Well well � it is October now and we are wrapping up our Australia year abroad. We have a few trips planned, such as Perth for 10 days at the end of November, along with a few weekend trips hopefully before we leave at the end of December. On the way home we hope to stop in Malaysia and do a bit of electronics, DVD, and video game shopping .. along with several days of relaxing on the beach and scuba diving.

The past few months have really flown by � we got to travel a bit to several places. Here is a brief roundup of what we have done and seen.

August, 2004
Castlemaine, Australia: A really small town .. where Cindi had a conference in the old jail (gaol). We actually slept in a old cell in the jail and ate in the mess hall. Overall the accommodations were really interesting and not too shabby actually, as they have renovated and made it a bit more livable. No locks on the doors, although no windows, TV, phone or bathroom.  It was a fun experience for sure. Around the town we got to visit the Official Dingo Farm .. which is a huge area off a dirt road .. where the owner has about 200 wild dingos running around and relaxing. He sits amongst them, looking a wee bit ominous, and tells you about the dingos. We even got to play with the Dingo pups, so how can we complain. The town was a cute one, although not much to do .. some antique shops, a few pubs, and a supermarket. A nice look at small town life in Australia.

August, 2004
Newcastle Australia .. which is a smaller city on the south eastern coast. We really enjoyed that town, as they beaches were amazing, it was fairly quaint, and a nice place to wander around and explore the pubs, shops, and restaurants.

September, 2004
Broken Hill, Australia: A town about 9 hours north of Melbourne .. supposedly the closest piece of the outback we could get to. It was amazing to drive down the highway .. for 4 hours and not see another car � no towns .. just carcasses or sheep (wandered onto the highway) or kangaroos. In this area of Australia .. they filmed Mad Max, so if you have seen the movie you can imagine the overall terrain. We had a great time there .. actually meeting quite a few friendly locals who were happy to tell us about living in the outback. The red earth was amazing to see, along with some wild kangaroos, lizards, and some poisonous snakes as well. We did a bit of hiking, visited an old hand dug mine, went off-roading a bit in our Toyota Corolla, and had a great time. We came back to Melbourne through Mildura, a small town with a cute street of
restaurants .. which is where I met Marty. Marty is president of a Melbourne cricket team, which he promptly asked me to join .. and so I did and now am a official cricket player. Strange sport, but a lot of fun with this team.

Now, we are getting ready to liquidate all of our things again, pack our two bags each for the trip home and see what the future brings. Cindi is applying for faculty position now so we hope to know where we will be living by February .. and travel a bit before moving to wherever by July. We will be home for the Christmas holidays and then hope to spend some time
travelling in the states and then abroad before settling down. Who knows what the future holds.  Anyway, we are happy here, enjoying life and our friends here, .. but a small part of us is glad to be coming back home.

Well .. more news to come in the near future.

We have now been in Melbourne for about 3 months, and finally I have gotten a job as a psychologist working for a school district although I have been assigned 7 schools.  I should be really fairly busy since I am accustomed to only 2 or 3 schools in the US, but it appears as if the assessment process for children here is a bit different and they do not inundate you with as many children to assess.  So, hopefully all will work out. 

Anyway.. we have really enjoyed our time here since we arrived towards the end of January.  Our apartment is really nice, with a location right in the heart of the city, so it has easy access to everything and anything.  There are a lot of street performers outside on the river walk, tons of restaurants and pubs, along with museums, festivals, and the main train station, Flinders Street Station all within a 2 minute walk from the apartment.  So, overall we can�t really complain.  Things are expensive here though, so it takes some getting used to.  We are fairly accustomed to it by now, but funny to see when people visit and they have go to purchase things.   It comes as a shock when a case of beer costs $40.00, cable internet costs $70 a month, dozen eggs for $3.95, a gallon of milk is $3.90, and petrol costs 95 cents a litter.    

So far, we have had Rob Reid come and visit for two weeks, and as always, he was the first person to visit us in our new location.  Rob and I did get to go around the city and see quite a bit, as well as almost drive to Sydney (after driving for 2 days on the back roads through forests, small towns that close at 5:30 sharp, and taking photos of road kill kangaroos we decided that it was best to just head home via Canberra - We did get to Pebbly Beach, Eden, Queanbeyan (Queenbean) and Canberra though).  Although we did not get there, we did make it to places where we could see koalas, pet kangaroos, and swim in the huge waves of the Southern Pacific Ocean.  Overall it was a good time, driving the Great Ocean Road, seeing crayfish the size of cats, grilling 70$ chicken wings, watching the Flying Birdman contest, and just exploring Melbourne with him. 

My parents came next, towards the beginning of April and they stayed two weeks.  We really saw a lot of Melbourne with them, going to a ton of museums, walking quite a bit around the city, .. visiting Federation Square, St. Kilda Beach, Lygon Street, and sampling a bit of the food and drink of Australia.  We even got to see a part of an Australian Rules Football game at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, which was a great time. 

It was hard to see them go, as we knew that we probably would not see another family member or friend until October or so, if at all while we were here.  We realized that it might not be until we return to the states in December that we get to see a mate from the US. 

Overall, we have now settled into our one year here in Melbourne.  Cindi really enjoys her job working here at Monash.  I am glad to not have to look for work any more, as the process here is tedious and frustrating, and it will be nice to have another pay check coming in as well.  We are going to try and do several trips while we are here to Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), Tasmania, Sydney, and Brisbane.  We are really trying to see as much of the country as possible, since we are only here for a short time. 

Anyway, that�s a look into our lives here in Melbourne.  Hope to post more pics of our trip to Central America soon, as well as more of our times here in Melbourne.  Ciao J

Hmm time has flew by and it is already March.  Well, just an update of what we have been up to ... we left around mid September taking a flight to Miami and then jumping on a Carnival cruise from Miami to Key West and then stopping in Cozumel.  That is where we got off and began our travels. 

We stayed in the Cozumel/Cancun area for about 2 weeks, although we had only planned for a few days, as we started to go to Time Share presentations, getting paid about 150$ each presentation, and doing about 2 per day.  So, we sat around, ate free lunches and drank their pina colada drinks while listening to them ramble on about selling us their time share.  At the end, we said no, walked away with their money in our pocket and hit the beach.  It really worked out great as we made a ton of money after two weeks, and still got to enjoy the sun and beautiful caribbean ocean each day. 

After that, we headed south, through Tulum, Mexico, bussing it all through Belize, and eventually, after about 2 or 3 days on various buses, made it to the islands off of Belize (Utila) where we stayed for several days and learned how to scuba dive.  The water was amazing, the fish stupendous and the island life just intoxicating.  Wish we could have stayed there even longer. 

From there, we traveled across Honduras for a few days, and finally made it to Antigua, Guatemala where we stayed for about 5 weeks.  We took spanish lessons which were amazing, some salsa lessons, and just really relaxed and explored parts of Guatemala.  Rich Reid came down as we met up with him in Tikal National park, .. then he came back to Antigua spending a week or so in our apartment, sleeping on the floor.. ouch Rich. 

My parents came down after that, spending two weeks in Guatemala, where we traveled around with them visiting Tikal park again, an amazing farm with horse back riding, a small town where we swam on top of an underground river, and took more buses, taxis, pickups and other modes of transport that it was amazing. 

From there, Cindi and I headed to Cali Colombia where we spent an amazing two weeks seeing family and visiting all parts of Cali.  It was a wonderful visit for both of us.  Our last destination was Panama, where we went to Panama City, as well as an island on the Pacific and Caribbean sides.  Saw amazing huge fish snorkeling and scuba diving, laid out on the beach, and tried to relax before we had to return to the states. 

Got back to the states right before Christmas, spent a few weeks in NY and Buffalo, and then got ready for our trip to Australia.  We moved to Melbourne mid January, since Cindi got a job working for a university teaching and doing research.  Me, I am searching for work and hope to have something soon.  We will be here about a year and so far, really like seeing how life down under is.  A great place to live in for a while.  Anyway, that is a quick recap of what we have been up to.  More to come soon ... :)
 

Well, the summer is over, I haven't kept up nearly as much in updating this as I would have liked, but we have been on the go from August 15th, when we left Tampa, Florida, after packing up some boxes, and selling most of our things, and headed on a fun month of visiting family and friends before getting ready to leave the country.  We left Tampa and headed to Lincoln, NE where we made it for Cindi's graduation (after flying down the highway at 100 mph and having to drive backwards on a highway onramp - but that is a different story).  Anyway, we enjoyed Cindi finally finishing up her degree, and so we rushed off to Las Vegas for about 4 days with her parents.  We had a great time  .. poker tournaments, double jack and cokes, and eating till the cows came home.  A great time. 

We flew back, and drove up to Buffalo, where we stayed for a week or so, playing cards, chatting with her parents, and going out with friends.  It was a nice time to just be home and relax and not feel as rushed as we usually do when we go home. 

We headed to NYC after that, although had a brief stay in Atlantic City and then the jersey shore to see Cathy and Kurt, along with Rob Reid.  A.C. is definitely a strange town, but we made sure to see as much of it as we could, staying out till the sun came up. 

We went to my parents house in Staten Island, staying here for about 1 1/2 weeks, trying to get things in order for our trip, some reservations made( although most fell through) and just got a chance to stay with my sisters in the city, go out and see all my old friends, and time to just sit around with my parents and joke and talk. 

So, now we are heading off....  finally leaving the country .. after much ado and realizing that trying to travel to Central America for 3 months, with no plans is a bit loco, and so I will impart to you my new mantra I will be using throughout this trip, which I should have learned earlier .. it goes as follows "reservations are my friends". anyways ...

ok .. so it comes down to us leaving tomorrow, September 14th, 2003 .. flying down to Miami for a night before jumping aboard a cruise.  Yes, a nice luxurious cruise ship with all the fixin's.  Why not, .. if the entire rest of the time we live in a squalor roach infested flophouse, at least I can always tell Cindi that we have the memories of the cruise to look back on. (plus I found the cruise for only 149$ clams per person, granted we have no way back to the states as of yet and I am sure that a cruise through a hurricane will be a wonderful bonding time for Cindi and I).

Now .. granted we can't stay on the cruise the entire time ... so as the cruise ship leaves Cancun, and all the other "cruisers" return to the ship to continue cruising, Cindi and I will truly begin our journey, waving at those rich American tourists as they sail away, cursing them and all their capitalistic pig values (at this time I will have to make sure that Cindi is not wearing her "I love Carnival Cruises" T-shirt), and head off to the flea bitten hostel we will call home for a few nights.  After that who knows.  The sky is the limit.   Probably head by bus (definition of this bus might be slightly different than what you might envision, ...if you are picturing a 1971 dilapidated replica of the Partridge family bus with fowl and/or livestock frolicking about then you are right on the money) to Belize and then Guatemala. 

Besides that, who knows, we hope to study some Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala for about a month and a half and take weekend trips to all some cool hip places (places which you are probably most familiar with because of watching their civil war on TV), such as Nicaragua, Honduras, and Chiapas Mexico.  Overall, it really should be a blast, we have nothing planned and seem to like it that way.  If anyone has any suggestions of things to see or places to go, we would love to hear them. 

We should be back in the states about the 20th of December for Christmas and New Years.  So, anyway we are off today, in a few hours, and can't wait to see what is in store for us. 

It is really crazy, how quickly the months fly by .... even when I have plans to put a month to month brief of our lives, it just doesn't seem to happen.  Oh well, a quick recap of June and most of July.   I finished work at Hernando County Schools, although I asked to come back for the first few weeks of work at the end of July and beginning of August so that I can make a bit more cash before we head out on our trip.  So, I am now back at work, trying to get things in order before we leave.

I did get to see a few places this summer though, heading to South Beach, FL,  the beginning of June, with Rich Reid, where we lucked out at some fancy hotel with a free happy hour each night for 50$ a night.  Overall it was a great time, just relaxing and hitting the pool/beach during the day, and the bars/restaurants at night.  I had purchased a bunch of gift certificates for restaurants there on www.restaurant.com, which allowed us to bid on 25$ gift certificates, paying only about 5$ for each one.  It was very nice, and we got to eat a ton and try all these fancy restaurants that we would never have gone to.  Try it out in your city if you want, there are tons of them.  (on the website, go to ebay on restaurant.com and you can then pick your city and bid for various places there).   After that, Cindi met us and we headed down to Key West for a few days, although I thought it was too touristy and filled with cruise people to really be enjoyable.  Also the beaches there are mostly rocky so they are not really much fun.  The three of us hung out with 2 Irish girls Rich and I had met in South Beach, so that was interesting, especially for Rich. 

After that, Cindi had a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, so I went to NYC hung out a few days with family and friends, showed our friends from Nebraska, Sarah and Andrew around Manhattan (they came to NY before they flew with us to London).  We had a great time walking around the city, seeing the sites and just chatting about old times.  Then off to London for a few days, hit Dublin for two days, and then to Edinburgh for 4 days of craziness (and Cindi attending the conference).  Overall it was a great trip, we got to see a ton of interesting things, from Castles to walking tours to pubs, pubs, and pubs.  Even hitched up to Aberdeen with Justin (from Nebraska) and got to see the countryside of Scotland.  

One definite plus out of the trip was that Cindi spoke with someone in Melbourne, Australia about doing a possible post-doc over there, and it looks promising.  Who knows, we will find out more in the next few weeks, but we might have to cut our round the world trip short, and only do 5 months or so, because the position in Australia starts in February sometime.  What ever happens it should be fun. 

Now back in Tampa, trying to all of our stuff sold and clear everything out before our move, get work all wrapped up, plan for our trip, and see family and friends in the next month or so.  More info next month ...  take care !
 

amazing.   I can't believe that April just flew by.  It is now the beginning of May, and April just left me in a whirlwind.  Granted, I think we did quite a bit, along with celebrating my birthday (now 32 years old).  Some of the things we got to do was to spend a few weekends in Clearwater and St. Pete Beaches, Cindi head to a conference in Miami and I tagged along, and shuffled off on a trip up to Buffalo for Cathy and Kurt's wedding.    

This month we don't have much planned actually, just trying to get some crocheting done (strange as that sounds), reading and planning our travel, seeing who is coming here over the next few months, as well as planning a quick 10 day trip to London, Dublin, and Scotland in July.  We hope to head to the beach a few times, before it starts to become to unbearably hot and soak up the rays. 

Cindi has been still working on her dissertation, and has now handed in one of the last drafts, so that will hopefully be a done deal by the end of June or so.  She is working now at a women's drug and alcohol center, as well as at a school for children with behavioral problems.  Overall she enjoys it, but when coupling that with research, she seems to be on the go all the time.

Myself, just busy plugging away on reports and assessing kids before the end of the year arrives.  I might even see if it is possible to work the last two weeks of July, when the school year starts back up so that I can get a few more paychecks in our satchel before beginning our travels.  I have been playing soccer now twice a week, and even joined a league here which is working out nicely.  Although it seems odd to me to think that in Lincoln, Nebraska I was able to find a pickup game every day of the week when the weather was nice, and here ... after endless searching, I am only able to play those two days a week.  Although in some ways it is a good thing, because with all the things we are trying to accomplish and see while in Florida, I couldn't afford to play more often.

Strange really, as it seems as if life would become easier and less stressful by selling our possessions, canceling all our commitments, and heading out on the road, but when I think about this trip, and begin to "try" and plan for it, I realize that there really is no way to plan for something like this.  Granted, I have read several books of people who have planned their entire "round the globe" jaunt, with exact plane tickets, booking hostels in advance and the like, but to me, and perhaps Cindi as well, that seems a bit too organized and is sort of cheating yourself of all the crazy experiences you might have by just moving with the wind.  Who knows, perhaps they are all right and I am the crazy one, and in time I will find out.

Anyway, it is now May, and we take off for our trip in 4 short months.  We have been reading Frommers, Lonely Planet's, and tons of other travel books, as well as travelogues of people who have traversed the world before us.  Some are fairly interesting actually.  Well, more to come soon

Ok ok ok. Well, well ... April was a very nice month, actually an excellent one, as it is the month of my birthday and I turned 32 on the 28th.  We had a good month, running quite a bit, myself playing soccer and Cindi doing these Boot Camp classes at the YMCA near us.  Overall we have been trying to stay fit and enjoy our time here in Florida.  The only problem has been we don't have the time we would like to really get to see all of Florida. Oh well, we will just have to return some time soon and go to some of the cities that we were unable to see. 

We did get a chance to go to Buffalo for Cathy and Kurt's wedding towards the end of the month, and spent from Wednesday at noon till Sunday at 6 pm in Buffalo seeing her family and friends.  We stayed up a few nights, playing cards, laughing and joking around, as well as got to spend time with Allison and Samantha her two nieces.   Overall a great time.

Not really much else, Cindi got me a few books for my birthday on traveling and Lonely Planet books, so I have been combing through those looking for places to go and see.  Cuba was one option that we have been discussing now, as the Spanish classes there are inexpensive, although lodging is not.  Who knows, it would be interesting and fun to spend a month of our trip there and see how it really is to live there.  We will see what happens. No plans set in stone as of yet.  Funny thing is, on a daily basis I see new things on the internet or peoples posted travelogues (www.bootsnall.com) or in books about places I would love to go to and things I want to do.  One is a ship that travels from Panama to Cartagena, Colombia which would be a great time and allow us to head from there to Cali.  Once again, not for sure but sounds like a good idea. 

Well, there is not really much new, just getting more excited about this summer and the trip.  Cindi will be attending a conference in July in Scotland, so I found some very cheap flights for the both of us, and now we will be heading there, as well as Dublin and London for 10 days with our friends from Lincoln, Sarah and Andrew.  Can't wait!  Anyway, more next month. 

wow.   Time is flying by!  I can not believe that we will be heading out on our trip in 6 months.  It feels like forever that I have been thinking, dreaming, and talking about this trip (sorry to all those who had to endure my rantings about this trip over the past few years). 

Anyway, getting back to the here and now.  Tampa is going well.  We have Cindi�s friend Julie here with us for the first week of March, and then my parents will come and visit for a week.  Should be nice, show them where we live, places we have found for a cheap meal, or just go to the beach with them for a day.  Others might be coming, not sure who and when, but some friends have said that might stop down here while it is still cold out in the North.  T

The days here have really become perfect, with the temperatures falling in the mid 70�s at night and the mid 80�s during the day.  Perfect for our running, and perfect to just sit outside and enjoy the day.  The pool at our apartment complex is beginning to get busy now so, time to head over and waste the day away laying by the pool. 

Cindi is trying to complete her dissertation, and since she is on the final chapter, she is close to completing it � finally.  After being in school since I have known her, she will be out of school come August.  Me, I am just working, enjoying it for the most part and counting down the days till we ship out.  I have been doing a lot more assessments here in Florida then I was accustomed to in Nebraska, about 30 percent more, but I don�t really mind it, and the people are very friendly so. 

Still not sure how long we are headed for on the trip, nor exactly where, but we are debating between a 11 month trip and a two year trip.  Most of the first year will be spent in Central and South America we figure.  Just have to sit down and iron out more of the details in the next few months.

hola.  Well well well, things are certainly getting chaotic down here in the land of sunshine.  We had a great Christmas and New Years, as we headed to Buffalo and then NYC for the holiday break.  When we returned to Tampa, we had 6 friends here waiting to enjoy the New Years here, which was a very fun and crazy time, albeit hectic at times.  We went all over the Tampa Bay area, to the beach, the bars, and had a great time with all of our friends.  Even went canoeing on this river near the University and got lost and stranded in the mangrove swamps for a few hours.  Scary and insane

Towards the end of the month we had our friends Gabe and Patricia stop in for a few days from Albuquerque and hung out with them since we hadn't seen them in a while.  We did canoeing with them as well.  It was a nice time, just seeing them and relaxing, talking and laughing.  Hope we can make it out to New Mexico to see them.  ("nothing to be afraid of in Mexico")

As they left, Cindi's parent's, brother and girlfriend, and grandfather came into town to spend a few days, and then we all piled in the minivan and headed to Miami for a cruise.  We met my folks and our friends John and Sue there and had a great time on a four night cruise to Key West and Cozumel.  The cruise was a blast, a really nice time, and we all got to go snorkeling while in Cozumel.   That was amazing and we were all glad we tried it.

Overall can�t complain, it was hard to see our family and friends leave, but it was great to share some more time with them, especially since we hadn't seen them in some time.   A very busy month for sure but we enjoyed it.  Now, onwards and upwards, planning other peoples vacation here with us, Cindi trying to get her dissertation completed, and trying to plan our future.  Whatever comes next we are excited !   

Lastly, we did the Gulf Beaches Clearwater Marathon.  Wow, talk about humid, but luckily it was overcast the entire run.  We both were tired, but we finished it, albeit slowly.  Not a great time at about 5 hours, but chalk up number 4 for Cindi and 7 for me.  Slowly we will hit the 50 in 50 states mark.  Might just take a century to do it.
 

December and January were crazy as we were out of town for most of it, or people were in town with us and so we didn't have time to write.  Overall, we went back to NYC and Buffalo for Christmas, had a great time with both of our families and friends, then came back here for a extremely rainy New Years with 6 of our friends.  Has some other visitors later in the month, Gabe and Patricia, and then met up with both of our parents again for a 4 night cruise  to Cozumel and Key West.  Whew!  The two months flew by but we had a great time, catching up with friends and relaxing with our familes.  Can't wait for more visitors this year.
 

November 2002

This month has moved along rather quickly, with Thanksgiving coming up soon. Friends Jen and Andi are coming out from Austin Texas to spend it with us, as we have for the past several years. Should be a great time. I attended a Florida Association of School Psychologists conference in Jacksonville, FL, at the beginning of the month which was interesting, and a good chance to get away from work for a few days. Some interesting minority assessment (English language learner) issues were presented on, so overall a good time. More To Come �

October

2002

Well, starting to make plans for visitors, trip home for Christmas, New Years in Tampa, and our world trip. Looks like people are going to start coming down now that it is beginning to get cold up in the North, so we will have to get things ready for our guests. Can�t wait to have people visit. Went to Guavaween 2002, which was amazing. A huge party, 120,000 people in Ybor City, downtown Tampa. It is a Halloween/Mardis Gras party and we had a great time. Dressed up as Carmen Miranda�s again, and went with a friend Emily, and had a wild and crazy time. Overall a good month.

September 2002

Still getting adjusted, have the apartment ready for the large influx of guests soon to hit in droves, and enjoying the weather. Jobs are going well, and just trying to find places to go out, things to see, and meeting some new people. Have to start running again, so we can get back to doing marathons.

August

2002

Tampa, Fl. So far very nice, sunny and rains daily for a short period of time. Can�t complain really. We both miss our families and friends but we hope they all come now that we live somewhere nice and warm.

I did get a job working as a school psychologist and I enjoy it. A small district with very friendly people. Can�t complain.

Cindi has her internship starting, and she enjoys it. Interesting work with psychotics and others. Anyway, so far so good.

July

2002

Well, we stopped at our parents homes, had a great time, got to stop and see Jen and Joe in Philadelphia for an evening, and then two nights with Gabriel and Patricia (on Andrews Air force Base), see Kenny Chesney in concert, somewhere in Virginia, and then a AA baseball game in Raleigh, N.C. with Julie. It was a fun drive, although the new minivan we are driving is packed to the gills with all of our things (seats strapped to roof). Finally made it to Tampa though .. and our new life.

June

2002

The end of June 2002 � We had a huge Hawaiian party, sold the house and moved out of Lincoln, NE. Sold most of our possessions, packed up the car and pickup and waved goodbye to our friends. It was not easy, as we had made many great friends in Lincoln, and enjoyed living in the Midwest (strange as that might seem). Anyway, onwards and upwards to Tampa, Florida �. After a few road stops in Buffalo, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Raleigh, N.C. Yahoo! Onwards and upwards !

May

2002

Moving � Why? Cindi has complete her final year of her Ph.D Program, so off to Florida for her internship year. A new place and a new life. Hopefully it all works out for the best.  Getting ready to move and begin a new chapter.