November 4, 2009

Perth - Is It Time Yet?

Perth has given me a strange feeling lately. Its telling me - move on. Weird, because I love this city. I feel at home here. I'm always busy. Checked out Martin's "Territory Twelve" exhibition at Kurb Gallery, fantastic. Checked out Ben and Si's as well, at Turner - amazing. I watched the Pyrophone Juggernaut at the Northbridge Piazza opening, a musical instrument spewing fire-balls and beats into the warm Perth air. Went to see the huge travelling jade Buddha at the museum, very peaceful. Had a bunch of friends around for a pretty typical Perth night-in - beer, cocktails, and pizzas. A random lady pulled her pants down and urinated at my front gate, but thats just part of living in the city (I tried to get a photo for this blog, but wasn't quick enough). The one night boredom came to town last week, I roamed the city late at night taking most of the photos on this page.

I know its time to travel. I know it. How does anyone know when its time to travel? If you're wondering if it's time, and you have some cash to do it, its time. Fortunately, I learnt that early in life. A few years back, stuck in a pretty average job, I watched as Federal Police rummaged through my desk. They were looking for any evidence of tax evasion. Not me, the company I was working for. It was one of those slow motion moments in life. All the time, I was thinking, "what the fuck am I doing here". I talked about it that day to Joe, the "older" guy in the office (he must have been 35). The conversation ended with him saying "what the fuck are you doing here". I quit that day, flew to Los Angeles, and drove (the long way) to New York to visit my Architect mate.

Joe isn't around anymore. Last I heard, he was selling PC's in Victoria Park. At the moment, I have a pretty good job, but, thats not really an issue. If you're white, male, have no obvious deformities, and were born in Perth, you  won first prize in the Welcome to The Easy Life Sweepstakes. That's another lesson in life I learnt early on. Jobs are easy to find.  In any case, its time. I'm not talking about a quick jaunt to South East Asia. Really, its time for adventure. If you decided to buy a one-way ticket off this island, to anywhere, and just kept going, where would you end up?

It must be amazing to travel for an extended amount of time. Not moving to another country for your career prospects. Not travelling for a few months. A true journey, with no time-limits, and no destination. Where the customary time limits of a day would have no relevance. Wake up early. Sleep in. Have an early night. Stay up until dawn. Every morning, of every day, you only need to decide one thing - what do I want to do today?

This isn't a lotto dream. That would complicate things. It needs to be pure. Just travel. No shopping. Sight seeing is fine, so is doing nothing all day. I'm sure this topic will be explored again soon, but in the meantime, I need some sleep - tomorrow is a work day. Enjoy the photos.


Oh yeah, she's coming with me.

5 comments:

Matt C said...

I've been having the same sort of thoughts.

I've always resisted just travelling for the sake of it, because I figured I'd end up coming home and not being able to find work and blah blah. Now I don't really care so much.

Good blog!

N. said...

I'm pretty sure these are common thoughts. We need to make a national "Quit Your Job" day. Thanks for the compliment!

Matt C said...

It's just so hard when things here are so easy! Like you said, living in Perth as a white male is basically a ticket to a cushy life, and it's hard to shake yourself out of that and not do what's easy.

Anonymous said...

that's a great post nate. i too long to do the same but being self employed i think it will be a while before i can do it. the plan is to take a year off in 2014.

sanj

Anonymous said...

im looking for photos of the old perth swan bewery aka "satans mansion" emu swan brewery from around 1990 photos of the building standing for a documentry i doin.....send links to perth graffiti on facebook or to amuck37@hotmail.com...cheers

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