Once in a Lifetime - What are the odds?

A few months ago I ran into an old college friend. She was looking for a travel buddy to go with her to Australia, and asked if I was interested. She's never been overseas before and knows I've done it a few times.

Australia? Of course I was interested! It's on my bucket list of places to see, but I certainly had no funds whatsoever to afford a trip there. The plane ticket alone would kill me financially. Just not in the cards for me. Then she told me it actually wouldn't really cost me anything.

Um . . . .  what?

On a whim, she entered a random travel sweepstakes competition DISH network was having over the summer. A few months later she got a call. She'd won. What are the odds of that actually happening? Turns out, it's an all expenses paid trip for two to Melbourne Australia for one week.

Obviously my answer was YES!!! What are the chances of me getting to tag along with a sweepstakes winner? I'm not stupid. No way could I turn this one down.

Of course, I'm a bit skeptical of free things. When it comes to traveling, I don't plan on anything until I have a plane ticket in hand. Otherwise, it's just fluff. Time went by and still there was no answer on dates or travel, or plane tickets. I had my doubts, and was fairly resigned that it was not going to happen. I was okay with that. A 14 hour flight to Australia, with only a week stay, is a very long flight for such a short amount of time. We'd barely get over the jetlag before we had to make the trip home. I was okay with not going.

About a week later I got an email. With my plane ticket. Um . . .  this trip might actually happen. And the ticket is for next month. Now I'm allowing myself to get excited. The waiting is not over. They apparently plan our entire itinerary, including hotel stay. They couldn't do that until they got the plane tickets. Now we wait to see what we're going to actually be doing.

I'm hoping for a non-bug infested hotel, and I fully expect the week to be on geriatric tour buses. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It'll be fun regardless, and I'm just along for the ride. For the first time ever, I don't have to plan a thing. I just have to show up.

But I do hope there are koala bears.

And kangaroos.