my life in numbers.: How lucky I am to have "Problems"...

Like friggin' clock work!

Once every six weeks or so I go through the same thought process;

"Spend two years backpacking?"

"Move to Byron Bay and start pretending to be an adult?"

... and now there's ANOTHER option too, I had this idea a few years ago but it took a back seat when I realised that it'd cost about $30,000 but...

"buy a van and travel around Australia for a year, solo"?

I honestly don't know what to choose! If I had the money it wouldn't be an issue, I'd do it all, but the simple fact is that each of these three options costs money, at least $30,000 each, and making money takes time, making a lot of money takes a lot of time, and I'm not getting any younger!

Decisions mother-fucking decisions!

Travelling around Australia is something i'd love to do. I always push it to the back of my mind with the reasoning that 'I can do that when I retire", but there is a hugh difference between living in a van at age 26 compared to 60, or older! The thought of discovering a new part of my own country every few days, having a BBQ for dinner every night, making new friends at caravan parks, surfing (or trying to surf) the whole Australian coast line, listening to the radio 24 hours a day, getting lost, not having to work! It's a dream to me. I'm also really lucky in that I am someone who can not only stand to spend time alone, I actually like it. And of course if I ever got lonely I could pull up at a backpacker hostel and see if any other fellow nomads need a ride somewhere. It all sounds so good to me!

Then, there's the "Pretend to be an adult" option;

I say 'pretend' because I can never actually see myself being a proper adult. I'll never have a wear-a-power-suit-to-work kind of job, I'll never be able to stick to a budget, I'll never get enough sleep, I'll never stop at one beer when I pull up a chair at the pub, I'll always want to own a car from the 1970's over a family wagon, My half-aussie-half brazilian (here's hoping!!) kids will probably eat ice-cream for breakfast most sundays, I'll always have a few sneaky cigarettes, I'll always like tattoos and unsavoury company and the milk in my fridge will probably always be a few days out of date. But as far as growing up goes, Byron Bay is my chosen location. The basic plan here is to Move to the bay, start my 'career' in a creative field (graphic design/photography/writing), live in a little Boho style beach house and save my pennies until at some point I can buy myself a little hobby farm, lease some land to horse owners, have a few of my own pets (Miniature pigs, Miniature goats, a french bulldog, british bulldog, a few ducks and chickens and two rag-doll cats called Thomas and Oliver), a big veggie patch, an old barn that i'll use as a studio and a driveway lined with sunflowers... Eventually I'll get married and have kids, maybe even adopt. But until then I'll rent out the spare rooms to like-minded individuals and spend my time being the Beach Bum's archetype.

That all sounds so good to me too!

And lastly, the nomadic dream. Travel the world for two years, a passport, a backpack and a camera... nothing else.

The plan there is to head to Liverpool, England and work a few months there, spending the daytime reading books in cafes and pubs, trying to keep warm, and the nights serving brandy to interesting old men who have no idea how interesting they really are.

then I'll head over to L.A and work a few months there, daytimes wasted on famous beaches and famous streets, catching up with old friends I haven't seen in almost a decade.

From there it's a few months spent weaving my way down through Central and South America, a place I've already been to but didn't see enough of. Surfing, stories... rum.

Next, I fly over to Africa for a few months; Volunteer with Children, Bungee jump the highest bungee on earth, surf in South Africa, Safari and Search for 'The Big 5'.

Through Africa I head north and make my way overland to India, through central Asia and then up in to Europe... And make my way to AMSTERDAM!

I fucking love Amsterdam! I want to live there for three months, at least! The houses, the bikes, the history, the brown cafes, the canals, the house boats, the fashion, the markets, the alleyways, the tulips AND the debauchery ... The place is "my" perfection.

Once I can no longer afford to live there (or once my lungs and liver give out, whichever comes first) I'd head over to either Germany or France and find some work to top up the bank account, then a quick trip to South East Asia before planting my feet back on Australian Soil.

...and I can't even explain how good that sounds to me...

They only thing I hate about that idea is that I am getting pretty tired of the fact that all my favourite people are spread all over the world.

After a while you get pretty good at 'good-bye's' but that doesn't make them any easier.