Days 1 and 2

 A seventeen hour flight is nothing to sneeze at. There's not much to reflect on, either.

I've set out to Australia for six weeks, from March 15th until April 27th. My sister, the New Yorker, married an Aussie around a decade back, and with their gang of 3 boys agreed to house me for my star in Narrabri, New South Whales. It's my second time here, first time since Huxley, my eldest nephew, was born. I blogged about that time as well.

There's a strange pressure on writing about my time out here. The impetus for planning the trip in the first place was my divorce. The flights were booked shortly after I moved out from my apartment, a pattern break is welcomed, the joy of being "Uncle Jesse" smoothes over all wounds. The value of this trip goes beyond healing a failed marriage, but the cause/effect relationship shouldn't be glossed over. This would not have happened without that catalyst. My ex and I had talked about coming out here for years. It's sad, but it's okay. I'm doing quite well, and it's not the point.

Seventeen hours on a plane (after four to Houston) gets me into Sydney, Australia. It's two calendar days after departure, 7am in the morning, and I have no idea how tired I am. Did I sleep much? When will they ever make better headphones? I have plenty of time to wait while my luggage...doesn't come down the shoot. They announce that luggage is done coming to the carousel - turns out my suitcase is deliberately delayed. On another flight due to weight distribution, I don't know, all I know is that I'm wearing jeans and strangely at peace with the situation. At least I'm here. At least the plane didn't crash!

I'm given a sheet of paper with instructions on how to retrieve my luggage and get going. They tell me it will take 24-48 hours, and I'll be contacted when my things arrive.

The plan for the day isn't too luggage intensive anyways. I'm meeting up with Briana, my friend from High School who happens to be in her third month staying in Syd. I Uber to her apartment, FaceTime Becca while I wait for Briana and her roommate, Zoe, to get back from their morning walk.

Briana is an experienced traveler. She's also, as they say, a good vibe. Her roommate Zoe, or more accurately, her friend who's apartment in which she's crashing (that's not more accurate,) is similarly chill, and the three of us have a near-perfectly planned arrival day. 

I grab a shower before we head to the beach in my jeans. I buy some boardies. We get some sun, some lunch, another shower, then head to cockatoo island for live music and a sunset. We end the night with KBBQ and a walk down the "financial district." Sydney is a beautiful city.

There's a certain joy the comes from seeing a friend halfway across the globe. What are the changes we picked this part of the world, this exact time? She just turned 30, my time is coming up in July, all to say that we're in a reflective sort of mood. We talk about some deeper topics - What does it mean to "peak" in our lives? What are the avenues we take towards bliss? How do we notice when we're on the right path? With Becca becoming a bigger part of my life, another high-school connection, I bring up the following question: How much of our essential selves can be understood by others between the ages of 14-17? In other words, when we meet someone as a teenager, to what extent do we uniquely know them? How valuable are these lifelong relationships? Can that level of understanding be achieved later in life? The conversation doesn't uncover much in terms of clarity, but it's nice to be able to speak at the top of my intelligence with friends. I don't need answers, I just engagement. The entire day felt fun and light, though in equal parts meaningful and smart. A well thought out reception by a good friend. A bit of a shame we only had 24 hours, but the real mission is seeing family.

The next morning I get my luggage (thank god) and make my way to the train. Seven hours there. 

Seeing my sister and the boys was a breath of fresh air. It's a lot of anticipation, a lot of travel, a decent expense, and it finally crystalized when I threw them up into the air with a hug. Except Jacki. Need to work on my shoulders to pull that off.

Not too much to say about my first night here since we only had about an hour or two before the boys went to bed. I'm very happy to be here. I felt it immediately, this will be a good trip. I'm not too sore, I'm not too tired. Although I felt some apprehension about starting the blog, I still started it! It's a good sign that I'm doing what I set out to do - be here, document, and make the most. 

Jacki and I go grocery shopping, some basic essentials plus dinner for the next two days. I'm planning on doing the cooking. I read the boys a few pages of Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone (one of the gifts I brought) and their inability to sit still was absolutely hilarious. They were listening apparently, but it seemed painful? I'll take their word for it that they actually enjoyed themselves. We'll see how much of the book we can finish, but four pages on day one is a pretty bad start. 

I'll photo dump for now, who knows how the blog will come together. I just needed to start without worrying about quality. I'll find the time to make later entries good. I enjoy this.