Back in the Land Down Under

So despite the dating of this post, we have in fact been back in Melbourne for nearly a month now.  Lydia and I both had a great time back in the States seeing family and friends, and enjoying the holidays.  Most of my break was spent at home with family, seeing old friends, drinking my favorite American beers (Terrapin, Dogfish Head, Allagash), and poking around Roswell, Atlanta, and Athens.  To the friends that I didn't have an opportunity to see (you know who you are...), I'm sorry we weren't able to get together this time around, but I promise next time we'll make it happen!

Despite our initial struggle with scheduling, we (or rather, Lydia) managed to work it out so she could fly down to Atlanta for a few days so we could see each other over our break and spend New Year's Eve together.  How ironic it would have been that we live together in Melbourne 50 weeks out of the year, but don't get to see each other while in the States.

As quickly as the break came upon us, it was just as soon over- I flew back to Melbourne on New Year's Day (so I arrived on the 3rd) and Lydia had a few additional days back in Virginia with her family.  The trek back was not an easy one- aside from the emotional difficulty of leaving friends and family not knowing the next time I'll return, logistically it was challenging as I had my bike, my bass, and a suitcase to get from Atlanta to Melbourne, with only two hands.  Long story short, I learned a few important travel lessons:

1. TSA agents do not care that your luggage is fragile.  In fact, the mere appearance of "fragile" stickers encourage them to treat your valuable possessions even more carelessly and with an air of utter indifference than if the stickers were not visible
2. Watching the NFL playoffs from a plane seat without a beer in hand is much less fun than watching the game in the comfort of your own home
3. The Delta Lounge at LAX has self-serve alcohol, which would be a nice perk, had you not just sworn off all alcohol until the end of the month
4. As tempting as it is, you can't pet the Australian customs dogs
5. Delta Lounge passes apply to Virgin Airlines lounges, even without a proper Delta ticket
6. Cost of shipping a bike, bass guitar, and a full-size suitcase half-way across the world from Atlanta to Sydney: $150
7. Cost of shipping a bike, bass guitar, and a full-size suitcase from Sydney to Melbourne: $460

All told, the 32-hour journey back to Melbourne went well with no major hiccups.  I arrived home, dropped my luggage, and headed straight out to the park with the soccer ball to kick it around with my buddy Nick, to enjoy the nice summer weather and appreciate being liberated from the confines of airplane seats and airports.