Well folks, just like that we are already half way through the year (and a little bit!) and it’s time to stop for a second and see where we’re at. So far this year I’ve been able to get out and about more than at any point since the beginning of the pandemic which is nice.

I’ve managed three trips this year already (albeit one was only a single night) and that’s on top of a four day getaway directly after Christmas 2021. So compare to the nearly two years before hand, well I had two getaways in the whole two years leading up to Christmas 2021.

Sadly I haven’t gotten to go overseas again since things began to ease and it became possible – Australia allowing people to travel again from November 2021. I was hoping that before the end of the year I would get away, but this isn’t going to happen in 2022. I have been struggling a bit watching vlogs and reading blogs of those who have been travelling – wishing I was doing that, but decisions to travel overseas are not as easy as they might seem when you consider the people in your life and their views.

Anyways, IF all goes to plan something for 2023, finally getting out of Australia again. But fingers, toes and everything else crossed. The world is in a bit of a rough patch right now with war, economic downturn and still the pandemic is affecting not just travel but more importantly people’s lives. In some countries it’s apparently like it has completely ended, but in Australia, although basically all restrictions are gone bar a few like masks on public transport, I can say in my life it’s still something that has the potential to affect me, my family, friends and people I know.

We seem to have a new case at work every second week and thus everyone needs to take a RAT for 5 days (just changed on June 24^th from 7) to make sure it hasn’t spread. The last couple amazingly have only been one person, but I don’t know how long that can last. My wife and I had it back in January, and now many family members in the Australian winter have copped it. The hope is that once we get through winter, the worst of the pandemic here will be over as more people are dying than in 2021 or 2020 (as we basically shut everyone out and had very few cases in the entire country).

Anyways, the biggest achievement I think for me thus far has been hiking to the top of Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko as part of my week long road trip back in March. I also visited the Gold Coast and a couple of Theme parks back in April, and in February had a one night stay on Mt Baw Baw.

The rest of the year, well, I probably won’t have as many breaks, but I do HOPE to get to Sydney in August, although thus far I have only booked the hotel and not paid for anything. I expect before Christmas to have another short break, not really sure what I will do but hopefully my wife and I can get away for a few nights somewhere in Victoria.

Work has been utterly crazy this year, no change there, and so by the time we get to the end of the year (as long as I make it!) I imagine I will be even more run down. Still, the prospect of international travel in 2023 should help motivate me somewhat! Vlogging has been good this year although I am a bit discouraged by the fact that in the last month or so my subscribers just stopped climbing, after a pretty decent May where I nearly averaged a new subscriber a day, I think I’ve had four or five new subscribers since June 1. If you would like to subscribe, I would be most grateful. Videos coming up in the second half of the year include Merimbula and Kosciuszko, Gold Coast adventures including two theme parks, a few flight reviews and hopefully a video or two from Sydney. I have a lot of videos saved up which is nice. I do hope to check out the 1000 steps, Footscray, Scienceworks  and a couple of other things around Melbourne in the coming months to make into more episodes of ‘Melbourne Revealed’ too.

Related Posts:

Climbing Australia’s Highest Mountain

Merimbula, on the Sapphire Coast!

Gold Coast’s Dreamworld – Rides, Experiences and Stories of Disaster

The Great Movie World Disaster of 2022

Wherever you are in the world, hope you’re having a better 2022 than 2021 or 2020, take care and May the Journey Never End!