The Tyrol
So after we had finished being punished by Italy and more specifically, the Romans, we were now on the back straight and heading northwards towards Austria. The journey felt a lot quicker than it had done before visiting Italy. Maybe it was because I was getting so tired I wasn’t paying attention to the road, maybe it was the fact that I was about to visit the countries that I’d been anticipating the most, or maybe it was simply the fact the coach was now a hundred kilos lighter because it was missing a third of the bags…
a lot of it..
I know it’s been a long time since I posted; I’ve got a lot to catch up on. I’ve just been hell busy with other things so it was pushed to the back of the pile.
My last blog ended after Monaco Casino, where I woke up the next day and made my way over to Italy. More specifically we stopped off at Florence. Now I know I’ve left this late enough that most of you are already on your tour, but hopefully I can get these countries in before you go and visit them.
Because I visited so many different places in Italy including Florence, Rome, Verona, Venice, Pisa and Orvieto I won’t go into a whole lot of detail on each and every city otherwise you’ll be reading for the next couple of days.
Read MoreNice Nice
I have to start making a bigger effort with these blogs. They’re getting harder to write. Not because I don’t enjoy writing them, but because I’m being backlogged with so many other stories since I returned to London that I’m beginning to forget details from Europe.
On our way to the French Riviera we stopped off at a local perfumery – I hated it.
I don’t have a lot to tell here because I walked in the door, walked into the room where they crush whatever it is they do to make perfumes and walked straight back out. I’ll tell you what, it awakened the senses, my eyes were stinging, my nose was running and my throat was burning. It was like being trapped in an isolation chamber with Donal after twelve cans of chilli con carne (I grabbed this metaphor because I’m looking at tinned chilli for twelve pence a tin we bought from ASDA (which is like ALDI) – a story for another time).
Read MoreLauterbrunnen
Well I’m back to post another blog – finally.
I apologise for the delay, but my life has taken such a busy turn that I struggle to find the time to keep it as updated as I’d like. I’m actually lying, although I’ve been really busy sorting everything out over here in London, I still manage to find sufficient time to stalk as many facebook pages as I can while you’re sleeping.
So anyway, the morning after that bender in Paris, I woke up at about 8am wondering why my alarm hadn’t gone off. I then realised it was because I had actually set the alarm for 8pm that evening – wishful thinking. I really wasn’t too phased though because I was just stoked I managed to set an alarm at all.
I could tell it was a good night because Donal, Ping and I all woke up in our undies. This is either a funny story, or a downright scary one. Either way, I’m glad I don’t remember the previous night too well. We were too hung over for showers and breakfast and we were running too late for either anyhow, so we got straight onto the bus and began our trip to Lauterbrunnen which is situated in the Swiss Alps.
Read Moreand ‘The Bastille’.
On the first night, Donal and I were roomed with a fella from China named Ling Tong. He ended up being the nicest guy on tour. But when we first met him, we had no idea what he was talking about. He said he was 22, 23 and 21 years old. 22 here, 21 someone else and 23 in China. He also told us his name was then Tony. I didn’t know what to do, so I started calling him Ping Pong. This eventuated into Ping which about a quarter of the bus began to use.
He didn’t like it, so we ended up all calling him by his ‘English’ name – Tony. He gets a special mention here because he was one of the guys who made the tour. He was odd; he was always looking for Chinese restaurants, hugging my mate Rich down the streets of Europe until they looked like a gay couple, and would laugh on end until everyone else was laughing. You are a legend mate. Good ole Ping Pong.
Anyway, enough rambling. I’m sure you want to hear a little more about the actually trip!
Read MoreParis – Day 1
WOW!
Where do I begin?!
First things first, I WILL be posting a lot over the next few weeks, with constant updates from the various cities I visited while on my 3 week adventure around Europe. BUT I’ll need time to do so because I’m so bogged down with the inconvenience of having my bag stolen. However, this is a story for another time.
I’ll skip the boring crap explaining how I reached possibly the worst looking hostel in the world – the clink. If anything ever comes of my blog, I’ll highly enforce a de-marketing scheme of this hostel. Although I didn’t technically stay there, I was told from my new found American friends, “it’s a shithole”, and that’s to put it nicely. This was drastically reinforced all trip.
ANYWAY, we reached Dover ports and got on the ferry where we crossed the English Channel to reach Calais in France. The first piece of Europe I saw. I’ve never been more excited in my life.
Read MoreTraining Completed
The first week before our European tour has ended with minimal damage to our more superficial characteristics. It’s the organs and muscles that have taken a beating.
I’ll tell you what; ‘the Don’ isn’t as soft as some might say. On Monday night we went out with his cousins and met some of their friends who we’ll definitely be hanging out with whilst we stay here. They’re so damn funny. The English have a different kind of humour and it just makes you laugh. Really great people. I got kind of drunk, but the jetlag was still playing with my head and we called it a night at about mid night.
Read MoreLondon!!
So first things first, after spending hours on end trying to get my suitcase to 20kg, I managed it. Donal didn’t bother and what a move that was, he checked his in at 25.6kg and the lady didn’t second glance!!
The flight from Sydney to Singapore was pretty good. I had one beer and got ‘altitude pissed’, Donal had 3 even though I distinctly heard him ask for water.
Every time I tried to sleep, Donal would poke me in the eye ball (with his finger) to wake me up. We ended up getting into a wrestling match which probably wasn’t a great idea on a plane these days, we could’ve been shot.
Meanwhile the guy next to me was fighting back vomit the entire eight hours until the landing where his stomach could no longer accommodate what his head wanted and he vomited pretty heavily into one of those shitty little aeroplane bags they give you. Pretty sure Donal and I were the first to get off cattle class even though we were at the back of the plane.
Read MoreD-Day!
Well after months of craziness – D-Day finally arrived.
Today I woke at the crack of dawn and went straight into overdrive, reading, re-reading and re-checking all the final items on my (massive) to-do list.
Packed my bags and was stunned to find I was 15kgs overweight. Spent the next 2 hours denying, rationalising, compromising, and finally deciding which of the must-haves should be converted to nice-to-haves – let me tell you when you’re going away for anything from 8 months to ??? – EVERYTHING is a must-have. Finally after much prompting, encouragement and finally bullying from Dad & Paul, I hit the target with little time to spare before it was time to leave.
So in 15 minutes I’ll be off to the airport and I won’t see this blog or Facebook for quite a few days – maybe weeks! My Dad’s been laughing at the prospect of me not having anybody to send text messages to over the coming weeks – he reckons I’ll come out in a nervous rash – he might be right.
I’ll post about my outward journey the first chance I get once I’m in London and settled – until then, a final thought before I close this entry – BRING IT ON!! 
Readers Beware
So it’s been pointed out that maybe my posts are becoming a bit too philosophical. I guess that’s just the learning process at work. Another issue has been “why have you started a travel blog before you leave?” Well obviously I won’t just land in London and suddenly know how to run a website will I? So right now I’m practicing and learning before I’m outta here and can’t get any help if I screw up – and lemme tell you there’s a lot more to it than you’d think.
Like I said I’ve copped some shit recently because I’m blogging in ‘too much depth’. Hmmm – well first off, if I really was typing in too much detail, you’d hear stories like “I just drank some vegetable juice that had an increase in vitamin C”. I suppose I’ve been writing here like I wrote my 4 unit english paper, so maybe I need to use a bit more ‘slang’ – mate. Nah, that sounds crap – can’t do it that way so if you really want shallow Hal posts…too bad. (kidding! 
) But where are all the feedback comments?
Secondly, Paul, Woods, Gomes and all you other chumpoids who want to criticise my creative masterpiece – be aware that the power of blogging is immense. If you guys aren’t careful, get ready to have all 6 of the people who read this blog (Ash Tuttle, Erin, some guy called Sam (dunno who this is), my brothers and myself) find out all your dirty little secrets. I’m sure I could find something, somewhere to embarrass the hell out of you.
Read Moreif you want…
A lot of people have questioned why I have begun writing weeks out from leaving, a lot having nothing to do with my travels. Well, if you’ve noticed that then you’re reading the blog and that is exactly what I’m after.
So here is another post that doesn’t have direct information about my day to day travel – because I haven’t left yet, but an update on the relevance of the lead up. I’m sure you find it somewhat interesting otherwise you wouldn’t be reading what I am writing right now. So I will continue on.
I’m now hours out from the two week mark and I can tell you I’m feeling pretty out of it. I think I’m overwhelmed by all these new emotions; I kinda feel like I’m never entirely with it. This is tough when I have so much to do.
Read MoreAn addiction?
Is it possible I’m going to be spending more time on my damn blog than I will be exploring new countries? Probably. This thing has become an addiction, an obsession. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. I’m extremely stressed at the moment. My head feels like it’s going to explode! I have written lists, with pages of content and it has done nothing. There is just so much to do. My brother is going to Africa for 3 weeks and he’s stressing. I don’t know if I’ll ever call Sydney home again, so I need to try and tie off as many ends as possible, just in case.
No, I will call Sydney home. I love this place WAY too much. But the Hills District? Probably not. I spent a lot of time yesterday in Kensington and Neutral Bay where I managed to get a sweet deal on a Samsonite suitcase from ‘Peter’s of Kensington’ (great store) for $222 reduced from $360, its 98 litres and only weights 4.6kg. Ha-ha, I just realised its now ‘out of stock’, I must have managed to nick the last one, score!
Read MoreThis is Irrelevant
Friday night was fine, quiet, boring. Saturday, well f**k me – why do I do it to myself? I ruin my Sunday’s every weekend. But it’s so worth it. Just like to thank Kelly for putting on a great party, I think I will blame her entirely for the way I am feeling today. I probably should consider my health as I already have a sickness which has crippled my immune system. Whatever.
The party was at the same place as mine, it’s very nice. I may consider it as our going away party, just joking; no more sporto – ever. I danced a lot and ate a lot of the food. I then chatted up my bartender from last week – Blake, who hooked me up with small glass tequilas, as they apparently don’t do any shots. I think what they should say is that they don’t do any shot glasses. So once again from about 10pm onwards I kinda go blank. I am getting good at this, not remembering my nights. It’s probably a good thing.
Today I felt sharp enough to go to the gym and complete 4 sets of bench until I almost barfed on Simon while he almost barfed on me. It was great or pointless. I took some powerade and went and played tennis and won – somehow. I dunno what I will be doing tonight, I probably should’ve posted this blog later just so I had more to talk about but I’m bored now so there we go.
Read MoreThe Plan #3
I thought it best I put in a separate post for what I THINK I’m going to be doing after my European trip. Hopefully within the first few weeks (including the week we arrive) we’ll have sorted out a place to stay and a place to work. I think we could stay with Donal’s Aunty again for a short period but I think I’d probably prefer my own place, for my sake and for his Auntie’s.
I’m hoping to get a simple job to begin with, something that involves bartending work or any job that will be quick and easy to grab and maybe even potentially have included food and living arrangements. All part of the fun right?!
So from roughly around the 22nd-23rd of April until the beginning of July, I’ll have the ability to earn some pounds so I can go travelling again with my mates. I’ve booked a tour again with top deck from the 4th of July to the 9th of July where I’ll be just running my arse off trying to get away from a bunch of angry bulls charging down narrows streets [link], not a big deal. I’m only just terrified of the thought just four months out!! Here we hop on a coach in London and travel down to Spain; we have a day stop in San Sebastian where we have a tour guide to show us around the town before we head off to Pamplona for a day tour before the opening ceremony (“The Fiesta San Fermin”) begins.
Read MoreThe Plan #2
This is when the real partying begins!
Saturday April 3rd – at 7am we meet at a local hostel in central London and are introduced to our group, our guide, our driver, our chef and our tour. We’re off on our topdeck tour for 20 days around Europe! We have 19 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 13 dinners, 4 nights hotel upgrades, 6 nights in hostels, 8 nights in bungalows at European campsites, 1 night in an Austrian Gasthof (castle/tavern I believe) included in our tour. English Channel ferry crossings, the coach has air con (thank god), guides in certain cities and tours around all major cities.
Read MoreThe Plan #1
I figured I needed to provide all my loyal followers (no one ) with some info on how my plans are going to be unfolding while I’m overseas. I’ll give you a rough itinerary or outline of what the big man (Donal) and I are going to be doing almost day-by-day for the first few weeks of our trip. Please, feel free to comment on my posts and search the site. Any feedback would be fantastic. I think my Dad has done a great job creating this website for me which allows people who care about my progress to follow my every move, well almost (if you get my drift). 
OK, so here we go. We fly out from Kingsford-Smith (Sydney – I don’t even know why the airport is called this) on Saturday 27th March 2010 at 4pm with Singapore airlines, where we spend a few hours in Singapore (four hours I believe). We need to be at the international terminal at least three hours beforehand to check luggage in, calm the nerves and have a beer. We arrive in Heathrow (quote me if I’m wrong Donal) on the 28th of March 2010 at 5am where either Donal’s Aunty will be picking us up, or we’ll catch a bus to our known location.
Read MoreCar for Sale!
The time draws nearer until my departure, and the excitement and intensity is building. However, I’m so busy right now I don’t have a lot of time to think about it. I have been furthering my plans, the cancellations have begun, I have already said my goodbye’s to the people I know I won’t see again before I leave, but one of my biggest challenges is the selling of car!
It is a white 1997 Hyundai Sonata GLE and it is in pretty good nick. There is a bit of a scratch on the rear left hand door, a couple of the electric windows only go half way down but that is about the only faults the car has. It’s done 179,000 kms; engine works well – however, rego expires on the 19th of March. Not to worry though, because I am selling the car very cheap – $3000, because I need to get rid of it before I leave overseas. It is insured for $6300, maybe I should just go burn it in a field in Mount Druitt…Just kidding!
Read MoreOn your marks…
It’s finally beginning to sink in. For months and months the only emotions I have felt are excitement, happiness and joy. Now, 3 and a half weeks out from my long awaited trip comes other, new emotions such as apprehension, nervousness and worry. I suppose these emotions are still all positive because they epitomise the complexity and vastness of what I’m about to embark on. I have never lived a day where I haven’t called my parents house ‘home’ and now all of a sudden, I’m not only just moving out, I’m moving out and going across to the other side of the world! I won’t have the daily support, the daily security or anyone to fall back on and ask to help solve the problems that I’m going to face over the next few months or even years.
As scared and nervous as I am, I’m also excited not only to be travelling and seeing new and fantastic places, I’m looking forward to messing up, making wrong decisions and getting myself into situations that will baffle and confuse me, just so I can get myself out of them and learn to deal with these problems alone. I really think this journey that I’m about to take will help me to become a better person. I won’t be shielded by the comforts of the bubble that I live in right now; I’ll be living a very open and scary life that could and will bring about so many opportunities and stories, all which I cannot wait to share with you guys who follow my journey!
Read MoreA night to remember (wasn’t it?!)
Seeing as this is my first blog post ever I thought it best I begin by trying to reminisce about my 21st birthday party on Friday 26th February. For the week leading up to the party I couldn’t walk, not because of excitement, not because I had gone too hard at the gym but because I had been back slammed by a stomach virus which had me best friends with my mattress followed closely by the toilet. I probably should’ve invited them to my party in hindsight; it would have made the place look a bit more packed.
It was in fact really worrying, here I am two days out from my party stressing about the fact I couldn’t even stand without feeling dizzy, let alone being able to drink or dance. I contemplated taking a pillow that I could have used to have a nap every once in a while. I took lots of vitamins, lots of pain killers and decided to grit it out because I mean, how often do you get to have a 21st birthday? Once I got all dressed and showered and got my mind on something else the sickness seemed to ease up A LOT and I was relieved, the stress went and I just wanted to have a good night.
Read More