A Note from an Aussie Trekker...

This is the end. Well, nearing the end.

Soon, I will take you back to the beginning. When it all began.

When I was younger, less experienced and a little less mature. When I wasn't as daring, but daring enough to venture off for a year of backpacking on my own. No tour guides. No quad-lingual tongue that lets me jump from country to country allowing me to blend with the locals conversing with ease. No hop on hop off bus. Just me, my ticket and my freedom.

This is where I'm at now - April 2008.

Soon enough, it'll all begin. Soon enough, I'll tell you how I got here...

What's it been? A year... or two?? I know it's been a while since I wrote a group email. I'm just not sure how long. There are those of you that I've written to and in turn, have written to me in the past year, so a few of you out there know that I'm still kicking. For some of you, my name in your inbox might be a shock. And then for the rest of you, you'll probably be like 'Um... who?!'.

For the those of you that sit and ponder the last question, then this answer's for you... I would've met you in my travels. Somewhere. It might have been Europe at the end of 2002 or early 2003. It might've been Canada later that year or as I trekked across the good ol' US of A in search of a Major League Baseball stadium. Or perhaps I met you when I went back to North America in 2004 and again in 2006 and most recently this past Christmas... or I've met you here in London. Hopefully one of those will jog your memory.

Still no luck? Ah, just hit 'delete' then, eh!

So yes, for the last 2 years (Almost! And My God... has it been that long!?) I've been living in London. Sunny, sunny London. Yes, that's me trying to be funny. No, it's not working. I was here for 3 months before I found a job and was on the verge of going home when I stuck it out another 2 weeks and managed to find some work (much to my Mother's dismay, I'm sure). So I've been working in the same job for almost 2 years (um... is that allowed!?) Ah well, no-one's come knockin' yet! (Touch wood!). For those of you that don't know, I work as a Data Analyst for a nice Global Company that treats their employees well. I have enjoyed the experience. I work not far from the London Eye. Infact, if I go to one of our cafes, I can take in the view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Yes, I think I've taken it all for granted, this living in London. Though it hasn't been as kind to me as I would've liked. It certainly has been an 'expensive' experience. This living in London is really not cheap and I'm at a loss as to figure out how people can do this for more than 2 years!

Granted it hasn't been all bad and there's some things I'll miss when I leave. Of the two main things, I'll miss the movie premieres. I certainly have met quite a number of famous people since I've lived here in this city. Jack Nicholson, Nicole Kidman, Dustin Hoffman, Jennifer Aniston, Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock, Sylvester Stallone, Uma Thurman and both of the Bonds... Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. There's been more, many more, but I just can't be bothered naming them all. And let's be honest... you don't want to read them all. It has been a very tiring hobby and one I'm actually looking forward to leaving behind. I've been enjoying it less and less as the months have gone on. I think I'm just getting to old to go chasing these people around for a squiggle on a piece of paper, don't you think? There's still about 7 or 8 more on my 'list of people to meet'... but I figure I've got the next 20 years to meet them, so I'm in no rush.

The second thing I'm going to miss... and this supercedes the premieres, would you believe... is the theatre. I will, without a doubt, miss the West End. It really is only second to Broadway and I've seen some great shows and watched some amazing performances over the last three years. I've had the pleasure of seeing Sir Ian McKellen perform (albeit briefly naked. Him, not me). I've watched the amazing Kevin Spacey strutt his stuff on the stage at the Old Vic theatre where he looks more alive and at ease than he does in any film and I've had the chance to see a David Mamet play be brought mesmerisingly to life. It's all been a wonderful experience and it is this, above all, that I will miss most about London.

I will NOT miss the horrid, horrid public transport system. Seriously people, how many times do you have to ring the bell for the bus to stop?! It averages about 4 times... and these stops are only about 200 metres apart. I mean, that buzzer just gets pressed and pressed and oh, how I'd like to yank it out of the bus itself, it gets pressed so... damn... much!

I will NOT miss the weather. It's almost the end of March... and it was snowing on Easter Sunday. Snow. In March. I think that is almost unheard of, especially for this part of the world. And when it's not snowing, it's looking grey and wet. Granted, there were a few days of sun in the last 2 years, but last summer was almost non-existent. No, I will not miss the weather.

I will NOT miss the London tube (this might fall under public transport though). Almost 2 years on and I don't think there's been a day... not a SINGLE day... when all of the lines of the London Underground were running. How sad is that.

I will NOT miss the lingo I've picked up here. Things like 'To be fair' and some of them not so nice - 'tosser' and 'arse'. I won't miss hearing things like 'Sod it!', 'Sod off!', 'Sod that!' or 'What a miserable sod/git/bugger!'. I will not miss this little English accent that creeps into the end of my sentences now and then. I notice I do it and immediately correct myself for my 'mistake'.

I will NOT miss the words 'fit' and 'spunky' being used in the wrong context. If they're fit, just say they're attractive! And if someone's full of spunk... I mean... how... HOW do you even make that connection!? It just means something else in Australia. Thankfully. Oh, and 'taking the piss'... oy... don't even get me started!

I will NOT miss the drunken state this country always seems to be in, or at least displays. I find it both odd and embarrassing that people need to travel on public transport with a beer or a glass of wine in their hands. Or have one as the sit and watch a play, a sporting event or a concert. I've never seen more pubs in a 1 kilometre radius than I have here in England.

But with the bad, there is also the good...

Besides the premieres and my love of the theatre, I WILL miss my new found addiction to baked beans. They taste great with a baked potato and cheese. Such a staple diet for England and one I only discovered this year.

I WILL miss the different types of tea available on demand. Ooohhh... there's just so many flavours!

I WILL miss the Twiglets, even though I've had a bit of trouble finding them of late. It's probably that vegemite sort of taste that reminds me of Australia though.

I WILL miss giving tourists directions making me feel like less of one myself. Knowing that I can be lost pretty much in an tourist spot, be blind folded and spun around 5 times and still make my way home, is a handy little trick I've mastered.

I WILL miss the close proximity of everything, even though I didn't take advantage of it as much as I would've liked. Even New York City was 'only' 7 hours away! That one, I did find time to take advantage of :)

I WILL miss the friends I've made along the way - some of you English and probably calling me a 'right arse' for having listed the things I won't miss!

So, come May, my time in London is up. I'll be travelling for about 2 or 3 weeks as I venture around the United Kingdom making my way to Scotland and then at the end of May, I'm heading across to Ireland where I hope to stop for no more than 12 months, if the Embassy let's me have a work visa. There's a few people over there I'd like to see again. It's been far too long.

The page is turning. This chapter's almost done. Soon, a new one will begin.

Stay in touch. The travels, dare I say it, will begin to slow down soon enough. Life will need to take over. That is, real life. A career. A (fast) car. A house. A family. These are all things I wish for and things I hope will happen. I get a little choked up to think of all the things I've done in the last few years. The places I've been and the things I've seen and the many wonderful people I've met along the way, along with all the ones that I've known long before I took that first plane ride. I am not the same person I was when I left Australia in 2002. I have noticed a change in myself over the years as I've become more cultured, more aware, more outspoken and more mature. The journey has been kind to me and I certainly owe it a lot. It's been a hell of an experience!

To think that soon enough, I will not be this... free.

Yes, my time on my travels is slowing down. But not just yet.

There's more 'Notes from an aussie trekker' just around the corner... if only for a little while.

An Aussie Trekker's Blog

I need somewhere to store my travel stories. My thoughts. My happenings. I've been searching for a place for sometime and never realised the answer I was seeking was right before me, as it so often is.

I already have a blog. But I never thought to get another. I mean, two blogs... that's a little selfish, don't you think? But they're two different blogs. This one will be entirely about my travels (past and present). The other is about my life and hobbies.

I am keen to start this one. I have been thinking of doing it for a few months, I just never took the time to begin. I worry I won't stay on top of it. I know I've been more than a little slack with my other blog. Time, it does escape us, doesn't it?

Bear with me though. It might not make much sense. I've been travelling on and off for almost 6 years now. So we'll start with where I'm at. Then I'll throw in some past emails that I wrote when I was travelling and it'll be all nostalgic. Well, moreso for me. For you, I'm just hoping it makes some sort of sense.

And so begins the travel stories. The words that I hope one day will be more than a blog. Perhaps, and here's hoping, it'll one day be book... Notes From An Aussie Trekker.

Dare to dream, eh?