped in a nice little town called Newcastle a little north of it. it's a college town, and a port town with a nice downtown. It was kind of like a New England college town. if I had to compare it to anywhere I'd say similar to Providence, RI. It was pretty cool and fun to explore for a few hours. Right on the Pacific as well. We made our last egg, hashbrown and toast meal in a McDonald's parking lot and then headed back to Sydney.
Arriving in Sydney was pretty sweet actually. I was really looking forward to this. Not even staying in a 32 bed dormitory called the church dampened my mood. Actually I thought it was hilarious and ironic. Overall an interesting experience. Since I had started out in Sydney getting to come back right at the end of the trip for a couple days and be there again was real nice. I explored the other parts of Sydney that I didn't get to see before and it was pretty cool. i went for a long ass walk through the eastern suburbs and explored multiple cool areas then, including Bondi Beach (the most famous but not best beach in Australia). Winding through those hills in the eastern part of town and occasionally looking back and getting an amazing view of downtown Sydney and all it's monuments was fantastic. I also got to walk along the cliffs on the Pacific Ocean with a specially built cliff walk path. That was great too. Just peering out, watching the massive waves crash against the cliffs and slowly make their way into Sydney harbour, and thinking about how the States is just that way and I'm about to be heading back over the Pacific. I also walked though downtown and all the scenic stuff you see there again. Going by the Sydney harbour to see the Opera house and the bridge again was just great. I went by their 3 times this time around. Getting lost in the inner western suburbs and finding all these different cultural neighborhoods that I knew nothing about. I quickly understood why people said that all the stuff you get in Melbourne you can get in Sydney, you just have to look for it more. Truth, but there's way more of it in Melbourne. And I really did all this without a map. That was pretty sweet. But doing all this stuff really put a nice finishing touch on my trip in Oz. I really felt like I had done everything that I had set out to do. Comparing my beginning time in Sydney to my ending time was nice. I just felt like I had really accomplished what I set out to do. I really felt like I had seen so much. Not just in the last few months but the last 8 years. I thought about all my experiences, where I had come from and how having experienced all that I was ready to be more serious and excited to come back to the bay. I honestly felt open to wherever I may end up or be. At other times I've had plans of when this or that will end but that was the first time where I really felt like I could end up almost anywhere and be totally content with it. I was ready to come back after that time in Sydney for sure. The only issue was there was this country Fiji that I was supposed to stop off in. I really didn't feel like doing that all. I kind of wished I was going straight back. part of it too was that my money situation was pretty dire at that point. Thank God Fiji's conversion rate is heavily in favor of the US dollar.
Fiji ended up being pretty awesome. I was there for 6 nights and quite frankly I wish I could've spent more time there. I had a blast there. Some of the coolest travelers I met, I met there. The hostel I was at was $6 USD a night. The people that worked there and a few locals from nearby would come and hang out with the tourists so it was totally intermixed equally. Everyone chatting with everyone, just relaxing about man. Every night there was something called a kava circle. There's a tree root called kava. they grind it up and mix it with water to make kava. It's a drink that totally sedates you. We drank it pretty much every night. Man I got some fantastic sleep with it. We would sit around for 3 hours while the local guys/employees had a jam session and just chat with each other for a while. We might throw some cheap beers in there but it was super relaxing. It was getting pretty cold in Oz at that point cause it was there winter but it was right hot again when I was in Fiji. Since I was short on dough I just stayed at the hostel mostly. Lounging around I really delved into my book which was a 600 page bio of Obama. I only got through about half of it before I decided i needed to change books. Sleeping in, going for a walk, lying in the hammock and maybe playing some ping pong/volleyball was what I did at this perfect setting. One night a Welsh guy, Irish guy, Aussie guy, Dutch girl and I did the 60 shots of beer in 60 minutes and it was easier than I thought. Although we were all super drunk by the end of it for sure. That was a fun night. The Fijian guys kept asking us to be quiet and try as we did it just wasn't making the cut. The guys were cool though. Trent the Aussie was by far the loudest. We went to the kava circle after that and Trent was damn near yelling by accident several times. Those guys and I had met the day before when we all helped make what's called a lovo. Basically this guy Rico grabbed us and had us help him prepare the dinner for the night. We walked to the beach with a machete and cut of some branches from a tree. then we carried them back and chopped them up even more. We cracked open coconuts with the machete, drank the water and ground about 100 of them down to get the milk and use the shredded coconut in a dish. We also skinned some pacific island vegetables while the cooks prepped a bunch of meat. This whole time a fat fire was burning with large rocks in the middle of it. When the fire was done the rocks were piping hot. We then put the food all wrapped up on the rocks, dug a hole around it, put coconut leaves on it, wet cloth over it, dry cloth over that and then covered it on dirt to cook underground for 5 hours. It rocked! And we got the first sample of some of this stuff.  the other thing I did was get tricked into going to a state fair type thing which was total crap. It was with the same people I did the power hour with. This town north of where we were was full of Indians (the country) and I got a little bit of a lesson about them and why they were there. It was supposed to be a cool fair that we paid to go to but really not the case. We just walked around for about 3 hours trying to get Sophie some ice cream. Me and the guys really just laughed about it for the next couple days. The first night was a wild one too. Some of the girls convinced me to go out with them in downtown Nadi and I did. Frankly it was pretty run down but a cool experience. I was mostly with the locals and it was pretty sweet but I got dooped into spending too much money. That's kinda what happened with every city I went to the first night I got there. Just the sheer excitement of being there made me wanna go out and have some fun. I definitely had fun that's for sure. The only real regret I have about Fiji is when our buddy Rico offered to take Trent and me up to the north island and stay with him in his village for a week. It wouldn't cost anything and we would just help with all the daily preparations and lifestyle stuff there.Unfortunately Trent and I were on the same flight in 3 days for the States so we had to pass. It was great! I have some good memories from there. One local guy named Simon who was an unreal fire dancer was at the kava circle one night. He always was and got way kava'd out and had a deep Mufasa type voice. I was sitting at the circle with my sandals and he said, "My friend, we have only 2 rules here in Fiji. Don't wear your shoes inside the house." I immediately apologized and he then said, "My friend it's alright. You did not know so it's not a sin. The second rule is follow the first rule." We had a quick laugh and I took my sandals off. Then he turned to me and said, "In the old days, we would have eaten you for this." Lol. Man that funny and totally true at the same time. Quite a memory. So Trent and I had to leave at 9pm to catch our flight. We got one of the locals we had gotten to know to give us a ride to the airport for free. We sat down for a couple more kava bowls before we left. The guy running it found out we were leaving and started giving us "high tides" which were bowls full of a lot of kava and then 2 bowls back to back right as we were getting up to leave. We were sent off with everyone there waving, saying goodbye and wishing us luck. In the cab Trent and were talking about how that was one hell of a send off. And it was. I didn't want to leave. But the States was waiting and it was time to get back. So we hopped on our flight and took off. An hour and a half late, but that's Fiji time. And it felt good to go across the Pacific again.

Goodbye Perth

Well I'm leaving Perth. Since I last posted a lot has happened regarding me needing to make some decisions about what I will be doing in the future. So I was saying before how I wasn't sure what the future holds and I was just going to go with the flow. Well I also met with the owner of the hostel for coffee which turned into a lunch. He basically sat me down and we chatted about ourselves at first and got to know each other a little bit. He's an interesting guy and I found out he later he owns a lot of businesses (including a very big strip in the main shopping artery of downtown Perth). He talked with me some about his plans for the future as far as opening a new hotel in the Northwest but he offered me a position as the weekend manager and sometimes weekly manager at a couple of his hostels here for the next few months which would pay good money. Then he hinted that after a few months of that he would offer me sponsorship. Sponsorship is no easy thing to come by. Sponsorship basically means a company sponsors you and pays part way for you to move out here permanently if you want. After a 2-4 year contract you get Australian citizenship with a passport and everything. Many people come from all over the world to WA looking for sponsorship and a lot of people don't get it. It's a very impressive offer and with the amount of money that's coming into this region of the world there's loads to be made. Even when I would have a cheap contract I would still be making more money than almost anything I could get into in the States. He really pitched it to me and was even a little pushy. He made some good points about the boom that's going on here and how rare that is, particularly now, and the profit opportunities that are available because of that. I spent about a week thinking about it and decided not to take it. A lot of my friend's out here told me I was crazy when I first said that. First off I don't really want to work in hostels or hotels and I also want to live in the US. I didn't come out here looking to get set up long-term. I came here to be in a new place for a while and get to know it but only for a bit of a taste. Plus I really wanted to get to know Perth and like I said before I've done that. As far as where I want to get set up and what I want to do next that'll be back in the States and most likely on the west coast. California makes the most sense at this point but it's too early to say anything and that opinion is always fluctuating.

So I'm not taking it. What does that mean. I'm not gonna just keep hanging out. Time to leave. The main thing pulling me back (which I'm super glad is) is my friend Bailey's wedding in July. I really don't wanna miss that. Another thing is coming to Chicago for a bit in August before a couple of my good friends leave for good. Before that though I have 2 months to kill in Australia. So I made some money from all this and I'll be getting a good chunk back on my taxes so I'm hitting the road. In 3 days I'm flying to Melbourne. I'll be there for a week. I have some Aussie friends there that I met when I was backpacking in Ireland and another one I met at the hostel here so I'll be meeting up with them and hanging out a good amount with some locals. Then I'm catching a flight to Alice Springs. I'll be spending 3 weeks there. The main reason is because there's a shitload of National Parks there. That region is called the red center. One main thing I want to do there is hike this trail called the Larrapinta Trail. It's 223 kilometers and it's an old Aboriginal trail but looks amazing. They recommend 2 weeks but I've heard longer. Every place I call doesn't give me any direct info though so I think I'm just gonna figure it out when I get there. There's also Uluru which is supposed to be one of the top wonders of the world. Then I take a train to Darwin. I'm trying to sort out a couchsurfing spot and I'm pretty optimistic about it. I've already heard back some and it should be legit. Darwin is supposed to be dope. It's the "Top End" of the country as they affectionately call it. It's a great jump off spot for some more National Parks. There's a big Aboriginal culture there but it's also supposed to be cool city with some cool things to do. Those are the main things that I wanted to do in Australia. From there I should still have about 2 and half weeks so I was thinking I would see some more stuff on the East Coast while making my way down to Sydney. Although if an opportunity comes up to travel the west coast in 2 weeks time then I think I would jump on that. So my flight is out of Sydney of June 29th...but here's the kicker. I got a cheap ass stop off in Fiji for 6 nights on the way back. So I'm gonna hit up Fiji. I'm definitely looking forward to that. Then my flight from Fiji back to LA is July 5th. I'll spend some time in Cali before getting up to Oregon for the wedding on the 14th. I'll spend some time there, maybe get up to Seattle and then head out to Chicago hopefully for 3-4 weeks. Then if I have time and money maybe I'll road trip back to California and use that as a base for job hunting. And that's the plan as far as that goes. I've looked up some places for jobs that I think would be good so I'll be expecting to jump right into it. I'm definitely very excited for the next 4 months or so. Just gotta make sure I don't spend tons of money.

The last 3 weeks here have been awesome though. I have been sleeping like a KING! Some nights I sleep 12 hours or more! I described several days that I've had in previous entries that have been awesome days and I've just been continuing to have them. I mean today for instance I got up around noon. I got started with my day and headed over to the Witches hat to hang with some friends for an afternoon lunch we had planned. My Italian friend Phillipo, who is a cook, coked us this fantastic meat and alfredo pasta for lunch and we sat around and had a few glasses of white wine while chatting about a bunch of shit. Then I came into work and it's been a solid day here at work. It's my last day and I've been training a new guy named Dan. he's pretty much got it down so I barely had to do anything. So what I did was cook another pasta dish with some of the last of my food. Onions, garlic, tomato, broccoli, bell peppers and chicken with tons of spices in it and pesto and some cream as the sauce. Dan, Vincent and I had that and had a couple beers with some of the guys outside because we were just chillin.

Another fun day was on Saturday my friend Tom and I went to rugby game. it was my first rugby game and it was awesome. The thing about sports here is none of the sports here that are popular are followed in the slightest in the States. 2 kinds of rugby, cricket, Aussie football, netball and soccer a bit. In the States is American football, basketball, baseball, hockey and then soccer some. So I've been enjoying learning about these new sports for me. The rugby game was a great example of that. prime seats. 12th row right at the endzone. It was total downpour but with how rough and gritty the game is it felt appropriate for my first rugby game to be in those conditions. I gotta say I like how people cuss and yell at these games. It was like hanging with a bunch drunk sailors ripping into the team, lol. And what was interesting is there were kids around but it was never taken too too far. the kids seemed to understand that it was just part of the culture of the rugby game and the parents seem to have a handle on it. Then of course I went out and had a good night with some friends. Some German people I knew were leaving that Monday so it was kind of a goodbye send off for them.

That's another reason that I'm also glad to be leaving. A lot of people I know are coincidentally leaving now. The Welsh boys left. That was a bit sad for me. I got to know those guys really well. They found some agriculture work out by Adelaide. I made sure to send them off right though. I definitely miss those guys though. And just in general many other people have left so my decision to leave I'd say is a good one. I got to know a group of people from all over very well unlike other times when you travel and you only get to know people for a few days. That's been awesome. But alas, time to move on. So for the next 3 days I've got some pretty cool plans as well. I got my manager to agree to let me and Vincent put on a BBQ every Friday night that they pay for. Basically we have people come over for free food and then people get drinking and having a blast before heading out. Now usually I've had to stay in but not tomorrow night. It's gonna be kind of the unofficial send off for me even though I'll have 2 more days. But during the day I'm gonna go for one last run to Jacob's Ladder and take in that view. Then I'll get ready for the BBQ. Saturday I'm going to go to a beach that I haven't been to yet. It'll be the last neighborhood/area that I wanted to explore out here in Perth. I'll go for a dip and then find a nice spot to chill and watch the sunset on the Indian Ocean for the first time! Then I'll cruise back to town and go to the Witches Hat. A couple of the guys that I met when i first got here went off to the mines but will be back for the first time on their rotation. It's also one of their birthdays so it'll be a nice little celebration. After that on Sunday I've got tickets to an Aussie Footy game! So I'll be checking that out with a friend to be named and soaking that up. But then my flight is at midnight so I'll have to get ready and then head to the airport. Should be a pretty awesome last weekend.

Honestly I'm not gonna have great perspective on all this until I leave and probably only when I get set up in the States. I know this has been a great experience for me and a growing one as well. The main difference I can see in myself and my attitude is that I'm not as worried about the future, where I'll end up or what's gonna happen. Honestly I think I could be anywhere and be set up and successful. I was pretty big on the west coast and I still am but if things lead me somewhere else at some point I wouldn't be too disappointed. I don't have nearly as many ideas for the future but I'm ok with that and I know it'll all work out just fine. I think this may have opened my heart up a little more. I get much more emotional thinking about everyone back in the States and everybody that I care about. I'm so glad I came to the west coast for a couple of months before I took off. I really felt like I reconnected with a lot of people, especially my family. I hope I carry this over and I'm pretty confident I will. I've also just gotten in the habit of sharing a little more with the people around me here and that's contributed to a nice caring relationship everyone has for each other. Not that I was selfish but just sharing a bit more. I also hope I will bring that back over and am confident that I will.

Perth is really great little/big city. There's a lot of different activities to do out here and people are generally friendly. people really do enjoy their leisure time and you can see that as far as everyone's happiness level. I don't see this as the city for me long term but man I'm glad I got to know it well. I'm ready to go though. It's just time. To be honest it's also getting a little too routine. I don't need a routine yet. In about 4 months I will. I have definitely enjoyed myself and I feel much more refreshed in general. I'm starting to get ready for the idea of getting back into the kind of work I was doing before. Especially if it's gonna lead me somewhere grad school/career wise. I'm still putting together some ideas for that one though. I'm also going to have make time to travel for the rest of my life. I'll find a way for sure. Oh I don't know there's just too much going on now. It's been real busy here. So I'm just trying to be in the moment and enjoy my last little bit of time here before I leave. I'll have all the time in the world to reflect when I'm out on my own traveling and back in the States but many of these people here I'll bet I'll never see again unfortunately. I'll always remember them though and my time here.

Well I'm off. Hope everyone is doing exceedingly well and if not I hope you're getting through it alright. I'll see you all soon. Love you all.

Working and Chilling

So the title of this blog describes what I've been doing since the last one. Just chillin and working. The job here at the hostel is pretty simple and pretty relaxed. While I work I can have a couple drinks, go cook some food, hang in the courtyard with people or just get online no problem. Plus I get the weekends off. There are only 2 real drawbacks to it. I have to stay at the hostel all night in case any problems come up. And the other is I have to have the phone on me during the night. I can sleep but I have to answer it if anyone calls or checks in. I would say on average I have to get up 2 times a night. I only have to get out of bed once though. Really not that bad. Plus I get to sleep in and do whatever I want with my day.

I've got to meet loads of people from different places with different stories. I mostly meet people from Europe doing the same thing that I'm doing. This guy Vincent here is from France and I recommended him for the night supervisor job but part time on the weekends. He got it and now him and I hang out a lot and are pretty cool. There are other characters here that are pretty cool too. Francoise has been here for almost 2 years. That's rare because they want to get people out of here every 2 weeks which creates all sorts of drama. But he's got a pass from the owner. Part of it too is because he did the night supervisor job for 10 months previously. He'll help out sometimes too but he's just a cool cat from France. He the manager at a nice restaurant here in town. There's loads of Irish people here too. A lot of them are alright but honestly I'm starting to get a not so nice opinion about Irish people generally. In some of the talks I've had with them it's amazing how narrow there view point is on certain life topics. The drinking as well. I mean these guys (and girls) drink constantly and get real fucked up too. And they just make a racket. Whenever I see some drunk Irish out in public they're just a nuisance. This is of course generally though. I've met some spectacular Irish people out here. Honestly though, if I wasn't a big guy with a beard and commanding presence I think they would challenge me a lot more. Another interesting group of people I met are these folks from Iran mostly. The Red Cross has booked rooms here for refugees from detention camps in the middle east. Man some stories I heard from them were fucked up. Say what you want about the US going into countries in the middle east but it definitely makes the lives of people in these countries better. The horrible things I heard them say their government did to them and their families were pretty shocking. One guy was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He would help all the other guys out because his English was better. He would always offer me things because I would clean up and help him out and he wanted to contribute something back. But one time he was telling me a particularly bad story and he had to stop because he started having a flashback and showing minor convulsions. He had to start chain smoking instantly and rock back and forth for 20 minutes just to bring himself to be able to speak again but he was still very shaken. There's also loads of Asians from all over. This guy has started hiring Asian people with degrees to come down and work at the mines and give them sponsorship. He's been using this hostel as their jump off point.

My supervisor is a pretty cool guy too. He's from England but lived some of his childhood in South Africa as well. He's a (former) stoner that plays computer games but he's cool. We joke around a lot and he's super easy going. He just wants someone that can handle the evenings so that he can go home and not worry about shit. There's also another daytime person named Anthea. She's Greek and she's cool but she's been so sheltered (self admittedly) that she can be naive and ask a lot of personal questions just out of a curiosity about new things. I'm cool with it but it rubs other people the wrong way sometimes.

So basically I've been meeting all sorts of people left and right while working and saving some money. Secretly though I've been planning my escape. I've gotten to the point where I feel like I'm ready to leave Perth. I need to keep saving up money but it's coming up on 3 months since I've been here and it's all pretty much been in Perth. I didn't come out here just to be in Perth or to get set up in Perth, I want to get set up back on the West Coast of the States. So I've been looking into possible travel plans coming up. First I need to extend my flight to around the beginning of July but I'm thinking I could get two solid months to travel back to Sydney before heading back to the States for my friend Bailey's wedding. I've thought about road tripping up the west coast with some people but I doubt that will work. First we will need to buy a car and that's a hassle that I'd rather avoid at this point. Plus I need to find people. the only people that I've found so far are these German people that I don't really think i want to road trip with. A lot of Germans that I have met are big planners to the point where it's just too much and that's how these people are. And with one of them when I hang out with him just him and me I get incredibly annoyed at some things he does. So going on a road trip with him for a month is probably not a good idea. I have some ideas for what I can do but I don't want to say anything until I finalize it.

There is one thing that could possibly hold me back. The owner of the hostel has mentioned that he would like to meet with me to talk about possibly giving me more responsibilities and moving up within his chain of businesses, starting with a more prominent role at one of his hostels perhaps. Now I don't know. If it's an insanely good offer I may just have to take it. Depending on money and what exactly he would be interested in having me take on. But chances are I'm going to say no for all the reasons I already listed. But I'm going to keep my ears open. But man if I wanted to stay out here with a little bit of research and time I could make loads of money real fast. A lot of my friends here are doing that.

Mostly during the days I'll get fantastic sleep or get good sleep and explore neighborhoods, or do productive things. I stopped yoga because I didn't want to pony up the money for a month. That trial period was cool and I definitely want to pursue it some when I get back to the States. Since then I started running a little. Mostly along the river that leads to the ocean and up to Kings Park. Kings Park is bigger than central park and is all bushland in the city. It's also one of the best viewpoints of the skyline here. There's a spot I'll jog to that is called Jacob's Ladder. It has 242 steps. I'll run those twice after jogging and then continue on if I feel like I can. Although sometimes I am just exhausted after that. But I've taken my days to explore neighborhoods more too. So far I've gone to some pretty cool neighborhoods in Perth called Leederville, Mt. Lawley, Subiaco (where I met a cool person named Amy from Lake Tahoe where we had the instant Cali connection), Fremantle twice East Perth and West Perth. Each one is cool in it's own way with plenty of places to explore. I've also explored some parks like Kings Park and Lake Monger and I'll see Lake Herdsman as well. I've been to a couple of beaches here (Scarbourough mainly) but I still need to go to Cottlesloe beach. There's a lot of coll places I've found in Perth. I've made sure to get away from the main downtown and Northbridge (the backpacker party neighborhood) of Perth and I've really enjoyed that. I've been able to meet more locals that way and get a better picture of what life in Perth is really like. And let me tell you...it's relaxed. I know more about Perth and even WA than some people that have been here way longer than me now.

I've also been looking for other work as well just to make more money so I'll be worries a bit less when I quit and start traveling. I looked into that cheese factory job and I even had my friend recommend me for it but they just haven't called back yet at all. I also called a part-time labour place to just pick up a few shifts. I got a call back and I'll call them back tomorrow but I don't know where that could lead. Either way though I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I didn't get as much money as I hoped I would from the hostel but I stopped and realized something. I decided to think about the positive things I have going on in my life rather than thinking about what I don't have. I realized that I'm fortunate for my situation. I have an easy job that pretty chill. I get to sleep in everyday that I want. During the day I get to explore the nooks and crannies of Perth and in general I'm just living a pretty low stress lifestyle right now. I never had that in Chicago with my jobs there. But that's exactly what I needed here and what i was looking for. And let me tell you I feel the difference. I'm even starting to feel possibly ready to get back to that kind of work for the first time in a long time. I figure after another 3 or 4 months away from it this feeling will multiply.

I feel like I've been getting what I wanted out of this experience plus some. So I wanted to get to know this city and this region of the world that's unique. I would say I've done that pretty well. I wanted to meet and get to know some other travelers but in a more personal way than just 3-6 days of hanging out but over more time. I have definitely done that with many people. I also wanted to get away and refresh myself. I got away and I'm already feeling more refreshed than before. After more time we'll see. I wanted to travel and see a lot of stuff. Again I've done that some but with more time it will be even better. Just in general I wanted to take some chances and do some different things. I've already done that for sure and I know I'm going to continue doing that.

I was talking with my brother and without thinking about it I was telling him how I wasn't sure what the near future held but that I was embracing the Australian lifestyle and just going with the flow...no worries. He studied abroad in Australia and knew exactly what I was talking about. He gave me a compliment for going with the culture of Australia and when I got off the phone with him I realized that I had learned and partaken already in a different cultures way of life. I didn't fully realize it perhaps because of time or because it's a western society but I've definitely learned a lot about a different culture from a personal perspective. And I've taken lessons from it as well. I'm fucking excited, happy, shocked and many other positive emotions about that. I didn't feel this when I bounced around in Europe. I had a great time but it wasn't as much of a cultural experience. Growing, learning, adventurous, debaucherous but not extremely cultural. And I still haven't seen a whole lot of the country. I also don't want to sound arrogant but again there's a sense of pride like when I first arrived in Perth. I've made it work. So far I've set out to do what I wanted to do. It wasn't exactly as planned and will continue to not be but generally it's working. It also gives me more excitement for the future and some of the other things I am in the process of planning. As time passes I am continuing to learn more about myself as well. This whole trip, not yet, I think will lead to another big weight being off my shoulder as far as figuring out what I want (or don't want). It's given me a lot of time to reflect. As I have more adventurous experiences I tend to narrow my scope a little bit more and I definitely feel like that is happening now. But alas, I think in a couple more weeks when some more details are worked out I will be able to write somewhat more accurately about this. In reality I probably won't understand the effects of an experience like this until months and most likely years later. But of course I'll make an educated guess.

Until then I'm going to get to bed. I've got an awesome day planned for tomorrow. I'll get up a bit early and go for a run to King's Park. Then I'll head over to The Witch's Hat to see some friends before work. I haven't seen some of the guys over there for almost 2 weeks now because of some different schedule stuff. Then I'll work but it should be a nice shift. It'll be last of the week and Vincent and I have some plans. We're going to make a French roast with some of our friends here at The Emperors Crown and drink wine. Yes, I can totally do that during work. I'm doing some extra work tonight so that I don't have to do as much tomorrow night. Then I'll be up late cause I have to but I'll talk with people. And then I'll get great sleep all day Saturday. Those are the kind of days I have out here.

Until next time I love everybody. Even if I haven't talked to you much just know everyone is always on my mind. Everyday.