Countries Visited

    Australia
    Austria
    Bahamas
    Belgium
    Belize
    Bermuda
    Cambodia
    Canada
    Cayman Islands
    Costa Rica
    Czech Republic
    England
    Greece
    Guatemala
    Italy
    Japan
    Laos
    Malaysia
    Mexico
    The Netherlands
    Norway
    Singapore
    Spain
    Thailand
    United States
    The Holy See
    Vietnam

    Travel Goals

    1. Climb to Everest Base Camp.
    2. Climb Mt Kilimanjaro.
    3. Learn to Scuba Dive.
    4. Visit every continent.
    5. See the Galapagos Islands.
    6. Sail down the Amazon River.
    7. Climb Ayer's Rock.
    8. Travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
    9. Go into space.
    10. Throw tomatos at La Tomintina in Spain.
    11. See the sunrise from Mt. Fuji.
    12. Try to figure out the Buddhist messages at Borobudor in Indonesia.
    13. Visit the Pyramids
    14. Safari in East Africa for 3 months.
    15. Go to the World Cup!
    16. See Macchu Picchu.
    17. Join the Century Club. (100 countries visited)
    18. Join the Mile High Club. (Hey why not?)
    19. Do development work in a 3rd world country.
    20. See Petra Jordan.
    21. Backpack the Eastern Block.
    22. Go back to Alaska and see the Northern Lights.
    23. Vegas Baby! Vegas!
    24. Greek Island hop.
    25. Cycle Tuscany.
    26. Visit India.
    27. Lounge forever in the Seychelles.
    28. See Morocco.
    29. Oktoberfest!
    30. Caravan across the Sahara.
    31. Visit Tibet.
    32. Go to the Cannes Film Festival.
    33. Go to the Sundance Film Festival.
    34. Eat a sushi meal at NOBU
    35. Pacific Island hop.
    36. Spend a night in the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
    37. Go to Israel.
    38. Carnival!!!!
    39. and it's slightly less cool cousin, Mardi Gras!
    40. See Glacier National Park before the glaciers melt.
    41. Fly first class on some long international flight!
    No Service Fees! Promo Code: NOFEE

Things I learned while in OZ…

February 13, 2008

Men there like mullets. Mullets of all types. No one else likes them but Aussie men and all classes of Aussie men. I can’t figure out why but for some reason, Aussie men love the mullet, which is fine, because I like laughing at them so it is a win win situation.

The Chasers War on Everything is one of the best things Aussies have on television. It’s a political comedy show that really rips into their politicians.

A bottle of water is 3 dollars.

They aren’t called operating hours but trading hours.

And, for some reason, businesses stop “Trading” around 6 pm. I know Aussies love to be slackers but why close a store at 6? What about the after work people? This is true for not only small towns but also big cities like Sydney. I tried going shopping at 7 to find everything closed!

Aussies love to gamble. There are casinos everywhere!!!!! I love to gamble. That’s a bad combination.

Flip flips are thongs and thongs are g-strings and g-stings are g-strings.

The Gold Coast is a lot like Florida.

Aussies like to drink. A lot. They drink all the time. Except they don’t drink Foster’s because that is Australian for shit.

They have tough drinking laws, and given what I said above, I found it a weird paradox. They tax the crap out of drinks. (A 6 pack of beer is between 12-18 dollars) They can pull you over and give you random breathalyser tests (and drug tests for that matter too) and you really can’t say no. They have what is essentially a one strike and your out policy too. Weird huh?

Burger King is called Hungry Jack’s.

They eat a lot of fish and chips. and sometimes Kangaroo.

And a lot of (bad) Asian food.

East Coast Aussies hate Aborigines.

The Outback ones tend to have more understanding.

Aborigines got the shaft worse than natives in North America.

Someone from Queensland is called a banana bender. Someone from New South Wales is called a cockroach.

Castle, a movie about red neck Aussies, is a must must see.

Perth is the other side of the world to most Aussies and everyone wants to go there.

If you get pulled over in Australia, you get out of the car and go over and chat with the police. They don’t come to you, nor will the shoot you the second you step out of the vehicle. The exact opposite from the states. Be warned- stay in your car here. Over there, the cops take it as an insult!
Don’t insult rugby or cricket.

When it’s all said and done, Australia is just like America and hence, I was a little disappointed.

Western Australia is the place I pictured OZ to be- outback, cool cities, and endless deserted beaches. Australia has over 36,000 km of coast line.

Aussies are still some of the nicest people I have meet while traveling. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | Leave a Comment