as i have mentioned before, travel this year has been very sporadic due the fact that last October i bought a house.  but opportunity does knock, and in this case it was a very loud knock not to be ignored.  i opened the door and now a trip is planned!

my friend JF lives in Sydney, she’s been there for the last year.  she is planning to come home at the end of October, which sadly eliminates the chance for me to see fireworks on New Year’s Eve over the Sydney Opera House, but it gave me the inspiration to get my act together and plan a trip for a visit before she leaves.  although the cash is limited, the fact i have a free place to stay helps out tremendously.

so i cashed in my meager stash of United miles and got a one-way ticket to Sydney.  my friend and i will then return to the Bay Area together via Honolulu.  it worked out to be more cost effective to fly through Hawaii than direct from Sydney to San Francisco, and since that was the case, why not stay for a couple of nights?

i am so happy to have this trip on the calendar and i’m super grateful for having everything fall into place so it could happen.  although i’ve got the trip to Cologne first, the Australian countdown has begun!

photo courtesy of naturalwallpaper.net