Greetings we are in Melbourne, Australia now, waiting to go to Sydney this afternoon. I wanted to give a quick update, because I will probably be offline for the next few days again.
Australia – Natural Paradise
We just spent a couple of weeks with my cousin on Bribie Island. We were absolutely thrilled to do nothing in this small resort town. Ocean-side walks, clean air, abundant wildlife and the sound of nature are a welcome respite, after the pollution, noise and overall insanity of Bangkok. We were different people there.
The Most Expensive Country in the World
We are really surprised at how expensive Australia is. Restaurants, hotels and transportation cost a fortune and you generally get pretty mediocre quality and service. Many people believe that Japan is expensive, they should visit Australia. A $20 entree is a great meal with fantastic service in Japan. In Australia, it is a basic dish.
Travel
I hate travel again. I love being in new places but all the moving around is too much. I am looking to settling down for the summer in Calgary. We are having a great time, but I just want to be in one place for a few months again. It can be anywhere, I just don’t want to be moving so much.
I still have some big dental surgery to do, so it looks like we will be going back to Thailand later in the fall. We really enjoyed our stay in Chiang Mai, so we are planning to stay for several months next time.
Special Mentions
Thank you Mike Vardy from Lifehack.org, for including my manifesto in 10 More Insanely Awesome Inspirational Manifestos. I wanted to do one for a long time, and his first post pushed me to do it. I’m pleasantly surprised at the response. Thanks Mike!
Cody McKibben of ThrillingHeroics.com and the Digital Nomad Academy, kindly mentioned me in a post of his. Thanks Cody. Sorry that we still haven’t met.
My last, How to Really Make Money from a Travel Blog post had a fantastic reception. Thank you everyone who helped promote it. Copy that formula. It works.
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Digital Nomad Unconference and the How to Make Money with a Travel Blog meet up in Thailand. We had a great turn out at both events.
Thanks to Jason Demant of Unanchor.com for the great travel guides. I appreciate it.
I am going to the World Domination Summit in Portland.
I bought my tickets and am super excited to meet all the cool people at Chris Guillebeau’s WDS this year. If any of you are going, please stop me and talk. I am not good in big crowds, but I would love to hear about what you are working on.
Guitar Virtuoso Plays Lousy Tourist Rock Bar in Thailand
I’ve come across a stupendously amazing rock guitarist in Thailand. Picture Yngwie Malmsteen playing in a third world bar in front of 15 people, 10 of which don’t really like the music.
I was spellbound and had to go back for a second show.
Best of all. I have about 20 minutes of video of this guy dancing his fingers up, down and all around an Epic guitar with a half Marshall stack. But, I ‘m just telling you that to build up the excitement for a future post. 🙂 I’m not going to share that video yet.
The disappointing part is that this world class musician was playing in a popular tourist area, with hundreds of intoxicated backpackers numbing their brains with techno ‘duff-duff’ music and lousy cover bands. Almost no one recognized the genius in their midst. Unfortunately, most people don’t really know what talent is, unless it is sold to them in a pretty package.
It reminds me of the Washington Post experiment with the concert violinist Joshua Bell. He was playing a million dollar violin in the subways of Washington D.C. and barely no one noticed. What a sad world we live in where people only consume what is popular and mass culture.
Here is a video of Bell playing in the subway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc
What do you think? Would you recognize great talent if you saw it in a grungy bar in a third world country or in a subway in your home city? Would you care?