Thursday, June 30, 2011

Dear couchsurfing.com

Because of you I am now an alcoholic

Signed, the surfer, the host, the spirit.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

new wheels.

Ok so I love couchsurfing virgins but weird people are my favourite. Just that little bit out of the norm which makes them slightly kooky but still functional where you don’t really know what is going to come out of their mouths next.
Philipp my German couchsurfer is one of those, sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head.

We were at the hospital recently and he had brought his guitar which needed tuning he informed me that he was going to see if a doctor could look at it and make it well.

This morning he walked through our front gate about 7am pushing a children’s doll pram.
“Look at my new wheels” he says
“I got a ride to work today so I will park it here”
Then leaves the pram in our driveway and walks off.
I think it belongs to our next door neighbours.. I hope they don’t miss their pram and see it in our driveway!

Monday, June 27, 2011

ritual sacrifice anyone?

I have two nice Israeli boys couchsurfing with me right now

They arrived when I was playing video games online so I was sort of half listening as my sister chatted to them in the living room.

All of a sudden I hear from my sister

"AMANDA LOVES VIRGINS"

o.O she was talking about couchsurfing virgins I promise.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

my jeep


This time last year I was in Colorado staying in a beautiful house in Denver with the ever amazing Zachariah completing the final touches of my return home.
Trying to fit my entire life into two suitcases wincing as I had to leave behind some treasured items that had just gotten me through over two years abroad. An entire collection of my life.

And don't let me forget my Jeep and everything we went through together. Sleeping in the boot because I was camping in bear country alone and decided to get stoned by the fire and assumed everything was a bear that wanted to eat me. Driving 14 hours straight from Salt Lake City to Seattle. Outrunning a hurricane coming into Florida as I made my way to New Orleans. Picking up strange hitchikers in Nova Scotia. Breaking down in the middle of winter just outside of some small town in Alberta only to make it home with a small can of WD40. My Jeep who I drove back and forth across the USA with, my one solid thing in my life for a year and a half when my boyfriend left me and I had no fixed home. Who took me up to the ski hills every day and STILL started on the days of minus 40. Crossing the mexican border and driving up onto a beach where we camped for three days. Being searched countless times at the USA border, even once with drug dogs. Hitting a car in Chicago because my paralell parking wasn't good enough for big cities. Driving up the wrong way in a one way street in Quebec City. Taking on New York City in rush hour traffic! Getting a misdemonour in Utah, and a warning from a cute cop in Texas. Countless parking tickets across the country. Being pulled over for my brake lights in California whilst an ounce of weed sat in the glove box making the entire car smell like weed only to have the policeman wave me on my way. Flying off the road in Dawson Creek British Columbia when the snow had melted and sucked us in.



Outrunning caribou, moose, bison on the way to Alaska. Sliding through stop signs as the wheels locked up on the ice. Somehow fitting much more than the car could carry. Overheating in a huge traffic jam on the way to Niagra falls on a 40C day. Providing music at a cabin in Ontario then running out of battary and being jump started. Driving over 30,000km in three different countries, 30 US states, 7 Canadian provinces. Getting lost in Mexico. Crawling along at 20km/h in huge blizzards. Breaking in when we locked TWO sets of keys in the car, continuously getting in the drivers seat whilst drunk because I thought it was really the passangers seat. Being trapped on my first USA freeway in Nebraska for an hour. Becoming a highly agressive city driver who conquered some of the biggest cities in the world.

Yes my Jeep I miss you and the adventures we had. I hope whereever you are now is a happy place for you.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

the best kind of people.

You ever get that feeling when you open the closet and just don’t know what to wear?

Yea me either. Although for me dressed up is a nice pair of jeans, maybe some runners with a little pink in them. If I ever spend longer then five minutes choosing an outfit its probably because I’m drunk.

Choosing the best surfer however is a much lengthier process.

But still I find myself unsure exactly why I choose this person over that person and often I’ll sit there meticulously pouring over profiles trying to find just the “right” person to fit into my household. And yea obviously the odd bad one slips through the cracks just like that dress that makes you look fat even though you spent an hour choosing it.

Ok in my case jeans.

I have come to the conclusion that I am an overly insecure person. I worry all the time when I make huge mistakes that could ruin somebodies else’s adventure. Which is interesting because personally I can have an amazing time doing anything and often some of my worst nights are remembered as some of the best.

Getting the 4WD stuck was one of those moments, all I could think of was the dread that I had in a sense ruined the adventures of the night by a stupid mistake. Yet the people most affected a Spanish guy & a French girl embraced it themselves and even wrote a reference on my wall stating it as a “beautiful experience”

And you know what I also had a German guy Dominik who I love dearly in my non-creepy platonic way and eagerly await his return to Darwin for more madcap adventures. We went 4Wding to find some snakes which I unfortunately couldn’t find and ended up in a situation where I nearly rolled the 4WD. Instead of freaking out at me for nearly killing everyone (or at least mildly injuring us) he instead turned it into something positive and something he will remember forever.

These are the special people the ones that enjoy the scenery even when they have to take the detour. These are my favourite kind of people and are always welcome at my house.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

KakaBLOODY DO!

I think I’ve mentioned it before but Darwin has the most amazing weather right now and this weekend was no exception, it also turned out the Queen’s Birthday was on which meant an extra day off and what better to do with a day off but head out bush for a weekend of drunken antics. Bringing the old lady another year with style! And this weekend had no shortage of antics some good some bad but in the end all rolled into one EPIC weekend.

We hit up Kakadu National Park which is one of the most famous parks in Australia and is bigger in size than Germany. Most of the park is still closed because of the rivers being too high but Gunlom falls (or to the locals the original name of UDP) had just opened the week before.



Gunlom features in Crocodile Dundee he spears a barramundi in it and they swim. There are no estuarine crocodiles and it has a nice sandy beach. Of course it being the only place open in Kakadu meant the camp grounds were going to be packed so Heather, My German Surfer Philipp, My USA surfer Kristion & I bundled into the car for a 5am departure. Gunlom is a long 3.5 hour drive from Darwin and we still had to refuel and get ice. I was running on pure adrenalin having been so excited the night before (and slightly stressed out that I would forget something important) and not slept a wink. Luckily Heather was driving.





Reaching Gunlom we were dismayed to find it already full! Damn tourists.. We drove around looking for the perfect spot considering there was 15+ of us we needed to find one to fit us all in, good shade, open firepit, table & preferably some distance from families to avoid being yelled at later. We did find the perfect spot only to find it was reserved for tour groups only. Philipp was adamant that we set up anyway but I was sceptical figuring what if we got kicked out at 4pm and then we would definitely not have anywhere to camp! However as I walked around I found a guy leaving and sprinted to heather to bring the car over and we just pulled in and started pulling shit out to have two people walk up and ask us “are you using this spot” and I nodded and they were on their way.


Victory was ours! And with some heated discussion which involved my snoring (which is bullshit I tell you) best shade, and whether or not a road went through the campsite we set up our tents. After taking over the entire area with three tents we looked a little selfish but I was tired and rolled out a mattress to attempt to pass out.



Not really happening we just ended up having snowboarding lessons on the red dirt and cracking open the beers.

Eventually the rest of the posse rolled in at scattered times and beverages all round. Tents were erected and it started to look like a proper campsite – sans wood.



Missing Simon my crazy wood hunting buddy I dragged Mick out, John was driving and Brian, Tuck, Kristion hung onto the back for dear life.



We collected a large amount of wood that would take normal people an entire weekend to get through and would probably last us all of two hours especially if Simon showed up. I managed to somehow carry a huge log (well huge by my standards) but stumbled under its weight and probably being drunk didn’t help and ended up running straight into a tree smashing my finger and slicing a good chunk of skin off. Oh it was already proving to be an epic trip. I attempted to wash the dirt out but it was so painful I just chucked a little disinfectant on it and Carmen gave me a super band-aid which stayed on for the entire weekend.

After the wood hunting and more alcohol we decided it was time to climb to the top of the waterfall to watch the sunset. Beers were packed in and we began the hike. I was walking with Carmen & Sharon who decided to stop at the look-out but I kept going and headed up to the other side where the rest of our posse was staked out on a rock. John handed me the alcohol which in turn overbalanced me again because I was so drunk climbing up rocks and had a beer in one hand.. then I fell over in slow motion still managing to hold onto the beer but cutting up both my knees and my elbow in the process. A bit numb I ignored the pain and stumbled over to the rock where about 10 of us sat and watched the sun set over Kakadu.










Absolutely beautiful.
As soon as it set some of the group fled trying to reach the bottom before darkness overcame us as it turned out I was the only one smart enough to bring a torch. Did I mention that I was also the drunkest of everyone at about 10 beers in? I stayed up a little longer but then decided to make the walk down I ended up with John & Brian one on either side as I stumbled my way in the dark. Since John was leading I gave him the torch but rather than help the situation he basically just pointed the torch down so he could see and Brian and I were left stumbling in the dark. Miraculously I didn’t fall and still had a beer in hand.

We arrived back at camp to find Ryan & Renee had shown up. Food hadn’t been started so I got everyone moving but I was so drunk I basically yelled and abused everyone. The hamburgers were frozen solid still but Heather and Alice held them near the fire to defrost them quickly. The hamburgers were awesome as always and quickly Carmen volunteered her dishwashing services. Everyone really came together to help and it was great to see.

About 8pm we suddenly saw Simon & George who had apparently been looking for us for an hour and a half and were about to give up and go sleep in the pre made tour group tents. Bringing over their trailer the entire crew was together again!

There was Heather who is my little sister, Philipp my German surfer, Kristion surfer from San Diego, Alice surfer from France, My closest friends I’ve had for years Mick, John, Carmen, Simon. Other awesome people: Brian who I’ve known since I was barely 19 and befriended because I was jealous of his counterstrike skills, James, Tucker & his wife Sharon both from my highschool days, Beth micks girlfriend, George who I met through my ex Jack years ago, James same deal but he also dated my sister for five years, Ryan and Renee, Ryan I just started to hang out with last year and Renee his new girlfriend and I had just met.

I ended up smoking a pipe which proved to be my undoing and since I was already exhausted from no sleep slunk away into the darkness and collapsed comfortably on my mattress. For anyone who has seen my camping I am a little bit of a luxurious sleeper with about four pillows, doona(comforter) and cosy mattress. I was then informed by Kristion who was my tent partner the next morning that whilst I did snore a little it was really just heavy breather and could have had a lot to do with being overly stoned, drunk & tired.

I woke up in pain, both my knees were sore, my finger throbbed, my head was killing me I remembered that I hadn’t drunk any water the day before. I stumbled out into the cold harsh light of day and got straight into the fluids. As 9:30 am rolls by breakfast of bacon & egg jaffas were in full swing the majority of people had stumbled into the open and beers were already being cracked. Yep we were camping. At about 11am we made the mission up to the top for some swimming which turned out to be horrendously cold but I was determined and suffered through it in my superman hashy.



We hung out for a few hours enjoying the natural beauty of Gunlom falls and eventually on exit decided to plank.




Stumbling back down to the bottom it was now 1pm so lunch got started up and a production line of Tomato & Ham jaffas began with a simple salad of cucumber and lettuce. Brian & Simon manned the fire whilst a very drunk Amanda and a helpful Carmen produced the product. Debating between wood hunting and cards we ended up in a vicious game of O’Hell which saw me losing for the first time ever. I had unfortunately told my game-winning strategy “its easier to lose then win” and it saw a bunch of first timers pull ahead. But it was one of the closest games I have ever seen with no clear winners until right at the end.




After the game it was time to collect wood since we had burned through our entire supply the night before. Two trailers went out this time one just to carry all the people when we filled up one with wood. It was a hugely successful mission despite several viewings of Micks butt.

Then things became blurry for me and I decided that I needed to go fall asleep for a few hours and asked everyone to wake me up. When I finally roused it was dark, there was no food left and I was pissed. Sharon tried to sweeten the deal saying that she groped my breasts in my sleep and I told her to fuck off I was sleeping (of which I had no recollection saying) and then Sharon told Tucker he should also molest me which he basically also thought was a great idea. So now I know who not to pass out around for fear of exploitation!!

Philipp showed up around now the last we had heard he was going to climb the 50m+ high waterfall and become another German statistic. Kristion had ran into him at the top and they had then gone exploring but had separated at some point.

After half an hour the anger of being left out of the food subsided and I cheered up for a happy time around the fire which included the ever popular “I never” drinking game where I learnt quite a few people had fornicated on TOP of a car. (remind me to try that next time) Philipp pulled out the guitar and we danced around the fire singing Hey, What’s going on at the top of our lungs.



Once again it reached about 12:30 and I crawled back into my bed and fell into a deep sleep only to be woken up before sunrise to a stupid bird. We all packed up and were out on the road by 11am. Another amazing weekend.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

When I'm down, the memories bring me back.

Negativity happens to the best of us, even me occasionally. Today I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something.. I felt flat. I was trying to determine what was wrong why I felt so sad and I couldn't pinpoint it. I wanted to talk to someone but there was no one to talk to and I didn't even know what I wanted to talk about. I needed to express myself somehow so I guess writing it down always helps.

But the truth is when I do end up in a sad mood all I need to do is read through my Couchsurfing referances and smile at all the beautiful things people say & think about me and it brings me back to the awesome times we had together and I smile, just remembering how lucky I was to meet this person.

So I'm going to leave a few of my favourites and you can see why they make me happy again.

From YoungKey Chung
Troy, United States
Positive

What can I say about Amanda? She is definitely one of the most exhilirating, passionate, and interesting people I have met in my entire life. From the moment I walked through the gates into her warm home, I knew that couchsurfing with her was going to be an adventure. Even though she had several couchsurfers with her, she took the time to get to know each person, and I really admire her for that. BUT, what really impressed me was the fact that she definitely knows how to party and make the most out of every situation. For example getting a 4WD stuck in the mud. Some other incredible Amanda feats include-running for miles in the pitch dark in ditch roads, outrunning poisonous snakes, and getting some loving from huge spiders. PS - Amanda's family is simply incredible. Heather, Sandra, Mara, and her Dad (who came to rescue the 4WD), are so generous and I am forever grateful to them for their warm, Aussie hospitality. Hope to see you in the US or anywhere our paths might cross again

From Joe Ampe
Phoenix, United States
Positive

Spontaneous expression of life is the only way i can think of describing Amanda. we went offroading on a whim which somehow sounded like a amazing adventure so skipped work. Met up a couple days later for Drinks... yeah we'll be back around 10... 130am rolling in and i wouldnt change it for the world. She really brings out the best in the people around her. Makes everyone feel welcome. I think she has mastered all aspects of this couch surfing thing. I can only hope to one day visit her side of the World. If you get the chance meet her, you will not forget it!

From Hannes Hosp
Kufstein, Austria
Positive

People like Amanda make Couchsurfing exist, she is the most experienced host I have ever met and she can tell great stories about her beeing a Couchsurfer in Canada. I couldn't believe how much she had actually done for all her guests until I saw her pictures and videos from all the trips she organized with her guests!
She made my stay absolutley perfect, I mean who would mind waking up to the smell of homemade pancakes in the morning! But also the evenings we spent together with a nice BBQ together with her very friendly family can't be described in words.
Amanda, you are definetely making the world a better place, can't wait to meet up again for the big reunion with all your surfers!


From Dominik Scherer
Alfter, Germany
Positive

I couldn't imagine a better first-time couchsurfing host than Amanda! From the moment I arrived at her place, I felt at home and welcomed into her family. I had great conversations with all family members and there are uncountable incredible memories of my stay: our wicked camping trip to Surprise Creek, the 4WD ride through a bushfire, where we almost rolled over, and taking Amanda's snake to the airport. Without Amanda, Darwin would've been just a side note of my Australia trip.

If you're afraid of adventures, don't stay with Amanda. But if you're not, you'll have an unforgettable experience!


From JONNY B
Sydney, Australia

Positive
i'll keep this short because whatever i type here will not begin to do Amanda justice. she and her family are absolutely amazing! i could not have asked for a better experience or friend. i miss them already, and can't wait to go back!



From Jordan Thiebault
Troyes, France
Positive

How to describe this experience? When I arrived, I didn't even have time to drop off my backpack that we were already in a 4WD on the way to catch some snakes. I thought that it was a kind of welcoming tradition in Northern Territory. With Amanda, I met a sister and a friend at the same time. We had so many good parties full of good memories (Fiesta de la Luna, Beer Can Regatta, Surprise Creek, VIC, the amazing Throb and so many other good things). I want to tell her 1000 thanks for that. She showed me with passion the real face of Darwin. She also offered me the possibility to continue my travel around Australia. She is this kind of person who will take care of everybody. She is AWESOME. Amanda, I'm really happy to have been a part of your family during the last 3 months. I think that this experience was more than just a Couch-Surfing meeting and I loved it. Lot of kisses for everybody and see you in France for our snowboarding trip or what ever you want.
See you Sister


From Flavia Messina
Monza, Italy
Positive

She made my first experience in Cs perfect:
she spent a lot of time with me and my friends, she s really openminded and so is her family, her mum is adorable and her sister is so stylish!
she shared with us all her passions and her secrect places around, she took us snakes hunting at night time, rave party and dancing nights and we all had a GREAT & unique time, she organized Cs meetings, parties and BBQ for all hosts she had in the house and made everyone feel really comfortable and happy.
She is so so cool and so so good with everyone, she cooked for us and ate with us all the times she could, i think she is the best you can wish to have :) I had a great time and just because she made everything perfect and did always her best to make us all feel as if we were at home!
im so grateful to her and her family, they are awsome!! :)
Grazie!!!!!!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Don't pay it back - Pay it forward.

I Hate Hospitals.

Its full of sick & crazy people who stare at you in desperation. There are needles, blood & whatever that weird goo was everywhere. I try to avoid hospitals at all costs. You would think someone as clumsy as me would be in hospital all the time. Nope. Somehow all my injuries remain superficial. And actually you would also assume that someone as clumsy as me on a snowboard is a recipe for disastor. Its funny then that Heather breaks her wrist and all I walk away with is bruised ribs. Although when I did do that double black (and almost died in fright about how steep it was) I fell really badly over a few snow drifts causing my ankles to jar. That could have been two broken ankles easy.

Enough about snowboarding I'm getting all whimsical about the snow again.

Back to the Hospital.

I went last night to visit my friend who had had a pretty nasty bike accident in Bali. He was supposed to be flying back to Canada.. today. He doesn't really know anyone in Darwin but me and one other guy who is stuck in Singapore right now. So he is kind of alone in a hospital miles away from his family & friends. It sucks because obviously I don't have a lot of time to visit him but I know if I was stuck in a hospital in another country for weeks on end I would relish any company I was given. But how do you find people to visit you when you don't know anyone? I mean who is really going to give up their time to visit someone in hospital? Be aware that while I get along really well with him we have only known each other about a month although in that month I think we connected as friends pretty strong.

So I'm hoping to get back there on Thursday bringing Philipp and his guitar and Alice with her.. french? to keep the morale up. His knee & ankle are broken so he can't move at all he is really confined to the bed.

The idea of a better world really rings true in this scenario it reminds me of Thomas my swiss couch surfer. He gave up an entire day to help a 90yr old woman who had rolled her trailer just outside of Darwin. He helped clean the trailer which was full of rotting food and drove her around all day running errands. I would have loved to help her but as I working I was unable. He didn't ask for anything in return he just helped out of the goodness of who he was. And I know he was frustrated by the end of it but he never let this lady know whoose spirits were already crushed a little from the accident.

People like that are few and far between but the spirit of couchsurfing is making it easier to find them. I like to think that by me keeping my friend's morale up while he is stuck in hospital somewhere in the future he will boost the morale of someone else in need. And this, makes me happy.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

One Amazing Thing I've Seen or Done: ask me about Mexico.

In Mexico, I did everything they told me not to do. 2011 Easter weekend.

To get to Mexico I first had to find a ride as our rental car wasn’t insured for cross country travel. Not hard I was lucky to hitch with a girl & a guy (Kimberly & matt) both living in Arizona, both keen couch surfers. It started off great Simon & I were an hour late and I was horribly drunk. The girl was already mad at us. We quickly packed which is never smart when you’re drunk. Then I slept in my drunken stupor the whole way from Phoenix to Puerto Penasco, as we arrived in Mexico at 11pm with nowhere to sleep. We tried to find our friends but it was Easter Weekend and apparently some crazy Mexican holiday! We ended up knee deep in Mexicans in some random part of town. A cerveza later and shooted off to find a hotel. 1am comes past and we get the LAST room in this shady hotel. Thank god I brought my ear plugs because Mexicans party hard!

The next day, Saturday we went down to the beach to swim. About lunchtime Simon & I started to drink at The Reef. A nice bar situated right on the beach, not long after that my other friends who we had been looking for the night before showed up randomly and we drank some more. I saw this guy moving back & forth and covering himself in sand and it got me wondering what he was doing so I went over to ask him but he couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Spanish. So he introduced me to his friends and they asked me if I liked to smoke weed to which I said sure, next thing I am being handed a whole bunch of marijuana in the middle of the beach. Of which Simon caught the entire thing on camera. I ask them how much and they told me nothing so we fist bumped and away I went. Leaving the beach at around 6pm we got back to the hotel to change then headed over to our friends condo. Kimberly and I decided we were hungry so we went off to find some nice food and it became apparent Simon was incredibly drunk. Saving his wallet & phone from certain doom and babysitting him the rest of the time waiting for our food we dragged him back to the hotel and told him to eat and go to bed.

Then Kimberley, Matt, Larry & I all went out to a club for some dancing and more drinking. Around 2:30am I decided Simon was probably ready to be woken up to come party some more with me however I arrived to a complete bombshell of an apartment and Simon in the shower. He emerged in a fury “Fucking Mexicans” then I noticed the Spanish writing all over him and his beautiful newly painted finger & toenails. Stifling giggles I asked him what was wrong only to discover that after I had sent him to bed he had left the hotel room, leaving the door unlocked with my passport and everything right there and somehow ended two floors up passed out in some random persons room. They had come in to find him passed out drawn all over him and then woken him up to tell him to get out or they were calling security. Now I was in fits of laughter and tried to calm him down and see the funny side I mean technically it was HIS fault. Anyway all part of the Mexican experience right! I managed to get him calm and then decided he was still too drunk to party so headed off back to the club where everyone had gone… Leaving that club I ran into Jon who came with me on a mission to find Larry involving three more clubs including a Mexican strip club. I went into one club for a bathroom break and came out to find Jon now missing.
All alone and ready to party at 3am I decided to try and find this “rave” I had heard rumour of. So I’m walking down the street a beer in my hand and slowly but surely the street is getting darker and emptier as I leave the clubs behind. Deciding walking down the street at 3am drunk in Mexico was probably not the smartest idea I decided I might as well go back to the hotel. It was then I walked passed a ute with about 20 mexicans in and around. Shrugging my shoulders I walked over to them pulled the weed I had been given earlier out of my pocket and asked them in pathetic Spanish to roll me a joint. They invited me to party with them so I climbed up on the back of the ute and for an hour we smoked and drank in the streets. One of the guys gave me a little party upper and says “well we are all going back to our campsite to party more do you want to come with”

Oh… BEST IDEA EVER??

Did I mention I was drunk, stoned…etc.

At least I had some brains I went back to the hotel and woke up Simon and dragged him out he was almost sober and it meant I wasn’t going to die alone in some Mexican room. We went back to their campsite and I drank and smoked even more before realising I was tired. So I did what I always do and found a comfortable spot to pass out which this time was a tent curled up and slept. When I awoke it was hot, I was surrounded by five passed out Mexicans… I opened my eyes and crawled out into the daylight. Shit. Everyone was passed out. I was on a beach about 10km AT LEAST from my hotel. Simon was asleep on a chair snoring. I did what any sane person would do.. I stumbled out onto the road and began to hitchhike my way back to civilisation.
20 minutes later, two non-speaking rides and maybe 3km only down the track I was tired, dehydrated and frustrated. I was desperate…. Then my knights in shining armour appeared. The guys that had taken me to the party in the first place. They picked me up and took me back to the campsite to get Simon. Then they all got out of the car and started smoking a joint.

I insisted I needed to get back to the hotel and well I was at least 3km CLOSER before they had picked me up. Realising my frustration they agreed to give me a ride back. I forced a crazily drunk Simon into the back of the ute and we went on our way. Me sitting in the front conversing in Spanish with two Mexican boys. They dropped me off at the hotel front door and gave me a hug & a joint (which Simon later decided to eat) and they were off riding into the sunset.

And that was the end of Mexico.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Just when you thought the injuries were beginning to fade...

I think I should make a scrapbook of the many injuries I sustain from clumsy, and slightly erratic behavior.

This weekend involves painful cuts on the palms of my hands when I caught a long neck turtle in the river and the bastard scratched me with his feet. Cuts on my feet from walking on the rocks barefoot at the same river since I forgot my sandals.

Oh yea and I just walked into the corner of my bed, but I do that all the time.

Last weekend was the rolled ankle from falling in a ditch, huge nasty bruises from the esky getting in my way, grazes on my back when I went flying out of the water slide and slid across the concrete.

Its really not a normal day if I don't hurt myself somehow.

A simple game of volleyball turns evil when John slices my lip with his girly nails. A simple "lets ride down the rapids with nothing but a few lilos" suddenly shines through as the stupid plan it always was when I am wrenched over a waterfall banging every part of my body so hard I am black & blue, A motorbike ride where I fly over the handles cracking my collar and landing with the bike on my ankle which sports a beautiful black lump for weeks.

If there is a ditch, I'll probably fall in it. A table, I'll likely run into it. Some kind of animal, it will probably bite me.

Still doesn't stop me from trying.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I just can’t do broke & destitute

Today is Thursday, that means its my first full pay check in over six weeks, since I took so much leave without pay. It means finally I can stretch the money to cover the car loan, rent, food & extra for repaying my many travel debts. The credit card is finally up to 0$.

Its been tough the last few weeks, mostly because as a CS Host I find myself being generous outside my means & also because I am a bit of an alcoholic. I took a bunch of people out camping last week, as written about in the last post. I brought a case of beer that everyone drank, some weed everyone smoked & I paid nearly $85 in fuel costs. For someone with no money it burnt but I never asked for anything in return. So imagine my surprise when Monday came around and Philipp my amazing german surfer (can he never leave?) handed me $60 Alice (can I keep her to) & He had collected from four of my surfers.

I admit my heart flipped a little to think of the kindness in these people who knew I was struggling financially due to over extensive holidays. But anyway thank god for that pay check I can’t wait to be back in the positive again. I missed being comfortable. I need to start saving for my next trip away and stop paying for everyone elses holidays.