Game number 5 comes to us from beautiful San Diego California, and featured a Memorial Day matchup between the local San Diego Padres and their cross country National League rivals the Miami Marlins (shout out Marlins Man).

Following an awesome few days in Los Angeles with both old and new friends (shout out everyone), I made my way down the 405 & I-5 to meet with another old friend Kendal Brown and her fiancé Lee. The two of them are based in what is one of my favourite cities, Pacific Beach, located about 20 minutes North of Downtown San Diego.

Pacific Beach has provided me with some awesome memories over the years (today being one), however it will always be tough the beat the 2011 experience in this hostel with Sid, when I peed my mattress (shocking from me I know), and simply switched it with another bed that was empty.

Apologies for both that tangent and visual – here’s a shot of the pier.

Arriving about 2 hours before the game, I caught up with Kendal and met Lee for the first time – a great dude! Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t feeling up to the game so decided to hangout at the house whilst Kendal and I went Downtown (more specifically the “Gaslamp District”) to the Padres home stadium “Petco Park”.

No sooner had we found our seats and finished the national anthem, the visiting Miami Marlins began to build hits and runs and before we knew it, the hometown team was down 4-0 after the first.

Whilst the Padres would claw one back in the second from a solo Home Run to get the crowd back into the game, it was quickly cancelled out by another Marlins run in the third. Those pesky fish from Florida would ultimately add another 2 runs in the 9^th that proved to be the final nails in an already lowering coffin (despite one more Padres run in the ninth), ultimately beating the home town Padres 7-2.

Although it was a long day at the office for the home team and their fans, being the city of San Diego, you only have to look up at the clear skies above and the beautiful surrounds to instantly remember it’s not that bad! We were also entertained by exciting Memorial Day activities like tributes to the troops, a moment of silence (literally one moment) and the absolute highlight of the day – BABY RACING! Where it’s child vs child, parents screaming to get them to crawl forward and none of it really made any sense (they kind of just stay in the crawling position for a few minutes before one just zoomed into its parents arms – I’m sure some of the boys back home would find a way to handicap and bet on it still).

Following the game, Kendal and I jumped on “Bird Scooters” (think those annoying bikes scattered around Sydney except these are actually really cool electric scooters), and went for a cruise around the neighbourhood to end a highly memorable Memorial Day weekend!

We even bumped into local celebrity “Slomo” who apparently was a famous surgeon that decided to quit his job and simply rollerblade around Pacific Beach all day (that must have been a tough conversation with his parents – and I’m not talking about the discussion on quitting his job).

Finally home, Lee had grilled us some awesome fresh fish with all the fixings, and we ended the night flicking between the NBA Western Conference Finals and game 1 of the Stanley Cup.

As much as I’d love to stay and cruise Pacific Beach again tomorrow, the “Thirty before 30” tour rolls on into Phoenix Arizona, where I’ll be hanging by the pool in the desert, driving around in golf karts and watching the Arizona Diamondbacks for game 6/30!

Until then – have a great day!

Game number 4, was a delightful trip down memory lane, with good friends, GREAT drinks and EXCEPTIONAL baseball. I was of course, back in Los Angeles and to what is still the funnest stadium of them all – Dodger Stadium, to watch LA take on divisional rivals the San Diego Padres.

It was also an abnormality as for the only game I will actually represent a team and wear their colours. HUGE shoutout to Reegs Osborne who made this custom beauty for me to wear at the game and on the road – thanks you legend!

Given it was the Friday of Memorial Weekend (Monday is a day off), it was decided that we’d give it a huge nudge and do something very rarely done by locals. That is, catch the train into downtown LA, have a few glass sandwiches and hit Dodger Stadium well lubricated (ok the last two things are very typical).

Mindy, Bryan, Jesus and myself (aka the awesome foursome) picked things up where we left off, telling hilarious anecdotes about past times and games, drinking weird beers aged in Pinot Noir barrels (would not recommend these despite the high alcohol %).

As is tradition, we arrived late and picked things up in the third inning after missing a Matt Kemp 3-run home run in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers wouldn’t look back from this early lead, dominating San Diego with multiple hits and an additional run in the third to run out dominant winners 4-1 (play the music below to get in the mood).

Following the excitement and win on the pitch, the awesome foursome felt we should make use of our location (being East of the 405 – well out of my comfort zone), and hit one of the off-beat bars in DTLA (that’s the shit way of saying Downtown Los Angeles). We found ourselves at Clifton’s, significantly underdressed and over served within minutes of arrival, with whiskey gingers and old fashioned cocktails flowing freely (they didn’t serve rum – again out of my comfort zone).

Clifton’s was pretty strange. It had a giant tree in the middle, a live peacock dressed as a human and live dance performances on the hour every hour by tree people of the jungle (that’s the best way Bryan could describe it as we co-author this post)….

Further to tradition, we ended the night with some pizza “zah” and some quality wrestling back in Santa Monica – shoutout Mindy for being an exceptional referee and preventing certain tears (by Bryan). #iwon

It was a 6.5

Today we’ll again pick things up where we left off, with a healthy brunch of bottomless mimosas and certainly too much food – diet starts tomorrow amiright?

Looking forward to Memorial Day weekend with friends, and finishing off the drive down the Interstate 5 when I hit the San Deigo Padres game on Monday.

For those playing at home or who remember the “Thirty before 30” schedule, you’d of course know that last night (Tuesday May 22) was my attendance at the Oakland Athletics (A’s) home game in Oakland California.

Having previously written about the team and stadium, expectations were somewhat tempered, as there was a pretty high benchmark set with the previously attended games at picturesque Seattle and San Francisco.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised about how much fun I had!

The A’s stadium is the last of a dying breed in the US, in that it hosts not only the Oakland MLB team but also their NFL team (the Oakland Raiders). Given this shared scenario, the stadium had a unique design with lower than average walls in the outfield and many of the seats not running parallel to the base lines (as you see in all other stadiums). Furthermore, branding around the concession stands and on the field includes both the A’s logos and the Raiders – which made for a cool and unique experience.

Also of note, is that 2018 will mark the last time this “shared” set-up will exist, as the Oakland Raiders will move out at the end of 2018-19 season for the bright lights of Las Vegas.

I arrived at the stadium after a day checking out the University of California Berkeley (more on that below), with not one, not two, but THREE large beers to sip in my car prior to the first pitch (don’t worry there would be a sizeable gap before driving again) and a couple of jackets in tow (as the Bay Area was putting on a classic summer day of overcast skies, fog and cool temperatures).

Having seen the amount of cars going into the HUGE parking lot, I thought I was in for a classic Tuesday evening with a raucous crowd – little did I realize, that next door the beloved Golden State Warriors were playing game 4 of their NBA playoff game and 90% of the fans were there to see them do their thing. Not to worry, we all know a baseball players are tougher anyway 😛

The game itself was a beauty, with Oakland building a strong platform with a multitude of hits early on and putting runs on the board in both the 4^th and 5^th innings. As the temperature dropped, Seattle capitalised on a number of Oakland errors in the 7^th, ultimately scoring two runs themselves to tie it all up heading into the 8^th.

By now my beer blanket had worn off and I was certainly feeling the cold (I hate the cold), and I began PRAYING that someone would score and it wouldn’t go to extra innings (I also had an hour long drive back to where I was staying in Mountain View – shout out Pat & Sarah again for putting me up!).

My prayers would not be answered, and as the mercury continued to drop and the rain began to fall, I braved it out in my third row seat and watched the game move into extra innings.

I wouldn’t need to freeze much longer, as unfortunately for the home town Athletics the Mariners would reel in a run in the 10^th and Oakland were unable to respond, losing the game 3-2.

Despite the temperature, and the small crowd it was an awesome time and reminded me a lot of those cold nights when I’d go watch the Waratahs or Rabbitohs back home in the freezing cold and not get a result – hopefully it turns for the Athletics in the near future too!

Success eventually comes….

Now briefly onto University of California Berkeley: (you might want to play this song as you read to get into the mood).

Berkeley was an awesome little “College Town” North of the main city of Oakland. Much like Oregon’s campus, the school has been built with the environment in mind and there are plenty of trees and even a river running through.

I walked through the downtown area, checked out some of the other sports facilities on campus (unfortunately couldn’t get into the football or baseball stadium), and had a burrito for lunch (which if you know me sat about as well as expected). Check some of the pics below!

They even had a statue dedicated to the great game of Rugby Union Football (although it  probably is American Football) and the male bonding only it brings out in those legends who play (shoutout Mosman Whales & Nick Hale).

It was another awesome day on the “30 before Thirty” journey, and it still feels like I’m just getting started. I’m now back in Santa Monica, showered and rested up ready to see an old friend Dodger Stadium for the game against the Padres this Friday night.

Here’s the story so far….

Following the fun times had at the University of Oregon in Eugene, I got back into the car (well I packed up my bed after sleeping in it again), and made the long trek down to the Bay Area of California via a stop to catch up with my old friend Lauren in Davis.

Oregon

California

Davis is a cool city dominated by the enormous campus of UC Davis. The school is primarily agricultural, so there are large paddocks with animals, and students ride their bikes in between classes. I also had the honour of trying the drink called a “wiki” aka wiki wacky woo from Bernardo’s, which Lauren tells me she used to use as pre-game before going out on the town (I now understand why, this thing was strong and floored me – though some of my friends might argue it doesn’t take much).

Before

Before & After

Following an early night, I took off at about 8:30am as Lauren was going with her boyfriend to Sonoma and I was making my way South to Mountain View where my good friend Jane’s brother and wife (Patrick & Sarah), had offered to put me up for the next few days.

I wasn’t scheduled to meet Patrick and Sarah until 5:00pm, so decided it would be a good opportunity to check out Stanford’s campus (aka the Ivy League School of the West), which was located in the bay area and allow me to see some more sights and kill time.

KRT CALIFORNIA STORY SLUGGED: CA-STANFORDBAND KRT PHOTO BY L.G. FRANCIS/SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS (KRTC101 – November 15) The Stanford Tree mascot dances with the band at a halftime show. The band, known for its sometimes irreverant humor, has been told to calm down it’s hafltime show with rival UC-Berkeley. (SJ) PL KD 1999 (Horiz) (gsb) — NO MAGS, NO SALES —

The drive to Stanford was relatively uneventful, with spots of traffic and typical Californian multi-lane freeways. What did provide some excitement however, was that I realised I was on track to go via Levi’s Stadium, aka the home of the San Francisco 49ers, aka the new home of my good friend and undefeated (at time of writing) starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo!

I quickly made the relevant detour, parked my car at a youth soccer field (I really need to stop parking near children’s sports fields) and walked around the stadium’s perimeter and checked out the gift shop. Despite my top negotiations with the security on duty, I was not able to walk up the stairs and check out the inside, but it was still cool to see and I’d for sure like to see an NFL game here in future – check the pics below.

(bonus fun fact – seeing where the 49ers play means I’ve visited all four home stadiums of the NFC West. Perhaps a Thirty Two before 32 is on the cards in the future?…)

That night I arrived in Mountain View, where Sarah, Patrick and I enjoyed a meal downtown and a late night beer before it was time to retreat and get ready for game 2/30 on Sunday – a National League West showdown between the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies!

The day of the game also represented San Francisco’s annual “Bay to Breakers” which I attended a few years ago with my friend Jill. Think “City to Surf” but a little more overcast, and substitute “Bondi Smug” for “San Francisco” smug.

In all seriousness, I was stoked because it meant there would be an awesome atmosphere in the city prior to first pitch being thrown out at 1:30pm.

In some more good news, Lauren called me and said her and her boyfriend (Don) were also keen to join. So I got on the train at Mountain View and got ready for the hour-long commute into the city of San Francisco to meet them.

Once arriving in familiar San Francisco, I grabbed a bite to eat before meeting Lauren and Don for a pre-game beer and of course some photos before finding our seats.

As, previously written when I went through all of the team’s stadiums, San Francisco has one of the most stunning ballparks in the USA (I’d put it in my top 5 for sure). There’s not a bad seat in the place, and you’re also treated to picturesque views of the Bay Bridge and the surrounding hills, buildings and of course The Bay itself!

Once we had found our seats, it didn’t take long for the Giants to be up early 1-0. The Rockies would fight back strongly and ultimately put on 2 runs in the 4^th followed by another 2 in the 5^th to lead 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 5^th inning.

It was here though where San Francisco started to fire up.

Some exceptional hitting as well as a couple of home runs in the 6^th & 7^th inning (where 4 runs were scored) really got the local crowd going and ultimately proved too much for the Rockies, as they failed to capitalise on their handy lead losing to the Giants 9-5.

Whilst this wasn’t my first time attending a game at AT&T Park in San Francisco (sweet humblebrag), it was by far one of the most fun with great company, cold beers and a fired up Bay Area crowd on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I’m looking forward to the game on Tuesday evening when the Oakland Athletics host my new friends from the Seattle Mariners.

Whilst “Thirty before 30” is ultimately a baseball tour, I very much consider myself a “football guy” when it comes to American sports.

I love baseball as a spectator sport and the whole “no clock, anything can happen” narrative that goes with it, however growing up with playing and watching rugby union, there is something instantly relatable to American Football and the contact and teamwork that is necessary to beat your opposition man-on-man (as opposed a pitcher/batter bailing out the entire team as you might see in a baseball game).

So, as I travelled South from Seattle and was fortunate enough to check out the city of Portland, I immediately felt I needed to make the most of my location and travel slightly further South to see the University of Oregon, their campus and most importantly, their football stadium.

It is easy to view it odd that an Aussie would care about a College football program when it comes to American Football (as opposed to the NFL where we all have out teams and can follow the league easily). I mean, only a certain percentage of us would go on exchange and even then, very rarely would you find someone going to one of the bigger football colleges (with the exception of [shoutout Ro Geddes] those who attend the University of Miami).

However, whilst we might think it’s weird, there’s a lot to be said of the authenticity and pageantry when you see competitors playing their sport for the love of the game and not for their next big contract. Where they truly care about where they’re from, their community and their friends and family who support them.

Which brings me back to the University of Oregon.

The University of Oregon first came onto my radar in the 2010-11 College Football season.

At the time, I was already in die-hard Patriots NFL mode, and cheering the Pats on in the NFL was my main focus, with me only just dipping my toes in the world of College Football – i.e. trying to understand how the BCS rankings worked and the million different conferences (of which I am still no expert).

Without going into too much detail, the two best teams that year were clearly Auburn (led by now Panthers QB Cam Newton), and the Oregon Ducks (I can’t remember the QB but the running back LaMichael James – an NFL bust – was on fire that season).

Anyway, the Ducks each week would wear a different Nike uniform, as their famous alumni was none other than Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight. Not only did they look cool, but the way they played under coach Chip Kelly (ironically also an NFL coach bust like his RB James) was simply electric. With a high speed offense that was relatable to rugby, it was impossible not to cheer for them – even though they would ultimately come up short to Auburn in the BSC Championship game that year (which I watched with one of my best mates Sidney in Brazil no less).

The point I’m trying to make is, whilst possessing no specific allegiances to this college something about the Ducks reeled me in. Therefore, having the opportunity to visit their campus and witness their school spirit and facilities was truly an unforgettable experience. I won’t go into too much detail about what I saw on their campus (most of it involved me walking around aimlessly and taking in a women’s softball game – which was awesome), rather, what I’ll do is simply post some of the cool pictures which is certainly an early highlight of this journey.

Whether you like college sports or not, I hope you can enjoy and get some appreciation from these.

Whilst this isn’t the first post written from the comforts of my new car (that was of course done yesterday when arriving in Seattle), it is the first with me laying down completely and using the car as my “hotel” for the night in Portland Oregon.

I’ve never slept in a car and don’t know exactly what to expect, so I’ll have a more succinct break-down of it once (if) I make it through the night (if you’re reading this and I go missing here is my exact location).

Anyway, the 24 hours since I last blogged have been great. Immediately following that posting, I drove my car to a beautiful neighbourhood in Seattle known as Lower Queen Anne, where I went to this awesome little sports bar “Buckley’s” (which happened to be a Green Bay Packers bar….. Don’t worry, I didn’t hold this against them and was very polite), to meet with couples Scott & Connie and Tyler & Paige.

These four were introduced to me by a friend back home and were all proud residents of Seattle (although not born and bred), who were more than willing to share a beer, a laugh, and hear about the Thirty before 30 adventure and upcoming goals.

Upon finishing our beers and closing the tab, I was then treated to a guided walking tour of the neighbourhood that included highlights such as:

• The old Seattle Supersonics (NBA) arena
• The Space Needle
• The parklands around the Space Needle
• Upper Queen Anne and some of the exceptional views and houses that were in this area

Whilst my tour guides perhaps felt what they were showing me was underwhelming, I truly enjoyed the area, the scene and honestly wish I had more time in the city to check more of it out – please check below some of the awesome shots I was able to get from their neighbourhood (including one of the group minus Connie who had to bail and go train for her upcoming triathlon – good luck Connie!)

The next morning after a solid sleep and shower, I checked off the last Seattle “must do” and went to the Pike Markets. This place was awesome and certainly a haven for any seafood or general food lover. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco but for some reason felt a little bit more relaxed (and warmer). Again, I would highly recommend anyone to visit Seattle and check it for yourself as the pictures do not do the place or the people justice.

Next was a big moment….. it was time for game 1/30!

I was really excited as now it felt like I was finally kicking the whole thing off as the Mariners were set to lock horns with division rivals the Texas Rangers (this also represented a nice little culture clash with the progressive Pacific Northwest up against Red Blooded American Texas).

The game was exciting, with big plays from fielders on defense with plenty of hits getting so close to home runs. A highlight for sure was seeing “Big Sexy” Bartolo Colon pitch for the Rangers – I mean look at him, can’t coach that body composition!

My seats were awesome (shout out to foodora for hooking these up), and I met some really cool people who wanted to hear about my trip and where I was off to next.

The guy’s family was taking a pic of him with the board when his name came up for his bday….

The Mariners stadium as a whole was really unique with floating ceilings above the seats and also plenty of areas for fans to gather and socialise around bars with railings and unobstructed views of all the action on the field.

Ultimately, after 7 scoreless innings, the Rangers finally broke through in the top of the 8^th with a single run, and piled on 4 more in the 9^th to win the game 5 – 1 (the Mariners would get a solo Home Run in the 9^th which is always fun to see).

Overall, it was a fantastic experience that has got me hungry for more baseball and what the next ballparks have in store (also check the sweet certificate that’s going straight to the pool room).

Tomorrow (today – as I didn’t post this from my car, rather I went into a gym to shower and am now in Starbucks), I’ll be checking out the city of Portland Oregon, and then begin the long drive down South to the Bay Area, where I’ll be spending a few days to watch both the Giants (San Francisco) and Athletics (Oakland) do their thing – please feel free to let me know if you have any tips, mates or want some cool things for content.

Hi readers,

This post is coming to you from outside Century Link Field, aka the home of the Seattle Seahawks (yes, booooo). You may remember them from the worst play call in Super Bowl history a few years ago, but I digress.

It’s been an eventful last few days, crossing country borders numerous times, catching up with an old friend, negotiating with used car salesmen and finally arriving at the site of game #1 the city of Seattle, to see the hometown Mariners take on the Texas Rangers tomorrow (May 16) at 12 noon.

Rewinding back to yesterday, I was greeted in the morning by the ever positive Bryan and Mindy, who advised I should probably get moving for my flight from LA up to Vancouver (where I planned to purchase the car) as traffic was particularly bad that day (which for Los Angeles is saying something).

Well they weren’t wrong.

It took me about 1.5 hours to get from Santa Monica to LAX (Los Angeles International), which for those playing at home is probably a similar distance from the Sydney CBD to Sydney’s International Airport (can’t remember it’s name right now).

Whilst the drive was long (more tiresome in that traffic), my UBER driver was a nice dude from East LA who barely spoke a lick of English – so at least I had peace and quiet as opposed to the UBER drivers in that city who just want to talk about their acting reel and next BIG MOVE.

The flight to Vancouver was fine, and upon landing I immediately knew I was in a friendly country when immigration was smoother then riding the trains in Sydney. A friendly smile, hello, “Welcome to Canada” and I was in a cab (no UBERS there?) headed to the “Auto Mall” to see what would await me.

Ultimately, it was confusion and disappointment.

To no fault of his own, my friend up in Vancouver Scott was advised this was the best place to buy a used car. Unfortunately, I’m guessing whoever advised him clearly didn’t realise Thirty before 30 was on a budget (say it in a French accent) and I wanted to keep the car below the $10K mark.

Whilst slightly taken aback by these “troubles” I was soon alleviated when I saw a GIANT 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 pull up with a familiar face inside. “No worries man, tomorrow is a new day, let’s go throw some meat on the grill and we’ll getcha car tomorrow”, Scott said in a calming way as only a Canadian could.

What followed was one of the most scenic drives paired with awesome chat and two old friends catching up. Scott lives 45 minutes outside the main city area of Vancouver in a beautiful town called “Chilliwack”. On the way, we would also visit the local Walmart and pick up some supplies I’d need including an air mattress, pump and sleeping bag shaped as a fox (I would test all of these later that night and they all get a big pass).

The place is surrounded huge snow capped mountains, lush fields of berries (I’m told Australia likely gets many of its blueberries from Canada), and river that runs through an awesome little community that has everything one would require – needless to say, I’ve assured Scott I’ll be coming back to spend more time here.

But enough about the scenery, let’s get to what really matters here and that was dinner.

When Scott advised he was going to throw some meat on the grill, little did I know that this “grill” would be a full-blown smoker and the meat would be an entire chicken. He fed this wood chips into the smoker, covered that bird in spices, and one hour the two of us would be tucking into a meal fit for a king (ignore the paper plates his furniture hasn’t arrived to his new digs yet).

With a full stomach and feeling satisfied, Scott went to his room (he also had bought a mattress from IKEA that day), and I went to mine to rest and face a big day tomorrow (aka today).

We both woke up early and made the commute to the lots where Scott dropped me off as he went into work. At the first lot is where I met Tony, who I would ultimately buy my car from after checking 6 other lots in the area.

Let’s talk about Tony briefly before we touch on the car.

Nice guy, would highly recommend you buy a car from him if in the BC area.

Ok great enough about Tony, let’s briefly talk about the car.

I’ve gone with a 2008, black Dodge Nitro that’s packing a V6 engine and operates in both 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive (I’ll be driving it mainly as a 2-wheeler to save on fuel). It has enough room in the back for everything I need, an auxiliary cable so I can listen to all my podcasts, and so far has driven like an absolute dream! Super stoked with the purchase and since I’m not a massive “car guy” I’ll let the images do the talking…..

After purchasing and showing / saying goodbye to Scott, I began my trek back to the USA which is where I find myself now (a parking lot next to both the football and baseball stadium in what I assume is Downtown Seattle).

The drive down was beautiful with greenery and even some more ice-capped mountains off in the distance. I played some local radio and true to form, Seattle had a strong “anti-Trump” rhetoric on the talkback shows which was very amusing to listen to.

I’ve been sweating it up, my allergies are killing me, but I feel great and am super excited for the first game tomorrow!

Have a great day all!

It’s the day of leaving and I’ve been putting off writing something for a while. Not because I didn’t want to, or I’m lazy (maybe a little), but life has just come at me really fast in the last few weeks.

Apart from the additional planning, I had to have numerous coffee’s / beers with friends & family, as well as some restructuring with my resignation at work (spoiler – foodora have offered me an awesome role for when I return, stoked!).

Now that it’s all out of the way, I’m ready to hit the road, although did have some of the pre-trip anxiety (of which I haven’t had in years).

Fast forward this blog post (which I didn’t post as intended), and I am now in Los Angeles at my mate Trevor’s house by his pool. It’s 8:30am (2:30am Sydney time), and it is somewhat overcast as I type this.

The flight wasn’t as bad as anticipated as I got seated in an exit row and binged on “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia”. The pre flight however – well that was another story.

I woke up at 5:45am, had all my shit together ready to go and alas, could NOT find my wallet. Mum was kind enough to offer me money and arrange for new credit cards to be shipped over (TY TY), but then it dawned on me that the real issue would be the driver’s license. How the hell was I going to purchase a car without one?

I immediately went blank and thought of options. Do I delay my flights a day, hit the RTA and bank and sort it all out ASAP? Do I just go as scheduled and wing it? I honestly thought I’d fucked the entire thing up, even going so far as calling my friends I was with the night before and also the bar (at 6:15am) to see whether they had my wallet!

Just before I completely went off the rails and allowed my panic to burst out, Mum looks at me, says “George, just go, it’ll be fine” and throws my wallet at me.

Crises averted!

Whilst it might sound trivial, let me tell you that amount of planning etc. that had gone into the entire trip was so great, that it being undone by me being an idiot and misplacing a wallet would probably send me into cardiac arrest.

With that done, I called my UBER and headed for Sydney Airport. Upon arrival I was looking forward to quickly checking in, hitting the American Express Lounge (Diamond Rewards baby) and posting this blog post before take off.

Again, another small speed bump with not only the check-in line taking an hour (due to internal errors), but as soon as I got near the lounge I was put on a waiting list as it was full. A WAITING LIST FOR THE LOUNGE?!?

By the time I got in and grabbed some food (which was ok I guess), I had about 20 minutes to get to my gate and board the flight – hence why my loyal readers were not gifted this until now.

I suppose the early lesson is here that things are likely to and will go wrong, and that’s ok! The whole journey is one to savour and enjoy, and if I sweat the small stuff I’ll lose sight of what I’m trying to achieve here.

So with that, I’ll leave you guys as I’m off to T-Mobile to sort out my SIM card and buy Trevor some food to thank him for picking me up. Tonight I’ll be hitting my old rugby club’s end of season dinner (shout out Santa Monica Dolphins), which is usually a tame affair.

Expect more content both here and on the gram (that’s instagram which I’m now a god at) in the coming days!

P.S good luck to the Mosman Whales back home who today celebrate their annual ladies day. Give us a Whale Wash boys!

P.P.S my “hetero life partner” Nick is being auctioned off at said Ladies Day. Please be good to him whoever is lucky enough to win 🙂