NEW ROUTE

The journey to Sydney and to Perth went great. Here in Perth, I've been staying with a great Scottish family. So the final details are coming together now. One thing has changed though: the first leg of my journey. Check out the new route.

My choice of stallion

In a few days (next Tuesday) I'm leaving New Zealand and heading over the ditch and into Australia. I'll arrive in Sydney airport in the afternoon, spend the evening/night there, before heading over to the domestic terminal and catching my 07:20 flight to Perth.

Am I prepared? Is everything in order? Of course not EVERYTHING is order, that'd be boring. But I'd like to think I managed to cover a lot so far. Check it out.

Inspiration

It's no secret that we humans digest, observe and interact with everything we see. I believe that all we do, see, hear, touch etc. affects us in some way or another. It doesn't have to be a huge impact, it could something as small as deciding to wear a blue tie instead of a black tie to a dinner party. We base our lives on the impressions we're faced with.

My 10 tips for becoming an expat

expat

ɛksˈpat/

noun & adjective

informal

1. 1.

   short for expatriate.

Moving abroad can be both liberating and scary. You get to see a whole new world other then the one you grew up in. As you know, I love travelling and I love seeing new places. But there's a difference to going somewhere on holiday and moving there, becoming an expat.

My Australia plans

Well, the time has come to reveal what I'll actually be doing in Australia. Over the last three months I've been putting together the specifics, looking at charts and graphs and reading countless blog posts and books about this. I've received help from people in several countries and gotten a great deal of advice. So here it goes: I'm going to cycle across Australia from Perth to Brisbane, over 5800 km, to raise money for kids in hospitals.

The life of a solo-traveller

Travelling by yourself brings on many challenges. It tests your patience, your courage and above all, yourself. There might be moments where you'll feel lonely and vulnerable, where you feel like a stranger.

But I wouldn't trade the memories I've gained from solo-travel for anything in the world. It has allowed me to experience things in a different way, my way. I've gotten to know myself in a whole new way and I'm still getting to know myself. There's no "social noise" around you, you get to make decisions by yourself.

Working Holiday scheme

(!) See disclaimer at the end of article (!)

Source: J. Aaron Farr CCA licence

Want to really experience a country and its culture? Want to see the local sights, hidden off the "tourist-track"? Then a Working Holiday visa might be just your thing. The visa allows you to travel a country for a longer period of time and finance your travels by working. It's a fantastic opportunity and one I would encourage any person, with access, to do at least once in their life.

Auckland Street art

Art is, in my opinon, the closest medium we can get to an true universal language. Most people can understand it, to some degree.

Homesickness and how to battle it

In my opinion, travelling is one of the best things a person can do. To try something new. To experience something completely different. Trying out a new spicy dish in India, staying in a monistary in Thailand, pet a kangoroo in Australia, hiking in "Middle Earth", posing next to Big Ben and meeting new people from all over the world; that's living.

The 101 things I want to do before I die - My bucket list

The first time I heard about a "bucket list", I was around 14 years old. A film called A Walk to Remember had been released. It featured this girl who had been diagnosed with cancer and her desire to do all the things on her list before she died. (I'm not going to reveal the end, so you'll just have to watch it).
Not long after, I typed up my first bucket list and hung it on my bedroom door. It didn't have that much on it, but a few on the things still remain on my current list. It stayed there for many years and slowly I started to tick a few of the boxes.
Unfortunately the original list was lost, but I managed to remember most of it and have added many more dreams over the years. Until now, mine has been a word document saved on my computer.

A bucket list is a list of stuff you'd like to do. It's not like the ordinary to-do lists people make at the beginning of the week to feverishly try to balance work and spare time. No a bucket list is a list of dreams, activities and adventures you would like to do some time before you die.

December 2012: Licence - Though this is a fairly new dream, a few years back I suddenly wanted to get my motorcycle licence. Still have to buy a bike, but I'll get to that one day.

So why should you have one? Well first of all, it's important to have a dream. A goal. Something to aim for. It doesn't have to be huge like becoming the President of a country. It could be something as small as making you grandma smile every Saturday by bringing her flowers. Point is that we all need to embrace that inner child in us. That "Peter-Pan" stage of our lives where everything is possible if you only believe.

You can go about it in many different ways. You can make a scrapbook with recycled paper, use an website to manage your list or fill a wall with colourful post-its. Point is you need to find a way that suits you. It's no point me telling you what is the right way, cause there ain't one. What I will do however, is tell you how I went about it.

London New Years Eve 2012-13 : When I was growing up, I used to watch the telly on New Years and see the celebrations from all over the world. London, Sydney and New York was always my favourites. So that's how my childhood dream ended up on my list.

Brainstorming and thinking makes it easier to know what you want, really want, and that would make you truly happy might not always be an easy thing know. Take some time to do this, like an hour or two. Go to a place where you can relax, breathe and think. For me this is the beach on a sunny day. Listening to the waves relaxes me immensely.

Draft it on a piece of paper (or on your computer). Just write, or draw, whatever comes into mind. Remember, this is your list. Not your dads or your best mates', it's yours. The stuff you put on this list might seem silly to others, even borderline rude, but to you it means something. That's all that matters.

I bought this leather bound notebook with high quality paper.

The final version should be something you've put some thought into. Like I said at the beginning, this is not the average weekly to-do list which has got the groceries on it. This a list of life. Having said that, nothing is set in stone. You can add or change your list. Only rule is that it's your list.
My way of doing it is having two pages for each goal. On the left page there will be a headline with the dream and pictures from it. Then on the right side I'll write about it, what happened, where I did it and how it was.

By spending some time with it, you make it special. It's not just another piece of paper to go next to the pile of bills or in that folder on your computer where you save all the mixed documents. Nurture it. It's your new mantra. Your new Bible if you want to call it that. It's a reminder about your dreams, about your goals. So if, and you probably will at some point, feel a bit lost in your life you can look at your bucket list. You've done the hardest part, identifying your dreams. All you have to now is make them happen.

Put your personal touch to it

Now, some people might say that you should only put stuff that realistically can happen on there or that they think you're capable of. I think you shouldn't. My personal opinion is that you should write your dreams down, regardless how unrealistic they may seem. I put "Present at a TED talk". Now, I'll admit that I'm not any close at the moment in receiving an invite to speak at an TED event, but who's to say it won't happen in 30 years from now? Point is, don't limit yourself. It's your dreams.

William Arthur Ward once said “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”

Here's my bucket list (in no particular order)

My bucket list

Travel

1. Live in a different country- V
2. Travel by myself - V
3. Travel to Oxford - V
4. Travel to Venice (Italy)
5. Travel to Australia
6. See the Sydney Opera House
7. Celebrate New Years in London - V
8. Celebrate New Years in Sydney
9. Celebrate New Years in New York
10. Do Route 66 (USA) on a motorbike
11. Travel to Scotland
12. Travel to all seven continents
1. Europe - V
2. Asia
3. Oceania/Australia
4. Africa
5. North America
6. South America
7. Antarctica
13. Interrail - Travel Europe by train
14. Travel to the end of the world - V
15. Travel to the north of Norway and see the Northern lights
16. Travel to Svalbard (Norway) and see polar bears
17. See the Pyramids of Giza
18. Travel in a hot air balloon
19. Experience weightlessness
20. Swim in every ocean
1. Pacific Ocean - V
2. Atlantic Ocean - V
3. Indian Ocean
4. Southern Ocean
5. Arctic Ocean
21. Go to the airport and pick a random flight and go there
22. See the Eiffel Tower
23. Travel to the North Pole
24. Travel to the South Pole
25. Fly a plane
26. See an active volcano (active as lava)
27. Have a pint at the Oktoberfest in Munich
28. Travel to Pompeii (Italy) and see the stone people - V
29. Visit the Amazon Rainforest
30. Cross a country by foot/bike
31. Attend the Mardi Gras in Sydney
32. Ride the cable cars up the hills of San Francisco (US)
33. Celebrate St. Patrick’s in Ireland

Work/education

34. Get a degree from university - V
35. Get a degree or certificate from University of Oxford
36. Work as a bartender
37. Get a job I love
38. Work for Travel Channel OR National Geographic
39. Work with kids - V
40. Volunteer for an orphanage
41. Find a job I’m completely happy in
42. Work as a teacher
43. Be a jury member
44. Study philosophy and/or psychology
45. Open a cafè in the countryside
46. Volunteer for a charity - V
47. Run my own business - V

Random

48. Sleep under the star one night
49. Learn conversational Spanish
50. Learn a Sign Language
51. Learn to play the piano
52. Be two places at once - V
53. Find a cure for my animal allergies - V
54. Get a motorcycle licence - V
55. Improve my handwriting and write more letters/postcards - V
56. Pet a kangaroo
57. Get a book published
58. Drive a Ferrari
59. Do a skydive
60. Spend a few weeks in a buddhist temple
61. Run a marathon
62. Get over my fear of heights - V
63. Get a tattoo - V
64. Read every book I own
65. Have over 500 books in my own library
66. Watch the sunrise on the beach
67. Hitch-hike
68. Get six pack abs
69. Have a “slow-motion-moment-with-family/friends-at-the-airport”
70. Make a difference to in someones life
71. Do karaoke for one whole night in a bar/pub/club
72. Take a photo, every day for a year
73. Run a club/hotel in Greece
74. Send at least ten messages in bottles - V
75. Ride a camel
76. Own my own house
77. Go zorbing
78. Be on TV - V
79. Take dance lessons
1. Salsa
2. Ballroom
3. Samba
4. Hip-hop
80. Go to a P!nk concert
81. Learn to juggle
82. Attend the Olympics somewhere
83. Get an article published in a newspaper - V
84. Meet a Royal
85. Attend an art class and learn how to paint
86. Do yoga (for a minimum of 6 months, twice a week)
87. Learn archery
88. Swim with dolphins
89. Climb one of the World Seven Summits
90. Donate blood
91. Fall in love
92. Have kids
93. Fire a gun
94. Go on a safari
95. Wear a kilt
96. Eat insects
97. Write my memoirs
98. Have my own “Hallmark-perfect-Christmas”
99. Milk a cow
100. Present at a TED Talk
101. Find my Narnia in the back of a wardrobe
     
     
     Now it's your turn, dream, write and do it!
     If you would like to share it or need any tips, feel free to comment below.