Day 336! Before you get too excited, no, I’m not flying back home anytime soon… but, I did finalize my plans for getting back home!! It’s pretty crazy to think I’ll be heading back to the US, but it’ll be for a short stint before getting back on the road… I think… plans can always change!

Yesterday, I found a flight that I thought might work well with my plans for heading back home. I texted my parents a picture of the itinerary… but unfortunately, they were already asleep! So, I had to wait to hear what they thought.

But when I woke up this morning, I received a text saying it worked great and I should book it! So after getting up and ready for the morning, I sat down to book my flight. With these cheap flight scanners, sometimes even just overnight, the flight will either book up or change price. So I was a bit concerned this would be the case.

But to my surprise, not only was the flight still available… but it was cheaper! I didn’t waste any more time, I bought the flight! Relief immediately set in after purchasing it. As much as I love traveling, planning so far in advance can be quite stressful.

My travel time will be around 33 hours in total… it’s going to be a long travel day(s). I also have to self transfer in one of my layovers, which entails leaving the secured part of the airport terminals, grabbing my checked bag, and switching airlines. But my layover at that airport leaves me plentyyyy of time to do so, so I’m not too concerned.

But on May 18th I’ll be heading to Fiji and then later that day San Fransisco… and then after that Chicago on the 19th!

Now, one of my original thoughts was to head to Koh Tao on my way home, to break up the trip. But in the end, the flight prices and timing didn’t look like it’d be the best decision. So my thought is to head there as one of my first stops post the US. I want to get back to scuba diving, maybe even get my instructor certification!

To celebrate this big milestone in my traveling, I ate… my regular breakfast.

After I ate, I ran downstairs and met up with Sam, Paddy, and Bella who were going to give me a ride up the hill. We had a work meeting today at the hotel, so everyone had to be there at 9:30am. The meeting itself lasted about 40 minutes and we just discussed the expectations and what they want to see done better/the same/changes as we approach the very busy season of the summer. It was nice to see everyone in one place… but just like my corporate work meetings, it probably could’ve been summed up in an email.

For the rest of the morning I finished up another season of the TV show I’ve been watching, Demon Slayer. And then I devoured more of the Dune: Messiah book. I’m getting very close to finishing this book and the next Way of Kings book is waiting for me at the library as well!

While relaxing, I kept my moon boot off my foot. But I was wearing it around the house today, just to be cautious. I don’t want to get too overzealous and hurt it more.

Since I had tuna for dinner last night, I thought I’d eat my leftover noodles and chicken for lunch today. So when the time rolled around, I heated that up.

After lunch, I read a bit more and then got ready for work!

My shift started at 4pm, so I hobbled my way up the hill. The shift started off on the slower side, but then became a steady flow of people for the rest of the night! It was just me and two others behind the bar, so even though there weren’t many bar goers, it still felt semi-busy.

The shift was a long one, it was slotted till 11pm with a 30 minute break. And while I was working, my friends Katie, Pat, and Will showed up! I was a bit jealous they were getting to hang outside, but I chatted with them when I could. When I took my break though, it happened to be at a time where they were getting food too, so I ate my fried fish sandwich (which they sillily call a fish burger because of the bun) with them! It was a very nice way to spend my break.

At the end of my shift, I learned how to close down the poker room (slot machine room). I clocked off at 10:30pm, which made for a 6 hour bar shift, not bad!

To finish off the night, me and one of my coworkers played a few games of pool! And before we called it a night, I taught him a game we played at the hostel in Thailand. He was actually super good at it! My pool playing has gotten a bit rusty since leaving SE Asia, but I’m sure when I go back, I’ll have plenty of more chances to play… and I still have plenty of chances here too!

My coworker gave me a lift down the hill, I’m surrounded by some insanely nice people in this town! And because of the deal with my foot, I’ve pretty much decided to spend the rest of my time in Australia working and living in this town. I’ll have another year or two to explore the rest of the country but for now, I’m going to enjoy the people I’ve surrounded myself with and this beautiful slice of paradise!

I need to work on figuring out if I can find a way to get my 88 days (of “rural” work) by working at the hotel… but if not, I do have another option that would be quite nice. But more on that when and if it gets more solidified!

I wasn’t supposed to work tomorrow, but I got put on for tomorrow night. Not going to complain about that! But… it is the first trivia night and I was planning on playing but I guess I’ll get to help facilitate by serving drinks and playing along while I work.

– Elie