Sydney Through The Eyes Of A Rockstar – The Ones (Not Quite) Left Behind In Thredbo and Four Points Sheraton

An English girl with mildly punky dyed red hair tells me she’s 24 and has just finished college; she intends to do this (travel while working cafes – food and staff quarters are paid for) for the next 4-5 years, then go back to college to study language or broadcasting when she’s “maybe 29 or 30.” I’m supportive, partly because she’s the first one I chat with about it… but a few minutes after she leaves our table and I’ve had time to think about it, I feel a bit guilty.

Rockstar, immediately following his last ski lesson - we took all the gear off and then he got really quiet and after confirming he HAD had a good time, he kind of just leaned to one side and fell asleep 😀 Much to the delight of the ski rentals staff. Now they all want one too.

So I browsed the souvenir store over and over while Kings checked his Berry... We carried him into the car after letting him nap on the bench for about an hour

At almost-35 I sometimes feel horrendously dorky when I get out there and see things like snow “a little late” as I do. But we can’t afford all the things we want in life .I can be encouraging to the 20-somethings I meet for 15 mins sure, but if I’m honest I would admit I would not have chosen to do what they’re doing. The “opportunity cost” of it gets to me.

Part of the reason I was “blinkered” was because there was something else I wanted more. I guess it depends what you really want – how much you want it, and what you’re willing to give up for it… Because unless you were born a rich kid (and not just any rich kid, but one who has absolutely no problem relying on the folks’ money – which is quite something right, I don’t know many rich kids like that) you will not be able to afford everything, you will have to choose. Time. Relative youth. Money. Lifestyle.

Based on current market conditions, what is the best combination of factors you can afford in the investment product? Oops, I mean life. What, to you, is the most desirable combination of factors that you can afford with which to live your life? And break out the laundry list. If you don’t know what you want and just how bad you want it, how will you get it?

The flip side of doing what Girl I Met In Cafe is doing is she is going to start her career in her early 30s. I regret not at least telling her that, just cos from our conversation I wasn’t sure she’d thought of it. Save for nixing any little leadership positions that foreseeable-y might require a little more politicking post baby Rockstar (got pregnant at 30) I headed my first (small) team when I was about 28 or 29.

We know people who chose to sabbatical right after really costly degrees, or hating said costly first degree and going back to school to do a second degree – and when they came out several years later and were just starting out while some of their friends were already a few years in the market with slightly better hours and pay – they felt the difference. It’s not something I’m sure that many 20-somethings think about – they might (or not, depending on their priorities) feel left behind.

It is their choice to give up some seniority and earning power in order to have the experience of a sabbatical (like I’m doing now raising Rockstar), or study something else – the thing that just gets me is I’m not sure they made the choice having really considered opportunity cost.

(NOT referring to those who don’t WANT to sabbatical, but just can’t find a decent job in which case my heart goes out to you, it’s happened to me before* too… And I realize there are people who worked harder than me and didn’t get the same opportunities – so for the mentors and friends I’ve had, I consider myself blessed.)

We got Rockstar the ski hat as a souvenir, doesn't he look totally freaky in the top left pic!

Ok back to the trip – from Thredbo we drive back to Darling Harbor where Kings has booked a room at the Four Points Sheraton for the last leg of our trip. We arrive at something like 10pm at night and tired Kings upgrades us on arrival.

This is our room.

And this is our view, night:

And day, through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that take up about half the room

Even with the room upgrade this is the cheapest accommodation we’ve had on our trip. Just about half of what our Thredbo accommodation cost per night, but the real shocker is it’s easily 30% cheaper than the apartment we rented in Mosman. (Yes the ones with blinds perpetually stuck in open position in living room when we are on ground floor, where the heaters keep tripping, not enough hot water for baths, and no hairdryer because the owner claims it “always gets stolen” – all the apartments we’ve rented this is the first we’ve encountered this ok..)

When Rockstar was younger we had a habit of staying in apartments rather than hotel rooms because we wanted to do our own laundry with baby-safe detergent, and I washed his bibs and clothing often. It wasn’t just a case of the germ-freaky though – baby Rockstar had seriously sensitive skin, as in he rubs his face on some fabric surface that doesn’t agree with him and his whole cheek flares up with an angry, itchy rash.

But we have not been using baby detergent in awhile. We won’t be renting Mosman again either.

Ps: I’ve never been drunk or high in my life before either. But I don’t think I’ll try it…

**I studied where and what my parents told me at university, hated it, couldn’t get a job initially in a bad market. (Then when I finally got into banking I would encounter 3 mergers in 10 years.) Periodically I considered going back to study – especially since I hadn’t really had much chance to choose what I did first time round – but in my case I just couldn’t bring myself to give up a few years of chalking up potential job experience or earning a salary.