Sad Day. Last Day.

Sigh. And so the vacation comes to an end. My camera broke while I was navigating that Great Barrier Reef, so pictures will have to wait, but I can safely say that when I woke up this morning (to enjoy the Australian early morning one last time), what was I greeted with but a sunrise over the ocean? (I swear, the view from Hotel Liam and Katherine's place is in-credible when it's sunny out!)

It certainly didn't help this whole "I want to move here" bit. Although I've awoken about 7 hours before my 1:50 PM flight, I'm tempted to just conveniently miss my flight back to the US. I. Simply. Love it. Here.

But alas, you know me. Darn practicality getting in the way of things. You know I'll still be two hours early for my flight, to allow sufficient time to check in and do some airport browsing (people watching, last minute gift shopping, etc.) before I have to finally hop on board my flight to LA.

Sigh. I feel like this post is going to be inundated with sighs. Australia is just one of those countries that people HAVE to visit. Although I wish it weren't so far away, I think that element does add a degree of intrigue to the country. Sure, I haven't visited ALL too many places in the world, but I know what I like and I. Love. Australia. The country is so BIG... by nature, there is just inherently so much to see and do here. And no two cities are seemingly the same (unlike, well, pretty much all of Western Europe)- I think that was one of my favorite parts of this trip... seeing just how unique each city I visited was.

In no particular order, here are a list of my "favorites" from this two week adventure:

Favorite accommodations: Hotel Liam and Katherine*!!

Favorite activity in general: homemade pizza night w/ Kathy, Liam and Hazel!

Favorite city visited: Melbourne

Favorite adventure activity: skydiving

Favorite tour group: Ocean Freedom (for the day at the Great Barrier Reef- this tour group was AMAZING and I can't stop raving about them to any/everyone!!)

Favorite Australian word/slang: "mossie" (for mosquito)... SO CUTE when you combine it with the Australian accent

Here are the things I could've done without on my trip:

1. My sunburn- I've never really gotten sunburned before, so I actually thought this could be a fascinating, exciting experience. I mean, the burn, the peel, the tan that comes with it... it's like a whole new world to me. Yeah, no. It kind of blows. I got pretty darn burned during my day out on the Great Barrier Reef... yeah, yeah, yeah- our guides kept on harping about this whole sunscreen business, but I've never had to use sunscreen before! Why start now? All I have to say is... big mistake. I look disgusting- one Indian lobster if you will.

2. My broken camera- so thankfully, this happened towards the end of my day on the Great Barrier Reef and my last day of "real" travelling, so I think the pictures are still preserved. But still. I could have done without this whole adventure to a sand island for one or two pictures... thanks to the choppy waters we had to navigate through to walk the last few meters to the island itself and the wind blowing sand every which way possible, I can safely say my camera is ruined. *Cross your fingers that the pictures are preserved!!*

3. That's it!

All in all, I have to say... although there are quite a few other places in the world that I still want to explore, I wouldn't mind coming back to Australia for another visit. There are still just so many things to do, places to see, and the like that you just can't cram into a two-week vacation time... darn all those European travellers I met, who were traipsing about the country for 5-6 week stints. DARN THEM.

In any event! Haha- clearly, no bitterness. But at the end of it all, I'm actually not COMPLETELY dreading returning to life in the US. While I do love me my vacation, I also do love routine/habit, so I'm looking forward to returning to my normal, everyday life in Chicago.

Ha. Did you like how I really tried to put a positive spin on my return back to the US? What can I say? I did TRY!

See you all if (oops, when) I return!

*Hotel Liam and Katherine accommodations were of the five-star variety. I would highly recommend you give them a ring if you need a place to stay... hahah. Just kidding. I love you guys!! Thanks so, so, so much for letting me stay with you while I was in Sydney!! Seriously, let's make this whole neighbors thing happen when you guys move to the US!!

Christie. Skydiving. That's all.

Guess who went skydiving today...?!

Seriously, the things I do for a blog post. Because aside from the blog post, there was little to no real motivation for me to go barrelling out of a plane. I hate heights, have never had an interest in skydiving before and... well, I hate heights! Isn't that enough??

Apparently not. Despite how much I am NOT designed for adventurous activity (what can I say? I scare easily), I was surprisingly quite calm during all the buildup to the actual skydive itself. It all started a couple of days ago, when I went a little crazy at the Information kiosk when I arrived in Cairns and just booked out like a $1,000 worth of activities for the week. Oops- so I got a little excited! So I've never really appreciated nature in the past? Not gonna stop me from exploring the rain forest here! So I can't really swim, am terrified of open waters where I can't see the bottom, and really get uneasy at the thought of what can bite me underwater? Oh well, not gonna stop me from booking snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, apparently. Aaand, so what if I hate the feeling of my stomach dropping on roller coasters and literally am terrified of heights? Clearly, the only natural thing to do is book a skydiving adventure of all things.

Oh well... I guess this is what happens when you go to the other side of the world. Lots of things change, apparently.

I was surprisingly quite calm, cool and collected from the booking through this morning. No freakout moments, no nightmares the night before, nothing. To be honest, the weather has been kind of crummy in Cairns (rainy, rainy, rainy) for the past couple of days, so I think I was subconsciously just figuring the skydive was going to be cancelled. At which point... oh darn!

This morning, when I awoke to the same gray skies and looming clouds, I can't say I was all TOO disappointed at the prospect that the skydive was likely going to be cancelled due to weather. The group picked me up and began the hour's drive out to the skydive start point... and the rain was POURING. Again, can't say I was all too disappointed (first time in my life that I wasn't too disappointed with rain).

I don't know WHAT happened though. Literally, about 20 minutes from our skydive spot, the clouds started to clear and... well, not only did it stop raining but it actually became BRILLIANTLY sunny. Well...

Well, WTF. Mother Nature and her ways... I will never understand.

In any event, I still wasn't all too nervous, despite the looming prospect that this plummet (excuse me, "jump") was actually going to be happening. I think it helped that there was like a TEN-YEAR-OLD in my group... I mean, if HE can do it, well, so can I. Right? Right.

Riiight.

I was introduced to my tandem teacher (or whatever they are called) right away, who turned out to be the friendliest thing ever. She put me right at ease and got me all nicely harnessed. I actually felt quite safe! I think another reason why I wasn't all too nervous about the plummet ("jump"! Sorry!!) was because if you are jumping tandem with someone, you don't really have to do anything. I mean, you don't have to jump- the tandem teacher does. You don't have to hold specific poses or anything- I mean... you SHOULD (they clearly show you the Superman pose you should be holding), but if you blank out and don't hold the pose, I don't really think it's any big deal (speaking as an expert, clearly). You don't have to pull the parachute - your tandem teacher does. And only when you're landing, you have to make sure you have your knees and feet up... and the tandem teacher does the rest.

Since I like to think I take instruction fairly well (obedience is my middle name, after all), I figured this was going to be easy peasy. Even the tiny propeller plane didn't really faze me (and normally, I think I would be terrified of tiny propeller planes... Cuba ring a bell, Jess? :))! I was quite proud of how calm I was. I mean, I was actually even taking the time to enjoy the view as we took off!

As we were well on our way, I was admiring the view and thinking "Wow! This isn't so bad at all! 14,000 feet isn't nearly as high as I was expecting!". It was literally at this moment that my tandem teacher was like "Yes, it is very pretty isn't it? We're at about 5,000 feet now... this is where we'll be when we finally end our freefall and release the parachute".

Lord. We still had another 10,000 feet to ascend before we dumped ourselves outta the plane?? And that, my friends, is when the panic started to set in. I mean, I actually have little to no fear of death (I'm kind of excited to see what it's like after this life! Haha), but STILL. You can't help but face a slight degree of panic when you look out and see... well, how much SPACE is between you and... well, LAND.

For some reason, once panic starts setting in, the activities started to quickly propel forward. First of all, these tandem teachers have these damn video cameras to document this whole sordid experience. At the start, I was ALL about it... you know me and that camera! I LOVE IT!! You better believe I was flashing that smile right and LEFT at the start of this experience and during the flight up. But once we started cresting higher and higher (thus elevating my panic levels higher and higher), I swear that camera became such a nuisance. My darn tandem teacher kept shoving it in my face, asking me how I was doing, how much I was loving the view, etc. etc. I swear, there was one point when I wanted to shove that camera outta my teacher's hand... I mean, who wants their moments of full-fledged panic to be fully and completely documented for all the world to see??

I guess this is the problem with being a people pleaser. Despite the panic, despite the newly realized dread of plummeting outta the plane... well, anytime my tandem teacher asked me how I was doing (and trust me, she asked quite a few times), what would I respond with? "Oh, just fine! This is going to be fun!" *Flash smile for the camera*

Trust me. As much as I love that camera, I am a big fat fail as an actress. This will CLEARLY come across in the video as my responses are more along the lines of *Big gulp* "Oh, just fine! This is going to be fun!" *Flash smile (if smile=grimace) for the camera*.

Well, what was I supposed to do?? Sigh. This is all so very ridiculous, superficial, etc. etc. But oh well. Apparently, that's me.

In any event, before I knew it, they'd shoveled that plane door on open so that people could start barrelling out of the plane. GOD! I don't know how people do this!! I couldn't even LOOK as the other people ahead of me started dumping their bodies out the plane door. I mean, seriously- I think I was more terrified for them than I was for my OWN jump at this point. I mean... there was a whole family on-board!! WHAT were they thinking?? I mean, that ten-year-old boy...

But I digress. At the end of it all, I just COULDN'T watch as the people were shovelling themselves out of the plane. It physically pained me. But before I knew it, my tandem teacher was nudging me along to the edge of the plane. And that, my friends, is when the terror reached new heights. I mean, I knew I'd have to sit at the plane door (with my legs hanging down) for a second, as my tandem teacher and I got all prepared (really, I say this like it was a team effort... it was all her, let's be real here).

But, holy mother of all things good and pure. "Sitting at the plane door" was, quite frankly, one of the more terrifying moments of my life. I honestly could NOT look down. And that's when legitimate thoughts of puking/fainting/dying did actually start entering my head.

But oh well. Before I could start dwelling on THAT for much longer, my tandem teacher... well, I'm not gonna lie. She just kind of shovelled us on outta that plane.

And oh my lord. I couldn't even look for the first 2-3 seconds. I just couldn't face the thought of plummeting to my death. I just couldn't. Surprisingly enough, however, my stomach stopped dropping after those first 2-3 seconds... and then it was just freefalling for a whole minute (and for those who don't think that sounds like a long time... in skydiving land, it so is). And man, I really did feel superhuman.

It. Was. Incredible.

The views, the feeling of the air/clouds surrounding you, the freefalling feeling itself... the fact that I was able to remember and maintain the pose they instructed us to use... trust me, as they were giving us these instructions, I just tucked those in the back of my mind, resting under the assumption that I would blank out anyway and just continue to fully rely on my tandem teacher to force my arms up into the Superman look. But no! I was able to actually think clearly and do it on my own! Imagine that!!

Anyway, after the minute plummet (I mean... freefall), my tandem teacher released the parachute so we could just float along our merry way back to the surface of the earth. The views from that high up were IN-CREDIBLE! I really didn't want the adventure to end.

And you better believe she was recording every minute of it. I swear, once my panic subsided after those first 2-3 seconds of jumping out of the plane, you better believe I was back to hamming it up for the camera. Smile was flashing right and LEFT. Also, since she kept on prompting me for how I was feeling, I actually DID start trying to think of really strong adjectives to use to describe the awesomeness I was feeling as I was floating through the sky. But, sadly, at the end of the day, it is me and the best I could come up with was my old tried and true "Christie-ism":

"O. M. G."

God, I swear. i really need to diversify my Christie-isms. Sigh. Oh well. All in all, I have to say this was one of the most INCREDIBLE experiences of my life to-date. After floating lackadaisically for a good 5-6 minutes, we ended up landing safe and sound (kind of with a hard THUMP, but whatever). And that was that! Can you believe it? I certainly couldn't. I just wanted to fly and fly and fly...

Till next time, I guess!

PS- I'm at the mercy of Internet cafes right now, so pictures and/or the video will simply have to wait to be posted. I know you are all on the edge of your seat. But all in good time, my friends :)

Half the Fun is Getting There, Right?

Wellll... I made it! Hello from Sydney!! (How Oprah do I sound?!?!?)

I actually made it into Sydney earlier than expected this morning... how often does THAT happen?! I took it as a good omen, if you will. The travel experience was... well, at least it's done. All I have to say is... to all my friends/coworkers who have flight status and use it for international flights... congratulations.

I'm certainly not bitter in the least. But let me back up.

So, my journey began by being stuck in some godawful traffic on the way to O'Hare. God bless Chicago (I do kind of miss it already!). In any event, I was trying to get to O'Hare early enough to catch a 5:50 PM flight, rather than the 7:30 PM flight I'd originally booked, given the super tight connection (40 minutes!!) I would have in LA. However, I get to the airport and holy mother! International terminal lines galore... and the line to try to get flights switched was ri-diculous (and the attendant informed me that I wouldn't even make it in time to get the 5:50 PM flight as it was). Sigh. Oh well. I wasn't all too concerned... I mean, it would suck if I missed my connection, but it is what it is right?

In any event, I get through security and start heading to my gate... when I spot a United customer service desk. Since I had hours left to kill, I figured it wouldn't hurt just to do a friendly little inquiry about switching my flight... I mean, there WAS no line after all. And... well, God bless United. For a mere $75 change fee, they were able to switch me right on up to the 5:50 PM flight... no wait, no hassle, nothing! Sweet. Success.

So, off I headed to LA. Once in LA, I figured now would be a good time to eat something considering I had yet to eat anything all day long (what?! I had a busy day!). So, what did I choose?

Here's the thing. If you know me, you know I never eat McDonald's (or much of any fast food, really). The idea kind of just grosses me out. But I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G. And call me nostalgic, but I figured I might as well get my American eating in while I could.

Shortly after scarfing down what can only be described as chemically processed variations of questionable "meat" (read: chicken nuggets), our flight started boarding. My heart went a little a'flutter in anticipation... I mean, I wasn't exactly looking forward to this longass flight, but my vacation was finally starting!!

Well, this anticipation lasted all of about five minutes. Because once I boarded and realized the space I had to deal with for the next 12-13 hours... well, come on. You'd be a little disconcerted too. To give you an idea of what the space issues were looking like, here is me around hour 7 (please disregard the hair, the glasses... well, everything except for the space restrictions which is what this picture was primarily intended to convey):

Trust me, it was an experience. To say the least. I mean, literally- there was NO. ROOM. I guess that kind of explains why my entire BODY is aching today, but whatever.

No problem! Because at the end of it all... I'm here! I'm in Sydney! As soon as we landed, I was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready and waiting to begin my Australian journey... really take in all things authentically Australian. So imagine my surprise when, upon exiting customs, one of the first things that was there to greet me was...

Lord. You really can't go anywhere without good ol' America following along, now can you? Sigh. In any event, shortly after making it through customs, I was greeted by one of my high school best friends... the one and only Katherine! (No last names for Internet security purposes! You are welcome :)) It was all very delightful, really.

Unfortunately, it was super rainy when we stepped outside the airport, but after making it back to Kathy and Liam's apartment, I felt as good as new (to an extent, at least)! Today's been fairly low-key... just some coffeetime downtown...

The starts of some sightseeing (to be completed in more detail later in the week)...

And now... some cozy teatime before more reunions this evening!

Till next time! (I know you guys are waiting on the edge of your seats, really.) Happy St. Patty's Day, btw!

Australia, Here I Come!! Ready or Not...

Huzzah! The day is finally here- off to Australia I go for two full weeks of fun, sun and relaxation!

I think the fun is probably the only part of that first statement that will hold true. From what I've heard, the weather in Australia (Sydney, at least) has been rainy at best. As far as relaxation... well, I think it'll (definitely) be more relaxing that life in America (I mean, isn't that what Australia is known for? Relaxation, merriment, all things good and right in the world??), but considering I have yet to really plan for anything, we'll see how relaxing this trip will actually be.

Sure, I have my flights and lodging in my various cities all nicely booked, but I have absolutely nothing booked in terms of tours, skydiving festivities, snorkeling adventures (trust me, even with a life vest, snorkeling will be an adventure given my swimming capabilities... or lack thereof), etc. Oh well... half the fun is the anticipation, right?

Riiight. In any event, I can't wait! I only started getting really excited for the trip when I awoke this morning. I flew in to Chicago last night, literally dreading coming back to my apartment, because I knew what was awaiting me... laundry, cleaning, packing, administrative duties, and tying up some loose ends with work. Kind of a long list of things to look forward to at 7:30 PM the night before you are leaving for the other side of the world.

So what did I do? As soon as I walked in my apartment, put my stuff down... and napped.

In all fairness, I had a KILLER headache throughout the day yesterday, that only progressively worsened on my flight back to Chicago, so I simply had to take care of that. Believe me, when it comes to headaches, I am the world's biggest wimp. After gorging on some Advil (okay, two capsules, as indicated), I HAD to nap in order to help the headache alleviation process along. Obviously.

And it worked! Imagine that! I woke up after about an hour and felt as good as new... well, kind of. But much better than I had prior to the grand nap- and that's all that really matters! In any event, I ended up getting to my laundry last night, but... well, that's about it. What? I was tired!

So, I definitely went to bed last night still feeling incredibly unprepared for my across the world trip... I did, after all, had yet to BEGIN packing.

I assumed that I would dread waking up this morning, given the annoying task of packing (and CLEANING! MAN, was my place a disaster or WHAT?!) looming ahead of me. But surprisingly enough, nope! I woke up with literal butterflies in my stomach... I'm (FINALLY) so excited!! Thank goodness... I was wondering when the whole excitement feeling was going to start kicking in. I mean, over the past week or so, what I've been feeling has been anything but excitement (I have no idea why... trust me, it was all very perplexing). But thankfully, no worries now! The natural excitement factor is back in full SWING!!!

AND! Imagine that, this morning actually went as smoothly as could be expected (that's not to say that it actually WENT smoothly, but whatever). I finished cleaning AND packing* AND went to the doctor AND finished up some work stuff... and now, I'm just waiting for my beloved Maria Thomas to arrive for her weekend in Chicago before I finally head off to O'Hare!

Not like the adventure or suspense really stops here. I mean, you're looking at a girl who took it upon herself to book her flights such that she has a mere 40 minute connection in LA to catch her Sydney flight. Awesome. In any event, we'll see how this goes- fingers crossed that I can just board an earlier flight from O'Hare... fingers. crossed.

Catch you all when I get to the land down under! You better believe I'll be blogging while down there!

*Special thanks to Urmi for her handy dandy backpack! Lifesaver.

Australia!!! The Dream Continues to Evolve...

I swear, this trip is becoming the most haphazard thing ever. It dawned on me last weekend that I really ought to start nailing down some of the finer details of my quickly approaching trip to Australia in the middle of March. I mean, all I'd done was book my flight there... and quite frankly, that wasn't enough. I still had to book my flights from Melbourne to Cairns, from Cairns to Sydney... not to mention my lodging in all of these places.

This is not my fault. I simply haven't had time to plan appropriately. Even this weekend, I tried to buckle down and really cement my plans but GOD... it all seems like it's done in such a chaotic, frenzied fashion because I have too many other things to do, that this is the least of my immediate priorities. Thankfully, my Australia guidebook is like my new little happy place. Seriously, as I start sifting through what could be a slightly overwhelmingly thick guidebook (after all, Australia is one HUGE country!), I don't get as overwhelmed as I originally brace myself to be... rather, I just get more and more excited!! I mean, seriously, I know it's not going to be summertime when I go down there, but I still can FEEL the sunshine and warmth emanating from its pages!!!

I keep joking with people about this, but I can't help but wonder how much truth lies in the fact that I very well may just park it in Australia, rather than returning to the United States. I just have this FEELING that I'm. Going. To LOVE IT THEREKLjflkdsjfalkdsj!!!!

Thankfully, today was a little more productive. I finally bit it and booked my flights from Melbourne to Cairns and Cairns back to Sydney. I don't know what has happened to me! I used to be the most frugal traveller EVER (think: my European summer where I literally was starving myself during my unpaid internship so I could have enough money to travel... with trains and hostels, mind you). Now? Well, now, I guess I just don't feel like I have the TIME or PATIENCE to be a frugal traveller. I guess that explains why I paid a whole boatload more for these damn flights than was likely necessary... but what? Virgin Australia looks so sleek! And I've had great experiences on Virgin AMERICA flights... how different can Virgin Australia really be? Let's be honest here. As far as lodging is concerned... I stopped myself short of just booking hotels in Melbourne and Cairns, just because they came "highly recommended" by my travel book. I mean, I felt a little faint when I started adding up those hotel costs plus the local Australian flights I'd just booked. I clearly need to be doing the bookings in staggered fashions, to eliminate one ginormous hit to my darn credit card... and my personal heart health.

Weeellkajfljdsflkj! I'm getting so excited!!! I'm already starting to brainstorm ideas of how I can use my blog as a platform when I'm in the land down under. Maybe I could start interviewing locals about their thoughts on Americans? Lord, maybe not... don't want to be responsible for opening up a whole can of worms... I mean, it's a potentially dangerous topic! And, quite frankly, as much as I gripe about America from time to time, I do love this country. Sigh. God bless it. Hahaha. President Christie, that's me...

Anyway, obvi I'll have to keep brainstorming... the aforementioned idea isn't exactly a reflection of the creative genius needed to become an Internet viral sensation (always the ultimate goal, in my mind).

Speaking of viral Internet sensations... time to go practice some Nicki Minaj to appropriately prep for my work team's karaoke team event this upcoming week... klasjflajdsflkj!!! I. CANNOT. WAIT. I am SO. GOOD. AT RAP KARAOKE!!!!! And Nicki Minaj? Please- signed, sealed and delivered. Just you wait.

Travel Guidebook Happiness

Lately, I feel like things have been so all over the place that I simply haven't had time to do some of the things that typically keep me sane (reading, exercising, BLOGGING, lounging at cozy coffee shops... I could go on and on, really).

It certainly doesn't help that lately, I've had this incessant feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong in the very near future. My stomach is constantly in knots (I swear, I'm about to develop an ulcer) and that "feeling" literally just will NOT go away.

God. Talk about the OPPOSITE of happiness and sunshine, right? Sigh. I swear, this post isn't an ENTIRE buzzkill (please do keep reading!).

Anyway, after yet another work week (sigh, corporate America), all I wanted to do was come home and...

Well, to be honest, just curl up in a ball and go to sleep for a very long time. (Let's just say, after last Saturday's 18 hours of sleep, I couldn't help but hope for a similar weekend this weekend.) Seriously, my entire bus ride home, I was contemplating different ways to turn down the birthday party I'd promised to go to on Friday night so that I could honestly just go to sleep at like 8 PM.

It's amazing what a looming vacation can do for a girl's mentality. All I've done for my March trip to Australia thus far is book my flights... and that's because I HAD to... who knew how much higher ticket prices were going to get?! Additionally, last weekend, I finally buckled down and secured my purchase for the Lonely Planet Australia guide on Amazon. I'd actually completely forgotten about that purchase until I arrived home on Friday night, to the brilliant surprise that I had a package! (Because I travel during the weeks, I typically catch up on all my mail and stuff at the end of the work week.)


Happiness. Pure happiness. That is the only way to put it. I couldn't believe how much my mood changed simply by riffling through the first few pages of the guidebook. I could literally FEEL the relaxation of the Australian lifestyle emanating through those pages. Not to mention the EXCITEMENT!!! Have I shared how I'm so excited for this trip? Have I? So excited I can hardly STAND IT?!!

And seriously, with the rate things have been going lately, don't put it past me to just park it in Australia for the rest of my days...

Get Ready, Australia! Here I COME!!!

And who said New Year's Resolutions aren't legit? Guess who gets to cross #1 off her New Year's Resolution list already?!

That's right! I finally bit it and booked my flight to Sydney, Australia!!!

I was wondering if this was actually going to happen. Don't get me wrong- I've been wanting to visit that side of the world for QUITE some time now... ever since one of my best friends, Kathy, moved to New Zealand a year after college. However, while the prospect was always there, nothing ever panned out... all four-ish years she was down there. Lame-o (on my part), I know. What can I say? When it came to lavish vacations vs. paying off my student loans, the frugal, practical side of me clearly won out.

When Kathy and her husband, Liam, decided to move to Sydney, Australia last year, I knew that I simply HAD to get down to that side of the world, before they ended up moving back to the United States (lkfjdsalkfj! Which, can I say, I couldn't be more ecstatic about?!). And, GOD! Sydney, Australia. Doesn't it just scream all things utopian sunshiney happiness?

Now that I think about it, I sure hope I decide to come back. Huh. Anyway!

For me, sure, the location can totally make or break a vacation. But for this trip in particular, I can safely say it's the people that are going to make it for me. Not only is this trip designed to be one giant hugfest of a reunion with Kathy, BUT I also get to reunite with Hazel... another favorite person (ever, in life) of mine who was a fellow coworker of mine in San Francisco (and who currently lives out in Sydney as well... I know, what are the odds?).

You would think that would be enough, right? Nope. Because I've also planned my time in Sydney to coincide with the time one of my college best friends (who is currently living in South Korea) will be in Sydney as WELL!!!

REUNION CENTRALKljdskfjasldkfjlkdsajflkdsjL!!!!!

Sigh. Isn't life just grand? ISN'T IT? High school best friend, college best friend AND a San Francisco favorite all convening on the other side of the world??!! What ARE the odds?! And icing on the cake?! That's right... I'm going in March, which is only... the grandest season of allllll, Falllllll over on that side of the world!!! (You better believe that was always in the back of my mind as I was planning timing for this vacation!)

Huh. I guess I should actually start planning some of the logistics behind my trip... quite frankly, I just kind of booked my flight on a whim about a week ago (throwing caution to the wind and all that) without really thinking about what I'm going to be DOING for those two weeks straight. Sure, Sydney's the priority, but I want to hit up Melbourne, the Great Barrier Reef and... well, that's about all I've got for right now. Clearly, a trip to Amazon for an Australia guidebook is in my near future...

Okay, so this post wasn't solely devoted to bragging rights about this trip. (Only partially... haha.) If you have suggestions of places I should visit while I'm in the land down under, definitely comment on this post or email/text/call/Facebook/Tweet/Google+ me... well, you get the idea.