The Australian Outback

Well I suppose I should let you all in on one of the bigger plans I have during the next 5 years. My sweetheart and I have plans to spend one year living in Australia in the next few years. We are talking around the beginning of winter 2009. By that time my sweetheart will have his Civil Engineering stamp and I will be debt free.

We plan to buy a van to live out of and spend the year traveling and working odd jobs to keep our cash flowing going through out the trip. We plan to bring only a backpack each worth of things and live freely for an entire year.

This will be so amazing for us. I think it will bring back a lot of really great moments for us. We met picking cherries on a farm (hence our pet's name Cherri) in the Okanagan. We woke up early, sorted or picked fruit, worked till noon and then off to the beach. We made dinner in communal kitchens and we camped under the stars. It was amazing.

After working on the farm my sweetheart returned to Quebec for his last semester in University and I stayed for awhile and then traveled my way back home. After classes were done he moved here to BC and hasn't looked back.

This trip will be good in so many ways. For one, I've been working crap jobs since I was 14. I want a chance to get out and learn about myself. See what I'm into and what makes me truly happy. I find myself going in a hundred directions and full speed to nowhere when I'm like this. I need to learn to slow down a little bit.

For my sweetheart, he needs the chance to explore. Right after school he was coaxed into "going all the way" with his education right away. People told him to go right away and not travel as he may not ever return to school if he did that. So he did it. Now he makes pretty good money and he's somewhat interested in his field but he's itching to get out and be adventurous. I guess he wants to know he made good choices and to spend some time just letting loose a little bit.

It will be good for our relationship. As a couple we experienced a lot together. First there was the long distance part after only knowing each other a short time. Then instantly living together once he arrived. Then for a year I worked graveyards and so we were on complete opposite schedules. Then came some tragic news for my family, job problems for me and landlord issues galore.

2007 rained down on me hard, but he was there. We made it through because we want too. We are a good team and that's so important. Sometimes we need help on the communication angle but the one single thing that makes this relationship so strong is trust. I trust him and he trusts me and he's somebody I can always count on for looking out for whats best for me.

So now the only thing is that between paying off debt and starting my RRSP and all these other things its very hard to find money to put aside for the trip. I've been considering asking him to stay here for one extra year. I know he wants to be here for the 2010 Olympics so that might tempt him a little, lol.

The reason being is there is a program next September that is a part time night course that I am very interested in. It's five months and could lead me to making more than double minimum wage. The problem is that I want to be able to work at the job long enough to make the cost ($2600) worth it.

I brought up the subject of the course with my sweetheart and he says we'll have to work out the costs of it. I've been thinking it over and the only way to make it worth it is to stay an extra year to get the proper job experience and to make some good coin. That leaves me a whole year to save some good travel money and get my finances in order and working for me so I have something to come home to if you know what I mean.

There's an information seminar in April for it that we will attend together so we can both be informed. My friends mother teaches part of it and so I can get info when ever I need. Both my friend and my aunt have worked in this field so I can also ask them a lot of questions. I think its worth looking into.

So that is one of my midterm goals. Get my affairs in order so that I can get my butt in that plane off to heaven... I mean Australia with my guy!