Archive for the 'Travel' Category
December 31 2009: Reflections and Resolutions
Filed under Australia & Life & Money & Travel & Uni/Work with 8 Comments
To tell you the truth, I really didn’t give a second thought to the resolutions I made three hundred and sixty five days ago. They were made, then they were forgotten about. For the most part though, the year has been close to planned.
See more of Australia
I took a short four day trip to Adelaide earlier this year, so I did manage to make it to see another part of Australia. The trouble is of course, that everything in Australia is so spread out. Going to another city isn’t simply a matter of driving an hour or two as it may be in Europe or America – I can drive for an hour, and still be in Melbourne!
On a more local note, this year I’ve become well-acquainted with the Melbourne peninsula region and the spectacular beaches it has to offer, rather than limiting myself to suburban beaches. I can only see more exploration up the coast next year, as I get more into water sports!
Get my savings account balance up to $20,000AUD, Get my eBay net earnings up to $6000AUDa year AND Get a job
It didn’t go as smoothly as I would have expected considering I was unemployed for a month in February, and had some unexpected large expenses during the year, but I’m currently sitting comfortably with $22,000AUD+ in my bank account. It probably helped that Dylan is, if not equally as frugal as me, is a man of simple tastes who prefers curling up in bed together with a DVD over paying $50AUD for two people to go to the movies. It makes a nice change from the extravagant and/or deadbeat people I’ve been with in the past.
The boost to my bank account is surprising actually, because eBaying and my online trading (buying cheap in second hand stores and re-selling online) fell. eBaying was a large source of my savings for the last three months of last year, with about $1500AUD profit in online trading. This year, I managed to pull in just about $1760AUD – though the majority of that was concentrated in the early months of the year when I wasn’t as run off my feet at work. By the time May rolled around, I was working close to six days a week (if not seven days), and had no opportunity to casually drop into a second-hand store to check out merchandise. It’s been like this since May – between work and other commitments, I simply have no time to shop for cheap stock – and probably won’t, for months ahead. In any case, $1760AUD p.a. isn’t bad for a secondary source of income that I treat as a hobby.
In terms of jobs though, I did alright. True, I lost my retail job when I came back from my three week trip to the UK, and went through nearly a month and a bit of unemployment (and subsequent depression, because I’d never been unemployed before in my adult life), but since then, I’ve held a number of jobs! From the administrative position at a medical training organisation, to the casual retail role in a baby store, and the first real job with career potential and real responsibility that I’m now in (as well as a few other small jobs along the way!), I’ve gained a full year’s of worthy and useful work experience.
Comment on a blog a day that lies outside of my usual blog circle
Um…no. I didn’t account for the severe lack of time I would find myself plagued with for the majority of the year (work, etc.). So no. I could barely even manage a comment a week, let alone a comment a day.
So For 2010…
…what kind of resolutions should I make, considering that chances are, I’ll completely forget about them by the time the 2nd of January rolls around? I’m going to keep it simple:
- Continue to average Distinctions and/or High Distinctions in my Masters studies next year
- Accumulate $30,000AUD in my account.
- Visit a country I’ve never been to before. I want to go to America, but timing is going to be hard because of work commitments – I may have to settle for a week or two in a south-east Asian island nation instead.
- Have more fun. It’s very easy for someone of my workaholic nature to get sucked into the cycle of working seven days a week without any thought as to maintaining a good work/life balance. I need to learn to say no to shifts, and yes to meeting up with friends.
Happy New Year to everyone!
December 7 2009: Party In The USA
Filed under Travel with 37 Comments
So I’ve been speaking to Stephanie, and I am seriously considering visiting America next year. Largely because I need a holiday badly, and I did an annual budget last night that saw me have $10,000 left over each year – half of which would go nicely on a month-long holiday halfway across the world.
Flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles via Air New Zealand (7 June 2010 to 3 July 2010) is $1133 (taxes included). I get four weeks annual leave each year. This is perfect. I’m already 95% convinced that I’m going to go, and travel around the west coast (and potentially go as far in as Texas/the two Dakotas). I’m being realistic – four weeks isn’t enough for me to get as far as the East Coast, but I can always save that for another trip.
To convince me that further 5%, I encourage all American readers of this blog to offer their couches for me to sleep on, and for everyone else to suggest places for me to go when I’m over there. And if you live on the East Coast and will travel to the West to meet me, I’ll give you cookies.
May 6 2009: Fuck Jetstar
Filed under Travel with 4 Comments
Okay, well, fuck you, fuck your mother, fuck the world. I logged into my email this morning to find this email from Jetstar Airways:
Get set JetMail Members, it’s our 5th birthday and this sale is just for you!
We will be offering 5000 seats for only 5 cents to our JetMail members only, from 10pm – 11pm (AEST) tonight, Tuesday 5 May, unless sold out prior. 5 cent fares will be on limited routes only and for travel in selected periods.
So for only 5 cents, you could be on a flight to a fantastic Australian destination! That INCLUDES surcharges, fees and taxes! Prices are based on payment by direct deposit through jetstar.com. …
The only way you will be able to access this sale is via the button in this email, so set your alarm for 10pm tonight, then click on the button for all the details, including routes, travel periods, and to book.
For the record? That email found its way into my inbox at 10.52pm. I never got a chance to attempt to constantly refresh the Jetstar home page and book tickets as its server gets overloaded with booking requests in these major sales. The last time this type of sale was on, I got my cheap flights to Adelaide ($15AUD return) – this time I would have liked to go to Perth, Brisbane or Tasmania…or even the Top End. Not to be. Technology blows.
Oh, and that Jay Chou concert I was wanting to attend? The tickets I wanted ($168AUD for a gold seat) had sold out before they officially went on sale. So had the cheaper silver and bronze seats – the only tickets left were the $268AUD VIP seats, the $488AUD front standing, and the $248AUD rear standing. And as much as I love new experiences and as rare an event as the concert would be, $250AUD for a concert ticket is pure extortion – I can’t justify that amount of spending. So…no concert, and no Sydney for me. Bollocks.