So here we are, 5 days and counting until I leave for Australia. I’ve got nearly everything on my shopping list that I needed. I still need to get another memory card for my camera but that’s easy. Honestly, I could probably buy any of the stuff on my list down there if it really came down to it. It’s Australia, they have stores.
It’s odd, I really can’t wait to go but I feel like I have so much to accomplish at work and here at home that I don’t want to get too excited until I’ve gotten on the plane and I can really start to unwind. That’s probably age and practicality talking but until I’m at the airport, getting on my plane I’m not truly on my way.
So, I went to buy some bug repellant because a couple of the places I’m going said it would be a good idea to have some on their FAQ page. Wanting to go sans chemicals if possible I’ve chosen a brand from my local health food store. I’m quite sure it will repel bugs......and probably anything and anyone else for that matter. The aroma is fairly strong. I’m thinking of buying some good old deet-filled lotion as well just in case I can’t stand the smell of this stuff. I guess the main ingredient is citronella and wow, it’s pretty powerful. My cat took one whiff of it, scrunched up his face, pulled his head away from my hand and walked away. Hey, it works on cats! I sure hope it works on black flies in The Outback.
The concept of leaving my home for 3 weeks and being in another country is so exciting. My biggest fear is that the time will go by so quickly that I’ll turn around and it will be over. Thankfully, my second week will be spent on a quiet, private island resort that serves only 10 visitors at a time. No phones, no computers, no interruptions. I feel like this will be when I really unplug and start to truly relax. By the time I head to New Zealand I’ll probably be totally chilled out and in vacation-mode.
They say it takes at least 2 weeks for someone to really mentally disconnect from work. I know when I went to Greece I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t think about work at all from the moment I left. I actually did really well, I didn’t think about work at all other than the realization that I needed to quit my job and leave the company I was working for. It hit me like Mack truck too. I almost called right then and told them I wasn’t coming home. It was Greece, I was swept away. But seriously, I did end up leaving and I’m much happier for it.
Being outside of your home, outside of your country, on another continent, so completely removed from anything you know or are comfortable with can bring amazing clarity if you’re open to it. You see things very differently. You have realizations that surprise you. You experience another culture and meet wonderful people who trigger things you didn’t even know were inside of you. It’s quite spectacular really. That’s why I always take a brand new journal on vacation. I might fill it up, I might not but that journal becomes a time-capsule of my trip, the state my mind was in, the insights and experiences I had, everything about it. It’s a very worthwhile practice, I highly recommend it.
It’s late now and I must work tomorrow so I’ll sign off. I’m not sure yet if I’ll blog from Down Under or not. It sounds like a fun way to capture some of what is going on but I’m just not sure I want to spend any time at a computer while I’m there. I don’t know, I’ll see how I feel when I get there.
Cheers y'all!
