Bon(kers) Voyage

When I see backpackers I can’t help but stare. I look at them and I wonder where they’re from and where they’re headed next. With only their tortoise shell like backpack to carry all that they need on their journeys, they look so carefree and easy going. No excess luggage, no carry ons, no itineraries, no schedules or deadlines. I thought just because I’m not a backpacker doesn’t mean that I can’t bring the same happy go lucky feeling to my upcoming trip to Queensland. I figured I could have the best of both worlds, the backpacker attitude, without having to actually be a backpacker. I’ve always thought of myself as a very easy going person, turns out being easy going is not that easy at all.



I started with the flights. Easy enough, just book the flights, pack my bag and off I go. That was up until the point where the computer rather convincingly asked me if I needed to book insurance. Insurance? Surely carefree world travellers don’t bother with insurance, but I thought, what the hell, rather safe than sorry. And that’s where it all started going down hill.

Next on the agenda were my dives. Simple enough you’d think. Turns out I am due for a scuba refresher. More money and more time being wasted on preparing for the fun stuff in stead of actually just doing it. But I thought, one can never be too safe, prevention is better than cure, or in this case, a refresher is better than a trip to the decompression chamber.


Next I needed to focus on my gear; right now I only have my dive computer and camera with me. The bare necessities. It just so happens that I have a contact in SA at the moment and have arranged for my wetsuit to be brought over. My wetsuit will make a 16000km trip just so that I won’t have to spend my dives wondering if anyone peed in the rental that I’m wearing. Great, gear sorted.


At this point I honestly thought that I had put in more than enough time, effort and money into organizing this supposed to be care-free-easy-going-no-worries-mate little getaway. Apparently not.


I realized that my dive insurance membership had expired. This is where I doing myself in international diver limbo. Apparently I am eligible for Asia Pacific membership but not dive injury insurance, so I nee to renew my Sa membership and just cross my fingers and hope that I am covered over here .


So just a quick summary then: Flights: Check. Wetsuit: Check.


Still outstanding: car rental, car insurance, dive membership, dive bookings, dive insurance and sea sick tablets.


Completely gone with the wind: I think it’s safe to say that my trip will be everything but easy going. I don’t know how backpackers do it, but kudos to them. As the Aussies say: No worries mate: Just too bad I am not an Aussie and I am worrying my saffy ass off.

Image: Flickr (Geishaboy500)