updates and wanderlust

The Australian blog has been updated. Please go check it out. I'm about to do an entry on a remote alpine lake I found, but I won't reveal anything further until the blog post is actually up. Until then, go read about Toowomba and Spring Bluff, two very different but equally lovely spots in Queensland.

In the meantime, here I am at home, on my one day off this week. It's not even really a good day off, since I have a lot of work I need to do. What good is a vacation day if all you have to get done are chores? Despite this rather nasty fact, I am determined to make the most of my time away from working by lounging in bed as long as possible, updating my blog, and enjoying the fact I can stay inside, where it's warm.

Part of the appeal of staying in bed is the fact I have a fun book to read. 'The Sex Life of Cannibals' (which isn't nearly as erotic as it sounds) is about a young couple who move to a remote South Pacific island located on the equator. I'm having a blast reading about their misadventures dealing with the natives, and just how difficult life on a atoll can be. It is also making me desperate to travel again. I'm now having visions of being lulled to sleep in a hammock strung up between two palm trees, the sounds of the Pacific Ocean singing me to sleep.

When I think about travel, I inevitably make lists. I love lists anyway, but something about traveling makes me want to create long, elaborate catalogues of where I want to go and why. The South Pacific has now been added to that list -- and the more remote, the better.

Top contenders on my travel list include Mongolia, Spain, Russia, Japan, Solomon Islands (or some place similar), Cuba, Argentina or Chile, South Africa, Morocco, Bhutan and New Zealand. I'm pretty sure I'll manage to reach most of those places, given enough time and funds.

And let me say this, because people inevitably react strangely when I say I want to visit Mongolia: I almost went there last summer. I have plans on going as soon as I can. Just go rent 'Mongol' and you'll understand my fascination.

Anyway. I'm going to rest on my laurels a bit longer and then dive in to some much needed work.