Reflections...

Hey Guys

Again apologies for not keeping you updated, I'm gonna try to blog a bit more frequently ... well TRY ... I'm working crazy hours at the moment and its going to get worse once I get on the road!


It has been a very interesting coupla weeks with some highest of highs and lowest of lows, I could go on for aages, but what I'll do is list a few dot points.

- Packing like crazy, zero sleep, realising that I was freaking out thinking that my bag was over the weight limit when I was actually measuring in pounds rather than kilos! gaaahh!! (Thanks Becky and Stephen for your packing tips!)

- Experiencing the longest saturday EVER! ... zero sleep packing friday night, drive to adelaide airport 4am, fly to LA with stopovers in Melbourne and Auckland for a grand total of 20+hour flying time. Getting picked up by the mega rad Claire Williams (Also a roadie with IC), chilling out at her house until 11pm before going to bed


- Trying to get my head around tipping people, paying tax ON TOP of the marked price on EVERYTHING

- Having to explain my self over and over again so the Americans can understand me

- Staying in the IC Roadie house in La Mesa with 59 other likeminded young people: 3 Canadians, 2 Mexicans, gazillions of Americans and me ... the only aussie!

- First week of training ... SOOO much information to learn, with pop quizzes at the beginning of every day, keeping my fingers crossed praying that they don't call out my number "28" so I don't look like an idiot when I get a question wrong in front of everyone

- Christina (fellow aussie) arriving to take up the role of Regional Manager for my division of the tour

- Hitting up Pacific Beach, San Diego with a stack of the roadie crew on our first weekend off, and getting the worst sunburn ever!


- Week 2 of training & on the phones to start booking our tour (CalVegas) with my team of Roadies: Andrea from Canada, Bert from LA, and Myra from Colorado (and my adopted little sister for the tour)


- Having a diet consisting solely of burritos and pizza

- Getting an email from Dad asking me to call him ASAP regarding Grandpa, as soon as the van parks in the driveway of the Roadie house bolting down to the corner petrol station to use the public pay phone

- Finding out Grandpa had passed away


- Feeling mega home sick for days knowing that i would no longer see Grandpa, would miss out on his funeral, and miss seeing all my relatives from melbourne

- Finding it mega hard to get away to a quiet place by myself, its hard when you live in a house of 60

- Realising the 10 day trip to Uganda is looking pretty unlikely as I didn't want to place another burden on my parents

- Bashing the gong for the first time for my first screening contract for the tour

- Getting an email from Dad saying 'GO FOR IT' regarding Uganda

- Trying to work out if I can go ... well trying to work out if I'll be allowed back into the USA once I return from Uganda

- Missing all of my Adelaide friends HEAPS!

- Realising that this whole Invisible Children Adventure is costing me a crapload of money!!! ... like maybe $10-$12k

Ummm .. that's pretty much all I can brainstorm at the moment, I'm sure there is heaps more but this is probably the most significant stuff that has stood out to me!

Thankyou so much for your prayer, thoughts and financial support ... I really really really do appreciate it!
As mentioned ... I will now (God willing!) be heading to Uganda for 10 days early september to see the amazing work Invisible Children does over there, I have been told this will really inspire and motivate me as I share the story of child soldiers with the youth of America as I will personally encounter these children and their stories.

If you would like to assist me financially please donate to this link

Thankyou and much love to all of you!

peace out
Chad