Step 1 - Get the Passport!

Well, I took myself off to the post office today and got an application for a passport. It's HUGE, like a bloody novel to fill out...

The pic doesn't show just how thick the damn thing is!

Mind you, according to what I've read, I have to go and get a birth certificate first. Not sure what that will cost but will find out over the next few days what I have to do to get one.

It will be SO exciting to own a passport when it all comes together though - I've never been anywhere!

I Love it When A Plan Comes Together!

Well I'm back from Sydney and can start to wrap my head around the Next Big Holiday! Though of course this one will be the biggest of all time for me.

Well a bit of a plan is coming together. It's been my intention to head to Colorado first off to spend my birthday and Halloween with Aly and Jay. From there I had no real plan. But Aly has made the suggestion that she and Jay take me down to St Louis for a bit of a cyster meet up there (and I can say "Meet me in St Louis"... they'll all get sick of me singing the song!).

From there some of the Chicago girls have offered to pick me up and take me back to Chicago with them. I'd like to spend about a week in IL for a bit of a look around. And then head to Wisconsin to see Cindy, the Knapps and a cyster Sarah.

From WI I would love to head up to Canada to see Ian. It's been over a decade!

And that's the rough plan so far! From there... who knows? Of course... I AM looking for suggestions people?

The List... Part 1

Ok, everyone has been firing SO many things at me that I should do when I head to the States. So I'm going to work on a list. This is what I've got so far, in no particular order...

• Meet someone in St Louis (I'm an old movie buff!)
• See an Oprah show in Chicago
• See Amish country (Ohio?) and buy a quilt
• Take at least one Amtrak trip
• Experience a truly white Christmas
• Dress up in costume for Halloween
• Visit the Hershey's factory
• Visit the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont
• Ride a Harley Davidson in Wisconsin
• See the autumn colours
• The Titanic Museum in Branson Missouri
• Eat barbecue in at least three states.
• Hot springs in Colorado and ski (even on the daggy kids slopes!)
• Leave Kansas just so I can say "I'm not in Kansas anymore" (pick the Judy Garland movie thread happening here?)
• Go to Hell
• Eat in a real diner
• Go to Dollywood
• Ride a horse in Montana

And that's just for starters!! If you're reading this, PLEASE make some suggestions. Sometimes suggestions are perfect and you go "Why didn't I think of that??" Sometimes they trigger you to think of other things you'd like to do.

Well... I'm Doing It!!

Well, I had a bit of an epiphany today.

I realised that I have spent such a long time talking about wanting to go to the US and see the REAL America, not what Hollywood and CNN present to me... when there's nothing really to stop me. I have a good job to help me finance it, I don't have any major debts, I'm not tied down by any responsibilites and I am free to do whatever I please. So I made the decision today that I want to spend my 35th birthday in the US... and I want to stay there through the holiday season.

My birthday is the 25th of October. Which puts me there in time for Halloween (something I've always wanted to experience), and I would like to also experience Thanksgiving, a white Christmas and a New Year. I normally find from my birthday through the silly season very depressing as I am on my own and it's a time that highlights my loneliness. So what better a way to make it a time I will look forward to!

Hopefully I can spend that time having a look around the "real" America, visiting a lot of my penpals and Cyster friends over there.

So now I am working on what I will have to do to make this happen. My first goal after I get back from Sydney this weekend is to get my passport. I've never left the country! Then I need to start working on talking to my boss so that I can have that much leave next year (I'm sure they'll let me take it at half pay) and working on saving some money and sorting out what I need to do. It's a HUGE thing for me, as I said I've never left the country. Hell, I never left the STATE until I was 31!!

So for all of you in the States, and for those of you who have BEEN to the States... message me with suggestions on what to see/do to experience the REAL America. And everyone please help me reach this amazing goal.