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Flight Home!
On the plane to Buenos Aires, the tinge of sadness and iminent imact of reality started to overwhelm me. After a short flight to BA, it was some downtime for me and the other Aussies waiting for teh return flight to Sydney. Mike Munro (This is your Life, 60 Minutes) was hanging around waiting as well…
All the Aussies banded together, as they do, and helped each other order something palatable from the cafe using broken Spanglish…
The Qantas 747 was the one that was painted red, with aboriginal artwork all over it, and I must say it filled me with a sense of pride to see.
On the plane I sat next to a young Japanese guy who was heading home to be with his family. While they lived nearby the Tsunami affected areas, his entire family was luckily all safe from the devastation.
The most amazing moment on the way home, was opening the windows halfway through to see parts of Antarctica out the window… awesome!
On landing, and after a quick trip through the Smartgate and quarantine, I was greeted by a rather enthusiastic 3-year old nephew, Morrison. He ran over screaming “Uncle Abby!” 🙂 It was the best welcome home!
Australia Day… again
On Visas and Passports
Travel only really works when you have travel documents that are up to the task.
And as it turns out, my passport was not quite up to the task of letting me into Brazil – yet… They needed to have six months validity on the passport, which there was, when I applied for the visa. However, the validity needs to be from the date you enter the country, not the date you apply for the visa. (Would have been good to have that in the notes section online somewhere!)
Anyway, after a few frantic calls and a trip or two down to the Australian Passport office in Sydney, I’ve been able to get myself a passport that is up to the task of some good old fashioned Aussie backpackery.
So hopefully the Brazilian visa will be not too far behind and the trip can commence as planned!
For those Aussies wanting to travel to Brazil, you will need an entry visa. Tourist visas cost around $50 and are available through the Brazilian consulate.
Here’s the details…
One year on…
One year on… it seems like only yesterday.
I’m currently working in Sydney at a PR agency, living in Elizabeth Bay and every day waking up dreaming of Brazil.
The hardest thing about travelling had to have been coming back home and learning to adapt back to a life I had previously been used to, but taking all of the things I had learnt during my trip and incorporating them somehow.
It’s still difficult one year on… but life is always what you make of it.
So I’m currently working to save up and do another huge travel experience again in the next few years. If you want to come and tag along, let me know! Or make a suggestion of where to go even!
Thanks for reading my experiences and I look forward to sharing more with you all soon.
Lots of love, Adam – the Brazilianaire.
The Brazilianaire Returns!
His travel-worn features can no longer be seen…
I had planned with my sister for some time to arrive back in Australia early and surprise the rest of my family. Mostly this was just to avoid a scene at the airport with my mother (she’s a little emotionally unpredictable at times).
Two weeks before I’m scheduled to return and I get a call from my mother, who says she has a feeling I am planning to come back early (how did she work that out?). And she emphatically said that she would be VERY disappointed as she wanted to meet me at the airport. So much for avoiding a public confrontation.
I had already booked my secret flight and organised it all, so there was no changing plans now. However, my sister came up with the great idea that Mum and Dad were down in Adelaide the same weekend and that I could then go and meet them at the airport instead of them meeting me. I figured it would still pay off as there’d be less of a crowd at the domestic terminal than the international for me to be embarrassed in front of.
My mate Rafael came to pick me up at the airport and then I went over to my sister’s place and hung out slowly acclimatising back to Oz!
A few days later and it was time to meet Mum and Dad at the domestic terminal. Mum came through the terminal doors, down the escalators, saw me and then screamed. As I had anticipated, everyone in the terminal looked up worried about a possible terrorist attack, only to find the happy reunion of a mother and father with their travelling son.
But I was back in Australia and certainly it was going to be good to acclimatise back into the Australian way of life.
Tales of The Brazilianaire 