FLYING

[Doss]

When I was in the US, on the east coast, I met a couple different Americans who said they'd never visit Australia simply because they don't want to spend 24 hours in planes and airports. I was surprised by this but thinking about it later I understood their point of view. Most of them only get two weeks (or less...) of annual leave a year. Central America, South America, Europe and Asia are all closer and offer a more exotic experience than walking around Sydney, Melbourne or ******* Perth will. A lot of them probably think of Australia the way we think of New Zealand. And you know who never visits New Zealand? Most Australians.

Yup. I didn't get to NZ myself until I was 26; it was always in the basket of 'it's just there, easy to get to, I'll get there one day'.

Then I actually went finally, immediately realised that scenery-wise it's pretty much my dream place, and felt stupid for putting it off as long as I did.