Meh. This Down Under journey was one for the books. Although it wouldn’t be a best seller.
My time here plodded along in a sameness of coffee, veggie omelettes, PB&J sandwiches, hikes when I could find them and get there and fish and chips pub meals. Eventually, all this was washed down with a solo Happy Hour. The trip felt forced. There was little natural flow. I was traveling by habit. I felt isolated and alone.
So I asked myself, “Self! Why did this happen?”
Here’s the best answer I can come up with. Somehow since my last trip here I changed from being a free spirit on a push-bike to an invisible Grey Nomad driving the World’s smallest rental car. Socially it was a let-me-down visit. I reconnected with less than a hand-full of old acquaintances and made nil new ones. A first for me. I’m not proud of this.
Since the hikes were mostly short, my days were long. I’m a terrible tourist. I can’t make a day of walking around a town window shopping or sitting in a groovy cafe drinking cappuccinos and eating delicate sandwiches. I’m good for about an hour of this.
On a positive note, with all this Down Under Down Time I consumed fourteen US/World history books since I arrived. Ask me and I’ll recommend a few.
My trip here has reconfirmed what I already knew. I’ve hit the wall on solo traveling. I’m tired of my own company. For a majority of my life constant motion was my prescription to ward off the feeling of loneliness. That pill isn’t affective anymore. I need a new prescription.
With all this being said, you’d think I would be looking forward to returning to the United States of the New Dark Ages.
I’m not.
America isn’t the joy-joy happy place it once was for me. We’ve become a Nation where civility has been replaced by rounds of fist pumping and posturing. I see evil on the horizon. I’m scared of what we are becoming and where we are going. I wish this wasn’t so. I hate feeling like a stranger in a strange land.
I’ll now unveil my game plan to get me through to November 3, 2020. Here’s my next read.
If that doesn’t work I’ll switch to Double IPAs. If that doesn’t work I’ll move to Nimbin, NSW. (The Stoner Capital of Australia.) How do you think I’d look in dreadlocks?
BTW. Today (in Australia) will be the start of my seventh year anniversary of being Homeless by Choice. This will be the year USS Wandering Wondering Jew will furl the sails and cut the engines. 2019 will be the year I find a base camp.
Be well,
Cheers
Jeff
Jeff...If you remember Ouray and Telluride last summer drop us an email
ReplyDeleteI do remember you guys.
DeleteYou Honeymooners keep having fun!
The Hawaii Volcano Observatory downgraded the status of Kilauea to GREEN last week. The 35-year eruption is over. If you like, you could stop in Hawaii on the way back and not have to breathe vog...
ReplyDeleteBummer dude - sorry to hear.. Sounds like some nice changes ahead.. Durango? Boulder? Fairbanks? Monticello? :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome I am so glad you got a taste of the land I love! That waterfall look like Wentworth falls, was it? I love your commentary and photos and yes, ninbin would be great fun! I too fear the fate of the United States. Good on ya mate! ���� If you ever wanna come back and visit the north part let me know! I will be back home early July… Actually July 4 is my independence day from America. Yes that was on purpose!
ReplyDeleteI agree about traveling getting old (so am I, but that's another story). But I've realized that having a community and participating in it gives me much more satisfaction than that aimless thing. I'll always love traveling, but not to the exclusion of feeling like I belong somewhere. So we're going to spend winters in southern Utah for a while, become part of the community, volunteer and I may go back into my counseling practice. It's all good. Hope you get a chance to do the same.
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