i realized yesterday that the time between i leave PWU and the music festival in Australia is… 2.5 months. i’d somehow assumed it was only 1.5 months. this is awesome. this is also going to be a fun game of stretching pennies.

i’m going to have to meet folks to share rooms and beds with, which shouldn’t be too hard. and i figure if i have one big meal a day and the rest have fruit and such, that should cut down on expenditures.

i also realized that in order to get a Vietnam visa, i have to go to Bangkok. original plans entailed going to Vientiane, but now i am travelling backwards. Bangkok is like smoking; you might as well just burn your money. it is also hot, stuffy, and the home of hedonism (not even good hedonism). also, i was deadset on flying from Bangkok to Siem Riep, and now i don’t know. but if i can do it for under 50, i probably still will, because i am sara and relish impracticality.

another realization: i think i have to slightly abandon my spontaneous ways. having a date set for australia has made things a lot more clear, and i should probably start to make some other time points. but that’s no fun. and i don’t know how, it would be a whole new thing for me. i have until January 22 (i think) to be in thailand. perhaps i will want to swim in the ocean at dawn and lay in a hammock for more than 3 weeks; perhaps i will be over it in 10 days. i do have to apply for an australian visa, and thus need to figure out dates for that, but that relates to money again. maybe i will go to australia right before the festival and stay for a few weeks afterwards. or, if money is scarce, i would go in february and leave soon after the festival. i don’t want to be broke there; Melbourne is my all-time favorite city in the world, and i want to be able to play lavishly with my friends.

last realization: as i have been trimming the tree of things that cause me stress, these are now the main concerns in my life. my life is awesome.