A Bowl of Stupid

I was off the grid traveling for a couple days. I’m back home in Bali now. The following was written in yet another airport departure lounge … this time in the Melbourne airport.

Well, I’m leaving Australia. After less than 2 weeks total.

I know, I know … I had initially planned on staying in Australia and/or New Zealand for at least a month, and possibly more. But a variety of factors took hold that have made returning to Asia much more appealing to me right now.

First, it was just really too expensive in Australia in comparison to Asia. I mean REALLY expensive. I think I spent more money in Oz in 10 days that I’ve spent in Asia in the past six (6) months … TOTAL. So there’s that.

Second, and more importantly, I may not be physically able to be ‘reintroduced into the world. ‘I’ve had so many ‘pseudo-anxiety attacks’ since I first got here that it’s not comical, even on a self-depricating one (which is saying something since I typically love making fun of myself as much as anyone). Honestly however, the sensory overload, even when I’ve been traveling by myself, has been simply overwhelming.

For example, my friends here (thanks to Nicole, Jenna and Thress for showing me such a great time in Melbourne) took me out, showed me around, and introduced me to some really great people.Yet after 10 days here, when I took the train for lunch in downtown Melbourne today (which isn’t nearly as pretentious as Sydney), I was still sufficiently freaked out by the whole experience. Now I know how it must feel for small-towners to visit New York for the first time.

Indeed, I felt much much better when I got back to the smaller, artsy beach area of St. Kilda, where I’ve been staying for the past couple of days. The trip downtown kinda reaffirmed my beleif in the concept of a collective consciousness — I just felt the stressful pace of all those people working and shopping and going to school in hustle of Melbourne’s downtown, which in turn stressed me out since I’m not on that same level.

I’m heading back to Bali for at least a week or two. We’ll see how the waves are, and then I’m heading onward again to see one of my best friends in Hong Kong for a bit. We’ll see how it unfolds.

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