Itchy feet.

Today is the first day of autumn. My favourite time of year. The season I was born in, which is kind of appropriate. Something about crisp mornings and stormcloud-filled skies and brisk winds and brilliant sunsets. Only problem is, I get itchy feet. I need to travel, to be on the road, on my way from here to Somewhere. From A to Z and all the points in between. This time of year I have to restrain myself from flinging clothes in my backpack and just taking off.

So it was apropos that I found this in lisew's journal.


1. Have you ever traveled outside your own country? If so, where have you gone?

Twelve months spent in Japan back in 1987. Three months in the US as a summer camp counsellor around 1993. Ten days in Vietnam for a friend's wedding in 1999. Canada a couple of times. More to come. :)


2. What are some of your favorite cities in your own country?

Going with the home town bias and saying Melbourne, but Brisbane's nice too. If it wasn't for the humidity, I could handle living in Brisbane. :) Sydney... nice place to visit, but it has a vibe that just doesn't do it for me, and the rest of Australia's capitals I don't know well enough to make a judgement.


3. Where would you not want to go again?

I'm so gonna get caned for this, I know it. LA. I went there to visit a friend after the summer camp gig and was bored out of my mind. If you don't have a car the place is impossible to get around, and there's something curiously two-dimensional about it, like it's one big movie set and all the people around you are extras. And I'm going to have to swallow my pride and admit that I will be going there again, as part of my walkabout. It's the people, not the place, really!


4. Where have you been that you would love to visit again?

Vancouver. It's a beautiful city, and I didn't have nearly enough time there last time. Besides, that cheap CD place has been tormenting me. ;) Where else can you eat hand-picked blackberries in the middle of the city park?


5. If you were given three weeks off work and an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

You mean like I'm doing? *grins* Um, since I've already got one trip planned, I'll say France during Le Tour. Following the boys on the bikes through the French countryside. *grins*



6. Where is the most romantic place you've ever been?

Hmm, tricky one. I don't tend to think of places in those terms... Ha Long Bay, in northern Vietnam. Mist-shrouded sea, rocky islands, best seafood restaurants you've ever seen...


7. What is your favorite travel memory?

Mine's rather prosaic - sitting outside the Beir Haus in Toronto with Gerg and Dex, drinking huge beers and being told about second string theory. Also, walking through the a light snowfall in Japan, through the streets of my host city, Toyama, having snowball fights with my school friends. In January (which is weird only if you're an Aussie).


8. If a friend came to visit you in your home town, where would you take them?

I'm pulling the "adopted home town" card since Wodonga has little in the way of sights, except if you're into nature-type stuff. ;) The Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, followed by a dusk walk along Southbank for ice-cream. And dinner/pub in Brusnwick Street, Fitzroy

***

In non-travel matters, I had a good night with my book discussion group last night. No book, as it was the first meeting, but a fun game of "Balderdash" which I haven't played before and really enjoyed. The first book is The Brush Off by Shane Maloney - Australian crime fiction, set in Melbourne, if you will. *grins* I'm going to enjoy this one, especially with the Hellblazer story I'm working on at the moment.

My cousin's baby is being christened tomorrow, so I'll be doing family things. Got the bub a mobile with yellow and purple dinosaurs hanging from it, which was rather cute and different. Lots of visual stimulation there. ;) And I get to see Mark and Tanya, another cousin and his wife, who I always get on with. So I'm looking forward to it, although I'll be biting my tongue to restrain myself from acid replies when the rellos start making noises about when it's going to be "my turn". Feh. Hopefully Mum's already put the word out after last time my grandmother asked.

I finally got hold of David and we talked. More of that probably in a sealed post, but we sorted things out. Kinda. I'm still a tad irritated, but it's not worth feeling bad about.

BRM's on a new medication (which is knocking him around side-effects-wise) and is looking for a place to live - he and Greta are househunting again tomorrow. He said today the reason why he can't talk to me about ordinary things is because everytime he talks to me, he's reminded of what's wrong in his life. So much for being everybody's ray of sunshine, neh? So him moving out is something which can't come too soon. I just hope he finds somewhere quickly. I can stand him being angry at me, but this melancholy is a lot harder to take. And I can feel it settling into me, stifling my own good feelings. If it wasn't for the LJ, I wouldn't believe how good I felt after seeing Mel and the Ds in Brisbane. I want that feeling back.

I also scored a cabinet-thing and an office chair from work - with the move coming up, all the old furniture is being sold, and we're getting in our 'dibs' before it goes. So now I have a unit to put the TV and video and the stereo on, and a decent office chair - or at least one that's 100% better than the kitchen chair I have at the moment.

*looks out the window and starts humming "Someday I'll Fly Away"* Man, I just want to be gone.