Sydney

#YOLO? Hashtag YOLO? That is the question I was asked by a fellow Bridge Climb Sydney group climber from Florida when I shared how I happened to be living in Kauai, how I sold my home and my car and all my possessions and bought a one-way ticket with no job or home to the island.
And how I happened to be on holiday in Sydney by myself climbing the Harbour Bridge, even though I cannot bring myself to climb a ladder at home. Yes, #YOLO.
And though I normally do not use hashtags, nor do I really understand what their purpose or use really is, thus came about the name of my new blog, on vacation, that will chronicle how I have the intention, whether always apparent or not, to live my life in this #yolo mindset.

At peak of Sydney Harbour Bridge!

In May, after his MBA graduation, my son told me how he hated people his age that said "YOLO."
And I shared with him then that I was in fact, entering a mindset that would hopefully allow me to do that...after all, I told him, "son, you just graduated with your MBA, your sister is graduating college next year, my work here is done. YOLO." Not only do I not use or quite understand hashtags, I only recently had heard of the term YOLO...the addition of the hashtag makes it perfect.

Sydney, Australia. Alone. I have never really had an interest to go to the land down under...but I figured that I ought to use the fact that I am sitting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and work for a hospitality company to my advantage. I knew relatively little about Australia, except that it houses the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef and is the land of aborigines and walkabouts, and a country that is also a continent. All relatively interesting, but not intriguing enough to be on any sort of travel "list" for me. Until my neighbor and landlord earlier this year


had suggested to me when I told her I wanted to travel to Thailand, that I go to Sydney instead and stay at the Westin. She had stayed there and said it was the nicest hotel she had ever stayed at, and that she knew I would love Sydney.
Its culture, its people, its restaurants and shopping, its sights and its sounds, all would contribute to what would become a memorable and extraordinary experience and vacation.

Milly and Motla from Botswana

Hunter Valley Wine Country Tour with Richard Everett

I met a woman, Milly, the President of the Botswana Red Cross, newly appointed to the International Board of Red Cross, I met a young man who had spent the last four years of his life traveling the world, I met wonderful young people from Florida visiting Sydney for a college friend's wedding, Bikram yogis from down under, I met gentlemen and cads, I met people from England, Chile, Colombia, Germany, The Netherlands, and New Zealand, and of course, Aussies themselves.

University of Florida Gator Bridge Climb Crew

I thought of sharing and documenting every event and experience I had on my journey, but instead I wanted to capture and share the feelings and emotions that those events and experiences created for me. For that is what travel does for a person's soul, it enlightens them, it enriches them and it gives them a connection to the world, and ultimately a connection to themselves.

Peter my Bridge Climb Guide

Travel is an immersion into another culture or subculture, and also a mirror into our own being and soul. There is a thrill in seeing and being inside the Sydney Opera House, an architectural landmark, but it is the feeling and emotion that being there arouses in you that you take with you...and that is what was magnificent about this trip. I had so many of these type of experiences that churned instantly into emotions and feelings of elation and joy and passion and appreciation and gratitude for my life. An excursion to the Hunter Valley, a daunting climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a visit inside the Opera House, walks through a clean and beautiful city to Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, a stroll through Hyde Park to Surry Hills and Darlinghurst, amazing international dining, a ferry ride to Manly Beach, a visit to Bondi Beach and a picturesque coastal walk, bars and pubs and yoga and shopping...all of which I take with me.

And this is how travel is life-changing, for I will forever carry the emotions and feelings of these experiences with me as I move forward in my life journey...and I aspire to create more of such experiences to propel me forward. #sydney #downunder #yolo