The 100° Christmas

Happy holidays!

I went to see the new Star Wars on Monday last week (no spoilers).  Monday cinema tickets are over 1/2 off hence the wait.  I was very close to giving in and seeing it the day it came out but as Yoda would say, "patience you must have."  The movie was great.  I was tempted to see it again the same day but resisted.

On Wednesday I decided to go on a little urban adventure.  The River Torrens runs from the eastern hills, through Adelaide, and into the ocean.  There is a paved trail along the entire river and I decided I wanted to walk it.  My original plan was to go about half way to the ocean and then turn around but when I hit the half way point, I didn't want to go all the way back.  Instead I made the decision to head all the way to the beach and then bus it back.  The hike ended up being about 16.5 km from start to finish which is roughly 10 miles.

I realized when I got to the coast, I didn't really know where I was.  There's a lot of beaches in Adelaide but it didn't take long to figure it out.  I walked north to Henley Beach and then caught a bus back to town.  My legs were pretty tired and a nap was in order.

Here are some pictures along the hike:

Finally made it!

As fun as staying in a hostel for Christmas sounded, Liam's family was kind enough to invite me back over to celebrate with them.  I checked out of the hostel on Thursday morning and headed back to the 'burbs.  It's a very odd feeling with it being hot outside and still seeing Christmas decorations and hearing Christmas songs. Apparently the thing to do on Christmas Eve day is go out drinking so that's what we did.  On Christmas day, we opened up some presents and then had a massive, delicious meal.  It was a great time!  We ended the day in a food coma watching the classic holiday film Die Hard followed by E.T.

I checked back in to the hostel on Saturday.  The two day break was much needed.  Hostel life is getting a little old.  The great news is that next week, I'm moving into a house for 6 weeks!  It's just outside of the city, way cheaper than the hostel, and I get my own big room!  I'm very excited for next week.

To continue the family tradition on Christmas day in the states, I did a video chat with the family and watched them play Bunco via the Internet.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!  Crazy to think it's almost 2016.  I have no clue what I'm doing for New Years but hopefully will get something figured out so I'm not laying in bed watching movies all night.

Have a good New Years!

That's all for now.  Bye.

The Hostel Life

Hostels.  The budget travelers home away from home.  Traditionally offering only the bare basics, they are not for everyone. Much cheaper than a hotel, a hostel is basically like a college dorm.  They tend to be situated in the main areas of a city and offer short term, and sometimes longer term, accommodation for a nightly fee.

Most hostels have a variety of room choices.  The most expensive are the private rooms which are obviously rooms just for yourself or you and a friend.  The price goes down the more people in the room. Typically there are 4, 6, 8, or 12 bunk beds available but I have seen places that have 30+ people in a room. Then there is gender separation. Many hostels will offer female only, male only, and mixed gender rooms.

Then there's the bathrooms.  This really depends on the hostel.  The most convenient is when the bathroom is en suite but more often than not, it's essentially a public bathroom.  Most of the time they're gender separate but I have stayed in one or two where bathrooms are mixed.  

The showers are a big make or break for me in determining how much I like the place.  The best shower of all time was at Hostel Orange in Prague.  The shower head was massive with great water pressure and it felt like being under a warm waterfall.  I reckon the worst was Hostel 5 in Cinque Terre, Italy with Megan.  I just looked it up and apparently they changed it but when I stayed there you had to buy tokens for the shower and I remember them being gross.  Speaking of showers, microfiber towels are the greatest thing ever.  I only just bought mine from Next Adventure in Portland before leaving and I'm in love.  I wish I had it in Europe.  It dries almost instantly and squishes up incredibly small.  Most hostels have towels but you have to pay for them which means many people bring their own.

Almost every hostel has a shared kitchen.  There's normally one or two refrigerators and some shelf space people can claim. I reckon anyone who has stayed in hostels for an extended period of time could win an episode of Chopped.  When you're poor and have limited kitchen appliances/space, you get pretty creative. Most people keep things in labeled shopping bags to designate what belongs to whom. There is almost always a "free food" section of the shelves where people who have moved on leave extra food. Although most people staying at hostels are trustworthy, food theft can and definitely does happen.  I don't think I've been a victim yet but I've heard about it happening to others.  In the kitchen are communal pots, pans, plates, cups, and cutlery.  Once you're finished cooking, it's expected you wash and dry your own dishes by hand and put everything away.

Some hostels will provide free breakfast.  This can range anywhere from a proper hot, cooked breakfast to tasteless cereal and potentially past date milk.  The most common selection is toast, spreads, cereal, and tea/coffee.  I almost stayed at a hostel in Adelaide that does a free pancake breakfast everyday but that was the only thing people liked about the place so decided living in filth wasn't worth it.

Most hostels are social places,  There's normally some sort of common room, often with a TV and various board games more than likely missing a piece or two.  This, and often the kitchen, are the most social areas and where you tend to meet people.  Some places also have an outdoor area which tend to be popular gathering spots.  

The guaranteed questions you will be asked are: 

• "Where are you from?"
• "How long have you been/will be here?"
• "Where else have you been?"
• "What are you doing here?"

Depending on the hostel, WiFi may or may not be a thing.  Sometimes the use of WiFi is free, sometimes you have to pay, and sometimes it isn't even an option.  The more successful hostels always offer free WiFi which can make life a whole lot easier if you're trying to figure out things to do or contact people.

Another thing some hostels do is organize social outings.  This can range from pub crawls to table tennis tournaments to BBQs.  I don't think I've ever participated in one of these but they seem like a good deal.

Security is a topic I get a fair amount of questions about.  You are living with complete strangers who cycle in and out of the hostel on a regular basis.  There's been times where I've gone to bed and woken up with completely new "roommates."  Like I said earlier, most people who stay in hostels are trustworthy and aren't going to steal your stuff.  However, it happens.  Most hostels will provide lockers you can lock your important items in (passport, wallet, phone, keys etc.), although you almost always need to supply your own lock.  Other than that, you kind of have to have the mentality that, although it's rare, you might have something stolen.  As added security, most individual "dorm" rooms have a lock which limits your item's exposure to just those within the room.

So what's the best way to go about picking which hostel is right for you?  It's all about the reviews. Hostelworld is my go to.  Just like everything else that offers online reviews, someone is going to hate something no matter how nice the thing is so don't be put off on a few bad ones.  That said, if I read anything about bugs or mice, it's an automatic no.  Along with reviews, picking the type of hostel is important.  Youth hostels are only for people generally 30 and below, party hostels are very social but will likely not be giving you much sleep, family hostels for, well, families, international hostels are for people with a foreign passport, and the list goes on.

The main things I consider before booking a hostel:

• Good overall reviews (usually 70% positive or more)
• Cheap (I try and stay under $25/night)
• Central location
• Ease of access from airport to hostel
• Free internet usage

And just because it always comes up, no, the movie Hostel is not even a little bit accurate.

That's all for now.  Bye.

Some Solo Travel Blues

As foreshadowed last week, I moved to a hostel in the city on Tuesday.  Although it's only about 15 minutes away from where I was staying, it feels like a whole new experience.  Heads up - I wrote this at two different parts of the week so the mood may change a bit here and there.

The first day I checked in and got some food at the store.  When I got back to the hostel, I didn't really know what to do.  I was sitting outside on the balcony and got a little too caught up in my head.  I've stayed in hostels a fair amount but this time is a bit different.  The hostel is essentially my home for now.  This doesn't happen often whilst traveling but I felt a wave of loneliness.  Going from a family home living with your friend to a hostel with a bunch of strangers is not the easiest transition.

Later in the day, I went on a walk around town and remembered this was sort of how I felt the day I got to Poland.  Krakow was my first solo trip and it took about a day to get over the feeling of being lonely. 

I'm not really clicking with any of the people staying here.  Everyone is nice and civil but I don't see any friendships emerging.  That and people don't stay here for long.  I've gone through 7 "roommates" and it hasn't even been a week.  I tried meeting up with some local friends to feel more social but nothing panned out.

All the other places I've stayed in hostels, I was constantly doing the tourist stuff so there was hardly any down time.  I've collectively lived in Adelaide for almost two months now and so it's kind of a "now what" sort of feeling since I've done the tourist thing.  I have nothing to do during the day besides looking for jobs which gets pretty tedious after a while. 

With not much else to do, I started looking for house shares.  I checked out three different houses.  The first was in a pretty good location and the room was big but found out there would be 7 people living there, including a newborn.  Absolutely not.  The second would have been perfect if I had a car but the bus ride is fairly long getting into town.  The third was in the city and the people living there were very friendly but I just can't commit to any longer term housing until I secure another job.  I'm looking at a fourth place today that would only be for a month which would be perfect.  It wouldn't be until January but it's much cheaper than the hostel, still close to the city, and the online pictures look nice. 

So yeah, a bit of a depressing week but rest assured, I'm doing alright overall.  It's getting better each day and I'm settling into the hostel (which is pretty nice by the way).  I got my first paycheck this week which was exciting!  I'm hoping at this point to almost completely stop using my US card and being reliant on the Australian one.  Another sign that things are getting better is while I am writing this, roommate #8 and #9 walked in from Holland and they seem very nice.

Oh yeah!  There was a pretty crazy thunder/lightning storm last week and this was the best picture I could get/I wasn't patient enough to get a better shot:

It was pitch black when this was taken.  Lightning is crazy.

That's all for now.  Bye.

Traveling: € $ £ Money € $ £

This is going to be a little different.  Because listing out what I do every week is boring to write and I'm sure it's boring to read, I'm going to intersperse some advice/commentary on certain aspects of travel.  I've been at this travel thing off and on since 2013 and if I do say so myself, I've gotten pretty good at it.  I would say about half of it is because of things I've come up with on my own and the other half is advice from people online/in person.  These topics are obviously going to be opinionated.  Take it with a grain of salt.  That said, let me know if you have a different approach to something or have a question about something travel related. I want to try and have this be a little more interactive. I will do my best to answer.  

What's on the agenda for this week?  Money.

Ah money.  No matter how much of a wandering, homeless, nomad you are, you're going to need money at some point to travel.  There seems to be this romanticized idea that anyone can drop everything they're doing and travel (more on this in the future).  As someone who reads lots of travel forums, almost everyday someone is saying how they are just going to "go for it."  Sorry, not going to happen.  In order to travel, you need to have some money saved up or you're in for a bad time.

What are the biggest costs of travel?

• Airfare
• Accommodation
• Eating out/alcohol

How can you save money before travel?

• Stop eating out.  Maybe don't stop completely but definitely cut down.  Yes, this is hard but it really can add up.  Numerous times friends would ask to go out and I would decline.  Thinking about the end goal helps.  Also, use comparisons.  The $20 I spend on dinner could get me a nights stay in a hostel.  That works best for me.
• Don't buy things unless you really need them.  Do you actually need that $200 jacket?
• Here's maybe the saddest one and it goes along with not eating out as much.  Reduce the amount you go out for drinks.  Like food, this can add up quick.  Busting my spine helped with this since alcohol apparently slows bone growth so that was another motivator.
• Not horribly proud of this one but if you have the best parents in the world and you can deal with it, live at home for a bit.  There's absolutely no way I could have afforded traveling if I was paying rent, especially in Portland.

How can you save money while traveling?

• Just like in the work force, the best way is to have connections.  I've been lucky in that both times I've been in Australia, my incredibly generous friends have let me stay at their places for free. On top of that, if you know someone in the airline industry who is generous enough to let you use one of their job perks, do it!  I saved about $1200 on airfare because of this.
• Do a little research and stop spending money when you don't need to!  For example, I do not understand why some people pay substantially more to fly with one airline vs. a much cheaper one. You're getting to the same place and a lot of the time there is no difference between the two. Same goes for accommodation.  I get that staying in a hostel is not for everyone but why spend a ton of money on a room that you're really only using for sleep?  Maybe someone can enlighten me on this.
• Check the exchange rate of the place you're going.  Lucky for me, the US dollar is very strong in comparison to the Aussie dollar.  I had a mini freak out this week when I saw my bank account but realized it was showing in USD and not AUD.  Convert it to AUD and I am much more at ease.  If you don't have massive amounts of money saved but still want to go somewhere, look for places your home currency is strong.
• If you have a subscription/monthly payment for something you won't be using whilst away, freeze or cancel it for a bit.  Be aware of these auto bills that come out of your bank account. The main thing I have to think about is my student loan payments. These take a pretty hefty chunk out of my account each month but there's really no way around it.
• Avoid fees.  Foreign transaction and ATM fees can be killer.  The best solution I've found is open a bank account with Charles Schwab.  This is the best bank on the planet if you're from the US.  They have 0 foreign transaction fees and will reimburse you for any ATM fee you accrue.  That means you can use your money wherever you want for free.
• To get local currency, use an ATM (preferably with your Charles Schwab card).  ATMs will give you the best exchange rate (side note - always choose to do card transactions in the local currency, not your home currency, if asked).  Those shops that exchange money for you will never give you the best rate plus they will charge a fee.

How can you make a little more money before the trip?

• Kind of an obvious one but pick up as many shifts as you can if you work hourly.  I didn't have a lot going on when I wasn't at work so whenever I was sat at home, it was money wasted.  There were times when I was saving up for Australia where I would work 14 days in a row due to covering shifts.  That said, don't work 14 days in a row.  Definitely take a day off here or there to help maintain sanity. 
• This seems weird but one of the best ways I've saved up money is by doing online surveys. Most pay anywhere between 25-75 cents.  The faster surveys pay 10 cents whereas you can sometimes score up to 5 dollars if you put the time in.  The more you do, the better/faster you get at taking them.  The money I made from online surveys went towards buying all the preparation gear ie. new clothes, electronics, shoes, etc. It's not going to make you rich by any means but it will sure help supplement some costs.  Amazon Mechanical Turk is my favorite but I also use Survey Club Research. The best part about surveys is you do them on your own time.  Sitting down to watch a show? Do a couple of surveys and earn a few bucks.

  

  Make it...sprinkle.

• I never did this but I certainly looked into it.  If you have the time, get an additional job.
• This might get some backlash but please do NOT create a GoFundMe page or something of the like.  If you want to have an amazing experience somewhere, you should be funding it (or at least you and immediate family).  Asking your friends and strangers to give you money so you can have a holiday is ridiculous.  I'll give people a small pass who are trying to do a volunteer related trip through an organization, as long as that's what the money is actually being used for and not for travel before/after.

So yeah, there's a little bit I've picked up about travelling and money.  A lot of it is common sense but maybe you got an idea or two. If you have any tips or tricks for using/saving money for travel, let me know!

---

Some notable things this week:

• Went climbing outside again but forgot my shoes.  Made for an interesting time but still fun.  We were climbing in a "cave" while it was slightly raining.  Really cool to see the rain whilst we were still able to climb.

  

  Watching the rain and the climbing

• Figured out my next living situation.  I'm moving into a hostel in town for a bit on Tuesday.
• Worked a closing shift at the nightclub last night (was officially "hired" as well).  Got off work at 7:20 AM but found out I'm getting paid about 3x as much as I was in the states (more about this in the future).

That's all for now. Bye.

Weeks 1 and 2

I am over two weeks in and need to do a little catch up on here.  Here are some highlights:

Two weeks ago on the day I got here, we went to Liam's friend's places and played Mölkky for a bit.  We headed back to Liam's place for dinner and then watched the newest Mission Impossible so I could stay up as long as possible and fight the jet lag.  My brain shut itself off a few times during the movie so I don't really remember it that well. The sweet relief of sleep came after the credits rolled.

The next day we went into town so I could get a metro card.  There was a parade going on which is Adelaide's welcome to the Christmas season.  It was a bit like the Macy's Day parade but a little smaller. Town was crowded due to the parade so we headed out to the beaches.  It was fairly windy so we mainly did a tour by car. There's a lot of beaches in Adelaide.

After a pit stop back at the house, we were going to go on what we thought was a simple walk in the hills.  After seeing other people in athletic clothing, we figured our jeans were not the best attire.  On the way back to town, we stopped at one of the local climbing spots to take a peak.

On Sunday we went to a party to celebrate the opening of Lucky's Beach Club.  The proceeds went to an organization that helps teens with cancer which was neat.  Fun day.

I got set up with an Australian bank account on Monday.  Later in the day we went and saw the new James Bond movie Spectre.  Although a bit too formulaic, it was entertaining.

On Friday, I got to go climbing outside.  It's been a while since I've climbed due to the accident and I'm definitely not in peak shape but it was great to get back on the rock.

For Thanksgiving, we had a good old fashioned Aussie barbie with kangaroo.  It was delicious.  Later on we went out to a fairly new club.  It was a really fun night.

I got a call on Friday from a nightclub asking if I was available the next day for a trial shift.  Being a little desperate for a job, I accepted.  The job is basically walking around the club, picking up empty glasses, washing said glasses, and making sure the bar is stocked.  It went well but it is a very odd feeling being in a club late at night completely sober.  The people watching is amazing.  I got asked back for next week so at least that's a little bit of money coming into the bank.  I'm definitely going to keep looking for other work.

Yesterday, Liam and I went to a cricket match at Adelaide Oval.  I still am not really sure how cricket actually works but I think I'm getting the basics down.  Fun fact, cricket games last five days.  This was day number three and if Australia won, they win the whole thing.  They won.

First wild kangaroo spotting at the cricket match...and a gorilla.

Some other notable things:

• Been to the local climbing gym twice now.  It's pretty small but has a great community vibe and decent routes.  I'm starting to learn the Australian grading system for routes
• Saw the new Hunger Games movie with Amy and Trent (Liam's sister and her boyfriend)
• Seen 5 or 6 wild koalas.  It's mildly odd seeing what looks like stuffed animals just hanging out in trees
• Got an Australian phone number set up
• Received my tax file number (kind of like social security) in the mail

Thanks for the picture, Amy

Now that this is caught up, I'm hoping to do these every week.

That's all for now.  Bye.

I MOVED TO AUSTRALIA!

Well there's really no eloquent way of saying this.  If you haven't figured it out from the title...

Holy crap this actually happened!

I moved to Australia! 

Such beautiful prose.  But let's rewind a couple of months...

Last July I visited Australia and fell in love. My original plan when I left the states was actually to stay in Oz but due to a number of circumstances, that didn't happen.  When I got back to the states, I wasn't happy.  The whole return trip I was thinking about how much of a mistake I was making coming back.  Returning to the same day to day life as before was pretty disheartening.  I couldn't imagine doing it for much longer and continued to research about moving to Australia.

The initial research began before the first trip.  I had a general idea about the logistics but really started the studies about two weeks before I came back to the states.  I was looking at places to rent, job offerings, how the visa worked, and lots of other little important details.

On September 5th, I applied for the Work and Holiday Visa. About 45 minutes later, I got an email saying my visa has been approved. I broke out my last package of Tim Tams and the celebration/minor freak out began.

A tip I found rummaging through online forums was to get certain certifications before looking for work. A few days later, I earned two certificates that basically allow me to serve alcohol/work in a place where there's gambling in Australia.  The "courses" were both online and incredibly easy. Some of the information was actually mildly interesting since laws are a bit different country to country.

Quite the setback presented itself in the middle of September when I took a bit of a fall and fractured part of my spine. I was out of work for 2 weeks which took a hit to the finances and I wasn't sure how long it would take to be healed. Would I be mended enough by November to travel for 30+ hours? Would I be able to carry a decently heavy backpack without keeling over? Luckily I made a speedy recovery and felt comfortable enough heading over with the almost healed injury.

The last major step was figuring out how I would get back to Australia. When I went the first time, it was pretty much the peak low season which made return airfare relatively cheap. As it was getting more towards southern hemisphere summer, that was no longer the case. Lucky for me, my magnificent Aunt Cindi happens to work for Delta and was able to hook me up with some ridiculously cheap tickets. Thanks Cindi! You're amazing!

There was a fair amount to do beforehand

The only caveat to the cheap airfare was I had to fly standby the whole way. Flying standby, you have no idea if you're getting on a flight or having to wait hours or even days to try for the next one. Since I didn't have a deadline to get to Australia, this wasn't that big of a deal.

A few days before leaving, I had to get my phone ready for use abroad. This seemed like an easy process but ended up being a huge pain. Basically, AT&T sucks. Long story short, it's still getting figured out.

"Down low" goodbye party. Thanks to whoever took this. Already missing some of the best people I've ever met.
Visit me!

On November 11th, I headed to PDX with my fingers crossed. I was able to make the flight to Los Angeles but the flight to Sydney had a bunch of people on standby with not a whole lot of seats available. Flying standby was a new experience for me. It's a very odd feeling not knowing if you are going to be flying.

Names of what I assumed to be standby travelers going to Sydney began to be called, allowing them on the flight. I knew my name was fairly far down the list but there was some hope. Each time the intercom turned on, the stomach got some butterflies and the heart pounded. Then it happened. The wonderful sound of the gate agent saying "all standby passengers have been cleared." I made the fight (and even scored a window seat)!

My cheap Delta ticket got me to Sydney but after that, I was on my own. After the wonderfully refreshing 15 hour flight to Sydney, I made my way to the domestic terminal and checked for flights to Adelaide leaving later in the day. That was also a new experience booking a plane ticket at the airport for the same day.

When I arrived in Adelaide, my buddy Liam who I met at CSU picked me up from the airport and we made way to his place.  That was it.  I made it through the weirdest traveling experience I have ever done!

Side note, huge thanks to the Rella family for letting me stay with them for a bit!

Now at this point you might be thinking, "But David, why didn't you post this stuff when it was actually happening?" Well, rest your curious little head because I'm about to tell you:

One night in late August I came up with the crazy idea to keep all of this on the semi-down low so when I got to Australia, I could surprise Vlad.  This happened today/yesterday depending on when/where you read from.  It's not very often you get to shock someone who lives on the other side of the world by showing up at a bar and saying "hey." Special shout out again to Liam for helping me with the surprise and to everyone who knew what was going on and kept the secret!

So what exactly am I doing? To be completely honest, I don't really know. Basically my visa allows me to stay in the country for a year traveling around and working. The only limitation to the work is I can only keep a job for 6 months at a time. The hope is to work in some sort of hospitality setting but I'll pretty much take whatever I can find. I'm starting in Adelaide since I know a few people but am open to moving around. After I get settled/readjusted, I'll start looking for hostels to stay in or possibly a place to rent, depending on the job situation. Other than that, I'm just going to see where things take me. 

Yes, this is slightly terrifying. Moving to the other side of the world without a job lined up, without a consistent place to stay, and without a massive amount of funds to live off is nerve-racking. That being said, I am not the first person to do this. Not to be too boastful but I consider myself to be pretty smart, self-sufficient, and resourceful. A massive part of my research before heading over was reading about other peoples' experience. If they could do it, why couldn't I? This actually is a once in a lifetime opportunity (unfortunately US citizens can only get an Australian work visa one time) and I really have nothing to lose. I can do this.

So yeah, here we go! This is going to be insane. I'm predicting heaps of good times, a few struggles, and the most adventurous year of my life. I'll try and post on here as much as possible. Same ways as always to stay in touch so please do (except I'll have an Australian phone number so you'll need that for the iPhone things)!

That's all for now. Bye.

Never Have I Ever

Well yesterday strayed a little from the norm.  My go to "never have I ever" is no longer true because after 23 years, I have finally busted a bone.

First off, I'm completely fine and in very good spirits.   Here's what happened:

I went to the climbing gym a few hours before I was scheduled to work to get some climbs in.  Everything went as usual and my experienced partner and I were having a great time.  I got on a route I would normally be able to do without too much trouble but got tired ("pumped" in climbing jargon) and fell with maybe 10ish feet until the top. 

Falling happens all the time but normally when you take a fall on lead, you go roughly 10-15 feet and the rope catches you.  This time, due to a belaying error, I kept going.

Whenever I fall, I go into a sort of "zen" state because it is oddly relaxing.  I remember thinking at the point I would normally come to a stop that it was strange I was still going. 

Still relaxed and a bit further towards the ground, "Hmm this is turning into quite the whipper."

Half a second later, "Oh wow I'm on the ground."

My only brief moment of panic after hitting the ground was realizing my lower back was sore.  I wasn't dead so the next worst case scenario popped into my head.  Am I paralyzed?  I was easily able to move all my limbs which was a huge relief.  I was going to simply stand up since I felt fine but was told to lay down because the adrenaline was pumping.  Made sense.  Paramedics were called and arrived shortly after.  They did an initial check to make sure nothing was too dire.  Even though nothing looked horribly bad, they still put me in a neck brace and gurney since I fell 35-40 feet.

The EMTs and I then rode in the ambulance to the nearby hospital.  On the way, one of the paramedics gave me an IV which was the worst part of the whole day.  I hate needles and told him if I passed out, it would be because of the needle and not the fall.  I didn't pass out but feel like I came pretty close.

We got to the hospital and I was quickly given a CAT scan.  Everything seemed to go fast which means there probably weren't a whole lot of patients there.  All of the nurses and doctors were incredibly friendly and we joked around the whole time.  One of them said it was the craziest falling story they had heard which I seriously doubt.  They must see some gnarly things in the emergency room.

The scan came back and showed I had a compression fracture in my L1 vertebrae.  As long as I could walk without too much pain, I could leave that day.  Getting up from the bed was a bit of a struggle but I was able to walk fine.

They were a little vague on the healing time but it sounded like 6-8 weeks for a full repair.  In the meantime, as long as my back doesn't hurt too bad and I don't do anything too strenuous, I can do whatever.  No brace needed.

The aftermath.  Hospital shirt, socks, wristband, and the sad remains of my cut in half shirt.

So yes, this was a preventable climbing accident.  There is an incredibly annoying stigma many non-climbers have that climbing is one of the most dangerous things someone could do.  If things are done the correct way, it is very safe.  I've gone 9+ years without any injury which is way better than most people can say about the sport they do.  I mentioned this in a post last year but there was a study done that said people are much more likely to get injured playing traditional sports like soccer or football than they are rock climbing. 

That being said, when climbing accidents do happen, they can be catastrophic.  What happened to me was pretty much the best case scenario.  The fall happened in a gym which means I landed on thick padding, there were plenty of people around to help, and the hospital was about 10 minutes away.  It would have been a completely different story if this had happened a few days prior when I was climbing at Smith.

Thanks to all my friends/staff and the medical people for helping me out and getting things done very efficiently and those who checked in later to make sure I was doing alright.  Much appreciated!

But yeah so everything is good and I'll hopefully be fixed before long.  I finally have a good story to tell when someone asks for my craziest climbing experience.

That's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Back to the States

Well I'm back in Oregon. I normally try and keep these things fairly upbeat but I'm going to be completely honest.  I really don't want to be here. 

The day before I left, Vlad and I went to a dessert cafe called Chocolate Tree.  It lived up to its name.  I drank probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had and devoured a chocolate and strawberry waffle.  The sugar coma was great.

The next day we headed into town for some last minute souvenir shopping and Vlad had to go to a class.  Later that night we went out with Charlotte to a few bars.  Adelaide sure is wild on Tuesdays (sarcasm is hard to come across in writing) but it was a good time.  The rest of the night we stayed up, officially making this a tradition (we stayed up all night before Vlad left the US).

From the first day I got to Australia, I felt at home.  Australia is kind of like a hybrid of the US and the UK.  More specifically, from the time I spent in Adelaide, parts of it almost felt like a bigger version of Fort Collins.  I love it. 

It's not only the big things like getting to see my best friend everyday or traveling around doing incredible things that I'm going to miss, it's also a lot of the small things.  For example, I'm eating Tim Tams and watching Kath and Kim while writing this.  Won't be able to do that much longer.  When I woke up this morning (or night because my sleep is so off) I was craving an ice coffee and a meat pie.  Also seeing completely different wildlife than I'm used to like birds and possums (and Ziggy).
 

As bummed as I am to be back, what a unique experience this was. Yes, I was in Australia and got to go to 4 states which was amazing enough as it is but I also got to live with an Australian family for roughly a month.  Not only that but I got glimpses of Serbian life as well since they are Serbian.  Not many people get the chance to live with a family from another country and see day to day life.  Because of this, the only people I met were Australian (I only talked to 1 American the whole time which was wonderful). 

So some things that have really confused me about the US now that I've been to Australia:

• Chip and pin cards.  Seriously, why is this not a thing here yet?  The card I used had a chip but no pin which made it a crap shoot if it would work in machines.  I'm pretty sure the US is one of the only places in the world to not have this.
• Metro cards in Portland.  How is it that a city which is supposed to be ultra green and environmentally friendly still uses paper tickets for public transit?  Spend a little money and put in card readers!
• Censorship on TV.  People swear on Australian TV all the time.  I think some of it has to do with the time the show is airing but TV in the US is so restricted with what is allowed to be said/shown.  Lighten up!
• Tim Tams.  Not much else to be said.  Why do we not have these?
• Rounding up change.  There's no equivalent to a penny in Australia.  Their smallest coin is five cent.  If something costs $5.99, you give $6. 
• Kind of on the same line, they include their "sales tax" in the price so you know what you'll pay when you get to the register.
• For fear of starting a debate, I'm just going to say the minimum wage in Australia is $17.29... 
• Airport security. 
• Radio stations are way better.

I don't want to sound like I'm completely hating on the US so there are a few things I do like in comparison:

• Customer service is much more a thing here.
• Everything is cheaper (but let's think about minimum wage again...).
• People in general are a little more aware of things they say
• You can use your card pretty much anywhere on anything without charges.
• Being able to buy heaps of different things in the same store.

No words will ever be enough to say this properly but a massive thanks to the whole Zecevic clan who are some of the nicest, genuine, funny, and friendly people I have ever met.  Giving me a bed to stay in, copious (and I mean copious) amounts of food, driving and picking me up from the airport and other places, the list of thank yous goes on and on.  I feel like I have a new home/family now and will 100% be back.

Also, this is kind of weird but it was on my mind.  Thanks to CSU.  Without that school, I would never have met Vlad which means I probably would never have done any of this.  That and they don't put expiration dates on their student IDs and I got away with saving a ton of money using mine on concession tickets because of it.

Start of the shrine

The jet lag hit pretty hard coming back which has made me stay up all night thinking about some scenarios.  If certain things go according to plan, I will be returning a whole lot sooner than I originally thought...

That's it for David Down Under (I cringe every time I read that)...for the moment.

That's all for now.  Bye.


Oh wait one more thing!  I completely forgot to post this when it got put up but here's the little video Vlad and I filmed in Sydney.



Ok now that's all for now.  Bye.

David Down Under - Melbourne

On Thursday last week we made the quick 50ish minute flight over to Melbourne.  Vlad's friend, Emily, has a place there and offered to let us stay with her and pick us up from the airport.  That was amazing!

Emily, along with her roommate Alma, Vlad, and I headed into the city on Friday to wander around. Melbourne doesn't really have any big monuments to see but the city itself is just neat.  We grabbed "a feed" at this little cafe that had amazing chicken burgers.  Apparently one of the things to do in Melbourne is walk down a small alley and eat.  The alley was lined with restaurants and in the middle were tables.  Everything was fairly cramped but it was fun and delicious.

Restaurants on the side, eating in the middle

That night Vlad and I would be headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see another game of AFL football. Before heading to the game, we stopped at this really cool bar called Goldilocks recommended by my sister's friend's fiancé who is from Melbourne.  We had to go through a Chinese restaurant and up 4 floors in a lift to get into the bar.  The second floor of the bar was a rooftop and offered some amazing views of the close in city. Sadly the wind made it freezing cold but the outdoor heaters helped.

Goldilocks

We then made the walk to the footy.  The stadium was huge and packed. The atmosphere along with the game made for a good time.  Being fairly tired on the way back, we got on the wrong train and ended up pretty far from where we needed to be.  Unfortunately trains had stopped going in the other direction but Emily was amazing and came to pick us up.  Vlad and I have traveled together consecutively for about a month’s worth of time and this was our biggest mess up.  That's pretty good if I do say so myself.

Beer, pie, and footy.  Can't get much better than this

Back in town on Saturday, we headed to the art museum followed by the Eureka Sky Tower.  The tower is the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere and goes up 88 stories.  The view was pretty amazing.  

That night we had a big and great time out in Melbourne. 

Sunday was a little bit of a slow start due to the night before but we eventually got back to town and wandered around.  We ended up going to the Royal Crown Casino to check it out since it's the largest casino in the Southern Hemisphere.  Now if you've read any of my other travel blog things you'll know that everywhere I go, there's some sort of torrential downpour or snowstorm.  I thought I was going to get away without it happening in Australia but unfortunately on the walk to the casino, it poured.  Luckily it stopped for our way back but wow we got wet. 

Our flight back to Adelaide was early the next day and Emily was able to take us back to the airport.  Massive thanks to Emily and Alma for being awesome and letting us stay with them and showing us around Melbourne!

 That's all for now.  Bye.