thunder down under

I am going to Australia at the end of March. This is very exciting. It marks my first foray into "adventure travel." Lots of people travel to cool locations and explore the land. My vacation preferences to date have been Florida, and, um, Florida, and ... uh ... Costco?

One of my closest friends is an adventure traveler. I think this will be a good experience - I am not gutsy enough to travel alone. This way, I get to have all the adventure with the added benefit of companionship. Crocodile Dundee, here I come!

I just booked the ticket online, which was WICKED expensive. Whenever you make an egregious purchase, do you ever find yourself inexplicably apprehensive? As I stared at the final price, my mind started racing. I thought "This is nearly a month's salary, if not more. This much money can be put toward my medical school expenses. Spending this much money makes me a really extravagant person."

But then, fears aside, I pressed the "Purchase" button. Do you know what I did while the little hourglass was indicating that my credit card debt was slowly inching up? I prayed. I don't know for what or why, but I prayed. Perhaps I prayed for a safe and fun trip. Perhaps I was thanking the powers that be for my fortunate circumstances to have the time, means and friends to allow me these experiences. Perhaps I was just praying my credit card wouldn't get denied. Yeah, I think it was the last one. Woohee, it went through.

Three years ago a group of girlfriends and I went to Las Vegas for little debauchery. While walking on the strip, a man handed us a flier for a nude male revue called "Thunder Down Under." And dammit if it wasn't a 5-4 vote against going. And as if I really need to tell you, I was very much the ringleader of the girls who wanted to go see the show. There is still residual bitterness from the loss.

And now, I can finally go see the real Thunder Down Under. Hallelujah!