Adelaide...the furthest I've ever been

Ahh the age of smartphones! I can amuse myself upon the flight by blogging ;)
So, this has been a far different experience to my other travels so far. It started with me setting the alarm on my phone..for the first time pretty much ever. Nice to wake up at dark and stupid o'clock on purpose for a change ;)
Caught the first Airtrain of the day, so far so good I thought..then it was delayed further up the track argh!!! Panic stations.
After a short delay I arrived in plenty of time for boarding. Well, I'm spoilt this time, Tv!! Satellite, so heavy cloud blocks it from time to time but happily distracting myself drinking awful, awful coffee and watching Family Guy.
I'm testing how high the volume goes lol, I'm on board with a mixed basketball team from Logan, they're a funny bunch, but pretty rowdy.

Fast forward to 7 February 2013 and Adelaide brought me many experiences with friends, and new foes. I stayed mostly with my childhood babysitter Sharon and her boys. Even though I don't remember the poor lady Lol, I had a great time!!!! I did some exploring of the city centre, riding trams, spending time in beautiful gardens.

Then came "Life, Interrupted".

Towards the end of my time in Adelaide I met in person finally some more great people from Facebook. One in particular I spent a lot of time with, much to the panic of family and friends who couldn't reach me, but I was fine even if a little rude by not responding straight away.
I won't go into details because if I meant for you to know the nitty-gritty, I've shared it with you by now ;) but the Adelaide trip changed me in a lot of ways, changed my views on a few things...
Just before I boarded the plane home, one of the people I'd met in person turned nasty because I'd met with one of their 'enemies'. Flying home in tears and hurt was not my planned end. That day though I decided it's impossible not to chose between friends at times, or the situation turns toxic, as it did.
So Life has been very much in the way since this trip, a major anxiety relapse took my mind further and further away from any thought of traveling for a while and other distractions.
Since there's been another short trip to Sydney which I'll post about soon, I didn't it handle too well, being far too away from my safe little room here. Looks like I'll need to spend more time fighting the demons again before I have the courage to try again, it's left my confidence shaken. But soon, I'll push myself out of my comfort zone again, it's just a matter of time.

Cave dweller

Weird place for a  ferris wheel! Surfers' Paradise, Gold Coast

So, on the weekend I returned from the Gold Coast after being there for 6 days.
It turns out this wasn't really a "travelling experience" after all...I stayed with a girlfriend down there, about an hour and a half's drive away from home, while I completed a Body Piercing training course.
I packed the camera and other tourist-y type items, that never even saw the light of day! At the end of each day I was so exhausted, there was no socializing in me :(
It was rather difficult the first day, some people were completing just the infection control portion of the course, expanding the class size from the expected 4 people, to 8! I kept to myself at lunch break, it was all a bit too much.
Once that day was over, the class dropped to a manageable 5 including myself, that felt better already. With the course being conducted on a very quiet part of the coast, there wasn't a great deal to do during breaks, but we all eventually ended up together and I was able to come out of myself a bit.
Not having studied for over half of my life, it wasn't easy trying to absorb information, times of over-stimulation messed with my head, a few times I retreated into a quiet corner to try to concentrate while everyone else was talking.
I found it quite difficult turning up every day...whether it as the anxiety, or just wanting to hang out with a girlfriend, I usually cannot do much of anything on many consecutive days. Since being home again, I've been able to retreat into myself, my own thoughts, get away from the outside world a bit.
But now I must also prepare for another 6 day trip...this time to Adelaide, leaving early Sunday morning.
Another city I've never visited, but I'm no as apprehensive about it as I was with the huge city of Sydney.
I'll be hanging out with another girlfriend, my old babysitter actually, quite a distance from the CBD. I'm arriving on a long weekend, so it will bring a great balance of time spent, with time alone when she is at work each day, with some couch surfing and meeting facebook friends along the way ;)
I hope to visit the Adelaide Zoo and the Adelaide Gaol as well.
Well, off to make my lists and let the anxiety/excitement build!