USA | Wednesday, 24 Dec 2014 | Views [476]
Now that I've been home roughly 24 hours, it's finally hitting me that I'm not in Australia anymore. Work was a battle to stay awake today, but was filled with familiar faces asking about my trip and how tan I am (shweeet). I didn't realize how much ... Read more >
USA | Wednesday, 24 Dec 2014 | Views [557]
4 dives in 24 hours is a lot, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I saw corals, nemos, dories, rays, and a sea turtle. I spent Friday in two areas of the reef diving and hanging out with all the backpackers. The group I hung out with consisted of ... Read more >
Tags: australia, cairns, great barrier reef, scuba diving
USA | Wednesday, 24 Dec 2014 | Views [745]
The morning after the siege was gloomy, literally and figuratively. There were police everywhere and a part of the city shut off from cars and foot traffic. So I walked over to Darling Harbor and then up to Circular Quay and grabbed a ferry to Toranga ... Read more >
Tags: australia, beaches, brisbane, jellyfish, sydney
USA | Monday, 15 Dec 2014 | Views [534]
One choice, one decision, that's all it takes.
My choice? To do my blue mountains tour today instead of yesterday. Why is this one decision, that I made months ago so monumental? Because yesterday, twice I walked past Martin's place, and ... Read more >
USA | Monday, 15 Dec 2014 | Views [629]
If I lived in Australia, I would move to Melbourne, but if I were to visit again, I would come back to Sydney. There's so much to see and do here that it's sometimes overwhelming. I ended up getting into the kayaking group. I had to wake up at 6 and ... Read more >
Tags: australia, blue mountains, kayaking, sydney
USA | Monday, 15 Dec 2014 | Views [629]
The drive from Sydney was interesting. I got lost. A lot. What should have been a 3 hour drive turned into about. 4.75 hour drive to drop my car off. I was hoping to go to a market before giving my car back, but alas the market gods were not in my favor.... Read more >
Tags: australia, sydney, travel
USA | Monday, 15 Dec 2014 | Views [476]
9 hours driving up the coast of Australia is exhausting. The good news is that I didn't crash, or fall asleep, although a cop did follow me for 10 minutes....Probably because every time I tried to changed lanes, my wipers went off not my blinker...yea ... Read more >
Tags: australia, canberra
USA | Thursday, 11 Dec 2014 | Views [521]
I love Melbourne, but they have to make a more efficient way to and from their airport. I had to walk 10 minutes, catch a tram, get off and walk 5 minutes, get on the sky bus for 18$ and sit on that for 30 minutes. All in all it took 65 minutes to get ... Read more >
Tags: australia, melbourne, opals
USA | Thursday, 11 Dec 2014 | Views [545]
So the Italian place I went to was called Pelliginis and it was bomb. They served pasta and desserts, that's it. It's not a sit down per se, but more sit at a counter and order from a gentleman who spews out the menu at you. I got the days special, ... Read more >
USA | Thursday, 11 Dec 2014 | Views [478]
So...the U.S. Needs to step up their airplane game. My flight was 4 hours and I got beer/wine, copious amounts of beverages, a dinner, an ICE CREAM BAR, and a nice piece of chocolate. Seriously, I'm lucky if I get trail mix on my 4 hour flights. So ... Read more >
USA | Sunday, 7 Dec 2014 | Views [597] | Comments [1]
Today's my last day in New Zealand and it's raining...oh well 7/8 good days is enough for me. Wellington is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, being the capital and all, but most of the fun stuff can be done in a day. Yesterday I went to the ... Read more >
Tags: new zealand, wellington
USA | Friday, 5 Dec 2014 | Views [498]
My time in Rotorua is brief, but I'm trying to make the most of it. The city is about middle of the north island and a little right of center. It's known for its adventure activities and geothermal spas. If you've ever been around a city like this, ... Read more >
USA | Friday, 5 Dec 2014 | Views [471]
Today was harder than I thought it would be. I officially said goodbye to my Contiki group and am on my own for the rest of my trip. It's amazing the bonds and friendships you can make in a few short days. I already made plans to meet up with Kristin ... Read more >
USA | Tuesday, 2 Dec 2014 | Views [535]
I've officially begun my Contiki tour group and we are quite the crowd. My roommate, Jasmine, is from Orange County, CA and a forensic accountant for Deloitte, so immediately we bonded over it. We went downstairs to meet the rest of the group, which ... Read more >
USA | Tuesday, 2 Dec 2014 | Views [574]
People in New Zealand LOVE the Chicago Bulls. I am not joking, every time a Kiwi hears I'm from Chicago, their immediate response is ARE YOU A BULLS FAN?! Then we chat about Derrick Rose's robotic knees. It's pretty funny that of all things Chicago, ... Read more >
USA | Sunday, 30 Nov 2014 | Views [613] | Comments [1]
I'm in my third airport in 24 hours and will shortly begin my journey to number four. I've been on vacation a little over a day now and all I've seen are airports; although the Sydney airport is quite nice and has free wifi, score! It hasn't been the ... Read more >
Tags: auckland, australia, new zealand, sydney
USA | Friday, 14 Nov 2014 | Views [613]
Since roughly day 35, I've been keeping a countdown of days until the big trip. Today, I hit a big number and then straight up panicked while at work. 14 days. That's two weeks. That's 336 hours until I'll be on a plane heading towards the west coast ... Read more >
Tags: australia, new zealand, solo travel
USA | Monday, 29 Sep 2014 | Views [808]
As I lounge in my bed, looking at my half packed luggage for my latest business trip, I decided I wanted to blog about my upcoming trip. So, here I am blogging, hopefully I'm doing this right...probably not, oh well! I figured it would be a good way ... Read more >
Tags: australia, new zealand, solo travel
