Why Australia?

So it's T-minus five days and counting until we fly out, and I figured I would address the main question many of you may be wondering about: Why Australia?

I've told a lot of people about the trip and received many differing reactions. Most are positive, like the sweet dental hygienist who, her hands shoved deep inside my mouth, told me that it was "awesome." Some reactions have been cryptic; my boss told me to "be careful" because "they drink a lot of beer down there." And a few have been less than enthusiastic like my Dad whose first impulse was to ask, "Why Australia? Everything can kill you there." (For the record, he's right. Not only are there sharks and crocs that kill people regularly but 17 of the worlds deadliest snakes - including the deadliest, the Taipan - and a preponderance of spiders with fatal bites.)

There are a couple of answers to the question, Why Australia?
First, they speak English there, and even though Australians have a different lingo, its pretty easy to pick up on. Second, like America, Australia is a new country. If you are from America (as I am) you can't really visit America. Sure you can go to other States you haven't been to, but its all the same country, and you can't visit your own country. If you want to experience what it would be like to visit America as say a Belorussian or a Chinamen, the best thing to do is probably to go to Australia.

They are a sporting culture, and if you dig some Rugby and Aussie Rules, then obviously a trip down under is a no-brainer (cricket as well, but no self-respecting American understands let alone appreciates that ridiculous Pommie game). They have all the best trappings of British culture and society that we as Americans have lost (and I am an Anglophile, so that's a huge selling point), but they still resemble Americans - and they like us there.

Perhaps one of the key things right now that makes Australia an ideal place to travel is that our dollar is still a wee bit stronger then theirs (about .94 USD to 1 AUD on a good day) as opposed to the Euro which is up the dollar almost fifty percent or the Pound Sterling which is twice the dollar. So, other than the ridiculously long flight, Australia is cost effective.

There are other reasons, of course, like kangaroos, Steve Irwin's Zoo, the beaches, the outback, meat pies, wombats, Vegemite. So the real answer to the question Why Australia? is actually another question itself - What, are you retarded or something?