In 2 days time, I fly to Korea for friends Beno and Mia’s wedding. After 12 days there Mandy and  I go to Thailand to defrost.  A trip that was booked 6 months ago, but the only difference with it now, is that Mandy and I are not returning to Australia. 

My feet have been itchy for sometime now, loving life in Australia, great friends, great job, but I was just getting impatient, time is running out, I’ve got 3 more continents to get to, Antarctica, Africa and South America (I’ve been to South America twice, but haven’t lived and worked there). 

So it didn’t take much thought to burn the return Bangkok to Perth ticket when Mandy was sick of working her butt off at her 2 hospitality jobs. Plus we did the maths on how much money she would make if she came back to Australia and work the last 3 months of her visa to save money. We would be better off  living in Thailand, back amongst the culture, the jungle, the monkeys and living off peanuts.

You may be thinking, but I’ve already worked in Asia, yep I realise that, but the beauty of my plan is, there is no plan, just play it as it comes, and this time I landed on a prepurchased ticket to Thailand, so Thailand it is.

Future plans, as I said, there are no plans, just a goal that consumes me, “to live and work in every continent of the world before I’m 30”, 2 years and 9 months to go, I’m pumped. Africa, South America and Antarctica are in my sights. It will be a good year, I feel alive.

Antarctica applications are coming up soon. Australia put there jobs out in Janurary, unfortunately they were in no need of a skinny dreadlocked kiwi, they just wanted skilled trades peole and the like. But New Zealand Scott base is recruiting soon for deployment at the end of the year. I also made a few contacts, one of which for an Antarctic cruise ship company.  If anyone has contacts, let me have them.  Antarctica is a work in progress, my focus constantly on new skills I can acquire to help me “get on the ice” and new in roads to make it happen, and it will happen!

People ask me what are my plans after Thailand, I say “I don’t know”, and I love it.  I don’t know, and I’m loving that I don’t know, after a year of routine, a bedroom that I call “mine” (which I craved for so long in previous chapters after 2 years sharing a room, having no money, living out of a back pack), its great to not know again. 

Short-term the decision has been made for Thailand, and life will just fall in around it.  So watch this space, maybe divemasters (will do this in Thailand) maybe working the best job in the world ( I’m real excited about this. I poured all my energy and passion into the application), maybe India, maybe cycling, maybe sailing, maybe Antarctica, maybe Africa, maybe getting a complete body wax and becoming a male stripper in Ethiopia, I don’t know, but I’m excited to be back on the mission and to start writting some new chapters. 

Speaking of writting new chapters, here’s my Australia, Perth chapter, sign sealed and delivered. 

Nuthin but love Hap.