Worthy Travel Accessories

Besides the basics of a great pack and proper clothes, I have compiled a list of items that I found quite nice and made my journey a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.

Asus Netbook

Obviously not essential but this little thing was quite handy. About the size of 2 folded t shirts and about 3 pounds, it was not much of a burden to carry around.  I saved heaps of space packing as I had every guide book stored on my netbook, no need to lug around those thick books.  Additionally, it came in quite handy while researching upcoming travel destinations, especially while having wifi access in my apartment back in Sydney. Saved me heaps of money as I didnt always have to go to internet cafes.  The entertainment factor was also a benefit. It allowed me to update my ipod with new music, play some movies I had saved as well as tv shows. Quite possibly the most beneficial aspect of carrying along a computer is photo uploads. I never had to stress about not having enough space on my camera after every day trip/activity, I could always upload my photos to my computer. Super easy and convenient. Lastly, updating this blog would have been 5 times more of a hassle without my netbook, very convenient for a blogger on the run.  

Ipod Touch

An mp3 player is something I am never caught without. I live for music and this is probably the most important commodity on the list. Its obviously great for walking around and falling asleep to, but a great companion on long bus rides and planes.  In addition, wifi on the ipod touch makes some things very convenient with an internet connection, for example skype, checking email and US news updates.  And you can't forget the games. Great while going to bed or on the toilet, there's an app that can make anyone happy. Paper toss, magnetic joe, fling and jungle crash are just a few that have been my favorites.

Tripod for Camera

A crucial addition.  My mini tripod allowed me to take some unbelievable photos, expecially night time picts.  Also convenient if travelling solo and don't always have someone to take a picture of you. 

Travel Shower Bag


A must have for any backpacker. Crucial for shady dirty hostels. This one expanded into three separate compartments, never had storage issues and it always had a spot for my wallet, passport and other valuable

Swiss Army Knife

Would be more convenient if I was out in the outback, but still used it a good amount,the knife and scissors mostly.  Didn't leave the hostels without it. The knife was quite handy for smearin on some peanut butter and jelly while on the go or on the trail

Axe Body Spray

A backpackers B.O. cure.  Even showering everyday, it is a given that you wear the same clothes 4-5 days straight. This body spray is the ultimate mask to any bad odor.

Microfiber Towel

Another great research find on my part.  A great backpacking addition. Very quick drying and not a big hassle if you have to shower and pack your bag and board the bus immediately to your next destination.  It absorbs heaps of water and is very thin.  

Those are just a few. I've been home 2 weeks now and definitely missing the solo travel life. What an experience!

Australia Recap

A sad but bittersweet post, the Australia sector of this journey has come to an end.  4 months ago I was on a plane headed down under all by myself, no set travel plan, and nothing more than 4 nights booked in a hostel.  That plane trip from the states was very exciting yet scary at the same time.  Leaving all my family and friends behind and heading to a place that truly was foreign to me, all on my own.  Today I have four great months of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. Crikey what a trip!  It isn't till I step back a bit and think about what I've accomplished till I really feel how awesome and unbelievable this trip was. Yes, I had a bit of aid in the groundwork with the trip as far as getting my visa and such, but it was me in the end that really made everything happen.  I secured my first job in another country, something not many Americans, especially my age, can say that they've done. I went solo, maybe the best call of this entire journey.  Yes, in some places having a friend from back home to share some great memories would have been cool, but honestly, travelling the world is all about meeting new people and learning about yourself.  Thanks to the heaps of international travelers and a very well laid out backpacking network in Australia, meeting new people was not difficult if you just made a simple effort.  Travelling solo forces you to be outgoing. This trip would not have been the same without the heaps of great people I've met along the way. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is just as mesmorizing as some of the most beautiful Australian destination. I have made contacts from all over the world and will eventually see them all again, whether showing them around the great state of California or in their respective countries. My friends from England, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Holland have all invited me to their countries and offered accomodation.  I will undoubtedly take them up on their offers when I do eventually make it back over to Europe.

Maybe the best part of this trip is that I absolutely have no regrets.  I would not do anything different on the trip.  My time in Sydney, my travel itinerary, etc. For the time I had in Australia and the funds available, I did everything I wanted to do and that is the important part.

Working in Australia was quite the experience.  Although it was in the travel and transportation industry and (hopefully) quite the deviation from a future career path, my job at Gate Gourmet was a memorable one.  It really shows that I can excel at anything I put effort into.  Well even if I didn't "excel" like the fast moving Koreans, I still never got fired and I think thats a plus in anyones work career.  Learning the ins and out of airline catering was fascinating and is something I will always remember on any flight I board.  And yes, I will still eat the airline food, regardless of packing thousands of trays, tray after tray and seeing how it all comes together.

Things Learned

Well travelling around with international people you see and learn things about the world. I learned some aussie words, but definitely picked up on some common/slang German, Swedish and English(UK) words.

Also, and I got a feel for this in Europe almost 3 years ago, Americans don't have the greatest reputation among outsiders.  I think this may all be due to bad media and terrible stereotypes that sometimes can lead to be true. Europeans are fascinated about Obama, that had to be the most common question I recieved, "what do you think of Obama." Did get a bit annoyed after awhile with that question.  But yes, I think American movies, TV shows and just our modern culture can sometimes lead to false accusation of American lifestyle.  Another common topic was gangs. Whenever LA was brought up, the topics of gangs and Compton always came along. I always told people you can't talk anything if you have never actually visited a place.

As far as things learned about myself, well heaps.  This has been a great individual experience.  I've never been one for horoscopes or star signs but it is right on.  I've seen on this trip, that my Aquarius personality is right on.  Aquarians are usually pretty independant and adventurous.  I wouldn't really have classified myself as adventurous before this trip, but now I would. Maybe it is due to the fact that this is the first time I truly have been on my own, and I think that is where my adventurous self comes out.  I constantly find myself always trying to explore new places and never wanting to miss out on an opportunity and will make the extra effort to make it happen.  This trip has improved my lifestyle.  I can't even remember the last time I slept past 10 oclock in the morning. (actually yes I can, when I was working). Let me rephrase that a bit. WHEN I AM TRAVELLING, I wake up early so I can make the most of my time, no matter how tired I am or how big of a night I had the night before.  I can't afford to piss days away when there is so much do to. I think travelling has made me healthier.  Let me first make clear that I am in no means in shape.  BUT, I would say I am far more active than usual while travelling. I have walked hundreds of miles of the past 4 months and I feel pretty good.  I am thankful that I never got sick at all during this part of the trip, especially in my one month travelling the coast and Melbourne. I think being sick while backpacking would be the worst possible thing that can happen.  So I must have treated my body pretty well never to feel under the weather, with the exception of a hangover here or there.  My eating habits over the past 4 months have been suprisingly pretty good. Thinking back on it, I probably ate better on this trip than I did any year in college (except for freshman year in the dorms).  I found myself eating almost 1-2 pieces of fruit everyday and eating breakfast, lunch, dinner almost every day of the weak. Yea, being on a pretty strict budget I couldn't afford 5 star meals every night with every ingredient possible, but I made the most of it. I also discovered I am taking less of the things I don't like out of my food and eating them.  Mostly vegetables.  Things I never used to eat I have started eating, and I dont really know why.  They include mushrooms, capsicums, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  Out of these 4, tomatoes have made way into my taste buds the most.  At times I still don't like eating them but sometimes they can be quite tasty and can really improve a certain meal, sandwhich, or salad.

Highlights of the trip

Here will be a quick rundown of some of my favorite things/nights/travel spots on the Trip

- Spending time relaxing at my favorite Sydney destinations, Manly Beach, Coogee Beach, Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour, The Botanical Gardens

- Losing my debit card in the first weeks of being in Sydney and finding it without any harm done
- Newtown Festival the second week in Sydney
- Working at Gate Gourmet
- Pearl Jam and Ben Harper Concert at Sydney Football Stadium
- Living at Home Backpackers in Sydney and meeting new people outside on the deck every night, the best night was Wednesday, Free Wine and Cheese Night
- That 1 night I got kicked out of Scruffy Murphy's bar for my "swaying" dance moves
- Times out at the Sydney bars with my favorite friends
- New Years Eve overlooking Sydney's Harbour and a multimillion dollar firework show

- Taking the long Greyhound bus rides and listening to some epic playlists on my Ipod, favorites were The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Byron Bay
- Meeting up with my German girlfriends in Brisbane and cooking and eating that great dinner at the hostel
- Noosa National Park Bush Walk
- Day trip to Croc Hunter's Australia Zoo
- Fraser Island 4 wheel trip beach camping trip.

- When I urinated on a guys leg after he got stung by a blue bottle jellyfish
- Australian Day and partying and dancing in the rain on Magnetic Island
- The Magnetic Island bush walk in the pouring rain
- The Great Barrier Reef snorkel trip
- The hot wings and Blue Sky brewery in Cairns
- Kuranda adventure bushwalk and Barron Falls

- Great Ocean Road trip out of Melbourne
- Returning to Sydney, seeing all my friends for one last time

2 downsides of the trip

Well these are the two, and I think if these are the worst of it, it shows I didn't have to bad of a time.

-Night and morning in Surfers paradise after that one unknown strawberry shot before the pub crawl that put me down for the count and made my life and bus ride a living hell.

- This next one has been bottled up by me for the past 2 months.  I hate to think about it, but it happened.  I was involved in a large backpacker scam with 6 other of my roomates while I was staying at my apartment in Surry Hills, Sydney. None of us received our $300 dollar security bond back.  We all got played by our shady and shitty landlord.  This is something that I saw coming, I never signed a contract or anything. Like most of the time, I am partially to blame.  But anyhow what happened to me and my roomates is a very common thing in Sydney. These shady apartment renters taking advantage of backpackers.  I was given constant excuses that the owner was out of the country and couldn't get my money back till he came back.  My other roomates were told to give them their bank details and it would be transfered to them. Well those promises were never followed thru. We all got shafted.  Moving On, this was obviously right before I was taking off for my east coast trip, always having money on my mind.  $300 backpacking goes a long way but I did my best to not think about it.  I couldnt let something ruin my time.  Yes it sucks now, it sucked then, and it was worth about 1 and a half weeks accomodation, but I tell myself this.  Come a couple months I will hopefully have a job, that $300 dollars will be about 1 - 3 days work...no need to ruin a trip over 3 days work, just not worth it. Yes, extremely unfortunate it happened and yes I tried to put up a bit of a fight but got nowhere and eventually it wasn't worth my time, stress or effort.

Thats it, and I always try to look at the bright side of life. Im alive, I am travelling the world, I am healthy and am right where I want to be.  Just another learning experience in my life and a warning to other backpackers, be aware.

Final Thoughts

Despite the above, everything on this trip was flawless.  Some of the most memorable 4 months of my life and proud of myself I made it happen. I always wondered what Australia would be like and it always interested me.  Well I conquered it, well not all of it, but a good chunk. Pretty big country.  I like the fact that I have travelled more around Australia than I have travelled the in the States.  The world is where its at, there is so much to see and learn from it. New cultures, new places, new food, who wouldn't want to experience it? I see this trip as a 5th year in college, because to be honest, I think you can learn just as much in the outside world than in a classroom or textbook, if not more.

It's been a great one Australia, hope to see you again someday mate.

Aussie Culture Roundup

Well being in Australia for 4 months, I have not immersed myself too much into the Aussie Culture, but have come away with a few things.  Note that being on the main backpacker route, it is rare to come across authetic aussie places that are not infested with tourists and young travelers like myself.  Guess the same would go for my American packed trip to Europe.  I don't think any of you really can grasp the amount of travellers here, it is something I did not expect.  I came to Australia because I knew it had a great backpacking network, but never had I immagined it would be so grand.

Anyhow some quick points:

- Meat Pies are where its at, a traditional aussie favorite
- The letter Z is pronounced "Zed"
- Ketchup is called Tomato Sauce
- I've never heard anyone say G'day Mate
- They love australian sports, especially Cricket, Rugby, and footy, also called AFL.  No one I met really enjoyed American sports or cared about them.
- Australian television is filled almost entirely with American tv shows, pretty much any show we get in the states in played here. Oprah, Jay Leno, Letterman, Cougartown, two and a half men, you name it, it's here
- A tire on a car is spelled Tyre
- Aussie BBQs are a favorite holiday maker
- You drive on the left side of the road, steering wheel on the right
- They love Macca's(McDonalds)
- Music concerts are huge here during the summer months, very expensive tho, but literally one every weekend in the major cities.
- The date is written day/month/year.  for example February 3 is written 3/2/10   This was confusing the first couple days I was in Australia
- Mixed alcoholic drinks in aluminum cans here are extremely popular among the Aussies.  For example, Jack Daniels and Coke, or Bundaberg Rum and Coke. I know we have a few mixed drinks like this in the States but Im sure they are not as wide varietied or as popular as they are here.

I am sure there are more little things like this but just not coming to me right now.  Anyhow, living, working, traveling in a whole new country is a great experience, regardless how much you actually immerse yourself in the culture. Although the above seems just like little tid bits here and there, I still worked in a new country for 2 months, learned a whole new transportation system, new styles of living, places, common courtesies, etc. (ie. eating out, ordering coffee at cafes, shopping centres, central business districts).  I think I learned what it takes to blend in as a local so maybe I did learn more than what it seems like. One thing for certain Australia is a great country and it is no suprise why so many people come all over the world to experience this place.

Great Barrier Reef Trip

WOOOO, Sweet As.  Great day out on the reef!  Talk about a complete turn around from the Whitsunday day cruise.  Changing the date for my reef trip at the last second may have been the best call of the trip. The weather today was perfect, calm glassy waters, just a little rain, and best yet no wind. The sail out to the reef was flawless.  The tour company I did my trip with was called Ocean Free.  As we boarded the ship at around 730am, the crew was three mid 20s guys, very mellow yet they knew their stuff. Their names were Rob, Gordo and Matt. The sailing ship had only 14 tourists, which made the trip all the better.  Who wants to go to the reef with like 60 other people like many other tour companies do.  The crew said you probably picked the best ship in all reef tours, and after today, nothing led me to doubt that.

Since there was no wind, we could not really sail but we made it to our snorkel destination in about 2 hours, a place just offshore Green Island at Pinnacle Reef, just one of the many parts of the monstrosity that is The Great Barrier Reef.

Glassy Waters and Green Island

The 2 hour sail over to the island was paired with songs by Xavier Rudd and John Butler Trio which the crew had an entire playlists of, some of my favorite artists, set the tone for CRUISIN mode.  After we anchored at our destination, it was time to hit the waters and just before we jumped in the skipper spotted a reef shark just starboard, crikey. The shark continued onwards and we put on our gear (stinger suits, flippers, snorkel gear) and jumped in.

The second I was in the water I already was surrounded my heaps of fish.  I kept my eye out for that shark but never found it. Was hoping I would tho in all honesty.  It was time to explore with some serious snorkeling.  I spotted a giant jellyfish about 10 meters out, it was HUGE. Knowing I had a stinger suit on for a reason, I decided to keep my distance as some can be deadly.  Anyhow, I continued my swim over the reef and was loving it. Hiring that underwater digital camera was well worth the 45 dollars.  I was having a blast with it and now won't only have mental images of this great day. The photos turned out pretty good and also recorded some good videos.  Enjoy. As always click pictures to enlarge

The coral reef was colorful and vibrant as I expected and was very entertained on the amount of fish swimming near it and around me.  Visibility was not too ideal as it was still high tide but still doable.

Almost swam into this little guy

As I was making my way back to the boat, there were some giant fish around the boat since the crew had beed throwing out some fish food. One of the fish was the giant Darth Vader fish, this thing was like half my size. It is something I have always seen in acquarium fish tanks, but being out ride next to it in the same tank was pretty unreal.

(Bigger in real life than in picture)

Darth Vader

Anyhow, I jumped back on board and started feeling a bit sick.  We were then served our lunch which included Chicken legs, sandwhich meats, potato and macaroni salad and a vegetable salad. I ate most of it but still was not feeling to great.

From there we jumped in the small boat and headed to Green Island, where we had time to explore. There is a 5 star resort there and some restaruants. I decided to use my time on the island to walk around it. It was really nice.  Not a sound in the air except wildlife and the ocean, it was pure bliss. I think this was also the first island I have ever circumnavigated on foot. Another milestone in my life.

Green Island

After walking around the island, I made my way inland to get a feel for the resort and restaurants. It was then where I decided they misnamed green island. It should have been named Asian Island.  Heaps and heaps of asians everywhere, in the pool, walking, snorkelling. For some reason, Green Island attracts them, this was not just a 1 day tour that brought a lot of them, it is reoccuring. After about 10 minutes I had to get out of there and headed back out to the beach were I ended up walking around half the island again, away from the tourists and with nature.  Green Island also housed the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, and maybe the largest in the world.  The crocs name was Cassius and was around 18 feet long and weighed over 1.3 tons. I did not see him in person as I did not want to fork over money to see him, but saw some pictures, thing really was monstrous.

Anyhow, I was feeling back to normal again by the time I got back to the ship. From there it was snorkelling part 2.  I strapped up in my stinger suit and snorkel gear, turned on my underwater camera and I was good to go. This time around, the conditions had improved. I was closer to the reef and explored new areas.

Still no sharks but stumpled across some mysterious object deep in the coral, may had been an octopus. I backed away pretty quickly.  I wasn't about the threaten his territory. I then saw some extremely colorful fish and found some Giant Clams.  The shells on these things were huge.

It was a great session and was eager for more but sooner or later I had to head back to the boat for the sail home. Before we took off, the crew had put some food that was leftover from lunch in the water.  Only took about 5 minutes till some sharks appeared at the surface, sickner. The big fish, including Darth Vader was also there gettin the food scraps. Entertaining.

Anyhow, I was stoked on the recent snorkel sesh, was feeling great.  Not a hint of sea sickness on the sail back and was the end to a great and beautiful day on the reef.  Couldn't have asked for better weather during this time of year. Even the crew was suprised how calm the waters were. Yea it rained a bit but no big deal.  Tomorrow wind is supposed to be 25-30 knots, more than double of what we had today, cheers to me for being on top of the weather forecast and changing the trip day.

Great day on the reef, Ill put up this picture even tho I look super haggard, still think its a pretty classic photo tho, plus a great background of the boat.

Living the Endless Summer : An Update

Hello there from down under. On my Saturday here on a Wednesday and once again the weather is crap and probably wont make it to the beach on my days off. . Work consumes my weeks as of late working 5 days a week with 7-8 hour shifts.  I am in no means excelling in my duties at work but lately i have been climbing the ladder in operations. A couple days ago I started "loading"  Loading is the term used when you place the finished food trays into cart that you see go up and down the aisles of the plane with the flight attendants. It is a pretty complex procedure as you have to make sure everything is on the trays that needs to be and that you place it in the right place in the cart. There are many special meals and places where the hot food trays go, let alone the countless number of carts you have to load. For example, on United flights i believe there are a total of 20 carts, all for main meal, breakfast, snacks.  Each cart stores about 56 trays.  Loading is ok, it requires a lot more thinking and bending up and down than just putting 500 cakes in dishes and putting lids on them.  But either way, work has been pretty good lately.  Coworkers are pretty entertaining and I enjoy working with them.  Recently we have had about 5 german backpackers join the crew, so able to get some travel talk in while working. Got about 1 month left there and after that, if i haven't spent all of my paychecks, sail swimmingly financially for the last 2 months of my trip.

The apartment is great and have no regrets with the decision whatsoever. I found out that the hostel raised its prices to 200 a week and I am paying 150 with a lot more comfort and luxury so great move on my part.  The location is a bit shady, but knew this before. Not where our apartment is, but just the over all suburb of Surry Hills. After a late night at the bars i had a drunken stumble in with some blokes on the walk home. It was around 3 or 4 am and was real close to the pad when I came upon two guys walking towards me. They seemed intoxicated as well. As I was about to walk passed them, one guy said to the other guy "take a swing at him. Next think i know the guy as he walks past me takes a swing.  I dodge it a bit and it hits me in the shoulder, upper arm region. Without hesitating i bolted off, not knowing what to expect next. Call me a wimp but 1 on 1 fight would be a tough enough battle for me, 2 on 1 would be no contest for a man of my build. It definitely startled me but after pondering the situation I dont think those guys meant harm. If anything they wanted to do exactly what they did, scare me away.  Had they wanted to beat me up or take my money, 2 of them would have came at me at once, not one guy throwing a somewhat erratic punch towards me.  EIther way, it will keep me on my guard and cause me to be more aware of surroundings in such a situation.

Anyway,  I think me and the roomates have decided to purchase an small fake xmas tree and some decorations to get the apartment some holiday feeling.  Talks of an apartment holiday party are in the works but we shall see. I will be working christmas and almost getting triple pay but besides that, wont be too eventful of an xmas other than a few drinks, a nice xmas eve dinner and a trip to church.

Since the weather wasn't up to par with my idea of beach weather today, I spent the day hittin the hot spots around Sydney to take photos and videos that will eventually make it into a video I will be producing with an unknow released date. My creative side was pumping today and had some great ideas. Excited to see what it will come out like.

Since I work almost every night, it has been awhile since I actually made a meal for dinner. Having a time to prepare a solid meal for dinner tonight I decided to cook up some tacos.  Since mexican food really isn't too common here in Oz, i figure i could try to bring the spice myself.  They turned out great and made up for the 2 months without Taco Bell or Taqueria Guadalajara.

*Note: Tacos seen in picture are actually the tacos I made.  They are authentic joe's tacos with aussie ground beef, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, spicy taco sauce and slices of avocado.

Next post will be my Top 10 Music albums of 2009, cant believe the year is almost over.

Stay classy

And So The Adventure Begins

I've been in Sydney for little over a day, and man it feels good to be here living the backpacker life. A little more on this later, but first the flight experience

After a great week in SF for a bit of a dissapointing fleet week due to weather, I still had a great time spending my last few days in the states watching the Blue Angels and sharing great memories with my fam and friends, how bout those crackpipes? (a name of a alcholic drink of course)

Anyhow, the flight was right on time at 11pm SFO time.  The flight was absolutely full with only one or 2 vacant seats.  Its really amazing when you take a step back and think about all the people that fly on a daily basis.  My booked flight was just one of thousands carrying businessmen/backpackers/travelers all over the world. Anyhow, I couldn't have had a worse seat on the flight. I knew I would be towards the rear of the plane, but was definitely not expecting the very last seat of the 350+ seat economy class.  I was right next to the toilets and where the flight attendants stored and prepared the food. And to make it worse, my seat could not decline back the whole way since there was a wall behind it. Despite these certain flaws with the seating, I didnt have too bad of a flight, but certainly not the best I could have had. And if you are thinking "oh he was in the back, he got his meals served first" that was not the case.  Anyhow, i was able to get around 5-6 hrs of sleep I would say during the 14 hour flight.

Anyhow, I arrived in Sydney at arround 7 am Sydney time (the time difference is 18 hours ahead of US Pacific Time).  I had shuttle transportation from the airport to my backpacker hostel.  I was tired, but did not feel too bad. The travel books I read all said not to sleep until the night.  almost 36 hours into oz time, i really haven't had any problems adjusting to the time patterns. I've always had a great ability to stay awake for hours and sleep anytime I tell myself to.

Anyhow, day 1 was wide open with nothing to do. I decided to take a stroll thru the city to head to my Work and Travel center to pick up my arrival paperwork and just check out the place.  This company is made for backpackers just like me coming from abroad seeking work. They help setting up my bank account, tax number, and help with travel plans and of course jobs. There i met a nice lad named Ben from Machester, England. Been hangin out with him for the past 2 days.  We took a long walk to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, some of the most famous sights in Australia, and pretty much what the average tourist would think of when talking about sights in Sydney. It was pretty special seeing those sights in person and being there right next to them.

Sydney is a pretty good size city and is the most populated city in Australia (5 million).  It reminds me a whole lot of San Francisco, tall high rises, crowded streets, busy traffic, tons of tourists, and yes chinese. I knew coming in that Sydney did have a Chinatown district. My hostel is right down the street to it, and I need to go through it everytime I need to go to the work and travel company. With that, i was suprised at the amount of chinese in the city and definitely feel like I need to get out of Sydney to get the real Australia feel. SO far the weather has been somewhat cold and windy, but when its just the sun, it feels pretty hot.  I can see how oz can be pretty warm during the day in the summer.

Besides the asian shops, there are alot of banks in Sydney, a lot of money exchange places and souvenir shops. I have stumbled across McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, and Subway several times.  Another big hit here is Hungry Jacks, the Australian name for Burger King..it is definitely Burger King with a different name...I kinda wish it was Hungry Jacks in the States.

Last night Ben and I were seeking something to do, so we went down to the backpacker bar for some beers.  Victoria Bitter(VB) is definitely a great tasting Australian beer, and will probably start being my go to, but there seems to be a good amount of australian beers here so I will try to give em all a try. I was warned about this before arrival, and it is definitely true..alcohol is extremely expensive here. In the pub, I paid 4.80 for not even a pint size beer. Hittin up happy hour tonight for 3.50...NICE!!!!  We went to a bottle shop today to purchase some beer, 6 pack for 15 dollars, and a 24 pack for $43 dollars...pretty absurd.  Natty light could definitely make some business here if they could sell their 30 packs for 12 bucks here like they do in the states!

Today I had my orientation, set me up with my bank account and tax number. I am now at the point to start the job search. I do not see myself staying in Sydney.  Really gonna try to push for resort work along the coast.  Plannin on stayin in Sydney for another week or 2 and hit up the nearby attractions and conduct my job search, then I will be headed up more towards the coast.

The hostel I am stayin at is pretty good..rivals some of the great hostels i stayed in around Europe. It is really large..about 520 beds with 2 large kitchens and some real nice and clean bed and bathrooms

I can already tell that backpacking is definitely a huge thing here..there are people all over the world here. I have met people from California, New York, England, Holland, and Germany.  The great thing is that all these people are just like me, with travelling and working on their mind and are looking for friends. Had a pretty interesting encounter last night in the hostel dorm. There are 4 beds(2 bunks). I was able to sleep quite nicely..but there was a very load snorer in the bed across.  I was so tired..i really didnt have trouble finding sleep, but i definitely work up a couple times because of this guy snoring. The best moment came around 4 or 5 in the morning when another guy in the room who was sleeping above the snorer got out of his bed and woke up the guy snoring and completely yelled at him for about 2 minutes and bitched how he couldnt sleep and had a big day of traveling ahead of him. It was just something pretty entertaining to wake up to in the middle of the morning.

Well thats about all I have right about now. Bout to go cook up a meal in the hostel kitchen and go for a stubby bottle of beer.

Doin an intense job search tomorrow and may hit up sydney aquarium as the work travel company get huge discounts at all these tourist spots

Its only been a day and a few hours, but I know Im at the right place and this experience is going to be one I never forget.

The Coming Months

Well, summer doesn't really end for me, but for the rest of you, it is coming to a close. My summer was eventful for sure. It went really as planned....to live the good life. After graduating from one of the top colleges in the country, I knew I wanted to take some time off before I settled into the real world. I told myself that job search, and all things related to this poor economy would not effect my life until I wanted them too. However the job search will begin in early October, but not the job search your thinking of. I will be heading to Australia with a work visa and will be offering my many talented work skills to the down under locals. I plan to work several jobs, ideally in the hospitality industry at a hotel/resort, but can also see myself working at a golf course or fruit harvesting. As this 4.5 month adventure prolongs my real world US employment career, I view it as an opportunity to expand my horizons which will hopefully set me apart once back in the US and land me a job. Work is without a doubt a major part of my trip, but the visa also heavily encourages travel. I will be in OZ for 4 months and plan to travel extensively throughout the country while on my days off. Even better, I will be there in the heart of their summer months and will be exploring and enjoying some of the best beaches in the world. I have no set plan as far as employment or even living. I start out in Sydney is all that I know, where I go from there is completely up to me. I am stoked for this trip and am so glad I have the opportunity to do it. It is now or never as I see it. Once i get locked down into a job and career, travel time will be limited, so I am jumpin on it now.

From reviews in all the travel books, internet, and word of mouth, I have heard nothing but great things about Australia. It is a backpackers paradise, and that is what I plan to immerse myself in for the four months, with hopefully a solid flow of employment throughout to keep my funds stable.

After my stay in Oz, i will be heading to New Zealand for a few weeks before heading back to the US in late February.

With all that said, it is time to bring back the roots of this great blog. I originally started this for my study abroad term in Italia. I will be rollin out over the next few weeks a new layout and look for the all new "JOE'S WORK AND TRAVEL DOWN UNDER BLOG"

i know your pumped