TravelBio

A lot of updates over the last week or so.  Currently I ' m staying in a hostel near Mission Beach, a small coastal town south of Cairns.  First about the rest of my time in Brisbane. After staying in City Backpackers for nearly a week I was ready for a change of scenery.  Some of the backpackers staying there were actually working in Brisbane and living at the hostel.  If I ' d found a job I would definitely prefer an apartment, even if I was still sharing a room.  Hostels can be fun, but you can never really unpack, share kitchen and bathroom facilities with dozens of people, and are constantly switching roommates.  I even feel a bit old there considering most people I meet are in their early 20 ' s or even just teenagers.  Too bad Americans don ' t take gap years - that would have been epic! Booking hostels at a weekly rate in Australia is often similar or even more expensive than sharing an apartment. I messaged a few potenti...

Now that Sam (back to work in Baltimore) and Mike (off to Europe) are both gone, it's time to look for a job!  The day after Mike left Byron I was on a bus bound for Brisbane.  Fingers crossed that this time around is more fruitful than my hunt in Sydney. Brisbane is the largest city in Queensland and third largest in the country (behind Sydney and Melbourne) View of Brisbane from the roof of City Backpackers, where  Mike and I stayed and where I am now staying again Brisbane River and the CBD; downtown seems  bigger  than a city of only 2 million people After five days of searching the results are mixed.  Initially I searched online for working hostels around rural Queensland, thinking farm work might be easier to get than a job in the city.  I found a lot of contact info but most places either didn't sound promising or said to try in a month's time or so.  Seems like demand isn't too high at the mom...

Size  Although Sam had left to go home, Mike still had nearly one more week in Australia.  Sam works an actual job ("for the man" as he is fond of saying) and has actual responsibilities to get back to.  I was bumbed he couldn't stay for longer; on second thought, the first class flight from Seoul to JFK looked amazing!  Mike does a lot of work online, mainly selling products from overseas or second hand, so he can work almost anywhere.  It would be hard for me to see him in a traditional 9-5 job - more power to him if he never has to! Yes this is on an airplane...Sam in AA first class from Seoul to NYC, complete with a lay flat seat/bed and personal 32 inch flatscreen TV! Following two nights in Brisbane Mike and I headed back into the state of New South Wales, to Byron Bay.  Byron is a small beach-side town just south of the Queensland border.  Even with a stop in Surfer's Paradise the trip only took 3 hours (although we chang...

On Saturday Mike, Sam, and I flew from Cairns to Brisbane, the largest city in Queensland.  Despite sharing the same state, Cairns to Brisbane is still a two hour flight.  I've probably said this before, but Australia is huge - and this is coming from an American.  The continental US is slightly larger, but Oz only has 23 million people.  Also consider that it only has seven states or territories on the mainland.  That makes for some huge states! States of Australia; Northern Territory is not a state (as the name suggests), and the Australian Capital Territory, similar to Washington DC, is located in south NSW Size of Australia compared to the US... ...and to Europe From the airport we took a train to Surfer's Paradise, a strip town along the coast where lots of tourists, domestic and international, go to soak up the sun.  Our train first went though Brisbane and took nearly two hours.  It was nice to see the city though -...