All my bags are packed, i'm ready to go

well the day has finally arrived, and it's very surreal. i've been on a roller coaster of emotions in the last 48 hours when the immediacy of this trip made itself fully realized in my head. nervous, excited, happy, anxious, sad, fearful, impatient, joyful, etc. but here i am 5 hours from departure and not sure how to fill the time. i've packed, unpacked and repacked my bags 3 or 4 times over to make sure i have exactly what i need and nothing more. i'm sure i'll change my mind on some things after a couple days in Portland and even more once i finally get to Australia, but that's what endurance traveling is all about. i've said goodbye to everyone, made all my plans, cleaned my room. now we play the waiting game... awe, the waiting game sucks!

anyways, i didn't really have anything to say but...

Well it's about time!

so, i've been talking about starting this blog for the past six months, which isn't all that bad considering i've been talking about the trip which inspired it for the past six years. for those that don't know--although anyone who reads these first few entrees really should--i am finally setting out on my much anticipated return trip to Australia. ever since my initial visit in 2003 as a student in Ball State's Australia Center program, i can't seem to shut up about the place. even when i'm not actively talking about it, the idea of a return trip has held a prominent place in the back of my mind. i fell very much in love with the country to the point where i feel i can't really move on and decide on a "Grown Up" life until i've gone back to properly investigated my love of the place. was it a fleeting thing? connected to a specific time and the people i shared it with? or was there something more, something inherent in the confluence of sea, hills and culture that touched my soul in a way few other places have? there's only one way to find out. and so, on September 19th, 2009 i leave the country of my birth in search of the country of my choice.

my intent is to tour the country with the seasons in a vaguely figure 8 pattern, starting with the most familiar places, Byron Bay & Lennox Head. from there i'll head south to Melbourne, followed by Tasmania, Adelaide/Kangaroo Island, Alice Springs/Ulurur (Ayers Rock), Darwin, Broome, Perth, Canberra, and Sydney. Sydney being the departure point for New Zealand. one can't be too thorough when searching for the country of one's choice, now can one?

having listed all those cities as destinations i should probably clarify that i don't actually plan to be much of an urban dweller while down under, listing the cities is just an easier reference point for me to type and you to visualize. but apart from casual touristing in the territorial capitals, most of my time will be spent in the surrounding countryside working as "volunteer" labor on organic farms. i say volunteer, but really i will be exchanging my labor for food, shelter and an education in the day-to-day workings and management of such an enterprise. so really, in a way, i'm going to Australia to get my Masters Degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Land Management. i'll be away from home for 2 years, meeting lots of new people, learning new skills, and interspersing my hard work with trips to the beach. see, just like college. well, maybe not that last bit about the beach, and i won't have a sheet of parchment with fancy calligraphy backed by tens of thousands of dollars in debt to say i'm smart. but other than that, it's just like going back to college.

as for this blog, my hope is to use it to chronicle my adventures, post pictures and videos and all those other things one does with a blog. i plan to try and post at least once a week, so if i start to slack feel free to send an irate email demanding knowledge of my whereabouts and doings. oh, and if the lack of capitalization bothers anybody, tough shit. that's the way i roll, bitches. ;-)

nick bilz