A Month in Brisbane

I was trying so hard to stay in chronological order on the blog, but I just can’t. I’m so close – all I need to write about is the Gold Coast and Tropical Fruit World – but I have to get back to real time.

Jared and I have been in Brisbane for a month, squatting in his brother Kyle’s spare room. The idea was for us to look after their dog for a couple of weekends when they were away, but when Jared landed some temp work we extended the stay to four weeks. I also picked up some freelance copywriting work, which I’ll be continuing as we travel.

Oh, the car also died (!) but then got fixed, so it was extremely lucky we weren’t stuck somewhere. It’s been a productive month, but I am itchy to get going again.

It’s also been good to expand our social interaction. When it’s just two of you the world starts to contract and I sort of forget how to be a normal human. One one of our first nights out with Kyle and his girlfriend Kate (note that night out = an afternoon of lawn bowls) I went a little crazy on the wine and insisted that we all go sing karaoke.

I believe my words were “IT WILL BE SO FUN. SO FUN GUYS.”

Oh, and it was Sunday.

When karaoke didn’t pan out, I brought it to the lounge room courtesy of YouTube and an iPhone speaker. A small number of Snapchat viewers may have witnessed my renditions of Adele’s “Hello,” Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose,” and obviously, Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You.”

It was like I’d been living in a bunker for a decade and my hidden extrovert just exploded, microphone in hand. I believe I still owe the neighbors an apology. It was SO FUN for me but perhaps not for my audience.

Anyway, things sort of settled down after that. I’ve been working on my book, dabbling in freelance writing, and figuring out what I’d like to do with this blog. While I’m on that topic, I have a question for you guys.

I’m thinking of starting a biweekly newsletter, which would focus on two things.

One, the process of writing a book and then what the heck to do with it once you’ve finished. (I don’t promise answers, it’s more of a commiseration with other writers who are attempting the same thing and stuck in some weird years-long limbo like I am.)

Two, real-time updates on the trip, which is going to be picking up speed reeeeeal soon. I know I’ll get behind so the newsletter will be a way to keep up with what’s actually happening.

So my question is two-part: would anyone be interested in reading this, and if so, are there any other topics you’d like/prefer to see covered?

Let me know.

There’s so much on the horizon, even though we still don’t have a firm idea of where we’ll be come November. Next up is a week on the Sunshine Coast. For me, this is where Queensland really gets going, and I can’t! wait! After that is Hervey Bay, which is considered to be the world’s best place to see humpback whales.

I’ll just let that sink in. World’s best.

If you follow me on social media you probably know I find whales irresistible so I am incredibly pumped for this in a way that is mostly reserved for teenage girls and boy bands. (I know, because I was once a crazy big *NSYNC fan. One day I will tell that story.)

From there it’s due north as we try to beat the wet season. Once it sets in, we’ll have to change directions. Right now we’re tossing up heading south or west, or even southwest.

I don’t know exactly where we’re going but I promise it’s going to be SO FUN.