As I said last week, on Sunday I embarked on four weeks of travel that takes me across the Australia and then towards the Middle East. Before I head off, I though I would let you know my plans. My aim will be to write about what I’m doing as I am away, so I thought it would be worth giving people a heads up. So, here we go.
I am currently in Canberra. On Sunday morning I flew to Sydney for my sister’s birthday. We went to a pretty fancy restaurant in North Sydney – the food was amazing. However, the restaurant was full of people who looked like they had just been, or were about to go, sailing. You know the look – white suede shoes, black pants, a coloured polo of some form and then a jacket. If you don’t want to do the ‘I’m going sailing look’ you can do the ‘I’m going horseriding’ look – brown boots, white pants and a jacket. It was quite a different scene to what I am used too. But anyway, hanging with family – and the absolutely stunning food made for a great day.
Yesterday I stayed in Sydney. I got to do a presentation on social media to staff and Neuroscience Research Australia, and then caught up with some family and friends. I got on the bus to Canberra this morning, and am here until Thursday, before I spend a day in Melbourne on Friday, and then head back to Sydney on Friday night. That’s the boring bit (apart from my sister’s birthday and catching up with people). It’s just work and cities I’ve been too plenty of times. The exciting part of the travel comes next.
On Saturday I will be hopping on a plane and making my way to Istanbul. I am heading there for Global Power Shift (GPS) – a conference organised by 350.org. The best way to explain GPS is to take from their website:
Global Power Shift is the starting point for a new phase in the international climate movement. First, hundreds of climate leaders from around the world will gather in Istanbul to launch a year of new strategy and action for the movement. Then, we will fan out across the globe to spark an unprecedented wave of events and mobilizations for climate action.
I applied to go to GPS and the end of last year and got accepted in February. Since then I’ve been pretty active in 350.org (check out my piece on the Guardian), and I’m really excited to go to GPS.
Now, before I continue any further, I want to say that yes, don’t worry – I will make sure I am safe in Istanbul. I have been watching the protests carefully and will be ensuring I stay out of travel. However, as I am going as part of a international organisation working on building a movement for change, I will be aiming to (in a safe way) investigate the protests as I can. I think it will be interesting to see what is happening, and how the movement has built. I will let you all know what I find.
So, GPS goes for a week and then I have about 4 nights in Istanbul (I really need to book my accommodation!). I have heard so many good things about Istanbul I decided I could not just try and squeeze it in to the free time during the conference. Following that I am hopping on a plane to Amman in Jordan. My mother has taken off to go there today. She is spending a month there volunteering in an orphanage and learning Arabic. She will be staying with some friends of hers – a Palestinian refugee family who live on the outskirts of Amman. I will get the pleasure (and I genuinely mean pleasure) of sleeping on their floor and spending a long weekend with them. It will definitely be an experience.
The trip will end after I fly back to Istanbul and I have three nights to spare. My current intention to travel to the Aegean Coast, spend some time in Gallipoli and ideally find some places to go diving.
So that is my trip! I really hope to be able to keep the blogging going throughout, and I am to let you know what I am doing along the way.