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Saying goodbye


Anthony

Anthony gave us a taste of his life with his festival diaries and now he's back, giving us an insight into his adventures around the world as he heads off for 18 months of travelling.
Entry: 1

Anthony says an emotional goodbye to his girlfriend, friends and family as he sets off to Canada for the first leg of his travels.

A gentleman called Abraham Lincoln once said: "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." It's hard to argue with this when you consider his modest 56 years of life against his massive influence on US life. At the age of 14 I held lesser ambitions, and a picture that I found in our derelict garage. In it was a man with a slightly foreign-looking moustache and an unruly beard. He was precariously perched upon an elephant with the sun fighting its way through giant lush green leaves that you rarely get to see in the UK. It turned out to be my Dad. Everybody has their own inspiration and because of him I've been plotting to find that elephant ever since.

My itinerary

Now, at 24 years-old, I have the opportunity to add some life to my years. My itinerary for the next 18 months is:

  • Nov '07 - May '08 - Skiing/working in Whistler, Canada;
  • May '08 - June '08 - Road trip in the US;
  • June '08 - Oct '08 - Travelling on a 'chicken bus' in South America;
  • Oct '08 - Feb '09 - Kangaroos and coconuts in Australasia and South East Asia;
  • Feb '09 - Mar '09 - Elephant riding in India;
  • Mar '09 - May '09 - Camel racing in the Middle East.

My trip may cover a large distance in a relatively short period of time, but with the spread of budget airlines, airfares worldwide have become a real bargain. It's even possible to buy round the world flights that provide you with flexible flights and a pre-set itinerary.

I'm not big on planning, but given the exclusive nature of Canadian working visas, a little foresight can save you lots of time in the long-run. For example, I decided that working in Whistler over the winter would be a good way to start my travels. What I didn't realise was that to get the Canadian High Commission to delve into its secret mountain vaults for a Visa, you need to supply officials with a compilation of paperwork that favourably rivals my dissertation. But I was lucky; I stumbled across an excellent organisation called BUNAC which was very good at telling me exactly what needed doing and when.

"You need to supply officials with a compilation of paperwork that favourably rivals my dissertation."

It's all about the money

Funding this kind of nomadic lifestyle unfortunately involves a lot of money, so after I convinced the Canadian authorities I was no menace, I needed to get a job. Fortunately for me BUNAC stepped up once again and informed me of a series of jobs on offer at the Four Seasons Hotel. My main aim was to have lots of time on the mountain, but nevertheless, I attended the interview with an open mind. The only thing I really didn't fancy was night work... an hour later I was a full member of the night team. In amongst telling me that I needed a haircut, my Rasputin-like interviewer had convinced me that night work was the best thing since chocolate chip cookies. But it did mean that the first leg of my journey was going to be paid for.

My initial plans of winning the lottery had shown no signs of fruition, so I set up a direct debit transferring money from my salary to a savings account.  This needs to be carried out in a structured way because saving is an inherently ugly business. It causes an internal conflict that can only drive you crazy. If you are good and don't go out you feel guilty for being boring. If you are bad and go out you feel guilty for spending money. That's why it's best to trick yourself into thinking that you never had the money in the first place. 

Bon voyage!

Waiting at the airport for my Canada-bound flight and knowing I needed to say goodbye to my girlfriend was one of the most exciting and sad experiences of my life.

Just two weeks earlier I attended a funeral. The service was beautiful and the church packed with family and friends, all touched during my friend Carolyn's life. She was one of those amazing people who lived many lives in one, all which had been cruelly cut short. She not only encouraged me when I spoke of my tentative plans to travel, but I could see through her excitement that she genuinely meant what she was saying, and that somehow gives an intangible weight to peoples' words; I think Abraham knew what he was talking about.


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