Sydney Downtown

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Terry pretending to be a bridge

Sydney First Impressions (10 days in):

• Great variety and adoption of SE Asian cuisine - Sydneysiders have made SE Asian food very mainstream (even more so than Vancouver)
• Polite culture and manners - Very polite people where proper behaviour is to follow and respect the rules.
• Aborigine language influence - We've come across some great everyday names/words such as "Wooloomooloo," "Barangaroo," "Wagga Wagga."
• Gorgeous coastlines  - Cliff faces, beaches, seaside walks galore!

We're thoroughly taking advantage of our time to relax and just take things slowly. There's a part of me that wants to pack ours days with acivities but I'm recognizing how much more enjoyable our experiences are when things just flow naturally and are not rushed.

First Stop - Sydney

Well we made it out of Canada and onto foreign soil.  When leaving I felt we were prepared and had things well organized to manage the next year of our life on the road.  I must thank my amazing husband for accommodating all my last minute "must do" items.

Australia is beautiful.  It's much more tropical and exotic than I was expecting.  I love the birds, flowers, people and amazing beaches and coastline...and let's not forget the food.

The Australian's Lui's have treated us royally and made our first stop wonderfully easy - great place to stay within minutes of the beach, amazing food such as the 'oh so traditional' shrimp on the barbie, steak and lamb dinners, and a night at the Opera House to see the comedian Danny Bhoy.

I don't think the impact of our year long adventure has settled in yet, presently it feels like we are in holiday-mode visiting family. 

-Rhonda

We're off!!!

Wow, I can't believe it, the day has arrived and we're on our way! As we sit here in the airport about to board we reflect on the final push to get everything ready and cleaned up... the past few weeks have been an absolute blur.
The feeling of leaving our home is both real yet removed, it feels more like a vacation rather than an open ended journey. The bipolar feelings echo through us as we try hard to reconcile being so excited and also so anxious for the unknown. We found ourselves burning through energy where we needed to eat more frequently just so we wouldn't crash from the emotional rollercoaster.
They're calling our boarding zone so goodbye to Canada for now, we will be back. Next post will be from down under!
-Terry

Budgeting

Dollars per day. This is the unit of measure for long term travel. That's everything included: flights, accommodations, food, entertainment, miscellaneous expenses, etc.

How many dollars/day do we expect to go through? We're aiming for $75/day/person. 

How did we come up with that figure? Primarily through reading about other people's budgets in similar areas of travel for similar amounts of time.

In a nutshell, we figured that $50/day essentially equated to hosteling, couch surfing, choosing destinations based on ticket sales, buses, trains, street eats, etc. So we figured if we bumped up the margin 50%, that should leave us with some good flexibility of choice (primarily for major flights & accommodations). Keep in mind this is a forward looking assumption as we haven't left for our trip yet, so we can very well be wrong. Whether we're wrong on the high side or the low side is TBD. 

Below are links to two websites that I found useful in both the content and presentation of information on budgeting for long term travel.

Boots N All - Travel Comparisons

Travel Independent - Budgeting

-Terry

The hardest part: Goodbyes

Saying goodbye to those who are close to us has been the hardest part of our departure. You make suggestions to meet somewhere during the trip but it feels uncertain and distant, yet you hope it'll happen.
Memories of times past flood into your mind and you think of how that's going to change given the new distance... It's strange because even though I may only see some of my friends or family members once a year or even less, the thought of not being able to is much more significant than being able to but not actually doing it.
The emotional weight probably comes from the simple difference in "ease of free will." How easy is it to be with important people in my life when the desire or occasion arises? I guess the more difficult it would be, the greater the emotion.
-Terry

1 year of travel, long enough?

Ok I know this sounds ridiculous and I certainly feel crazy as I type up this post (we haven't even left yet!) but hear me out...
As we've mentioned, Australia is our first stop and during my initial planning, I compiled a master "wish list" of all the things we'd want to do regardless of time and cost. I sent the list to my cousin to get her opinion and to paraphrase her polite Aussie response, "Oy, Terry! This is a bonzer list but it won't be done in an arvo, you'll be running around like a tradie living in a ute, 24/7. And that's my fair dinkum opinion!"

Um..ok...I figured she meant I was being a bit ambitious. But come on, with 5 whole weeks I thought we could essentially circumnavigate Australia while keeping it at a "reasonable" pace. I was wrong. It'd take 5 weeks to drive it straight without any stops for sights. Eat, sleep, drive. Repeat.

Ok so back to the drawing board...again, and again. After 3 or 4 revisions of my wish list we've come to the current plan of doing ONE state. No Great Barrier Reef, no visit to Perth or Western Australia, probably no time to see Uluru and the outback, no crocodile river cruise...damn this is a big country!

So what does this all mean? It means there will be plenty for us to do the next time we're in Australia, and probably the time after that! But some of you may be wondering why have we trimmed the list down so much, in a nutshell it's because we want to dig deeper in our travel experiences, to get beyond the introductory "tourist" attractions, and also be able to simply relax and enjoy the process. No rush, no deadline. One day we might just feel like vegging, watching a movie, taking a nap. Or maybe people watch at a coffee shop for a few hours. A plan to have...no plan.
-Terry

Packing

Before

After

Here we are then...everything I'm going to bring for the trip:

• 1 40L back pack
• 1 day pack
• 1 Jacket
• 2 Long sleeved shirts
• 1 Hoodie/sweater
• 3 T-shirts
• 1 Polo shirt
• 4 Pairs of underwear
• 3 Pairs of socks
• 3 Pairs of pants (shamelessly included pant/short convertibles) 
• 1 Sarong
• 2 Pairs of shorts
• 1 Pair of swim trunks/shorts
• 3 Pairs of shoes (runners, Tevas, Birkenstocks)
• 2 Hats
• Standard toiletries
• Water bottle & water bladder
• iPad, cell phone, GPS, camera, external hard drive, back up battery, electrical converter
• Playing cards, hacky sack, and a frisbee (yes, a frisbee)

A little video of my first test pack:

-Terry

Getting ready - the process

From my planner wife :)

Final wills, living wills, power of attorneys, online bills, online documents, medical insurance, vaccinations, expiring licenses/documents, expenses, taxes, music, movies...

Whatever you need to anticipate that could happen or would need to be dealt with for the next 12 months has been on our list for the past year. The reality of the trip is beginning to sink in as we get closer and it really puts a spotlight on the things that are critical and the things that aren't. The anticipation makes you feel so much more alive.

-Terry