I guess most of us have heard or read that title somewhere before, often on a motivational poster or similar ?
It is also more or less what I wrote just over a year ago, on my very first post. And, once again, tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life …well perhaps, depending on how things work out LOL.

Tomorrow I fly out to Thailand and a new life as an ‘expat’. A year ago I had a house, filled with possessions, a 4WD ute, and a job, now everything I own fits into 2 suitcases, a backpack, and a camera bag ! No house, no vehicle, no job, and no regrets, but plenty of memories already.
Memories of sleeping under the stars under a clear outback sky, or swimming with giant Whale Sharks and Manta Rays off Ningaloo Reef, and of rich red Pilbarra gorges and stunningly beautiful Kimberley waterholes and waterfalls. And the long outback roads and countless corrugations to get to them !

Memories of stunning sunsets, of quirky roadside mailboxes, of outback oddities that make you think “WTF?” such as Gnomesville or the garden setting and assorted household items set on a sun-baked gibber plain along the Birdsville to Boulia road, and of outback icons such as the Birdsville races, to say nothing of sitting on the verandah of the legendary Birdsville pub with a can in hand, watching the sun set over the Simpson Desert.

Somebody asked me the other day what the highlight of the trip had been, I cannot really decide between the Kimberley, swimming with the Manta Rays, or finally getting to Birdsville for the races, something that had been on my to-do list for a long time.
Of course, it has not always been perfect, there have been some disappointments. Kakadu National Park, or should I say “Kakadon’t” would have to be top of that list. But the good times and the unexpected surprises far, far, outweighed the disappointments.
I’m sure that Thailand will also offer up pleasant surprises and it’s fair share of bad times, but I know that they will be different from Outback Australia !
So tomorrow morning I will be off to the airport and nearly 9 hours in a tin can, but at least I am flying business class this time thanks to all my frequent flyer points. I guess I should press “Publish” now and get to bed …I would n’t want to sleep in and miss my flight, would I ?
Catch you later …