Four days later, still no back pack arriving from the airlines, we head downtown to check into our last few nights of luxury.  We had a gift certificate from family that we'd saved the entire trip for our last few nights.  At the time of booking, just several months ago, our certificate (in US dollars) allowed us to stay three nights.  As we check in today, we are in for a huge shock, that the dollar had sunk to all new lows, and we can now only afford two nights.  Bummer, we'll have to now pay out of pocket for a night - at a cost that could have kept us traveling for another few weeks in Laos or Vietnam!  We look pretty worn, Darrin with his pack, and me with my only remaining pair of uncomfortable clothes that I'd been living in since we left Mendoza on our bus to catch the night flight from Santiago to Sydney.  Although I must thank my dear friend Karla for allowing me to borrow underwear and shorts, while I hand washed my only pair of undies and pants each night.  Tell me, how far off course can luggage be on a one stop flight across the Pacific?  Apparently it's still sitting in the warehouse in Santiago.   So now self conscious from our "backpacker" looks, we rock up to the reception of the Four Seasons on the "Rocks" in Sydney.  This is not the typical luxury resort we naturally think of when we envisioned staying at the Four Seasons.  We enter, and there's an all male, dark suit, members only drinking and networking reception going on off the lobby.  Ugh, a depressing feeling as I flash back to corporate travel - looking further to see that another event the AHRI (Australian HR Institute) was also having their annual conference there with a networking event this evening.  The corporate brick slams down on me, I can't believe our last three nights of luxury are a corporate business hotel and the work environment thrust back in our faces.  Darrin jokes with me, perhaps I'd like to crash their big networking event and get a jump on the job search.  Sure, I say, in my only pair of plastic pants and shirt I've now been wearing for 5 days.

 

But today is a gift.  We get to spend the afternoon with my mentor Liz, who thoughtfully asks questions that make me search deep for learnings & discoveries from the road, and how life might now look differently when we return home.  How to harness and leverage the energy and passion I have found through our travels and incorporate that into a meaningful, relevant life in the future.   No better place to contemplate life and learnings than in the beautiful botanical gardens, and gazing out over the harbor at an outdoor cafe by the Opera House.  Oh, these are just a couple of the many things I love about Sydney!

 

-L