Fear of failure (2)

I asked myself the same question leaving Chief O’Neill’s in Smithfield on Wednesday night after the Australia and New Zealand travel information night. The €3200 bank balance before you leave requirement. I could maybe make that by the time I said I might leave, mid-March. But that can’t include your airfare. You have to have a ticket to Australia AND €3200 on you in case you have to hang around while looking for work. Apparently you can buy a decent condition Ford Falcon (around the size of a Volkswagen Passat) for €800 or so, fully taxed or insured. Which would be in-fucking-credible, ‘specially considering the steering wheel would be on the same side. But while €3200 would be nice to have, I’ve heard stories of people getting overdrafts and loans to inflate their bank balances enough to fool the Australian Embassy. And I don’t know what to do there. I mean, one part of me is saying sticking the law would leave me with €3200 on arrival in Australia; no bad thing. But another part is saying such a huge amount of money would be impossible to raise between now and March. And who the feck actually takes €3200 with them? Answers on a postcard, please…

The information night raised the possibility of a sub-€1000 flight to Oz. I have no great desire to stop off anywhere; which seems to be how travel companies make their money. No, I’d be happy with just one seat all the way to Australia. Where I’d be landing would depend a lot on where the girls would be, since I’d like to stay with them first. But all these “adventures” I heard about; I just want to go there and sink in. Maybe going bungee jumping would be cool, but to be honest I could take it or leave it. I’d be more interested in simply meeting the people and talking and taking in a few sights and…that’s all really. I have a thing for hot, arid places. Which is really more Western Australia and I’d be thinking about eastern Australia but sure anyway. Only got one email from Elaine in Thailand so far; I think they’re in Bali now and they’ll be in Perth by the end of the month.

The Two Grand Plan is miniscule at this stage; €400 saved and only a mere €1600 to go. €2000 by 24 January may not be enough; I looked into boosting it a little and changing it from €200 every fortnight to €300, thus giving me €3100 by January. It would be an awful pain the hole, but it would mean that from then until March I could be paying off an actual flight to Australia, enabling me to leave before April. Actually, all I’d have to do would be save a little bit and then just pay the rest off with all of my last paycheque, since I’d have the few quid saved since, well, now.

But still. What if I fail? I haven’t told my parents about my plan yet; the idea I have is to wait until I have a grand or two saved and then spring it on them. It’ll be a shock; I’ve never saved money before in my life. I spend it all like the Criminal Assets Bureau is pursuing me, trying to get their hands on my ill-gotten wealth. I’ve never be one to give a shit about “the rainy day”. But now I’m waiting on a sunny day.

j

p.s. sorry about that crap Bruce Springsteen link there, very good album though (The Rising), bought it ages ago, you should too.