Saturday, 6 October 2012

How to Blow a Month


And so, it begins again.  Avid readers and followers of my travel blog will know what exactly this entails.  Pragmatists will know the reasons why.  Yes, I am out for adventure.  Ordinary life is best suited for ordinary people.  Hey, this should be my new motto!  Frankly it is a little too neat and tidy for my liking.

What are we doing?  Where are we going?  And importantly, why?  Well it has to begin with some sort of discontent.  And it goes a little something like this. 

After the epic adventures that were, I returned to Australia anew.  I was full of invigorated ideas and plans for the future.  First, find a new engineering role away from the town whence I came.  Second, set up a new life dedicated to the pursuit of my engineering and other interests.  The rest, well it had not been composed in solid print yet but you get the idea.  Bigger, better, faster and more fun.  I never really was the one for planning all the steps of my life up front.

And so it became.  I found work a neat 1400km to the south in a town called Newcastle.  This time I would be casting my wares designing equipment for the mining industry.  I found a new house, a new house mate and even bought a brand new car.  But as life teaches us, not all things go to plan and you have to adapt to the changes to come.  My new job crumbled around me as my role became untenable under the leadership of a mediocre boss.  With my work life coming apart I began to feel discontent with my situation.  Quickly I asked myself the big question “are you happy?”  When the answer came back as a simple and conclusive “no”, well that is when things got interesting. 

Out of the blue a job interview came my way with a company offering a better role, more money and the revised promise of work to enjoy.  Sounded pretty bloody good to me (please pardon my French).  So an interview I had and a new job I got. 

Now those of you engrossed in the phenomenon of the modern working life will know that being time poor is often the most crippling factor in pursuing your interests.  Realising I had an opportunity here and with some cunning negotiation I managed to set up a 6 week window between the finish of my old role and the beginning of my new one.  I may have also negotiated a bit of a payout from my old company that helped me out a little in what was next to follow. 

Without hesitation, a call went out to my new bestest ever travel agent.  The instructions were clear.  She had 3 hours to book me a flight to the Galapagos Islands leaving in 2 weeks time. Duration: all of October.  Big ask!  I think she was a little taken aback, but she delivered like a true champion.  

So now I sit aboard a large winged beastie of human origins commuting the Pacific Ocean once more for lands a little more “Bueno”.  It is off to an island land that was overlooked last adventure but which will feel my foot print this time.  I am going to lounge it up like a marine iguana when the sun is right.  Party with the seals when I feel the need.  And I will do it all with a penguin tucked under my arm for good measure.  Charles Darwin, I´m bombing your house (in a figurative sense obviously).       

 "Muy Bien Amegos"

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