1. Make a scan of your passport, drivers license and medical insurance details and store it in the cloud ‘just in case’.  Let at least one trusted loved one have access to that information in case of emergencies.
2. When you are on the plane, they will ask you to put down the Aussie address that you’re going too.  For ease, even if you’re going somewhere first (a la Susan and Karla) just use 2 Duke Street, West Launceston, Tasmania 7250 (my parents address).  Lets make customs think mum and dad are having a massive, summer-long party!  FYI my cell is +61.417.380.675 as the contact number.
3. Take a surge-protected power board so you only need one US-to-Aussie power adaptor so you can plug all your devices into one outlet.  Be aware Aussie outlets are higher voltage than US (by more than double I think) so protecting your electronics is important.                                             
4. Hot tip: when you plug something in to a wall socket, you need to actually turn the power point / outlet on with the switch.  This sounds like silly advice, but after living in the US I’m out of the habit now, and often catch myself plugging something in to charge then coming back to find I never turned it on which is annoying to say the least, and painful if it’s something you really need like a GPS unit or camera battery!
5. take a refillable water bottle.  Aussie water is really good quality (Tassie’s is, of course, the very best) so you can fill that up on the long haul flight to avoid buzzing for the attendants and save a tonne of money buying bottled water during the trip.  Hot tip: make sure you haven’t filled it right up before going through security as you’ll have to gulp it down quickly!
6. make sure your carry-on contains at least your basic toiletries, a change of clothes and all essentials like laptop and camera to avoid the “I don’t have my suitcase for five days so am wearing the same clothes in every photo” experience I just had in England, ha ha!
7. this link here covers a bunch of other stuff like how to get a tourist refund on tax you paid on products (especially wine and spirits); details on our currency, climate, where US embassies are located, what happens if you fall in love with someone while visiting and want to get married (it has happened!); maps, apps and general touristy info.
8. and here is another link to even more helpful tips – made me feel happy to see some of mine in here, there are loads of other good ones too!

1. Phones: I strongly advise to avoid global roaming on your cell unless it is a serious emergency.  You will be bent over with fees in a way that is hard to describe – a good habit to get in is simply turning your smart phone to airplane mode as soon as you land and only turning it on when you get somewhere with free wifi.  As we get closer to the time, I’ll allocate out the numbers of some pre-paid local cell phones (I have a bunch left over from the Kardashian job) so you can communicate with each other and me at regular fees while Down Under and will have a number to leave on your US voice mail if someone really needs to get hold of you in an emergency (e.g. my voice message when I’m at home says “…hey, don’t leave a message here as I’m out of the country, email is best, Skype is good too or call this Aussie number between these dates if you really need to talk to me” sort of thing).
2. Interwebs: there is nowhere near the availability or speed of wifi service (especially free) in Australia as there is in the States., especially once you leave the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.  I’d forgotten how annoying that is after living in the land of the (free) wifi for five years so be prepared.  Our instinct to immediately update our status or check emails upon landing either need to be curbed or paid for (usually an amount like $4.95 for an hour at the airport or something equally outrageous).  Couple of tips: there are nearly always free wifi at McDonalds restaurants; major chain hotel lobbies will sometimes have ‘guest’ services you can jump on and some cafes will have free wifi.  If a cafe or pub do have wifi it will be advertised so try to avoid asking a busy barista if they have free internet as the request is likely to earn a withering stare, like “…can’t you entertain yourself offline even for the time it takes to drink this amazingly good latte??”  All of the friends you are staying with in Hobart will have wifi, however plans are expensive (another monopoly provider situation) so the etiquette for me when staying with mates and piggy-backing on their network is usually something along the lines of “…hey, I’d love to jump online for a bit to check emails, are you guys on a limited plan?” or “…if I promise not to stream endless hours of hardcore porn, can I jump on your network to connect with home?”

From top to bottom (reflecting arrival times), here are Heather, Anni, Andrew, Mandy, Amy, Dustin, Karla and Susan’s respective Maps o’ Tassie 🙂

* Two more Maps ‘O Tassie for our new additions to the gathering tribe: Beverly, Jake and Laura!

tassie-palooza-calendar [updated for new additions Laura, Bev & Jake!] – check it out.  Note that “LST, Lonnie or L’ton” means the thriving metropolis of Launceston (biggest city in north of the State and where my parents and brother live), HBA is Hobart (the capital in the south).

Things be different in these here parts when it comes to what we Aussie’s ingest and how we shop for food.

On the plus side: sow stalls are banned in Tasmania and by the big supermarket chain Coles.  We’ve also banned plastic bags and battery hen farms; most of our beef (60% according to this article, which isn’t that great until they tell you they ship 2/3rd of the 40% of HG treated meat overseas – WTF?) and all of our chooks are growth hormone-free which is good news if you’re a conscientious omnivores.  We have a very well-regulated fishery if you eat local caught, and really, why wouldn’t you want a sustainably harvested, long-line caught yellow fin tuna that was pulled out of the pristine sub-Antarctic waters the same day?  Eh??  Plus an amazing grass-fee, free-range dairy industry (world class cheese and chocolate) who have banned hormones also.  Coffee is a big part of our culture and is taken seriously so while you won’t get free re-fills, it will likely be a delicious cup made by a highly trained barista and almost certainly free-trade and / or organic.  FYI we name our hot beverages different (see here), and there really is no greater pleasure than ordering a good “short black” when you need a caffeine jolt!  So that’s the good news.

The cons are: combined with our geographical location, vast terrain, comparatively small population, good wages and a bit of a duopoly with supermarkets, not much we eat or drink comes cheap.  A cooked breakfast in a cafe will be anything from around $12 (for two eggs on toast basically) to $18 or even $20 for something more elaborate like eggs benedict.  A bloody mary to wash it down will be $10+.  When you’re eating out and are offered water, best to always say “tap is fine” otherwise you’ll likely be bought bottled water which can also be several dollars a glass (plus our tap water is the best in the world so bottled water makes zero sense).  A case of beer (24 regular, draft stubbies or cans of local Tassie beer like Cascade or Boags) will be $50.  A bottle of drinkable ‘house’ red or white wine will be $12+ usually.  A sandwich from a deli and an orange juice could run to $15+.  This link here gives some other examples and I agree 100% with his advice re tipping (this is important – the reason we don’t generally tip is because staff are paid well and the food costs are already so high).  Supermarket and market shopping will drop the food costs down however they are still MUCH higher than the US.  Even I get surprised at the costs each time I go home and go grocery shopping – a full trolley with a few weeks supply of regular groceries and cleaning products once came to $500 when I was home last year.  Things like toiletries are much more too as all imported, so take your own of all that type of stuff (hair products and razors especially).  Believe me, I will be packing an eskie (cooler box) in the car for any of the days we’re traveling around with snacks, bevies (alcoholic and non), sandwich and salad making stuff etc to avoid costs mounting.  The homes you’re staying in are obviously going to have fully stocked pantry cupboards for general things like tea, coffee and cooking stuff which will help with costs significantly if you’re on a tighter budget (i.e. me) and want to make some meals at home or in advance.

One of my absolute favourite sayings learned during my five years of living in the States is the phrase “…shit or get off the pot”.  While it probably would be nicer and more polite to start this post with a rousing, Robin Williams’-style “carpe diem”, I think the other opener does the trick too!

Two years ago today I got the news that my wee Shed and all my precious personal possessions had been lost in the bush fires that ripped through my community in South East Tasmania.  In those horrible first days, I can remember thinking I would never recover from that event.  As the grief lessened, I started to become aware that I hadn’t lost everything I have, because I still have my family and friends who I love, and who love me right back.  The incredible waves of support – emotional, practical and financial – that I received in the aftermath of that disaster has actually changed who I am as a person.  I promise, I haven’t been watching Oprah, and am sober as I type this!  It was because of that outpouring of love that I decided to organize TassiePalooza, so I can bring people who I love together for something joyous and fun rather than in response to a tragedy.

Three calendar months from today, TassiePalooza will officially be underway.  Heather will have been mucking around on the island with me for 12 days; Andrew, Anni and Mandy will be a week in to their experience with some super fun pre-Palooza-ing under our belts; while Susan, Karla, Dustin and Amy will all be a few days into some serious relaxation after being scooped up at the Hobart airport on the 2nd January.  We will all have already spent a night camping on the farm, partied at the big beach house celebration and hung out at the Tasmanian Devil Park.  On this date, three months from now, we will all be about to go to MONA by catamaran and be preparing to leave the following day for our glorious 48 hours on the stunning East Coast.

I know some of you are still seriously considering pulling the trigger and booking flights and time off work to make this happen, and I have to strongly encourage you to do that as soon as humanly possible.  As in, if you’re going to do this, do it right now.  Domestic flights are starting to get expensive and less available; international flights are creeping up every day too.  At this 12-weeks-out point, I’m starting to really nail down logistics for the time on the island with sorting the free accommodation and working out the best transport options as we tootle around the place, so will need to have a firm list of who’s coming as soon as possible.  Of course, if any of you have a last minute change of heart, or win the lotto which means an 11th hour first-class ticket purchase is feasible, I will of course welcome you gleefully and with open arms, but the reality is if this is going to happen on an achievable budget, now is the time to book.

Life is too short… I’ve been reminded of that again during my trip back ‘home’ to the UK last month, seeing friends who I love dealing with the hardest stuff that we humans all have to deal with.  We don’t know what’s around the corner for any of us, and to waste time seems to be the worst crime of all.  If you want to and are able to join me this January – and god I hope you do – I promise this week long experience will be an unforgettable celebration of all the good stuff that life brings.

Carpe. Diem.

Andi x