It Begins!

The last week has been good, catching up with people before I leave, doing Baroque for J's birthday and Guillaume for the return of DK and finally Lot Forty with MKL. Good food all around and I think thats something I'll miss, Sydney's variety and quality of food. I wish I could have caught up with more people but a lot of this has been very last minute, which has meant it's all crept up on me. I'll try and catch a few more people tonight, and I think the holiday mood is beginning to set in!

Here are some highlights from the meals this week:

Baroque: Chocolate Dome (Last one left!)

Guillaume: Deboned Ribeye of Mayura Wagyu Beef

I'm really looking forward to the holiday. Before I even leave the country, I'll be skiing in Thredbo for a couple of days before flying down to Melbourne to drive the Great Ocean Road with DK, which is something we've been talking about for a long time.

After that I'll be going to Japan to chill out for a few weeks with S before I head off on my African adventure (via London) where I hope to catch up with a few people in the 24 hrs that I am there!

I really don't know what to expect from Africa. Everyone I've spoken to has responded responded in one of two categories:

1. "Wow thats cool, I've always wanted to do/I've done that it will be awesome!"

2. "Wtf? Why would you want to go to Africa? It's so dangerous!"

Inevitably, I think it will be a blend of the two. There is no doubt that Africa is relatively dangerous compared to say, Japan. But on the other hand, it will undoubtedly be awesome. I don't want to overhype it to myself, but just quietly, I'm expecting this trip to be as amazing as the first round the world trip with (RTW:1).

The best laid plans...

The last time I posted, I was about to go on a 6 month holiday which ended with me unemployed and looking for work. Now, only 5 days later, a lot has changed.

I now have the opportunity to transfer with work to London in November, I just have to work out the details (im in Africa and will out of contact for 2 months) and what I need to do to make sure it happens. Whilst there is no doubt that this is a good outcome, it does make me a little sad that I won't be able to make the trip of it that I would have liked, but I know that an extremely ungrateful attitude.

It's not all locked in stone yet, but lets see how it all pans out...

Joseph and Angeline got married on Saturday and I had the honour of being their MC! Angeline was beautiful and Joseph is a lucky man!

Planning

So I'm really getting into the details of this big trip of mine. Interestingly, this blog contains notes from the previous round the world trip from 2004/2005.

Last time, the trip went NYC -> South America -> Western Europe -> Japan -> China/HK

This time, the original plan was Trans Siberian -> Eastern Europe -> Africa -> NYC -> Canada -> London

When Bahn and I sat down to plan this trip out last night, we realised a major flaw in this plan. Apparently, its the start of the rainy season in November and we were advised by the tour company not to go to East Africa in that period because game is harder to find! This means that the only way we could do it is to go to Africa in the Spring, Sept/Oct. This completely destroyed our originaly plan. To get to Africa by September we had several issues: firstly, there was no tour available for a lot of the companies at that time so we had limited options. secondly and more importantly it meant that we could not do the trans siberian or eastern europe before Africa, (as I would be in Japan in August).

We then came up with a new itenary that looked like this:

Syd -> Africa -> South America -> Latin America/Cuba -> Mexico -> USA

We would sacrifice Eastern Europe for South/Latin America. In some ways I think this is a better itenary. Travelling in South America is potentially cheaper, and it is a more "out of the way" destination than Eastern Europe, which is easily accessible from London.

I plan to go to all the countries that I didn't get to go to last time around so Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and then up thru panama, costa rica, cuba and mexico.

The next think we need to work out is how long we want to spend doing those places. I want to spend some time with Amos in the ATL and Kitty and her family in NYC. Ideally, I think spending the holiday season with them would be fantastic, so that leaves us "only" 7 weeks to do all the above which actually doesnt give us that much time.. we'll have to figure something out..

Mid Life Crisis

A mid life crisis is defined by wikipedia as:

"a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age"

This pretty accurately reflects how I feel right now. There is definitely a lot of self doubt going on, and I'm already feeling the passing of youth and the imminence of old age. and I'm only 27.

Here are some characteristics of a mid life crisis:

Individuals experiencing a midlife crisis have some of these feelings:

• search of an undefined dream or goal - Check
• a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished - Check
• desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness - Check
• need to spend more time alone or with certain peers - Check

What the hell am I going to do when I'm 47?