Planning Part 1: She's my identical twin sister...honest!
December 2000
When we first ventured into the Southampton branch of the
Student Travel Association, we looked around in quiet awe. The
whole place had a very 'blue' theme and there was a aura of
peace and tranquillity. We knew no-one, but we also had a strange
affinity with them.
As our gazes brushed
around the room, one of the familiar strangers behind the desk,
a freckly guy with glasses looked straight back at us. He
beckoned us over with a sharp gesture and a loud 'Hi guys!'. We
stumbled forward nervously and pulled up a squeaky seat.
Prior to our visit,
we had already done lots of research using the tomes on the web
and the countless brochures that littered our bedrooms. We laid
out our plans to the STA consultant who, like some all mighty
guru, listened carefully, nodding. When we had finished, we sat
in anticipation, half expecting him to tell us that we must
first learn to 'wax on, then, wax off'. He spoke and the wisdom
poured forth.
He introduced us to
a special Round The World deal and showed us how to optimise our
plans to make the best use of time and money. He told us useful
tid-bits, he gave us inside info, he explained the secret of
life. (Well, the secret of a student traveller's life). With all
the information we needed, he suggested we come back early next
year to put down a deposit and finalise our plans.
Kneel. No, get off
the floor, I meant 'Neil'. If you pop into the Southampton
branch of STA Travel, speak to Neil. He's the guy in the know,
he's the guy with the wisdom who sorted out our trip. (If you're
reading this, thanks Neil!)
Our heads full of
information, our arms full of brochures, and surprisingly, our
wallets still full of cash, we left the STA building, and
returned home. Little were we to know that our cash levels would
go in the direction of a small furry lemming stepping out of a
hot-air balloon mid-flight...down...fast...
January 2001
I can't remember how, but we heard about an 'Australian' themed
night being held at our local branch of STA Travel. As we needed
to assimilate as much information as we could fit into our
(conveniently empty) student brains, we decided to pop along.
They gave some
useful talks about travelling and working in Australia, but
being a typical teenager, I only remember (1) the booze, and (2)
the free stuff. (Therefore, the free beer is the most memorable
thing!)
They also held a small raffle
type competition. Everybody there wrote their details on a small
form, and all the forms were placed in a hat. The hat was
shaken, and names were pulled out at random, each name winning a
prize. To increase our chances, we each entered about 20 times,
then crossed our fingers and hoped.
"Winner of prize number 1, Emily
Morris" shouted an STA consultant in a funny
Australian hat. Emily cheered and collected her prize.
But then it started. "Winner
of prize number 3, Emily Morris" shouted the STA
consultant in the funny Australian hat. Emily cheered and stood
up to collect her prize.
"Hey, wait a minute,
you just won a prize, you can't do that!" exclaimed the
STA consultant in the funny Australian hat. Emily looked
sheepishly at he feet and didn't collect a prize.
This happened about three
more times in the evening, each time we received a slightly more
dirty look from the STA consultant in the funny Australian hat,
and each time Emily curled up into a smaller and smaller ball.
However, the evening did turn
out to be very productive. Emily left with one prize, I
left with a prize and we had free food and alcohol. Oh yeah, and
we learned a few useful things about travelling in Australia.
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