Wed 2nd of September 2009 Sydney to Los Angeles to San Diego

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Wed 2nd of September 2009 Sydney to Los Angeles to San Diego

The big-bellied beast with the small round legs has lumbered of the tarmac at Kingsford Smith airport and the ding of 10,000 feet tells me it is time to bring this tale to a close. We are burning a gallon of fuel a second and it just occurred to me that this piece of narrative is worth about 2,700 gallons, or close to the typical lifetime mileage equivalent of a car, an American car anyway. Is this relevant? Not in the least, but I love the statistics that go with flying, it still seems to make it such a bold adventure. Unfortunately this adventure will end in about twelve hours so it is time to close. For those who were kind enough to read earlier narratives I promised to end with the things I should take home from the trip. I have chosen to call this Ten Simple Lessons from a Motorcycle Trip Around the Australian Outback and they are in some kind of descending order of priority:

1. Go back and do it again (or something equally adventurous) and keep a travel blog about it.
2. Appreciate what you have left behind and the impact it has on loved ones (I realize this contradicts 1, but I have said many times this is a trip of contradictions).
3. In keeping with 2, pay more attention to people, including family, and less attention to email.
4. Recognize that old friends are forever and be very thankful you have them.
5. Take time for self-enrichment outside of work.
6. Recognize that the world is still a beautiful place.
7. Learn from the Australian approach to interacting with people.
8. Spend less time reading email and more time reading scientific papers.
9. Get a BMW touring bike.
10. Do not fret that you never finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

There you have it. Do these deliberations do anyone, including myself any good? Probably not, they are just the current form of keeping a travel journal, at least the parts you are prepared to share. Have I looked back on travel journals I have kept in the past? Not really, well not in any detail anyway. There is too much to consider going forward to look back, but maybe one day. In the end it has simply been fulfilling a creative urge on a daily basis that in turn brings a sense of contentment. And in the end rule zero is really about bringing a sense of contentment to ones life and those around you. So there you have it.

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