Well siNce my last post I continued to chill while I was in the bay. In a dangerously lazy way actually. It was cool to see people but it was weird because normally when I'm n the bay I'm trying to see people pretty regularly and that was not the case this time around. I was sleeping in and relaxing and not even wanting to go out on some nights. I think I needed it but looking back it wasn't entirely productive. Part of it too was about a week after my last post I got a second degree burn on my hand. So I needed to stay in and let it heal and working out with a swollen burn mark wasn't really an option so I was super inactive.mlooking back it's kind of a funny story and even in the moment me and my friend Ryan were laughing about it as well as the other people there. Well long story short I was at a cabin in Tahoe and my friend Ryan was keeping the fire going. The bucket of kindling was moved and as I turned the corner I tripped over it a little. In a reaction I put my hand out but straight onto the wood furnace. Second degree burn and after 30 minutes it was clear that I had to go to the ER. The funny part though is that after this happened I instructed Ryan's girlfriend to keep bringing me whiskey so that I could dull the pain. It didn't work that well and I ended up being pretty drunk at the ER. I was under control but it made for some funny interactions.
So I just took the bandage off finally the other day and it's healing up just fine considering how bad it was. Looking back I did do some cool stuff in Nor Cal. I was in Santa Cruz for a while, went t Tahoe, went to Napa, went into San Fran for a couple days here and then, spent some time in Oakland and Berkeley, explored the Alameda which I hadn't done before and I relaxed a lot. Minus the burn it was a good time. And my overall time between leaving Chicago and then leaving for Australia was mostly spent with my family.
When I left the bay I first jetted off to Miami to visit my buyer. That was cool. I visited him before but this time I got a much better feel for the city and area overall. I explored some cool neighborhoods, particularly this one called Winwood. There was tons of street graffiti all over but it was done from people such as Shepherd Ferry, Banksy, Rob English and others of their sorts. A neighborhood 20 blocks by 20 blocks of this stuff. I went into an art studio and had to buy a small piece of art that totally fit the style of that neighborhood. My brother was also living with these 2 cool dudes in Little Havana on the top story of a high rise overlooking downtown Miami. I definitely spent a couple days just chillin at the apartment looking at that view. We went down to Keys where I almost got hit by a sting ray, to South Beach just good times. Colin's obviously doing very well too. He's got some good friends and he's loving his job too. He's got a good beat on Miami for right now.
After that I flew to LA to visit my sister before heading out here. We went out most nights with her college friends to where all the deals were. I think the NorCal in me has always just shutdown LA as possibly being an enjoyable spot but I tried to keep an open mind while being there and you know what, it was pretty cool. There's more to do there than I would've given it credit for. We drove around to some cool spots like the Sunset Strip, The Grove and she lived in Westwood too. Plus the UCLA caus is just awesome. I also got to meet her boyfriend for the first time and he passes. We got along well and he seemed to genuinely care for her. Plus it's been over 3 years so I'd hope so. No but he's a cool guy for sure. And her roommates and her friends are awesome as well.
My last day was pretty sweet. We went to meet up with my Aunt and cousin and then we went to the tide pools at low tide and I forgot how awesome those things are. My Aunt and my cousin are funny too so we had a lot of fun joking with them. My cousin Becky is like the perfect match for Sheldon n the Big Bang Theory when she gets a little older. And my Aunt Laurie made us a fantastic dinner that was simple but just what I needed right before I headed to the airport.
My sister dropped me off and it really was a lot of fun hanging out with her. But I was ready to go at that point. It's funny there's always that little feeling of nervousness just when you're about to get on the flight. I couldn't have planned this better for now butit's still kind of unbelievable when you're checking like wow I'm about to do this. You know how you got there and at least for me I wasn't worried about failing it just weird having no idea what to expect because it's something you haven't done before. Now that I slept on the flight some the excitement is starting to take back over.
Some interesting things about the whole flight process that I've noticed so far. First off tons of backpackers waiting in line all over the place. People saying where are you going, oh no way that's awesome we're going to this dope place to do this dope thing. You know that sorta talk. Second, these flights are huge. I'm gonna try to post a picture but man these planes hold a lot of people. I lucked out and got to sit at the top portion of it which was less cramped and just kinda cool. Also these flights don't nickel and dime you. Everything was free and plenty of room to stretch out even for a guy like me. I sat next a nice couple from Saint Louis that was going on a 2 week vacation with some friends to Fiji. We didn't talk to much though cause we were sleeping considering the plane took off at nearly 11pm. Another really interesting thing is looking out the window over the Pacific when you are in the middle of nowhere. It's just vast and even at night time
Well now I'm off to Sydney. I've been trying to make sure I try new things while I'm traveling just as kind of a rule of thumb. One, which I'm pumped for is couchsurfing. I've got a host set up in Sydney. Her and her boyfriend seem like awesome people. They're some world travelers themselves. They even offered to pick me up from the airport if they weren't working but they are. No worries I'm gonna go to their neighborhood and chill at brewery called Waterworks until they get off work. Then I'll be joining them for dinner with some friends in a cool neighborhood in Sydney called Newtown. I'll crash with the, for 2 nights and then take that train all the way across the country to Perth. 3 day train trip and then I'll be trying to get set up out there. I'm pumped and I'm catching my travel stride at just the right time.
At the moment I'm mostly excited but I was thinking about missing the States while I'm gone. That's why I'm hopin to make enough money so that I can do a little bit of traveling in the States again when I get back. A couple fun things would be going to Burning Man and spending like around 3 or 4 weeks in Chicago over the summer. I still think about Chicago and sometimes I even consider moving back. I doubt that will happen. It would probably have to be the perfect storm of circumstances but I'm trying to remain open minded about all options. Just writing about this reminds me, that was a large part of why I wanted to do this trip too. Just getting away I hope will give me some time to reflect and analyze what exactly I want to do because I'm still not totally sure on what I want the next step to be. I don't know but I think some time away will help with that to see everything from more of a removed perspective. I do know that when I ge back I want to be a bit more settled and pursue some other interests that I won't even delve into now. Well I gots to go the flight's boarding soon. To everyone and anyone I love you all and hope you are doing well.
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