When the Cheshire emerges...

A bit late, but it exists!

A year ago today, I was home.

I decided to stay in the car for a considerable time after being driven home from the airport. I couldn't believe that I was back.

Eventually I made my way in, and by the end of the day I was already starting to feel like I was back into the swing of things a little bit. There was plenty to catch up on, namely doing my tax return.

But that wasn't to be. Not having everything I needed, I left that for another day and decided then was as good a time as any to see what journalist jobs were out there. Seek had one going for a journalist in Queensland somewhere, I think for the ABC, and then also one for a cadet journalist at a paper called the Daily Liberal, in Dubbo in New South Wales...

I wonder how that turned out...

***
Things change so much in the space of 12 months. I grew after 2010 having had my eyes forced open to the world, and then even more so on this day in 2011. In 2012 I find myself in a place I sometimes doubted I'd be. But I'm very happy I've made it to this point and been given opportunities to learn - and while much of me yearns to have the freedom of endless travel, reality isn't so bad.

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That concludes the A Year Ago Today series. I hope you've enjoyed reading about my travel exploits and felt you've seen some of the world with me. Keep checking in to see what life throws my way - same Bat-time, same Bat-place.

I thought I had at least an extra week when my mother reminded me it was in fact sooner than I thought. I am now making my way home in just eight days time!

There's been a lot to think about, with certain events set in stone (I'm hopping off the plane and heading to AAMI Stadium to see the Crows against West Coast - yep, dedicated I am). But I'm really excited to be spending a week with family and friends properly, the longest timeframe since moving.

At the same time, I find myself wanting to do things that were always around but I took for granted. Like a winter wine tour in the Barossa Valley, or a visit to the Ice Arena to get my skate on. But both of those would be best with company so we shall have to see. I hope things fall into place so I can really make the most of my time home instead of just sitting around. Where's the fun in that? Down time doesn't have to mean snoozing on the couch.

***

In other travel news, I was one of those people who actually managed to snap up some ridiculously cheap tickets with Jetstar last week in their regular Friday Fare Frenzy sale.

But what was THIS?

Seriously, this was RyanAir-type stuff. I was stunned.

They make it pretty hard from the outset, with only late Saturday and early morning/late night Tuesday/Wednesday flights, and my goodness - my efforts took about an hour because the site was running so slowly.

Now that I live closer to the east coast where most of these tickets take effect, I decided to bite the bullet and see what I could get. I managed to buy a return flight from Newcastle to Brisbane from a late Saturday to late Tuesday.

Yes, so I still have to make the drive to Newcastle - but I love that journey anyway. And I have to take a few days off work and sacrifice my time in lieu - but when else do I plan to use it? These tickets are for the summer, so a fair while away - it does mean I'll have to hold out but with other holidays up my sleeve I can manage.

I'm so excited, I've only been to Brisbane once and that was for a day with my family. Three days will be ample exploring time! And with the total cost coming to $20.27 ($17 was a freakin' booking fee, and I paid for my carbon footprint as per usual), I'm laughing even harder.