Australia

Monday, February 05, 2007

A Lost Traveler

Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness. ~Ray Bradbury

Lost/confused/side-tracked/distracted... Many travelers that I know feel the same. Traveling isn't always a glamourous bit as some may think. There are high times when we have work and cash to spend; low times when you're on a tight budget.

No, I'm not broke yet. It's just that I hope what's left in my treasury and what I am and will be earning during my travels will last me the whole journey. A two, possibly, three-year journey needs a lot of financing.

Papua New Guinea is on the horizon. Something like that is worth spending. But what's next? In March, I plan to return to OZ from PNG to say good-by to my new friends and possibly travel to Hong Kong and Beijing and spend a week each. Hong Kong to visit a sister and the church. Beijing, to visit Alicia.

Then at work last week, I was bothered with the idea that I should go to New Zealand since it's so close. (What a hard life, eh?) But a week in NZ would cost about $1300, which can go much farther in a third world country. Or maybe, I can use it for my plane ticket back to the US, if I want to visit all my homies in July. Then I found out that two brother friends are planning on visiting Melbourne in March. One from the US; the other the UK. Needless to say, I'm overwhelmed with decisions. Choosing one means giving up the other. I can't do everything in one month because I'm due back in Thailand by March 28, for my dad's birthday.


Again, I struggle with trusting God when I don't see how things will exactly pan out for me in March. I want clarity, or maybe more like certainty.

I went back and re-read my original itinerary in one of the entries, The Calling/ The Plan, under the Preparation Blog. It didn't have Australia in it. But that's where God's brought me. I've been here over three months now and don't regret it one bit.

I've built many friendships in the past three months and have learned a great deal about Australia and the myriad cultures in the metropolitant hub of Melbourne.

All these are great, but that's not the main reason why I've left the US.

So I decided to utilize the process of elimination.

Hong Kong and Beijing can wait. They're close to Asia. But New Zealand is down under. If I don't do it now, will I come back again? But the money that I've saved up can be used to further my dream in Cambodia and the Middle East and Africa and eastern Europe, and so forth. Will I regret not going to NZ now?

I'm glad I've kept a blog of my journey. Sometimes it's good to go back and ask myself why I do what I do? Along the way, there will be numerous decisions to make and countless advice, but I need to stick to my goal. I'm out in the world to pursue my God's given dream, which I believe has something to do with developing countries. I'm most likely will give up NZ, against my will, so I can do what I've come to do. I hope I'm making the right decision. We'll see. Please pray for me.

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