Virgin Eyes is Australia Bound!!!

I'm visiting Marilyn and Sydney!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited.  Marilyn and I met on an ORGT backpacking trip, and have been crazy ever since!  Working overseas in Japan and Korea makes our visits fewer and farer in between than they should be, but that just makes them ALL the much sweeter when we are in the same city!!  Australia - here we come!!   Can't wait for 3 straight weeks full of adventuring, hiking, biking around town, going on errands, sightseeing, driving on the LEFT side of the road!, traveling, and cooking tons of good food.... ahhh sleepover every night!!  Paradise!

NOW, about Australia.  New country - new continent!!  So excited to be travelingggg again!

About Australia:

• 22.8 million people (AUS ranked #52 highest ... for comparison,US has almost 315 million) 
• About 88.2% of the population lives in urban areas (as of 2005, so that might be even higher, now)
• Land mass wise, it's about the same size as the US
• >80% of the pop. lives 100 kilometers from the coast (aghhg! Metric system.. 100 km=~62 miles from the coast ... no wonder they are such happy, friendly people!)
• It is the lowest and flattest continent in the world (hello biking!!)
• "Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with the least amount of water in rivers, the lowest run-off and the smallest area of permanent wetlands of all the continents." (maybe explains why they all live so close to the ocean?)
• "Australia is richly endowed with marsupials— there are more than 140 species." (!!!)
• Wow:  "About 85 per cent of flowering plants, 84 per cent of mammals, more than 45 per cent of birds, and 89 per cent of inshore, freshwater fish are UNIQUE to Australia."
• "Among Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, echidna, dingo, platypus, wallaby and wombat."   ....Sounds like I should try to see all of these!
• Interesting history: "Australia’s national day is held on 26th January in recognition of the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet, a group of 11 ships that sailed from England to establish a colony in Australia."
• "At the end of 2011, export revenue from MINERAL and ENERGY commodities accounted for 60 per cent of Australia's total export dollars"

Sources: http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43654/Australia

They speak English!  Oh my my!  Can't wait to see everything - the public transport, the biking, all the national parks, the Accent!!, the natural resources, the beaches, the food!! (of course!!), how they do energy, what kind of religion is popular, all the natural wonders...

LOGISTICS 

VISA / Country Entry & Exit:

I got an Electronic Travel Authority (more info here) for traveling to Australia.  It costs 20 AUD, and is just electronically linked to your passport (AKA... no cool VISA sticker).  Super easy to get one - took like 10 minutes to browse the site and complete the form.  Just for kicks, here are some of the perks of getting an ETA:)

• You can enter Australia as many times as you wish during a 12 month period from the date the ETA is granted or until the expiry date of your passport, whichever is earlier.
• You can stay in Australia for a maximum of three months on each visit.
• You must not work while in Australia unless advised otherwise by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
• You must not study for more than three months.
• You must be free from tuberculosis.
• You must not have any criminal convictions for which you have been sentenced for a total combined period of 12 months or more, whether or not the sentence/s were served.

Source: https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETA/etas.jsp 

Phone/Internet:

I'll be using my iPhone with AT&T again.  I'm signing up for the $10/ month for 50 text messages, which I think should be sufficient for most communication I need to do.  Turning off the iPhone's Cellular Data will ensure I don't accidentally incur high data usage fees.  When in wifi, I can use Skype to call home or call Marilyn if need be.  And, in case I do need to make calls while traveling and not in a wifi zone, I just installed the AT&T Call Int'l app, which allows you to call at a reduced rate/minute.  And, all this planning may be overkill cause Marilyn mentioned she has an extra phone that I might be able to use once I get there :)

Currency:

The current exchange rate:  1.06 USD = 1 AUD 

At least it is close to one, which makes for quick and easy conversions.  As compared to the Chinese Yuan, where I'd have to remind myself not to freak out over spending a couple hundred yuan at dinner.

Last time, I lost money because I converted money here at my US bank.  It was my first time traveling overseas... and I wanted the peace of mind of having some cash with me when I got there.  However, I think it's generally better to convert money once you get over there ... cause the country you go to will have tons of whatever currency you need, as opposed to here in the US, where they have to order the currency for you.

Plan of Attack for MONEY:

• Take a couple hundred USDollars with me
• I can convert my USD at Marilyn's bank for a 1% conversion fee
• Use my BOA debt card to withdraw AUD cash from certain ATMs
• BOA is part of an international ATM alliance:  I can use my BOA debt card at any Westpac Bank ATM in Aussi and New Zealand.  The $5 non-BOA ATM fee will be waived and the conversion fee between USD and AUD is 1% of the USD I withdraw (with a max of $1,000 USD per day limit... ).  
• As an alternative to cash, I can use credit cards.  My MasterCard has a 1% foreign transaction fee
• I have a Discover card through my parents... Discover (Diner's Club International in Australia), they have a 0% transaction fee..YAY!

This is what I'll look for :)

Source: http://www.westpac.com.au/ 

Westpac Banks are everywhere, so no worries there..at least in Sydney.  (All the magnifying glasses with +'s inside indicate multiple ATMs in that one area).

Don't know how widely-accepted Diners Club is... but I'll use the Discover Credit card since there is no transaction fee!!:) 

Ok, enough logistics funsearch :)

T-1 week till I leave .... More exciting info to come very soon!!

Europe Bound

Leaving for Paris tomorrow!   The last couple of days have been full of traveling already.

Friday saw me spending the last night with GL and packing.   I'll miss that amazing Lady forever!  Your stories and knowledge and company over the last 7 weeks have really rocked my world.   I've seen your passion to always continue discovering and learning.    I hope your 'window to the world' never gets dull :P   And, of course, to never let anything at all stop you from having an adventure of your own :)

Saturday was an 8 hr drive to Atlanta.  I got my fix of really awesome amazing fireworks at the Stone Mountain laser show.  What a sight!  They were debuting the new 3D - like imaging (way cool in addition to the traditional laser images).  Our luck continued with finding the perfect seats amongst the thousands of people there on the lawn in front of the 'rock'.  The weather was perfect, my favorite company around me, and some delicious fresh baked goods (w/extra protein ;P) from The Bakeshop.  Marilyn and L, the most interesting slumber party in a long while :P  (Creme!!!!)

Sunday I got to see Mom and Dad and Amanda!!!  And Bruce and Abby.  Our beagles apparently continue to be spoiled.  They now have a perch in the house and makes them feel like more of the fam.  Maybe one day I'll be home long enough to take my babe on a walk!  She is so patient.    We have a belated bday dinner of sorts at our mexican restaurant and then I start tearin' up my packing list.  So much to do, so little time!!  3 ounces of this, 8 pairs of this, 2 pairs of shoes, list of addresses, itunes playlists, goggles, camera and charger stuff, yadyy yadyy yadyy.... This morning, I am proud of what comes out of my packing chaos.  I've overtaken the upstairs foyer and you can hardly see the carpet.  I don't want to be generous with my pairs of shoes or +/- anything.  I want exactly what I need.  In the end, I have 13 lbs of gear in a 5 lb backpack = 18 lbs.  Max weight on flight from HK to ATL = 40 lbs for carry-on, leaving me @ 22 lbs capacity.  I'll take it!  I'm happy, too, with the packing strategy.  I think my many hours of playing Gameboy Tetras as a kid are starting to pay off :)  Clothes have been rolled and put in gallon ziploc baggies.  They fit like slender blocks down in my pack and keep their shape nicely.  This also lets me make sure the heaviest things are on the bottom of my bag.  Toiletries and liquids are in smaller bags.  My backpack is pulled tight, and screams compression, efficiency, and big European souvenir capacity :DDD

Monday night and ATL is raining.  Kind of fitting, as it makes me want to run inside.  After supper with friends, a little bit is spent finalizing inter-city flights and accommodations in China.  I'll leave the country tomorrow at peace that pretty much all of our reservations are in order, and that train tickets will be taken care of when reservations open at a week before departures.

I am excited!    I'm going to come back with a totally new perspective to consider and to view the world with.  With these new experiences ahead of me, I feel so much potential to learn and grow.   I have SUch such wonderful people around me.  Celine, Luke, and Lawrence, as well as all the family and friends we're staying with, I'm so grateful for your generosity and the opportunity to travel and adventure with you.

Relaxed due to our preparation, Relieved that everything has gone smoothly so far and that we're all healthy, and Ready for the Real adventure to begin :D

till my next post from a European computer (!!)
xoxo hlh

PS - If you want to follow:  Link to Europe Itinerary

Call Me

Against my every intention, I am now addicted to the internet.  I subconsciously turn off my alarm (on my iPhone) in the morning and know immediately how to dress for the weather outside, am informed of the major news events, and have considered the day's hottest Groupon/Living Social/ Scoutmob deal.  I've 'taken out the trash' in my email and answered any late night texts ... all before even getting out of bed.   International data plans however, will quickly break this habit.  Cold turkey.

My cell service is AT&T and my phone an iPhone.  Here's the skinny on what things look like for taking your cell and data habit overseas.  (All this and more can be found on AT&T's international travel website.

Calling:  Calling overseas will be more expensive, period.  To get a 'discounted' calling rate, I'm signing up for the World Traveler Plan for $5/month.  This will save an average of $0.40 per minute on international calls.  It will quickly pay for itself if I do end up calling while traveling.  Time will be money:  I'm looking at $0.99 per minute for calls outbound anywhere in Europe, and $1.99 per minute in HK and China.  

Data:  Way expensive.  I think it would cost something like 2 dollars to open 1 email....  mmm, not happening.  So, I'll turn off the 'data roaming'  setting on my iPhone which will not pick up any data via the AT&T network.  And therefore, not charge me any extra data fees.  When in wi-fi hotspots, I'll still be able to connect and use the wireless internet.   Yay!  From what I understand, this should not be a problem in most of Europe and at least the big cities in China.

Texting:  For $10/mo I will get 50 international texts.  This will be used to communicate locations and plans with Celine once I land in Paris and Luke and Lawrence once I'm headed to China.  Incoming texts will be billed to my regular texting plan (unlimited).    

Monies of the World

Money makes the world go 'round.  And... in the countries I'll be traveling, it's all different!

France & Italy:   Euros

England:             Pounds

China:                 Yuan
Hong Kong:       Hong Kong Dollar

I will take some 'cash' in all 4 to start my trip off.  Regions Bank charges me a flat fee of $5 for the whole currency exchange transaction.  All advice points to using cash wherever possible to avoid bad exchange rates and service fees for conversions.   If need be, I will be able to use my debit card to withdraw cash, paying a service fee of $2-$5 dollars per transaction and subject to whatever the current exchange rate is.  All this cash will be safely tucked away in my money belt, a belt with a pouch for money, passport, and other cards and valuables, that you tuck underneath your shorts/pants.  I hope it's worth it, and the awkward feeling of something around my waist like that could tempt me to buy more presents! (Therefore lightening the cash load :P)