One Item on the Bucket List

Today's #Trust30 prompt:

Travel by Chris GuillebeauIf we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?
(Author: Chris Guillebeau)

For me the place to go has been and continues to be Australia.  As a kid I had counselors at summer camp (Camp Kanata) that came every year to work and play in the US before heading back to the Land Down-Under.  Their accents, attitudes and stories of life in a country where summer was winter and spring was fall captivated me like nothing had before.  Add to that the incredible animals--koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, etc.--and I was hooked.  The Disney movie "The Rescuers Down Under" probably contributed to this dream as well.

In high school I planned to go to college and study abroad in Australia for a semester or a year.  I would have friends to visit and places to stay and it would be the trip of a lifetime.  As I got closer and closer to the time for applications and decisions the choice wasn't so easy.  Because of the seasonal differences in the southern hemisphere, Australian school semesters ended in July, right in the middle of summer in the US which conflicted with another dream of mine: to work at Camp Kanata as a summer camp counselor.  I was always painfully aware of the tie between my two dreams and eventually made the decision to study abroad somewhere else so I could realize a dream that had just a bit more pull. (As fate would have it, I met my wife studying abroad in London so it all worked out in the end.)

So, all these years later, I'm still pining after Australia and hoping that one day I'll make the ridiculously long plane trip and reunite with friends and mentors from my summer camp days.  Hope turns to reality through planning and saving.  I know the trip will be expensive and I know that my wife and I are committed to living a debt-free life so it's going to take some careful preparation and some discipline to get us there.  Funny enough, the author of this prompt--Chris Guillebeau--writes a blog (link above in the prompt) that I've been reading for a few months now.  There's methods and means to travelling on the cheap but there are some compromises I've got to make before then--ie getting a credit card just for frequent-flyer miles.

So Australia, I've got you in my sights and I'll be there sooner rather than later so keep the Outback warm for me.  Oh and world population?  Hey, it's Ryan.  Can you make sure we don't destroy the Great Barrier Reef before I get there?  That would be great thanks.

Cheers
Ryan