Why Australia

There are many reasons to list off, but only one has convinced me to go: I am not ready to go back to the states yet. That, and the timing works beautifully! So I lied, I'm not moving to Australia in November. I'm going in late October. It will be getting on the chilly side in London at that time and Oz will be starting to warm up. Three summers in a row sounds good to me. 35ºC days while its -35ºC in Minneapolis also sounds attractive. On top of that, Oz is a completely new place for me to explore. It is a huge country (and my knowledge of it has been greatly expanded as my sole account at work is a travel group in Melbourne) with its own diverse culture and different social groups. It may well take me weeks or months to see everything I might want to. By coincidence, Rhitik is planning to move there about the same time as I am! I have found most Aussies to be quite laid back, friendly and relaxed and after a year of crazy London living and extended travels, that lifestyle may prove to be a welcome opportunity.

It's a new continent! I've never been below the equator! I've never been so close to Asia! As to the location into which I will plop myself, I have no idea. I generally tend to hear something new and/or different from every person to whom I speak when I ask them about Oz (Kerri, thoughts?). Sydney is basically London (but with actual British people), the weather in Melbourne is rubbish, Brisbane-Cairns-the Gold Coast is too touristy, there is nothing special about Perth, Adelaide or Canberra and Darwin is just sort of out there. Who has even heard of Ayers Rock or Alice Springs? Should I just go live with the Aboriginees for a while? What do I want to do for 4 months of working? Fortunately I have several months to figure all of this out. I would like to find a city with decent weather, good public transport, beaches, culture nightlife, close to international transport and has a nice standard of living, yet not expensive like LA or London or Oslo.

When I am done working I will be able to convert my visa and stick around in the country for a while longer and travel around. Australia also serves as a great launch pad for a southern Asia tour, so I expect I can go to Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand and the South Pacific, or further up to China, Taiwan and Japan even.

Besides, the over arching reason still exists that made me come to London. "Do it now while you can." And also while cheap flight is still available! So there you have it. As long as I have the financial resources to support myself and allow me to travel (because if I couldn't travel I would just come back to the US) I will keep going for the time being.

ETA to the US now looks to be somewhere around May 2007.