Welcome back to reality, motherf@cker! It's expensive! (Warning - the following contains a LOT of 'I" statements cos I'm too lazy to write properly at the moment and my thoughts are still a bit wobbly from what I'm hoping is T3 and not early onset dementia.) Yes I'm home, or at least closer to home … Continue reading Porridge …
Category: Unexpected Journeys
exodus…
After 5 months of stress, anxiety and dislocation with uncertainty and isolation my bedfellows every sleepless night since March, I'm finally on my way out of the dumpster fire that is Australia 2020. Unfortunately not on a ship (so the Exodus analogy ends here) but rather a grumpy and sour Qantas flight to Sydney and … Continue reading exodus…
Spamdemic…#4
One key aspect of solo travel is knowing when to call it - when to blow that "full time' whistle and head home. To be able to read the signs around you, look at your motivations, assess the risks and take action. I've hammered this point to fellow travelers over the years; now to take … Continue reading Spamdemic…#4
Spamdemic…#3
Friday morning and the streets here are getting emptier every day. Fewer and fewer people are venturing out; a combination of the smoke and the fear of Covid19. There's still the odd Westerner about, but we're definitely the minority now - the rowdy groups of backpackers and lovesick honeymooners are largely gone. The usual streetscapes … Continue reading Spamdemic…#3
Spamdemic…#2
So barely 12 hours after I arrive in Chiang Mai, the Australian Government announces outgoing International travel bans, effectively cutting Australia off from the rest of the world. FFKS. I learn about this while sitting in my favourite Chiang Mai cafe having my usual breakfast. Awesome. So I check the news. Doom, gloom, fear and … Continue reading Spamdemic…#2
downtime…
The last 3 years have been a blur with the seemingly constant travel, new experiences and endless motion being both the best and the worst thing about it. When did 2019 become a thing? Last time I had a real sense of 'normal' it was 2016 and I was fleeing the '9-5' drudgery of an … Continue reading downtime…
Correction…
Well dang! Turns out I won the New Zealand Antarctica tech job but didn't get a place on the boat for the Australian Antarctic Division this season. So no Davis Station for a third season in a row or last voyage on the Aurora Australis before she retires. What happened? So much for my plans. … Continue reading Correction…
careful what you wish for…
Well that was fast! Recent travel plans are now put on hold temporarily to brush aside some dusty cobwebs and explore a dim light shining through a slim crack of opportunity; looking to gain a tentative fingerhold back at the Antarctic Division in Hobart. I've been 'home' in Dubbo just under two weeks now and … Continue reading careful what you wish for…
so hot right now…
36C (96.8F)... Ya know I gotta say it. It's so bloody hot today. 39.1C in Hobart last Friday was bearable - a sleepy city by the ocean, cooled by the sea breezes (even it it was a chokingly hazy breeze, thick with the smoke of countless wildfires burning Tasmanias forested areas to the bare earth). … Continue reading so hot right now…
more ebbs than floes…
It's New Years already. Where the heck did that come from! The past few months have flown by and it's only 6 weeks or so til I get back! (this is a rather negative get sh*t off my chest post, so feel free to skip...) In case you havent been paying attention, I made it … Continue reading more ebbs than floes…
Man Down! 