Note: This post originally appeared on my author blog on 9 December 2015.

My son and I love to travel and we have a ton of places we want to go. For the past few months, we’ve been dreaming of going to Australia. I have friends in the Melbourne and Brisbane areas, so we figured we’d hit both places in one go, since they’re only a couple of hours apart by plane.

One friend, knowing we’re hoping to travel there next year, sent me a few pictures she took during a recent vacation. The one here is of the Twelve Apostle Rocks near Port Campbell, Victoria. It’s summer there and just gorgeous. Who wouldn’t want to go?

The logistics of getting to and from Australia from the States are intricate to someone who’s only ever traveled overseas once. (My son has been out of the country more than I have. How sad is that?) I don’t even have a passport, so that’s the first order of business, and before I even book flights, we have to get visas. Only then will we be able to plan our itinerary.

My son only wants to stay about a week, but I’d like to take advantage of the short duration of Australian visas and linger for a month or so. There’s plenty to do, visits with friends, local historical and natural sights to soak up, soccer. Apparently, soccer is quite big in Australia.

I’ve been doing some preliminary research on the country and have been surprised by the differences between cultures here and there. But this is the great part about visiting a foreign country, even one with shared roots. Hopefully, the stars will align just right and we can make the trip in the next two years or so and experience Straya ourselves.