I come from the land down under...

I waived goodbye to my family as the navy blue Subaru Forester drove out of sight. There I stood outside the Philadelphia Airport's United Airlines terminal, in the mid-August heat, ready to board an A319 to San Francisco Airport, where I would then board a B747 destined for Sydney, Australia. At that moment all my brain could muster up was, "What the F*** am I about to do?"

Seriously, what was I about to do? Why was I about to do this? I mean, I had a great paying job with a well-known hotel chain. Had being the key word there, in fact losing this job had sparked the original onset of the journey. With the economy in a downward spiral, the hotel saw a slow down in occupancy and I was eventually laid off.

I was disappointed, depressed and lost. I had put so many long days and late nights into my job over the past four years that I had become socially detached from my friends and family. I needed to start anew, and what better way to do that than travel to another country. So, I put a call into an old college friend who was now living in Sydney and told him I was coming out for a visit, so get the couch ready for me. I can still remember his reply, "Sounds great! But, I need to buy a couch first." And, with that I was off to Australia to find myself, to rekindle my social spirit, more importantly to find out what I wanted to do with my life.

I spent the next nine months traveling across Australia, sightseeing, meeting other travelers, tasting delicious beer and living life (something I hadn't done for years). My travels taught me a great deal about life, and not to sound too much like a motivational speaker, but I learned that anything is possible if you try your best and believe in yourself. Hell, I scuba-dived on the Great Barrier while in Cairns and spent most of my nights in Sydney sitting on the Opera House steps; two places from my eight-grade Social Studies textbook I thought I would never see in my life.

Along my journey I discovered The Brewing Network and filled my empty travel hours with beer radio. Now, I had dabbled in homebrewing back in the States, pumping out a batch of beer once a month, but all this new found beer knowledge fueled my desire to take brewing more seriously than I had in the past. I wanted to pursue a career in the brewing industry.

After my first six months of traveling my funds ran dry and I found myself back in Sydney job hunting. I eventually landed a job as a waiter at James Squire Brewhouse. In between my shifts at Squire's, I would spend hours at the local library reading every bit of information I could get my hands on about brewing, preparing myself for the moment I would touch down in the States and brew again.

So here I am, back in the States, ready to prove that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Ready to prove that I can concoct some delicious brews, win some awards and eventually turn a hobby in to a career. Lets see where this all goes...