now that I'm in Australia
it feels like I do nothing but sleep. two nights ago we went to see a movie- August Rush- in the park. we brought our own deck chairs & it was a private screening for the West Australian newspaper- Annelies (Natalie's dad's girlfriend) works there- so it was a nice small crowd. the movie was amazing, I would highly recommend it to anyone.
right before boarding the plane from Singapore to Perth I found out that a friend had died of exposure hiking in NH. I am having some trouble dealing with this, being so far away, but I wrote something for the memorial service. it didn't come close to expressing what I'm feeling. to be honest, it was crap. I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have been home. I wish I could have called him up that Sunday afternoon & said, hey, don't go hiking today in this shit weather, let's go see a film instead.
the circumstances can't help but put a damper on my visit here, but Perth is nice & I am comfortable here. soon we'll head to Melbourne to see Natalie's brother & then it's on to NZ to scope out the neighborhoods in preparation for my move there in the fall. I feel ready for a change, ready to make sure I am living my life every moment- not just coasting. you know? it's so easy to take things for granted.
I'm getting sentimental, I know. finding out that you can really lose someone and never have a chance to say goodbye can do that.
my most recent travel accomplishments involve renting, and driving, both a motorbike (to explore south Bali with Nally riding shotgun) and a car (to traverse the rest of the treacherous island roads with a third traveler in tow) without the slightest injury being sustained by any party involved. all who learned of these adventures, travelers and locals alike, seemed quite impressed, so I am proud.
I feel like I should apologize for the lack of regular posts here but in the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I am at heart an irregular poster... for those of you who are curious about my time in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and (most recently) Indonesia and Singapore- check my flickr! a picture's worth a thousand words, right?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmaustin/
right before boarding the plane from Singapore to Perth I found out that a friend had died of exposure hiking in NH. I am having some trouble dealing with this, being so far away, but I wrote something for the memorial service. it didn't come close to expressing what I'm feeling. to be honest, it was crap. I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have been home. I wish I could have called him up that Sunday afternoon & said, hey, don't go hiking today in this shit weather, let's go see a film instead.
the circumstances can't help but put a damper on my visit here, but Perth is nice & I am comfortable here. soon we'll head to Melbourne to see Natalie's brother & then it's on to NZ to scope out the neighborhoods in preparation for my move there in the fall. I feel ready for a change, ready to make sure I am living my life every moment- not just coasting. you know? it's so easy to take things for granted.
I'm getting sentimental, I know. finding out that you can really lose someone and never have a chance to say goodbye can do that.
my most recent travel accomplishments involve renting, and driving, both a motorbike (to explore south Bali with Nally riding shotgun) and a car (to traverse the rest of the treacherous island roads with a third traveler in tow) without the slightest injury being sustained by any party involved. all who learned of these adventures, travelers and locals alike, seemed quite impressed, so I am proud.
I feel like I should apologize for the lack of regular posts here but in the spirit of honesty, I have to admit that I am at heart an irregular poster... for those of you who are curious about my time in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and (most recently) Indonesia and Singapore- check my flickr! a picture's worth a thousand words, right?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmaustin/