Here I go again up in the air at about 20,000 feet after just having said goodbye to not only another city, but an amazing collective of new friends and some old. I haven't really slept the past few days - a few nights ago I slept only 2hrs, and last night I managed a whole half an hour of eyelids closed to the world before having to rise once more to head out to the airport.

My dear friend Ralph drove me out and hung out with me until i finally  had to conceed to the clock and head through security alone. I'm  pretty good at goodbyes; Ive done it countless times in so many different countries and to so many people, but it is sad not knowing  when I will see this face that has become such a part of my life  again. They're trying to convince me to come back for summer, and I'm  interested for sure, but it's more of a monetary question at this  point. At the moment, Im leaning towards this rough draft of a plan -  hustle and shake in Toronto until after my friends wedding in mid  November, then off to London for a bit (a week to a month there) then  perhaps on to Norway and onwards as long as I can handle the cold. 

I've got a goal of hitting a few more (4, to be exact) countries  before my next birthday in January, so I'd like to fulfill that then  that might be the time I could return to New Zealand for 4-8 weeks and  then heading back to Europe for a wild trek there by motorcycle after  first being a part of the Holi festival in India on March 7th. Ralph  is going to be getting the irresistable campaign from me to try and get him to come and taste a bit more of the world with me, so hopefully he is in the right space and will jump into that idea with the furvour of a man coming up out of the water for air.

Air China + Bike

Frig.

I saved a lot of money taking a dirt cheap ticket from Southern China Air, and now I see how they make all their money - I've been calling them on and off for the past hour or two, and the whole language barrier makes things even more exciting as you can imagine.

Turns out I'm allowed 20kgs for my TOTAL baggage. Shit baller. I'm takin my bike. I might not be able to take much else. Good thing I found out now before I get to the airport, and just assume it's something like 2 bags each at 23kgs, or the beloved 36kgs two bag allowance that just makes thing un-stressful and 'easy packins'.  They (China Southern) charge $30USD PER kilo over the limit. Talk about getting screwed from behind.

Thank God the Korean mail system is so affordable. I can mail 20kgs home for $40USD. Mind you, that does take two months on a ship, but whatever, I am used to not having much with me anyways. 

Anyone else like to try and find fun ways to get away with more? Lucky it's winter here in Korea, cos you can be sure that I will be layering my clothing like I'm heading for the Arctic, rather than the searing heat of Australia!

The one (tiny) plus, is that my bike box can be as large as 2 meters by 1.5meters, so I guess my bag and my bike are going together in one box. whoopee. Awkward baggage, here I come!

Speaking of all of this, I recently discovered something interesting. There's a whole conglomerate of something known as 'third culture kids', which is basically kids who have grown up traveling and don't particularly identify with one particular culture. It's actually defined a little broader than that, saying it's kids who have grown up in a culture that isn't the same as their parents, but I think the definitions lend themselves more to the traveling kid thing. Check it out.