28 Days Later
Being quite the geography nerd growing up, I always found it fascinating and curious of what drew people to these other landmasses around the globe in my bedroom. In junior high, I started to have a fascination with two significant landmasses in the south Pacific. I just found it hard to wrap my head around the idea that those places were inhabited, and people had everyday lives there. That would eventually expand to a general concept of civilizations around the world. I remember admitting to my teenage self that the only way I would ever satisfy such curiosity would be to investigate such places myself. The top of that list was New Zealand, and immediately after Australia. While it wasn't immediate as I would have liked, as with most things I try to make good on a promise to a James from years long past, I got around to it. Sixteen years later, mind you.
Six months ago when I accidentally stumbled upon an extremely affordable airfare to the region, I decide that it needed to be done. After a few days of determining the right time to go, it was settled that I would spend 20 days visiting New Zealand and whatever I would squeeze in of Australia in four/five days. After booking and thinking to myself this trip would be an eternity away, I remember asking myself when I'd start getting excited about it. Well, I can now honestly say with a great deal of accuracy that the answer to that question is 28 days. I'm sure the lack of summer break and working like a dog the last three months to clear my work scheduled for three weeks has had a serious influence on the building excitement. At the moment, I find myself putting the finishing touches on my route, mode of travel, lodging options, and what I want to see. The hardest part of this is trying to make an itinerary that leaves a great deal of flexibility. For a [urban] planner, its really hard to make plans contingent upon a lack of plans, if that makes any sense. In the end, despite having a list of things to do/see laid out, my only limitation is my departure. I could end up anywhere so long as I'm in Sydney the morning of Monday, 19 October 2009. In the coming weeks, I'm sure Ill get into a few more details of plans. It'll help pass the time, not that I need to seeing as its coming a lot quicker than I think.
Originally published at ME // TERRAPLNR. You can comment here or there.
Six months ago when I accidentally stumbled upon an extremely affordable airfare to the region, I decide that it needed to be done. After a few days of determining the right time to go, it was settled that I would spend 20 days visiting New Zealand and whatever I would squeeze in of Australia in four/five days. After booking and thinking to myself this trip would be an eternity away, I remember asking myself when I'd start getting excited about it. Well, I can now honestly say with a great deal of accuracy that the answer to that question is 28 days. I'm sure the lack of summer break and working like a dog the last three months to clear my work scheduled for three weeks has had a serious influence on the building excitement. At the moment, I find myself putting the finishing touches on my route, mode of travel, lodging options, and what I want to see. The hardest part of this is trying to make an itinerary that leaves a great deal of flexibility. For a [urban] planner, its really hard to make plans contingent upon a lack of plans, if that makes any sense. In the end, despite having a list of things to do/see laid out, my only limitation is my departure. I could end up anywhere so long as I'm in Sydney the morning of Monday, 19 October 2009. In the coming weeks, I'm sure Ill get into a few more details of plans. It'll help pass the time, not that I need to seeing as its coming a lot quicker than I think.
Originally published at ME // TERRAPLNR. You can comment here or there.