THINKING NEW DIRECTIONS

Ya know, the iPhone can be an incredible tool to have when you can keep it connected. Right now I'm sitting in a coffee shop that has great Internet speed, listening to music from the iPod portion of the device, and writing an update for this blog. I just finished watching some video on Youtube where actor Edward James Olmos was speaking before the United Nations, and of course, I got caught up on all my email. That is all very cool. I only wish that the camera on this thing still worked properly. Even better, though, would be if I was in a GSM standard cell phone country and this worked as a phone.

Last night, me and Jerry were checking the list of countries which use GSM standard cell phone networks and Korea was not on it. The Philippines was, which is why my phone worked perfectly there, and Australia made the list too. Australia you ask? Well, last night we got a phone call from Sally and Victor in Australia, where they seem very happy, and Sally had a lot of very positive words to say about the place.

Of course Australia is home to much better weather than here in Korea. That's not hard to do. But apparently it can also be relatively cheap to live there. I just assumed that, being a Western country similar to America or England, it would be equally expensive. That is not true. I should have remembered that is why The Matrix movies were made there. Also, in my case, there is the advantage that English is spoken there. Although I have been learning Korean to some degree, I have no desire to pursue it any further and see no future in knowing it. There could be many advantages to Australia. Sally and Victor said I should certainly go there when Jerry does.


So am I considering Australia? Well, maybe. While I have certainly been thinking a lot about what I want to do next and where I want to go, I have also realized that, to a point, the best thing to do is keep going. I've been hanging around here too long. I'm bored. If I go Australia, and stay too long, the result could be the same. I really miss my friends and want to see them, but at the same time, it's too early for the journey to stop. I still have a lot to learn and need to find that... whatever that's out there.

Another plan I've been considering was heading west. First, I would stop back in the Philippines for some fun of the type that is sorely lacking here. After that, I would check out Central Asia, maybe Kyrgistan, and continue that way until I end up in Africa. After spending a good amount of time exploring the many great countries I have read about there, I would continue west to the Caribbean and then to Brazil and other parts of South America. Of course, all this can be done whether I go first to Australia or not, so the real issue is for me to know why I am going to Australia.

Regardless of what I choose, there are some things I will need before making such a journey. The most important one is money. This will not be as hard to come by as some might think, but that is a story for another time. The next thing I will need is a notebook computer. It may sound strange, but I've decided on another Macbook not unlike the one I so recently sold. Having little idea what I really wanted to do, except draw, I was happy to let it go and considered going the Tablet PC route. There are still some advantages to a tablet, but with more of an idea what I really want to do as an artist, I think the Macbook wins out in the end. The main key is to get totally mobile and have the money and means to travel anywhere and do my work. That way, be it Australia or Zimbabwe, I can continue to create my art and possibly fuel a life of perpetual adventure.