People of Melbourne, what should I do?

Things for me don’t often hit home until they are right there in front of me. I don’t get the urgency until I have no choice but to act. It used to be revising for an exam, one of my earliest examples of this… That pastime is pretty much non existent. Then just organising my life in general and ensuring things went to plan, such as not agreeing to two events on the same day. I have often realised only the day such a mistake before and well, shit. I usually don’t find the motivation to address something ahead of time, this only really occurs when it is right there in front of me. I can visualise it much better when I see the end of the track, and too often it’s too late I go right through it.

It’s just who I am. Not that I necessarily want it to be this way, I struggle with the planning phase and this has made me into the person that I am today. The kind of traveller I am too. But I like to take each day as it comes on the road, plan little but make the day productive. I don’t know if any of you can relate but I am very stuck in the ‘now’ in life…  And this has good and bad aspects.

This is part laziness, part mental health and low mood. In the past when I have had free time I just liked to do nothing. But the ‘nothing’ was often something unseen, like waiting for certain feelings to pass or get stuck in a never ending abyss of deep thinking. But other times I have tried to escape certain demons holding me back and kept busy, blogging for example. But again, it is rarely scheduled posts and more posts I just type up there and then. These days are behind me thankfully however my day to day living stays somewhat the same. It has moulded my behaviours I guess.

Thank goodness I am on a two year visa, I have plenty of time to find out what I need to do. Six months in Melbourne gives me ample time to see what needs to be seen in Victoria’s Capital. If it was a two week holiday I would probably have a bigger ‘What I Should Have Done Better’ speech in old age. And despite it seeming like I don’t like the way I do things, I find it much easier and more enjoyable to just travel with very little plans. Speak to locals and fellow backpackers and go from there than wonder the web and the seemingly infinite websites aiming to guide me.

But on the other hand, I am thinking damn… I’m going to live in another city in just three days. What have I planned, or worse, what haven’t I planned?!

In three days time, I will be in Melbourne. I cannot wait to get there, meet some people and take in some of these recommendations. And potentially working in hospitality will benefit me greatly here. I have been to Melbourne previously, for two days, and can be seen in my post about the train journey from Sydney here and my brief time in the city here.

I saw a few things whilst I was there. The street art…

The cool little streets with cafes and restaurants…

This building…

St. Kilder…

And a day tour of the Great Ocean Road…

However this was an unexpectedly rushed trip for the reasons I mention in the posts linked, and will make sure to give Melbourne the time it deserves this time around.

I know I have been speaking to a few of you that are either from Melbourne or have visited, thank you for the suggestions and I would love to have more recommendations you and others have for the city. Again, I would much rather speak to those that have seen it for themselves instead of find an article online that could have been written by someone that has never stepped foot here. I have taken on board some of the places you guys have mentioned before, however if I have some of these in one designated post for me to refer back to every now and then (with a shoutout to you if I do it!), this would be greatly appreciated and something I will make sure I do if it is within my ability. I will try my hardest to make it possible, and asking for your advice is me planning more than I have done prior to many trips, so I guess I am improving on this pre-planning thing ever so slightly.

Hello to you in Melbourne if you are there (and to everyone that isn’t of course) and if you have something you feel is a must then I would love to hear it. Who knows, I may even see you there!

 

 

Have a great Wednesday,

Sam

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Cheers!

Sam

For those that feel they need to work to avoid boredom

I was reading a blog post yesterday that I could really relate to. One that involves a conversation I have had myself and overheard other people having many times over the years. The idea that one needs to work in order to avoid boredom. The idea that without employment, we are goldfish aimlessly swimming around a small glass bowl.

This shouldn’t be the case for anyone.

Over at Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist, Dr. Jared Casazza (I am always fearful of only stating the first name if there is a ‘Dr’ in front of it!) has had conversations with patients about retiring at 30. And it seems like a common response is ‘well, what would you do for the rest of your life?’. This doesn’t surprise me as I have heard many people responding in similar ways. Not that I have ever said I would or could retire at 30, it is two years away and retirement being an option is a million miles away. Instead, the conversation is often on the topic of gaining a huge amount of wealth in a very short space of time, winning the lottery for example. The responses have often been against the idea of too much wealth.

‘I wouldn’t want too much. A million will do. You know, enough to get by.’

What?! How long would a million last today anyway? It depends where you live I guess. I think here in Australia it wouldn’t last too long.

If I had the option, I wouldn’t settle for enough to simply get by. What is the reasoning for having a limited amount in the account? A fear that too much will change me as a person? A fear that too much would get me everything, the joy of saving up and really enjoying the idea of buying something would disappear after my first Ferrari and private jet purchase? I am confident that a large percentage of people that make the above statement would change their tune if they discovered an eight figure sum at the ATM. I would hope so anyway.

In my opinion, refraining from great wealth or an early retirement is to have no ambition outside of a job. If this job is one you enjoy doing, great. But for many of us, we aren’t in jobs that we want to be doing. The jobs we are in take 40-60 hours out of our week that we could be spending dong what we want to do. How many years is that accumulated over a lifetime? I wouldn’t want to know. Think of the time freed up from retirement. Think of the possibilities wealth could bring. All the books that could be written, all the countries that could be visited, all the instruments and languages that could be learned, the apps that could be designed, all the furniture that could be created from scratch. Whatever your personal interests are, they now have unlimited potential.

It could be argued that some of these could be considered work, however if it is something I enjoy doing I wouldn’t call it work. I blog about 40 hours a week now (not intensely, but I am present) and I do not consider it work. If I retired and continued blogging, I would be work free.

Jared (yep, I did it) has put together a list of things he would try to complete upon retirement. One that ends the question, ‘would you be bored?’.

The list is as follows:

1. “Slow travel” internationally 1-3 months at a time in different countries
2. Travel to all 50 states in the U.S.
3. Spend more time with family
4. Reach the summit of all the high points in the lower 48 (possibly 50, but we’ll see…)
5. Learn Spanish
6. Volunteer
7. Learn to play the guitar
8. Get back into playing chess competitively (a childhood hobby of mine)
9. Learn to ballroom dance
10. Hike the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail
11. Compete in a power lifting competition and a physique competition
12. Write on this blog to help educate and motivate others
13. Learn to garden
14. Experiment with diets and eating schedules to find what works best for me
15. Find the sleep schedule that works best for me (I’ve never been a morning person, and despite years of fighting it, I think I will embrace it after retirement)
16. Practice meditation and yoga
17. Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
18. Take a class on wood working
19. Become more proficient with simple car repairs
20. And finally, have kids and possibly home school them!

I am sure everyone has a list of ambitions. One that may contain five or fifty five bucket list items. What would yours include? Not forgetting of course that our potential wouldn’t be as limited as it is today. There would be so many more doors opened by this change that our boredom wouldn’t manifest as early as we think it would. Elon Musk could right now be riding around the streets in sports cars bored out of his mind if he didn’t have aims. But why would he choose boredom when he can help design a city on Mars? I am sure he doesn’t class this as work. The more we have, the less excuse we have to be bored.

There will be people that say no Sam. I want a simple life. If I was to have the option of retiring I wouldn’t. I enjoy my job as a bingo caller in the local community and this is what I would continue to do. Wealth wouldn’t change this, neither would the option of leaving the role.

I would say to this person congratulations. It seems you have one item on the list and it is one you have achieved. If it is a job you enjoy, I would probably say you have pretty much retired into a life you want with pay and that is all that matters. Now, it is down to the rest of us to follow suit.

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Featured Image by marcus zymmer on Unsplash

Places I Need To See: Alcatraz

Alcatraz has always fascinated me, however it is a destination I haven’t researched as much as I should have. I guess this place falls under the ‘Dark Tourism’ category, a destination that you visit for the education and history more than a jolly good time.

That being said, the shots in this post by Samara and Mark over at Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget overlooking San Francisco Bay are stunning. To think this was the (I am sure very restricted) view for some highly dangerous criminals is crazy, many hotels would do time for the location and window view. It seems the view is where the luxury ends, this post gives an interesting glimpse as to what life was like in the cells for inmates. It seems like SF is not short of pleasant areas to unwind after the tour and a place I need to visit.

I will never complain about any hostel room ever again…

With a full day of exploring ahead of us we were of course up early this morning. Starting the day with one of the stranger hotel breakfasts we’ve had to date we were out the door by 9am for the almost hour long walk to Pier 33. After a bit of a wait – spent […]

via Day 141: The Rock — Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget