An Arb Decision

The choice burning my mind right now is what to do post-snow season. On one hand, London will be guaranteed fun. I like the city, lots of friends, lots of fun. But no surf, and I've had 3 summers there already. Yesterday, I was 1 click away from purchasing my tix to London when fate would have me enter my cc code incorrectly. (I can't say whether I do or don't believe in fate. That's for another blog post). At that moment, when the error screen came up, I thought of going back to Oz. Lots of friends there I'd like to see, some I haven't seen in 7 years. And while I'm down there, I'll pop on over to New Zealand to see what the fuss is all about. Part of me was consumed with the choice of UK vs. Oz. Another part was thinking about how arbitrary this dilemma may seem to some people. Summer in London vs. Australia. Most Americans have been to neither. But then I realized that's crap. To these people, their big decisions are things like which car to buy, or floors for their house. That, to me, seems arbitrary. But that's their life. So it's important to them. Traveling is my life. So travel choices are important to me. Experience is worth more than material to me, although I understand we need a bit of both to get through life. In this country, people live the life they choose to, whether they admit it or not. This is true. This is a free 1st world country, not Stalinist Russia. And I feel good knowing that the moment I die, I will have a lifetime of memories in my head to reflect upon, rather than the resale value of a piece of property or the color of a carpet. Today, I confirmed my flight to Sydney via Auckland. Iain, Paul, J9, Leigh, Dave, Bart, and the London saffa crew, sorry and thanks for everything, but we'll have to catch up later in the future. Dougal, Ingrid, Steve, Nat, Graham, Andy, Frazer, Sam, Sara, Tina, and the Oz homies, it's so on!

Manu Bay, NZ from the eyes and camera of Aurelie Martin-Chiari.