Australia

It all started as a crazy idea in the beginning of 2008 - one Mathias actually came up with - and now it is becoming reality: Next month Mathias and I are off to Australia. I can´t tell you how excited I am!

The last two years I have spent getting Australian residency and work permit: After all I want to work there as a freelance software developer, just like I do here. And the end of this trip: open. We might never come back from Australia. That´s the plan.

It is one of those things too crazy to be true, and that´s why it is totally in line with my life. God has led me onto big adventures before:

• Went to the US alone at age 16; stayed there for six years
• Had a kid at a young age, while I was still at university
• Became my own boss right out of university, and was successful with it
• Drove to Africa and through the Sahara with a beat-up old Volkswagen
• ...

It comes as no surprise - at least to me - that I am off on a new adventure. And this time Mathias is joining me: Father-son power. We both have never been to Australia, but I decided to save the money spent on a vacation: Everybody says it is a lovely country. Sounds like enough info to me.

But I have moved to countries that I hadn´t even visited before. It works. Nothing new there. So to make this a real adventure we will not fly over there: We will drive. Six months. Fifteen countries. Through Iran and Pakistan. With an 20-year old Volkswagen campervan. Does this sound like adventure?

I think Mark Twain would be proud of us. He supposedly said

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

I am a bit worried that I am going too far, though. After all I am taking my favorite son Mathias with me, and sure don´t want anything bad happen to him. But it just sounds too good to miss out on this. Sure will give a nice story to tell, So stay tuned ...