Lightbulb moment!

So its time.  As the Stark's say, Winter is Coming.  Actually, if you live in Australia, its already here.   The time for talk is gone.  Now is the time to put away our childish things and... I dont know.

See now, thats exactly my problem.  Im 23 years old, I have almost finished my education, and i dont know whats next.  My degree might get me a job at McDonalds, but it sure didnt get me a job at Subway.  I tried Coles too.  They "withdrew the position"  .

I figure, I cant be the only one facing this problem.  Youth unemployment is up all over the world and, whilst I am incredibly fortunate to live in Australia, with the second strongest economy IN THE WORLD (can i get a yee-haa?)  job opportunities can be a little thin on the ground.

I dont even know where i would like to live.   New York?  London?  Athens?  Bombay?  Who knows?

My greatest passion has always been travel and when I was 16 I was fortunate enough to be hosted for six months in the wonderful Scandinavian country of Denmark.   While I was there I travelled around and when I got home, itchy-feet syndrome pretty much set in immediately. I have heard of job opportunities in Spain and Kazakhstan for teachers and I can imagine myself in these foreign lands, soaking up the culture and being paid to do what i love.

Why not be a teacher in Melbourne, you ask?  Well, two things.  Teachers are being treated rather crappy at the moment, especially those who have recently graduated.  Short term teaching contracts that leave people unemployed for half the year and overcrowded school rooms mean that even if i did get a job (unlikely, with the governments preoccupation with returning the budget to surplus) I doubt I would be very happy.

And whilst my current casual job used to be enough to pay the bills, now days its just enough to get me into debt.  A coke here can cost $4.50 and my hourly wage is less than $18.  Thats after I have worked at this company for more than 5 years. Thats right, 4 cokes an hour.  Not quite enough to live on.

Thats when i had the very best idea i have ever had.

The internet's amazing, right?  Right!

"Veronica Mars: The movie" got like a million dollars in funding in about 20 minutes, right?  RIGHT!

So what would stop me, an ordinary human being with an acceptable level of English, from writing a blog where I ask people to donate money for me to travel around the world and "find myself"?

(I use quotation marks because its so incredibly corny, and yet absolutely the truth)

What does the donor get for their money?

Well, YOU get to tell me what to do.

I have all the time in the world to travel, but no money.
You have all the money in the world, but no time.

Let ME travel for YOU!

Maybe its your lifelong dream to go to The Leaning Tower of Pisa and pretend in a photo that you are the sole reason its still standing? That your muscles are so strong that you, alone, keep from having this international monument forever destroyed?

But you have a house, and a mortgage, and a family and a job?  You get up at 7:00 am Monday to Friday and catch the train to a station that is sort-of near your work?  And you buy a coffee for $3.50 and its the highlight of your day?  And its an OK-day if your train is on time and your boss is in a good mood and they serve a cake you like at a long and boring meeting about synergising the work force and incorporating culture to optimise work load?  And your screen saver is a beautiful picture of an majestic African Elephant standing in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro?

Let ME travel for YOU!  Seriously.  I will do it better and longer than you ever could. And Ill take photos and videos and write detailed, funny and exciting blog posts so that you feel like you are there!

Always wanted to go to India but its kind of scary and you are afraid you might get Delhi Belly and end up having your foot amputated?

Ill do it for you!  Its adventure travel without the risk!

I went to this fantastic website, rtw.oneworld.com, and have mapped out a rough itinerary. 

And it goes, a little something like this:

Melboure>
Singapore>
Hong Kong>
Moscow>
Athens...
Make my own way through:
Greece,
Croatia,
Italy,
Spain,
Morroco,
Portugal,
France,
Then from Toulouse >
London>
Rio de Janero>
Santiago...
Make my own way to Lima>
Mexico City>
Miami>
New York>
Vancouver...
Make my own way to Los Angeles> Melbourne!

And I hope you are thinking:  Wow!  What a fantastic trip!  But thats going to be expensive, and take a long time :'(

Well, Im glad we're on the same page.

I think (hope, wish) that this will cost around $15,000 and should take me a year.  Flights alone are around $6,000 and i will need to, you know, eat and drink whilst over there.

Granted, that is a lot of money.  And why would you want to donate to a first world ne'er-do-well like myself when your hard working money would be better off sponsoring a third world child or sitting in the bank collecting interest?

Well, thats hard to argue with.  In fact, I think you should do both those things.  Making money off your money is incredibly satisfying, as is giving help to people who desperately need it. 

But sometimes, to quote the Vlog Brothers, you dont always need to decrease World-Suck.  Sometimes, you need to increase World-Awesome.  And this is pretty much the most awesome thing I can think of.

And as much as I want walk the Camino de Santiago and see Carnival in Rio, I also want to teach at a Vietnamese School and build a dining hall in Lima.  I have applied for funding through my university to do 5 weeks of volunteer work in Lima, and if the grant comes through ill have $5000 at my disposal.  But why stop there?  Why just help the people in rural Peru?  Why not help the kids in Asia and try my hand at other types of volunteer work, all over the world?

What about the person whose read this entire thing and thinks its a great idea, but they eat $2 noodles for lunch and are trying to finish that paper that was due yesterday?  Well, hey!  Dont feel bad. Just by reading and sharing this blog you are helping me out.  Hopefully, if i get a few followers, One World will give me free flights?  Or Commonwealth Bank will think that if they sponsor me other people will think they are hip and cool?  Or Lonely Planet will hire me to be a travel writer, the holy grail of being-paid-to-do-what-you-love?

Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear your suggestions of things to do!

Thanks,
Kristen