A Phond Philosophical Pharewell

This is the final blog entry from my past four month stint deep in the heart of the South Pacific. Since September 1, 2009, I have traveled to three new countries, on twelve different flights, over a grand total of 29,314 miles (including the road trip to Sydney; 27,908 miles in the air). Despite those daunting numbers and cumulative count of over 78 hours aboard various aircrafts, it feels as if I have only been gone for a mere weekend trek around the globe. Looking back on my once-in-a-lifetime experience, all I can see is a massive blur of picturesque landscapes, crystal clear waters, mullets, Mohawks, rattails, and blue skies. From the pool of people I knew before this epic journey, very few have been lucky enough to feast their eyes on the Australian countryside, even less have seen the beauty of the islands of New Zealand, and barely a handful have buried their feet in the cools sands of a Fijian beach. The appreciation I have for the past four months of my life is unprecedented, and will never go forgotten. As this is my final blog, I would like any of you who have been interested in my travels to pat yourself on the back as a thank you from me to you for your support and interest. Some of you may be familiar with my hopes of attaining my dream job of getting hired for a job that allows me to travel to distant corners of the globe while documenting my progress. I have self-diagnosed myself with the travel bug, and your support could someday be a key factor on my résumé in acquiring my dream job, and I thank you for your following.

As previously stated, this is my final entry for my 2009 Australian endeavors, but hopefully not my final entry for my travel endeavors. It may not be as entertaining as my prior blogs, but it might serve as a valuable tool to some of you someday. Who knows? This particular blog can be used by any and all of you as a reference for your traveling queries. If you want to cook a nice meal of travel, consider this entry the ingredients and recipe for you to follow… Enjoy.

For those of you considering going or studying abroad:
Do it! I was reading a Lonely Planet book a few weeks ago before bedtime just outside of Sydney, and I stumbled upon the history of the company. This history is an interesting story, but the quote that seemed to resonate with me really seemed to encapsulate my newfound philosophy: “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” Now I know all of you naysayers out there may refute that philosophy with factors that you may accuse me of overlooking, because I have heard some bitching about it here and there before and I’m sick of it. I assure you, I haven’t overlooked the factors. I know it is expensive, I know it may be far from home, and I know some may argue that if you’re not making a dollar, you aren’t gaining anything from the experience. Untrue, and I will argue that to the death. Sacrifices need to be made for things to work sometimes. Finances, homesickness, and income are all curable. You just have to commit to doing something that you want to do, something that is going to make you happy. You don’t need to go to Australia, go to Egypt, buy yourself a $50 steak, what tickles your fancy is irrelevant. What I’m saying is that you need to do something in your life that is going to make you happy. Mine was studying abroad for four months. I just got back to America with zero dollars, chapped lips, and no work opportunities, but what I did was something I wanted to do. I am so happy I did it, I regret nothing, and I strongly encourage anyone who wants to experience another country, or even another state to do it. It will very likely set you back a pretty penny, but the connections you will make, the people you will meet, and the résumé lines you will have when you walk away for this experience will greatly make up for the expenses. I have come home from Australia with friends from all over not only the United States, but also the world. I have really great friends from coast to coast of the continental United States, some in Australia and even some from Germany. Just as MasterCard would argue, there are certain things that are priceless, and the connections I have made with some of these people are just that. There is a certain time frame in between graduating from high school and entering the real world that everyone has to be a kid and an adult at the same time. You are old enough to make your own decisions, but young enough to have a carefree experience. When I was a sophomore in high school, my sister studied in Galway, Ireland, and when I was a freshman in college, my brother lived in Madrid, Spain for a year. Both of them urged me to experience the world, and warned me of certain regret if I didn’t grab the opportunity by the horns and just do it. The amount of money does affect the experience, but that money can be replaced in time, the experience never can. I realize that this address may seem I am smiting some people, but I am certainly not. I just don’t agree with the closed-mindedness of some people and their beliefs that oppose alternative forms of education like studying abroad. I’m getting deep, I know.

For those of you considering going to or studying in Australia:
Do it! I am going to be blatantly honest with you, my favorite part of Australia… was New Zealand. But it is a tomato/tomahto argument. I don’t like onions, but my mom loves them. I don’t like red wine, but my mom LOVES it. I am certainly not arguing that I did not love Australia, I did. There is so much to do, so here is some real advice…
-People are going to say that you are going to see the deadliest creatures in the world. It may be true that they are there, but I saw zero sharks, zero snakes, zero deadly spiders, and zero jellyfish. Don’t understand this as they are not there, but they are not crawling up and down the sides of buildings and flooding the streets. The animal I seemed to have the most encounters with is the bat. Being the #1 Ace Ventura fan of all time, they facilitated the purchase of a clean pair of boxers once or twice. They are the size of pterodactyls, enormous. You can hear their wings flapping from 20 yards away. Reactions to them are always fun.
-I never heard someone say “shrimp on the barbie” once… stop using that joke.
-People are always interested in you. They lady at McDonald’s wants to know what you are studying. On the same token, don’t be the ugly American. Australian people generally love American people, but don’t give them a reason to change their mind. Remember, that although it is greatly Americanized, you are still in a foreign country. There are different rules there. You don’t come to my house and call my mom a bitch, do you? Oh wait… you might.
-Try to get to a Rugby or AFL game, I missed the season, but everyone raves about them. Australians love their sports.
-Guys: bring something other than sandals. You can go grocery shopping barefoot, but you have to be in you Sunday’s best for nightlife.
-If you are studying there, I strongly suggest taking “Australian History” if it is an option. It was super boring while I was taking it, but in retrospect, it is very interesting and I learned a lot.
-If you like buffalo sauce, bring some from home.
-Beware the effects of Tim Tams; addicting cookies.
-Bring a lot of deodorant because you will use a lot of it and Australian deodorant is weird.
-There is going to be more downtime than you expect, anticipate that.
-Travel as much as you possibly can. Australia itself has millions of places to enjoy: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Ayer’s Rock, Brisbane, the Great Barrier Reef, the outback, Tasmania, etc. The South Pacific and southeast Asia has equally as many places to check out: New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Bali, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, etc. *Always inquire about boiling water before you drink it though.
-Remember to keep a close eye on the currency exchange rates.
-Use Skype; it is heaven-sent.
-Keep the amount of time you aren’t home in perspective. Four months seems long, but not in the grand scheme of things.
-Keep a journal. My sister bought me a small leather one before I left. You don’t need to write about your feelings, just write down what you do and funny things that happen. When you read them later, you’ll laugh when you realize you forgot what happened, like that time that girl fell over a bike.
-Force yourself to meet people; everyone is in the same boat as you.
-People may argue that you shouldn’t go abroad with someone. I think this belief is circumstantial. I met a number of people who came with someone they knew and neither of them were clinging to their hips.
-See the Great Barrier Reef. You have to.
-Eat at least one kebab a week.
-Look right, then left before crossing the street.
-Ask for student discounts on everything; the worst they can say is no.

For those of you who are studying at Bond University:
-I never ran into this problem, but if you have a meal plan, running out of your money quickly is a common occurrence.
-They grade on a bell curve, so when you get a 65% on one of your papers, you didn’t fail, it equates to an American “B.”
-Classes were not necessarily easy, so get any credit you can. Go to all of the classes you are available to go to.
-Don’s and CDB are the only two bars I went to that let me in wearing sandals.
-If you meet Tim Geeves or Marc Sirockman, be their friend, they are cool cats.
-Remember: “chicken focaccia, small Caesar salad, and a lift.”
-ch131.com can cater to all of you American entertainment needs (i.e. The Office, 30 Rock, Survivor, etc.)
-Talk Down Under is a great phone company, you’ll see offers from them the first week you are there.
-They use turnitin.com to catch plagiarism, just change every fourth word.
-Tell Natalie from Student Flights that Brendan and Zach say hi.
-Don’t be disheartened when you are the dumbest person in your class. Own it.
-If you use Student Flights as your travel agency, don’t always trust that the price they give you is going to be the cheapest. Do some of your own research.

I may have more advice, but you can ask me as you see fit. Brendan is my name and travel is my game. Please, use me as a resource. Other than that, this particular time spent in the blogosphere has come to an end for me. Once again, I thank each one of you for your time, readership, and attention, feel free to keep it comin’. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. See you in 2010 mates!

…P.S. I never found an authentic bloomin’ onion.

...P.P.S. All spelling and grammatical mistakes throughout all of my entries can be traced back to my mom or Mr. McKenna.

Cheers!
-Brendan/Sully/Dangy/Buddha