09.30.10

I can’t believe it is the last day of September already. I always feel a sense of loss when September is over. Maybe because it’s my birthday month and I feel strangely close to it. I am sure everyone has some sort of curious attachment to their birthday month, but regardless, I am sad to leave September behind. It went way too fast.
Of course, I can’t help but be exceptionally excited for October either! I have only 13 days left of work. John and I both gave our bosses our final working days, and are rather giddy about getting out of Port Douglas. We bought our plane tickets earlier this week for Indonesia, and will be flying into Denpasar on October 17th. This means that in exactly 17 days, we will be landing in the city of Denpasar, in the country of Indonesia, on the island of Bali! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, if you could only understand my excitement!!!!!
Everyone always asks me what my infatuation is with Bali. Why do I want to go there so badly? Why have I ALWAYS wanted to go there? Well, to be completely honest… I’m not so sure myself. I must have seen a picture of Bali when I was a little girl. It was probably a photo of the emerald green rice terraces next to the crystal blue waters. Maybe it was an article about the wildlife, volcanoes and/or the incredibly beautiful people that inhabit this secluded paradise. Maybe it’s because it is one place that most people never get the chance to go…...No…....it’s a place most people are too afraid to ever go. A lot of people, friends and family included, have said that we are stupid for going…”..."it’s too dangerous!”…”"..."it’s a third world country, it’s not safe”…".... I say they are ignorant. May I remind you that in my own country, nay…... my own backyard, the worlds most profound and devastating terrorist attack (9/11) happened? That’s the problem with American’s though. Most, though not all, are very closed minded. Stuck on one very misguided idea that the only way to be safe, successful and happy in life is to have a college degree, a career, a spouse, a house, kids and then retirement. They have this belief that doing anything ’out-of-the-norm’ is a waste of time, too risky, and may possibly stick them with a stigma like ‘'dead-beat’'.
Did you know that 80% of Americans DO NOT have their passport? I met this Ozzie man who spent some time traveling through America. He told me he met so many people who had never even left their state! Assuming that maybe they didn’t have the funds, or were tied down by some other serious responsibility, he asked why, they respond “"I dunno, what else is there to see? I have discovery channel”". How sad.
But I must tell you something…...though it was scary to leave my comfort zone, and extremely hard to say goodbye...…leaving America to see the world has been the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. Every sacrifice was worth it. I think that’s the gymnast in me. I gave up a lot of adolescent years to the hard work and dedication of a training Olympic hopeful. I’'m used to standing on a 4 inch beam, 5 feet above the ground. People are watching me, some are even judging me, and I have to rotate 360 degrees in an aerial move, feet over head, and land…...on 4 inches. I’m used to telling myself “ You just have to jump Autumn, and you have to jump high”. Personally, I think I was ten times more crazy then ; )
Regardless, somewhere inside my heart, I hold this very deep and passionate longing for Bali. If ever I could put into words a secret dream I have always had, ‘'Bali’' would sum it up. The first week we are there we will be staying in a nice resort. Johns uncle, Len, out here in Australia, has a timeshare and had extra weeks built up. He sold us one for 300 bucks, which is a steal! It will be a much needed break after having slept in a tent for a few months. So again, my excitement far exceeds any type of anxiety I have ever felt before!
Other great news is that we have officially been excepted as volunteers on Christmas Island. The best part is that we will be volunteering on Christmas Island during Christmas! So here’s what it’s all about. Christmas Island is a tiny island, considered to be Australian territory, that is North-West of Darwin and Perth, between Australia and Indonesia, in the Indian Ocean. It’s smaller then Bali and much more remote. Upon this tiny piece of land is a refugee camp, and we will be volunteering with the refugees. John is an activities coordinator and will be playing games with the kids and putting together activities for the adults. I will be running a TEFL class and teach English to the kids and adults as well. We are both excited, especially since this will be my first foreign language class since getting my teaching certificate. Because it is a government funded volunteer program, they fly us in and out of Christmas Island and will be taking care of our shelter, food, etc while we are staying with them. We get weekends and certain nights off during the week to go and explore the island, and because it isn’t commercially touristy, it’s a haven for flora and fauna, which of course, I am eager about! Like I mentioned above, we will be staying there during Christmas, which will be a nice way for John and I to help make Christmas and New Years special for the refugees, and they can help make it a nice holiday for us as well!
Now if you recall earlier blogs, you will have noticed that this plan is a little different then the one we originally had in order. However, we had to make some changes since I had to fly home for a month. Originally, we were going to leave Port Douglas for Perth at the beginning of August and spend a week on the West coast of Australia. From there we were to leave for Bali till the end of November. While we were there we had plans to travel to Thailand, Malaysia, Papa New Guinea and other parts of Asia. We were going to fly back to Melbourne and fly to Tazmania on December 1st. We would spend a week traveling the island and then spend a few weeks through New Zealand, before heading to Sydney after the New Years and working until we left for Fiji in March. Having to send me home to be with my family and grandpa was really expensive for us, and caused us to miss our flight to Bali (Yes, we had/have all these flights pre-booked). No sweat though…...when I got back to Australia, we decided it would be best if we stayed in Port Douglas for another month to work and replenish what we spent to fly me home. Then we re-routed. Our new plan is to fly straight to Bali. Then we fly to Darwin and will be there for 5 days playing with the crocs. December 8th, we get flown to Christmas Island until January 5th when we get flown to Sydney and will start working until Fiji in March. We will do a fare bit of the South Pacific islands and then the last week on June, we fly back to America…...yes, back to America. BUT WAIT…, don’t get too excited…...here’s the clincher, we are getting round trip tickets back.
Yes, yes, I know…...that may seem like quite a bomb for some of you, but let me explain. My youngest sister is having her first baby in January (I will be missing his arrival) and she will be holding off the Christening until I can be in attendance during the summer (he will be 6 months old already : ( You must know that this means a great deal to me. My nieces and nephews are my world, and I am beyond heartbroken that I will be missing his birthday). She will also be getting married in November, along with one of my very best friends, Alicia, whom asked me to be maid of honor in her October wedding. Lastly, and most importantly though, I have had the luxury to see my friends and family mid-trip, where John will have gone a whole year without seeing anyone. Not that he ever claims to be homesick, but I know there are quite a few people who miss him very much and would be very happy to see him, his mother especially. I know he has quite a few engagements to take care of as well while he is home; friends getting married, having babies…...etc, so our trip back home will be in due time.
We hope to work really hard and replenish our nest egg once again. We tossed around the idea of working in Vegas for the summer and fall, maybe doing some traveling around the states in-between all our important dates, and we will DEFINITELY be planning a serious snowboarding trip prior to our departure (we will have been in tropical weather for 15 months!). After the holidays, we will head off, once again, to the other side of the world, where we hope to do a few weeks on the West coast of Australia, New Zealand and a very thorough scan of Asia and its archipelagos. After that, who knows (maybe Middle East and Pyramids!).
Our first year traveling has taught us a lot, but unfortunately our mistakes, and circumstances beyond our control, has cost us a lot of time. Besides, we just aren’t ready to give up this new-found-freedom and love we have in traveling. It’s too big of an adventure to just go on home after a year. There is still so much of this world I am ever eager to explore, and I know John is too. Like I said, when I tell myself to jump...… I jump high. : )