Almost there....

I've spent the last couple of weeks in east coast Oz (Brisbane x 2, Townsville, Lennox and Lisvegas) catching up with friends and family before I head off. I've had a pretty good time in the process and I've also seen and learnt some interesting things (who knew tomatos come from farms not supermarkets!!).

Meeting and socialising with a considerable number of non-mining people was good (maybe I need to get out more when I return). It was interesting to note the parallel in stress levels in different jobs people had such from lawyers and box salesmen. This made me feel pretty good about my decision to put everything on hold and travel and focus on me! Just about everyone I met wanted to travel to a greater or lesser extent but for various reasons they couldn't at the moment (job, money, family, suprisingly not having someone to go with). Admittidy the though of what I'm about to embark on is daunting at times but I think my passion for travel soon overturns any momentry doubts. It turns out with this trip I'm not just living my dream but a lot of other people's as well! This made me feel even better about my trip and I vow to travel hard.

On the negative side today is a sad day as I have to get rid of my rather manly (some would say mangey) beard. Apparently US Immigration won't appreciate the fact that I've spent the last month growing this master piece as all my photo ID as me babyfaced (thanks, Lauren). The day I get to the US (around the 14th) I'm going to stop shaving and let it grow again - I challenge anyone out there to start on the same day and we'll compare beards in three months time (start Sept).

Next update will likely be from Fiji in a few days.