24 hours

So as it turns out Sara from the STA yesterday was just crazy and we were able to get the Osaka tickets she wouldn't sell us at a different STA on the UCLA campus just down the street. By this time tomorrow we will hopefully in the air and on our way. I wonder a bit if ditching Thailand so quickly was a mistake - it could have been an opportunity to capture the spirit of change there - but this way we will get a better sense of Australia and Japan, which was really our intent. I just hope we don't miss some of the "sustainable by force" we may have found in more developing countries.

On a side note I completely agree with Alison about LA. Having been here for the past week it is amazing how spread out everything is. You need a car to get anywhere and there are no trains. Because of this peoples' cars are a huge status symbol and I just feel like everyone is competing, or struggling, to get above everyone else. It's rather sad actually.