Australia

"Oh" is a very innocuous word, it usually doesn't mean very much at all. Funny how at certain times, like at the check-in line for an international flight at 4:30am, even a tiny word like "oh" could be an omen of impending doom.

I hand over my ticket, the man types it into the computer, pauses, frowns and there it is - "...oh"
Turns out I'm booked for a different flight. And most inconveniently, it leaves not today, but yesterday. The route is also changed, now I'm flying to Cairns first! To sort it out, I have to shuffle between the domestic and international terminals, which are conveniently located approximately 1,000,000km apart from each other for some reason. I spend a good deal of time standing by the road in the dark with my hand out like some lost hitchiker, as taxis stubbornly refuse to manifest themselves. Still, one does eventually turn up, which is more than I can say for the bus I was told to catch - after a period of waiting at the stop for it, I think to check the timetable and notice that the bus service doesn't run until 7am. All of this shuffling was done with a gigantic backpack, and just to complicate things I am currently wearing a belt made out of a laniard (I forgot my belt) and as I result I look like some kind of gangster with my pants around my knees as I walk up and down the terminals.

The result is eventually in my favour; I was not at fault, my flight was cancelled had been changed by the airline without any notice to me whatsoever. I get a ticket for the next flight to Japan, which lands at Osaka, about an hour or two away from Nagoya, where I was originally intending to land. A train from there to Nagoya shouldn't be too expensive I figure, at least not compared to the amount I'd spend on taxis trying to work something else out ($50 donated to the yellow cab fund already today). They're still working something out, at the moment they're talking about a domestic flight to Nagoya at the other end...hope they figure something out!

The nice man at the desk even gave me a voucher for breakfast, worth far more than I ever planned on spending.
I ended up with a smoked salmon and red onion omelette, vegemite toast (saying goodbye, sniff) and a coffee. My companion for the meal was a small sparrow (see, I told you I'd make friends along the way!) who sat on my table while I fed him bread. Together we watched the sunrise over Sydney in the cool morning air.

A morning on the beautiful observation desk admiring the beautiful view over Sydney, a new friend, and suddenly I'm going to a destination I had no idea I'd be visiting...The first day of my joruney has begun!

Those two weeks...what happened to them? All of a sudden here I am in Sydney!

It never really sunk in that I'm going somewhere else, that "goodbye" actually MEANS "goodbye". I have travelled overseas many times, but I have never had so much to say goodbye to. Chatting to friends on beds and couches, sitting in QE2 watching clouds and bogans drift by, getting excited over maths whilst tutoring my little tutorees, going out and dancing to songs I hate because I'm with people I love... As I replay the memories of the last six months in my mind, they are all tinted gold. For those mystified at how I keep so happy, you need only look at yourselves! I never thought I'd say this, but doing nothing in Albury for 6 months has been one of the best times of my life!

I hate to leave it all behind, I miss everything already. I couldn't delay leaving though, for one simple reason; There will never be a time when I want to leave all that. If I can't part from it now I know I'll never be able to. Images of friends keep flashing through my mind, I'll miss you all so much!

Leaving is the hardest part, and once that's over I'm sure arriving at something new will make it all worthwhile. I'm sure a whole new world lies before me, and even now excitement is bubbling up as I finally realize - I'M GOING TO ASIA!I have no illusions about life as a nomad, with just my 10kg backpack (less than 2kg per month!) and a pocketful of dreams. It will not be pretty, it will not be glamorous, and it will not be easy. In setting out I know I am not travelling for pleasure. Nor am I travelling for fun. Nor am I travelling to relax. I am travelling with only one purpose, which is to have my eyes opened even in the slightest, and this will be the only goal I can measure the success of my journey on. Wish me luck!

Two weeks to go, and I thought I better get organized just a little bit!
Still not really sure what I'm signing myself up for, I'm hoping it will just hit me when I get off the plane into a foreign country. Anyone who has asked me about my trip may well have had a conversation like the one below:

"Where are you going?"
"Asia"

"What are you going to do there?"
"Travel, meet people, have fun, a little bit of this, a little bit of that..."

"Got any more specific plans?"
"No not really, just, you know, thinking about...doing...stuff?"

"Hmmmm....."