Oh the bay-bie! (Taken with Instagram)
09.17.12 ♥ 0
Sneaky sunrise pic from the most easterly point in Aus earlier this week. #nswgetaways #seeaustralia (Taken with Instagram)
Beautiful evening #Sydney ! #sydneyeveningphoto (Taken with Instagram at Hyde Park Fountain)
the little homies came back in numbers! #daydreamisland #cockatoo #homies #iphoneography (Taken with instagram)
We’re all aware of the pros of being able to work remotely: being more connected to the audience outside of the office, most the things Peter Shankman says here, etc. Though I love the false sense of importance I feel after replying to an email from an exotic locale, here are the main melodramas that have been getting me down after relocating.
1. Timezones. Not going to lie, timezones are one of many reasons this application is late. While working in California, I had two other timezones to compute: Toronto’s and Sao Paulo’s.
Visitor 2:
Audrey Marshall: Los Angeles, California
About 4 years ago, Audrey wanted to go hang gliding. Perhaps the perfect aerodynamic hobby: less boring than a hot air balloon, but not as death defying as skydiving. For her birthday, I gave her a “coupon” to be redeemed for a hang gliding trip in one of three places:
1. near Santa Barbara, CA
2. Hawaii
3. Stanwell Park, NSW
She forgot to cash it in.
Now, she has a second chance.
An ideal NSW day with Audrey would include her cashing in this birthday gift at the Stanwell Park location. Afterward, we would continue our tour down the south coast where she would visit her half-sister, nieces, and nephews in Wollongong.
For more ideas on what she wants to do after we finish hang gliding, Audrey is going to have to check out Destination NSW’s page on the South Coast. With 30 national parks and plenty of beaches in the area, I’m thinking wildlife spotting and kite flying are probably in the cards (“They’re jumping across the road!”).
Before I left work at Tourism Australia, I was told I have a KPI of getting ten people to visit Australia before April 2013. I’m serious about accomplishing this goal, and have started doing everything I can to get my amigo’s travel plans moving forward.
Visitor 1
Nik Sambourskiy: Atlanta, Georgia.
Nik has an unhealthy obsession with Delta Airlines and a healthy frequent flyer account with them (as if anyone in ATL has a choice). Most of these points spawn from airline apologies when his Monday morning flights are delayed as he tries to get to work. Luckily, Nik and his miles can now easily fly from Atlanta to Sydney on either the mothership or Virgin Australia .
The pressure is on to plan Nik’s perfect visit because he’s recently been to South Africa, and I need to prove that Australia is cooler. In an ideal world, Nik’s adventure would begin on a seaplane flight through the Whitsundays, followed by a camping safari in Kakadu, and end swimming with Whale Sharks. I bought a lottery ticket last week, but for now he’s going to have to choose one of the above.
Back in Sydney, the perfect visit might be a bit more simple… beach days, Blue Mountains, and those sunset bats I was talking about earlier.
Additionally, Nik took a fairly successful intro surfing lesson in Los Angeles last summer. Then he told one of my Australian friends that he “knew all he needed to know” about surfing. As a result, I would like to challenge him to rent a board and and work his magic at Bondi or Manly as I relax on the beach. I’ll buy him a beer afterward, not to worry.
(photo- Stuart Gibson: http://www.stugibson.net/)
