LegendaryLife Blog

View from the front yard of where I am staying… back yard is more of the same

Well, I decided over a year ago that it’s time for a move… a big one… basically I moved from Canada to Australia, moved from 4 seasons to 1, moved from polluted beaches to pristine coral reefs and polluted air to fresh salt ocean air. Any regrets? Nope

It ain’t all bad

Canada was a fun place but I knew that if I waited till I was old and retired before moving to a place I wanted to be that I wouldn’t get as much enjoyment as I could have otherwise by moving NOW. Snow and cold weather are fun but I wanted a more active outdoors lifestyle, one in which I could go camping year round, go kayaking, snorkeling and basically transform my environment into one of feeling like I was always on vacation.

The Journey from Hell

I sacrificed a lot of things to get here, so I thought… now I know I sacrificed a hell of a lot! Basically I left through the Buffalo airport around 2pm for a connecting flight to Pittsburgh followed by Los Angeles then Nadi then Brisbane then a fun 24 hour train ride up to Cairns. This whole trip was suppose to take about 3 days… or so I thought.

My flight from Buffalo (New York – USA) to Pittsburgh went great, it took about an hour and I arrived in fine health. Now this is where things started to go wrong. My flight from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles was suppose to take 4 hours, what they forgot to mention was that the first 4 hours I would be stuck on the tarmac as freezing rain poured down followed by another 4 hours flying to Los Angeles – they should have just said it would take 8 hours or at the very least, bring us back to the gate after an hour until the weather improved. Being stuck in a box is bad enough, being stuck in a box without ANY fresh air being squashed like a sardine while being told “just a little longer” every half hour is quite another. Anyways, suffice it to say, I eventually got to Los Angeles.

The nice thing about Los Angeles (California - USA) was the weather, the bad thing was I was stuck in the hotel for an entire day with my luggage! Basically, I missed my connecting flight to Fiji by an hour due to being stuck on the tarmac during a freezing rain and snow storm. If that wasn’t bad enough, I couldn’t leave my room because lugging my luggage around LA isn’t the smartest nor easiest thing to do. I stayed at the Westin, very nice place but even luxury has its trappings… I never watched so much TV in my life, the room was paid by the airline, so wasn’t all that bad but when you got a few thousand dollars in electronics with you, I simply couldn’t take the chance and leave them behind while visiting Hollywood and many other places I wish I could have wandered into.

Alright, originally I was suppose to fly from Los Angeles to Nadi (Fiji) then to Brisbane but as I missed my flight due to weather, I was now flying from Los Angeles to Auckland (New Zealand) then to Brisbane (Queensland - Australia). I thought no way things could get worse… I though too early! I sat next to a very nice Aussie woman who told me a lot about Brisbane but being in a middle seat, the woman to my left was about 80 year old with medical problems. Even before taking off, she passed out for a few minutes then took her pills and couldn’t stop fidgeting during the entire trip, just try to sleep next to somebody who is constantly moving and needing to go to the bathroom or wanting to stretch at all hours. It was impossible, the sleep deprivation counter had started, 2 hours of sleep during a 24 hour period – good thing I slept well in Los Angeles! Auckland was beautiful from the air by the way… made me think of Nova Scotia!

Finally, arrived in Brisbane, finally time to relax and get my butt off to Cairns after eating nothing but granola bars and airplane food for the past 3 days. Guess what, because I missed my flight, the airport also lost my luggage to add insult to injury. I wasn’t too sad though, that was a 55lbs backpack I had waiting for me, I knew they would find it so when they told me they lost it, I told them that was the best news I have heard in a few days and told them to send it to me directly in Cairns (which they did the next day upon my arrival there). I had three options to travel from Brisbane to Cairns, it was either the bus (200$), train (300$) or plane (400$). I had decided on the bus but as the airport had a direct link tot he train, I decided what the heck… time to catch-up on some much needed sleep while relaxing on the train. WRONG! I had the great honor of being in a train surrounded by 5 kids who where probably between the ages of 5-10 years old. Why is this a problem? Well, at this age, they can’t stand still and must seek acknowledgment from their parents every minute of the day by asking silly questions, saying “look at me” or simply being annoying humming and making noises for no reason. One is bearable, but 5 doing this for 18 of my 24 hour train ride is simply the definition of Hell on Earth. Hey, while I am stuck in this train with these kids, lets throw in a few that are sick, coughing and sneezing all over the place. You guessed it! As soon as I woke up after my first day on the train, I lost my voice. I was sick as a dog, slept maybe 6 hours so essentially within a 48 hour period I got maybe 8 hours of sleep – and we are definitely not talking about quality sleep neither. By the time I arrived in Cairns, I was physically exhausted from all the sitting in confined places, mentally drained and basically feeling like I had a wicked hang-over. I basically arrived and passed-out on the bed waiting for me after a quick shower.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely, if I was 80 years old and experienced all the above, I am sure I would have been promptly put into a body bag upon my arrival, I am 30 years old and have never felt so completely exhausted in all my life! Here is a picture of what the front-yard looks like by the way… lets see, snow storms vs tropical paradise, not a tough decision to make! I believe there are 3 pillars to a successful life, the first is a loving relationship, the second is a physically healthy environment and the third, financial independence. While I now have the first two taken care of nicely, the third will take a bit more time but 2 out of 3 is a very good start.

The Bottom Line

You only got one life to live, might as well make it one worth living.