On the move

I don't know if this is strange, but I look forward to bus rides. A lot. I explored nearly the entire country of New Zealand by bus, and I've spent the last two weeks on a Greyhound heading north up the east coast of Australia.

I mentioned this to Jutta, a girl from Sweden who was part of my three-day, 11-person camping trip on Fraser Island. She explained it perfectly.

"It's because sometimes you just need time to yourself, and you get that on the bus."

She was right. Moving from hostel to hostel, city to city, I meet dozens of new people every day. The conversations are often the same. Where are you going, where have you been? I answer them, never putting much thought into my response, which has now become robotic. Don't get me wrong, meeting people is what has made this trip what it is. But sometimes I'm in need of another busride to spend some time reflecting on what I've been doing.

Today, for example, I stared out the window at the wild kangaroos and the setting sun as I counted the number of cities I've slept in over the past 79 days.

Somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania

Lynbrook, New York

Manhattan, New York

Washington D.C.

Memphis, Tennessee

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Springville, Utah

Las Vegas, Nevada

Salt Lake City, Utah

Park City, Utah

Phoenix, Arizona

San Diego, California

Los Angeles, California

Pomona, California

Riverside, California

Manhattan Beach, California

Encino, California

Nadi, Fiji

Auckland, New Zealand

Rotorua, New Zealand

Lake Taupo, New Zealand

Wellington, New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand

Greymouth, New Zealand

Franz Josef, New Zealand

Queenstown, New Zealand

Dunedin, New Zealand

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Sydney, Australia

Byron Bay, Australia

Noosa Heads, Australia

Brisbane, Australia

Hervey Bay, Australia

Fraser Island, Australia

1770, Australia

Total: 35 cities between December 31 and March 19. I'll let you know what I come up with on the next bus ride.