Australia here I come!!

I leave tomorrow to travel down under and this trip already feels weird to me.

I think that every time I've traveled (see previous blogs) I have always had this image in my head of what to expect. I have either had this memory from a history book or a story from a friend that has already been to a place telling me about certain things...not this time.

When I think of Australia, I think of kangaroos and koala bears. I think of the Opera House in Sydney and I also think of Outback Steakhouse. That's about it...I also hear that when you flush the toilet the water spins in the opposite direction; I really can't tell you what direction it spins right now so maybe it will look different to me and maybe not.

When I think of Australia, I think of funny accents and boomerangs. I think of remembering my grandparents went there numerous times to visit an old army buddy, Wilt.

I think of the fact that I'm going to leave at 1:23 p.m on Friday and get off the plane about 4:00 p.m......on Sunday and then when I return home, I will arrive in OKC only 4 hours after the time I left (that silly International dateline).

When I would go to places like Paris, I had the Eiffel Tower in my head, I had the Louvre Museum and the Mona Lisa in my head. When I went to Rome, I had the Coliseum in mind and the Sistine Chapel. When I went to Berlin, I had the Berlin Wall in my head. When I went to Amsterdam I had the...nevermind.

My point is that when I get off the plane in Melbourne, I have no structural image of a famous building or painting. When I get off the plane in Sydney, I have no historical site that I can't wait to go see. I can look up photos on Flickr all day long and read the Wikipedia pages, but I don't think that will do it justice.

People ask me if I'm excited to go and the truth is....absolutely I am. But for once, I'm excited to go someplace that I have a "blank slate" in my head ready to chalk itself up into my own story.

My own history book, my own Flickr page and my own adventure.