By theprofessionalhobo ~ February 8th, 2010. Filed under:Australia.
If you want a guide to seeing Sydney Australia, this post is not going to be very fulfilling. But if you would like to enjoy some random observations and tips I have from roaming the streets of Sydney for almost a week, then please, feel free to continue reading. (I’m pretty sure it will be mildly amusing, regardless of educational content).
Disclaimers aside, Sydney has been an interesting trip so far. After meeting up with @frank_in_oz in Melbourne for an iced mocha to die for and engaging conversation that could have lasted for days (thanks again, Frank!), I hopped on the overnight train to Sydney – an 11 hour journey.
Upon arrival in Sydney, I roamed the streets randomly and discovered the following:
Sydney people (Sydnites? Sydneyers? Sydcentrics?) love to run. Even if they’re not decked out in the latest fashionable running gear, you don’t go far before seeing somebody running. As yet I haven’t seen anybody chasing these people, so I must infer that they’re either in one heck of a hurry, or they’re just very fitness conscious.
I was given a free copy of Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Islandfor review, and I’m very thankful for it. I love travelogues in general, and this one is written absolutely beautifully and strikes a few chords within me. Read on to learn more about Surviving Paradise and my reaction to it.
At the ripe age of 21, Peter Rudiak-Gould landed on Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands that is 70 miles (by plane no less) from the nearest telephone, car, store, or tourist, and 2,000 miles from the closest continent. He turned to face a sea of 450 unsmiling brown faces who made up his Marshallese community for a year, while he taught English to the island’s school kids.
Peter’s integration to this new life is simultaneously hilarious and painful. Not remotely being what he expected, the learning curve was huge, and life was far from the exotic tropical paradise he had envisioned.
Saben and Lin are two twenty-somethings backpacking around the world on a tight budget. Leaving the cube farm and the class room (respectively) they left with a vague plan and a small savings account that has turned into an adventure crossing 5 continents and over 20 countries. You can check out daily updates from the road, detailed cost analysis, photo galleries and random awesomeness at Saben and Lin. Please enjoy a week-in-the-life of Saben and Lin as they travel through Nepal and India.
Day 1
Spend the morning hunting for an empty Internet cafe to put up new posts on our travel blog. Finally find one after 20-30 minutes but then the electricity shuts off after being there for half an hour. Decide to get some lunch at a local “hole in the wall” that serves good Dal fry for a cheap price.
By theprofessionalhobo ~ January 28th, 2010. Filed under:Australia, links.
I finally got a decent shot of the elusive Kookaburra that hangs around our back yard but is camera-shy! They are so distinctive, with their flat heads, stalky shape, and funky colouring.
Other than that, the last few weeks have been productive, but quieter on the publishing front. Lots of great shout-outs though! Whoo-ee! First, here are my words of wisdom for January:
In 2009, a friend and I successfully met a challenge to wrap all gifts with alternatives to new gift paper and gift bags. Here are the results of the challenge, along with a few tips and a 2010 gift wrapping challenge for you.
Following is a Financial IQ Test, designed to help you determine how healthy your bank accounts – and your interaction with them – are. Tally up your score and see how you fare. Then you can reference some relevant articles on the topics you need some refreshers on.
Are you on top of your debt – both logistically and emotionally? Do you maximize value while minimizing interest rates? Do you know what the different types of loans are, and how they work for you? What’s your credit rating and how do you improve it? Take this Financial IQ Test to see how healthy your debt management plan is, then reference the plethora of resource articles to help you in your weaker areas of knowledge.
Lastly, All You magazine used me as a source (which conjures up visions of me in a dark alley wearing a trench coat, revealing trusty secrets!) for an article on Supermarket Traps. The tips are based on an article I wrote in 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget.
Speaking of which, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget has been making waves ever since its launch last May. Although we’ve received many glowing reviews, this recent one from Reuters was widely syndicated and is a nice feather for the cap.
I get a lot of emails from readers with very pertinent – and often similar – questions. And if lots of people are asking a similar question, there are probably lots more who are thinking it!
Each post in this series will feature a reader’s question (with their permission of course!) and my answer to it. Sometimes the answers aren’t cut and dry; but then again neither is life. I hope you gain some insight and maybe even learn a few things from these Reader Questions Answered.
Do I Sell my House, or Rent it Out?
Reader Question:
My partner and I are hoping to do our own RTW trip this year. I’ve been backpacking through Europe on my own and back then it was just a matter of leaving a rented apartment.
This time around, there is a house involved. As someone with a financial background, I’m hoping you could offer us insight on whether it’s best to sell the house or rent.
Obviously, selling would allow us to have more spending money (after setting some aside for when we return) and leave us feeling a bit more freed up to take on whatever opportunities come our way. But knowing we have a piece of property to come home to is a comforting feeling.
Are there any significant financial backlashes to selling?
By theprofessionalhobo ~ January 21st, 2010. Filed under:Australia.
We’re barely into 2010, and I can already see that it will be an interesting year.
Coming into the year, I’ve had a few reservations – not the least of which is an agenda that entails us basing ourselves in Australia for another year; one that my itchy feet are objecting to.
However I truly believe that if we have faith (in the universe, in ourselves, in God, in whatever you want to call it), then we will get what we need when we need it. Sometimes the lessons aren’t so apparent when you are in the throes of their teachings, but indeed – I can already see that we get what we need, when we need it.
I got exactly what I needed on my recent walkabout in the Aussie bush.
After 10 years in the Internet industry, veteran web designer Kelly Hale and developer Mike Schimanowsky sold all their worldly belongings, bid farewell to friends and family, packed a laptop, and traded in the daily 9-5 for a life of nomadic freelancing and travel. Having just completed their first year in Southeast Asia, they’re doing it all over again, this time in Central America. Please enjoy a week-in-the-life of Kelly and Mike (as written by Kelly), as they settle in to their (temporary) Costa Rican home.
Sunday
We arrived in Costa Rica last night after spending a month back in Canada visiting family and friends, and catching up with a few clients. We woke up this morning around 9-ish and as usual jumped online to check email. We try to make sure we stay in places with WiFi, since we like the freedom of being able to check email and get work done on our own schedules, rather than relying on cafes and restaurants. Plus, when we were in Asia the time difference with Canada made it so we were often online early in the morning or late at night, when most internet cafes and coffee shops were closed.
Given that it was Sunday, email was pretty light so we took a wander around Tamarindo, getting our first look at it in the daylight. We searched for somewhere to have brunch, and found a cute little cafe near the beach that was quite busy and served delicious food.
After brunch we headed back to our hotel for a swim in the pool. It’s supposed to be rainy season here, but you’d hardly know it. By 11am it was already 34°C.
By theprofessionalhobo ~ January 16th, 2010. Filed under:Australia.
Okay folks, just a quick post and request for reader feedback:
I am going to travel in 2010! My feet are entirely too itchy to stay in one place for another year. So….while Kelly holds the fort down, I’m planning to do a little exploring.
Although the world is my oyster, I’m currently focused on two avenues:
1) Australia. As a whole. (No really!)
I recently discovered the Austrail pass, which gives me six months of unlimited travel on Australia’s train systems (and some bus systems too). This means I can take the Overland across the Nullabor to Western Australia, I can ride the Ghan through Alice Springs and all the way up to Darwin, and I can even check out Sydney for good measure.
Australian Friends and Readers: Now is your time to help your country shine! Has anybody taken any of these epic train journeys, and do you have recommendations?
How about your home town? What should I see when I’m in your neck of the woods? And is anybody interested in meeting up?
2) New Zealand. (Duh!)
As the next closest land mass – and one that the world promises I’ll love – it only makes sense since New Zealand is a proverbial hop across the water (in the grander scheme of things). I haven’t looked into train travel – or much at all to be honest – in terms of where to go and what to do there, so my agenda is entirely open.
New Zealand Friends and Readers:I pose the same set of questions. Where should I go? What should I see? And is there anybody out there interested in meeting up?
By theprofessionalhobo ~ January 14th, 2010. Filed under:Australia.
Kelly stumbled on to some words to live by the other day, and I think they’re worth sharing. Both poignant and even humourous, these Ten Rules for Being Human are good ones.
By theprofessionalhobo ~ January 11th, 2010. Filed under:Australia, Flashbacks.
After returning from celebrating New Year’s at the beach, I repacked my bags and headed into the Aussie bush for a 10 day training course in guiding people bushwalking, canoeing, cycling, through ropes courses, rescue, and facilitation. I can only imagine that right now – the mid-point of the trip – I have overcome the initial pangs of withdrawal from my computer. I’m probably only twitching a few times a day, as opposed to hourly.
This course I am taking will enable me to help people conquer their fears and to open new horizons. As such, I thought it would be appropriate to relive some of my own experiences conquering fears. I have a fond spot for this article entitled Conquering Fears: The Swim, probably because reading it takes me immediately back to the experience itself with vivid recollection. Although a humourous dialogue, it is also a truthful recount of what it’s like to face and conquer an inborn fear. Please enjoy this flashback!
Although I have a history of competitive skydiving, motorcycle racing, worldwide bungee jumping, mountaineering, caving, and multi-pitch rock climbing, I am not without my fears. And as with most fears, they are irrational.
One such fear is a bit of a phobia around the ocean.
They say that you are either a mountain person or a water person. Water people feel claustrophobic in the mountains, and mountain people feel over-exposed and vulnerable on the water. Having been in both environments, I feel safe saying I am a mountain person through and through.
All this is not to say I don’t like the water. I love being near the water; it’s calming and beautiful. I was a water-baby growing up, swimming as early as the age of two. I lived in pools. When I had the chance to go to a friend’s cottage, I loved lakes too.
I also swam in the ocean growing up from time to time. No problem. No event. All good.
But…even as a child, something didn’t bode well for me in the ocean. From the crabs that wanted to nibble on my toes amidst the thick seaweed in Cape Cod, to the rip tides and currents threatening to whisk me away in Florida, I always felt I needed to be on guard in and around the ocean.
I can’t explain it entirely. That’s why they call it an irrational fear, I guess. All I can say is that I simply feel that there are too many forces that want us out of the ocean for me to want to mess with them. Creatures that will bite, sting, or otherwise find creative ways to kill you. Rip tides and undertow that will drown you. Rogue waves, little waves, big waves, you name it, right down to the tides themselves. It all scares me.
Okay, so upon further inspection, maybe with my track record so far it wasn’t such a hot idea to do what I’m about to tell you I did. But I did it anyway.
Seriously. My runners were purchased - used - 2 years ago. And since they're my main traveling shoes, I need a new pair. Any donation amount is welcome & appreciated!
Disclaimers aside, Sydney has been an interesting trip so far. After meeting up with @frank_in_oz in Melbourne for an iced mocha to die for and engaging conversation that could have lasted for days (thanks again, Frank!), I hopped on the overnight train to Sydney – an 11 hour journey.
for review, and I’m very thankful for it. I love travelogues in general, and this one is written absolutely beautifully and strikes a few chords within me. Read on to learn more about Surviving Paradise and my reaction to it.
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