I'll never be broke in Sydney again

Open your eyes! Open your eyes..? Open your eyes. Just do it. This week, I suppose life did it for me - I realised new things, learned yet more about adulthood, and gratefulness. Australia is the hot topic of this blog, maybe you gathered that with the name...or at least i'd hope. In reality though, it represents something more, it represents almost a metaphorical, long-term journey. Don't worry, as much as it sounds like it, I'm not about to sell you some sort of "spiritual healing" journey, or a self-help/care book, because A) wtf? and B) Who has time for that stuff? Not me... Without overdoing it, in a way, every blog represents another chapter in Australia, but also little milestones in my journey within adulthood, relationships, careers, independence - basically everything. This year, I learned how to fish, make a Cosmopolitan, maintain a life on my own, and much more...it's random isn't it, but that tells you basically how much I'm learning and g...

 Every time I've been in a departure lounge, it's always felt like the 'right time,' but this time felt so different... 'Our kid' is off home. I'm not even a manc - for my aussie mates, that means "Mancunian" [someone from Manchester, UK] - but still, that's what my mates are when I'm describing them. Most of the time anyway. Dec's been with me since September, and seeing him go, well to be frank, it's shit.  I had a phone call with my mate Dan yesterday, the guy I do the podcast with, my best mate, and it's fair to say we covered a lot. We never do short calls, it's just how we are. We're talkers. The topic of Dec leaving has come up a lot. People naturally remind me I have mates here, which is nice, it's somewhat comforting, but the feeling of a mate leaving - a best mate - it's made me feel sort of isolated. A bit alone. I was going through some serious shit in Byron Bay when I lived there, the stress was craz...

I'm in the "second half" of this Australia trip, and I always hear what others are doing, sometimes I question my plans, then again, do I need plans? Spontaneity. It can be from something as simple as seeing a mate in the street, and saying "fuck it, shall we get a coffee?" or - with some slight differences to typical spontaneity - moving across the world, essentially on a whim. Mine was planned, but in some ways, spontaneous. I've come to a realisation, as time is something I'm anxious about, and always have been anxious about: I have so much fucking time. I don't NEED to travel all of Australia on this first of three visas available to me. I don't NEED to go to Asia travelling now. I don't NEED to learn Spanish while hiking in the mountains of South America. But I want to; the crucial counter to that is remembering you have time, and to knuckle down, plan for these events, but in some respects maybe not specifically for them. Make a travel ...

 New year. Happy new year! How fast did 2025 go by? Jesus Christ. What a year. Heavy on the heart, the mind, and the wallet - but did I have fun? Yes. All so worth it.  So 2026 is no longer round the corner, or holding up little cards in front of you, remindning you of bills to pay in the new year -- that was somehwhat of a 'love actually' reference/metaphor. I tried, okay, I tried. What I'm trying to say is, 2026 is here, there's no ignoring it. Right in your face, in fact, almost a week-deep. How bloody mental is that! Let's just say, it was a magical, yet eventful start.. 'Homeless' on new years You know, my best advice is: if you have an auto-locking door, please remember to bring your keys when you leave your house. I never forget this, intoxicated or not, so it had to be the one night I didn't drink, or at least *very* minimally, that this would happen to me. Before we discuss that though: New Years. I remember one acute memory; a night spent at my...