Lesson: Check weather report

The Birthday Knife.

Ok, I may be sharing a boat with a bunch of internationals here, but EVERYONE knows about the Birthday Knife, right?



You know - the one where you go to a Birthday Party and the mum puts aluminium foil around the handle of the cake-cutting knife to make it all "special". Everyone does that right?!!!

Apparently not.

Apparently only North Shore Sydney mum's do these kind of things for their kids. I was nearly laughed off the boat I tells ya.

A bit too Cool.

Snowboarding is cool, right?



You get to wear cool brands, do wicked "toe-side" tricks and generally look awesome going down the slopes.

Not in Europe.

If i had a dollar for every grin of satisfaction I had from passing French Skiers as I had to sit on the snow and do up my bindings, I could BUY the damn resort. For every snowboarder I'd say there were 300 skiers. We just didn't exist.

It seems the barometer of cool has literally surpassed the European slopes.



And look, after four days of sitting on my backside and bearing the lengthy chairlifts, I think I've changed. BRANDARA is DEFINITELY a skier from now on.

Who? Me?

The word ANONYMOUS for me falls roughly in the same basket as MISCELLANEOUS - both a real bitch to spell correctly.

Now, I love nothing better than the guts of an anonymous comment. It's the internet people! No one is going to come-a-knocking at your doghouse door for owning up to an opinion!

Now don't get me wrong, I've certainly caused my fair share of uproar in message boards in my younger days (there was a Michael Franti incident where I went on his fansite and said something along the lines of "this dude thinks he's Jesus or something" which caused INSTANT responses. I then decided to make up another profile to "agree" with my original statement, only to find that the administrator had tracked my IP and posted for everyone to see that these two anonymous people are in fact, the same person) firmly standing for what I believe in but firmly refusing to identify myself...but you know, that's not for here.

Thankyou Anonymous!!

I want to run through the halls of my high school

So I had a thought today. It was the "oh hell I've been out of school for ten years" crisis. Having "un-friended" anyone who was even remotely connected to the suburb I went to school in, I have successfully managed to stay out of the stalking/invite loop.

Conveniently, being out of the country gives me a viable and mysterious reason for being M.I.A. I plan to send some random, strategic emails just prior to the event so at least some conversation can be had.

After all, I was the School Captain.

Conversations may include:

"Dara?! Yeah I heard she was in Slovakia, hiking through mountain ranges to reach those communities who still hadn't converted to the Euro yet"

or

"Dara? Didn't you see her on Oprah?"

Suggestions welcome.

Like Tom Cruise on a talk show couch

Let me just say here, that I feel f**king fabulous right now. I am on the Day 9 Detox High, otherwise known as "the complete unachievable long terms state for your body so enjoy this amazing feeling while it lasts" state.

No really, I feel like a superior human.

I am cleansed, I am enjoying the taste of brown rice and have embraced the dullness that is Daily Porridge.

I look at the plates of my fellow crew members and think, "Fools! Pass on my regards to your intestines who are about to digest that animal fat and, starch and refined sugar! I'll have the soup!".

It can't last though, surely. I've been having chocolate dreams all week.

The vDara!

Look at this! A hotel with my name on it!



Nothing but Las Vagas, of course...

It could only be mum...

I logged onto ninemsn today to find this image:

I better ring mum! I thought, I wonder if she knows about this?!...Of course, upon further inspection it turns out that the article was actually all about her. Of course...

Detox to Retox.

It had to happen. I'm back on the detox bandwagon.



Turns out that endless supplies of whatever food Iwant, courtesy of the boat, has resulted in somewhat of a chocolate gut.

Currently on Day Two. This feeling is quite familiar. We are eating for nutrition only. Food is no fun anymore. Looking forward to Day Three which usually ends in tears and a mild tantrum, only needing a Freddo Frog to make it all go away...

Christmas on Skype

It's an event in itself. The family Christmas. You know the drill...we suck it up for the big day, ignore our Christmas Eve hangovers, ignore the principles of "I'm not talking to you right now" for that one day, and endure the six hours of family, turkey and tradition.

And I missed it.

For the first time in 26 years, I missed the main event. Instead, we were confined to the crew quarters of a super yacht eating turkey sandwiches and drinking moet for breakfast...

They did however skype me in...

BRANDARA: The Spinoff Series

Alright. So the whole point of this BRANDARA caper is to map the journey into becoming the person I was always going to be. SO, in order to complete this challenge, one must set up little goals along the way...

Inspired by my Camino friend Brian, the new BRANDARA: Life List has been created for your viewing pleasure...

http://brandaralist.blogspot.com/

A world of Difference.

This KILLS it in the BEFORE and AFTER stakes.

It's the harsh and very candid reality of Dara BC (Before Camino) and Dara AC (After Camino). These two photo's cleanly capture the divide between the two Dara's. And only six months apart...

May 2009: London, day before heading to Spain




November 2009: Spain, a summer day with Chel by the beach



That's what a bit of world travel will do for you...
Nano said "But Dara, you look so...so...free..."

When I was a Brand Strategist...

In my old life, this is what I did. Create big ideas for big companies. This one was an engineering firm.

They never even knew it was a Take That song...



The idea is that for a global company to work, every person as well as every structure that is built by the company needs to come together. Every One Counts.

What about Dara?

My Family is:
(a) Competitive
(b) Dramatic
(c) A collection of over-achievers
(d) All of the above.

My brother recently turned 21. In an undercover, secret operation, I flew home to premier the movie that I had made for him for his birthday.

To understand the full story, one must watch the intro (it was a Vegas party, hence the outfit):



Followed by the EPIC and completely Dara-ised movie, created just for my brother. I think it's safe to say that I WON. Naturally.



You'll probably have to log onto facebook but
click here to WATCH in HD.

Top 3 things learnt while traveling.

1. FACT: The difference between a cake and a biscuit is that a cake will go hard when left out, a biscuit will go soft. FASCINATING.
2. FACT: When you paint a car it can weigh up to 7kg more than it did without paint. WOW.
3. FACT: Germans (and other Nationalities for that matter) have a different way from Australians of signing the number "three"...how is this cultural difference even possible?!

Just about the coolest thing.

A Lego Kitchen.


"
The Girl thinks "it's colourful, bright, superstitious and it just makes me want to pull it apart. I don't really like it actually."

This is why I am the creative one in the family...

The Road More or Less Traveled.

Six months worth...
My god! Still so much to do!

No more.

Australian Backpackers.
Pretending to be a dumb tourist.
Bribing Transport Officers.
Losing friends and finding new ones.
Dodgy kebabs for dinner.
Running out of Euro's.
Snorers/Earplugs.
Skype calls to Chel.
Showers with automatic 7-second cut-offs.
Six-hour train rides.
Playing guitar by campfires with randoms.
Not caring that it's raining.
Sim cards for new countries.
Internet hitchiking.
Sleeping bags.
Red T-shirt, shorts and hiking socks.
Walking shoes.
Check-out by 10am.
Hangovers (well, maybe).
Bottom Bunks.
Top Bunks.
Washing clothes in the bathroom sink.
Washing clothes with shampoo.
Paid-by-the-minute internet.
Tours. Free or otherwise.
Train stations.
New Cities.
New People.
Maps.
90c beer in Slovakia.
Rotating two t-shirts for five months.
Paying for sheets.
Midnight medieval walks.
Concentration camps.
Stealing from the breakfast buffet for lunch.
Postcards home.
BYO Toilet Paper.
Medieval/Zombie festivals.
Walking for six hours a day.
Fare Evasion.
Showering wearing crocs.
16-bed dorms.
Digging around in a backpack.
Having to perfect my backpack tetris/re-packing skills.
Walking in torrential rain.
Daily adventures.
Hoping it never ends.

For now...

Toilet Paper Origami.

Life is full of challenges. Toilet Paper Origami is just one of those unexpected ones.



What a relief that my creative skills are still being put to great use...!

We've lost a brother, and I've lost my wing man.

There are few television vigils that I have kept over the years. The funeral of Princess Diana and the Stuart Diver Thredbo rescue making the top two. It should come as no surprise that I, the massive boyband advocate this side of Terrey Hills should be glued to the TV for the funeral of Stephen Gately, of Boyzone fame.






The boyband hall of shame that I have kept since my first East 17 album certainly included those pretty Boyzone boys. What can I say - singing and dancing boys just hit that happy place for me.



So it was with tearful reflection that I sat in front of the TV and listened to Ronan Keating sing at the funeral of his bandmate, and I completely lost the plot when he said "we have lost a husband, a son, a brother and my wing man."

A pioneer in the gay community, he was the first boyband member to openly admit he was gay and he enjoyed seven years of partnership with his husband Andy. Boyzone were also the first boyband to picture a gay couple in their music video.



As a lover of all things boyband, I am totally gutted, but hope that Stephen's open personality, pioneering leadership and talent will give a little cred to those boyband enthusiasts such as myself.

Love thy boyband people!

Together.

Work it. Live it. Love it.

It's not every day you see a Zombie.

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend at a little Spanish seaside town. Turns out we rocked up in the middle of the annual zombie convention. Ahhh, Spain...how I keep turning up for these things, I'll never know...

No more backpack. A new life.

About to walk over the threshold of my new life.
No more backpack.
No more hostels.



Transformation, complete.



Now, I'm ON A BOAT!

The last supper.

My final meal as a backpacker...

Me and one million Spaniards.

Another random stumble. Turns out, that the weekend I flew into Barcelona was the final of the Red Bull Air Race.





Hectic planes flying dangerously close to the shore, doing ridiculous air stunts, trying to complete a course in the quickest time. Brilliant.

CON-tiki.

It became incredibly clear to me why I am NOT CONTIKI. The structured itinerary, the overwhelming amount of AUSTRALIANS and the unbelievable amount of drinking required is not suited my 26 year-old ways...

Didn't stop me from getting a drunk photo in front of the bus though...

Face the Wall.

To complete the history lesson, the Berlin Wall needed to be crossed off the list. After being introduced to the whole East vs. West Berlin story via the musical (of course) Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I was pretty keen on seeing this thing for myself.



What remains is a 1.2km stretch of the original wall, painted with political and heartfelt murals, reflecting the 28 years of its existence.

Internet Hitchiking.

My self-imposed budget of 20€ per inter-city trip has led me to a very useful German website which basically lets you pre-organise hitchiking.

So the leg between Berlin and Prague was all about the randomness of electronic car-sharing (once deciphering the German-only website).

"Milan" answered my plea. He spoke English, there were two other people he was going to transport it seemed all good. I asked him what his car looked like so I could spot it. "It looks like a Zebra" he said.

I promised to sms Lucy the numberplate of the car in case this all turned into an Ivan Milat situation. I met the other two people our guy was taking to Prague - a Spanish performance artist and a French Model.

The car pulled up.
Harmless.



Transported back to 1960, I was put on the back seat, which wasn't really a back seat at all - just a whole heap of cushions. With Bob Marley on the tape player and tie-dye car-seat covers, we cruised the four hours to Prague, no problem.

Milan even took us by this hectic bar once we got to Prague (made entirely out of old car parts), and bought us all a beer. He then offered his services and help to all of us and made sure we were delivered safely to our respective hostels.



The goodness of the world was shining through that day.

I've got a bone to pick with you.

What do you do when you run out of space in the cemetery? You grab the left-over bones and you construct internal church furniture! Of course! Those ingenious Czechs...





My favourite was the chandelier made of every bone in the human body. Delightful really.