Ah, back when I was visiting Australia...

Today marks the official first day of Ben Southall’s new job as Island Caretaker on Hamilton Island.  For those who don’t know, he competed to earn this job through a highly publicized “Best Job in the World” campaign that has seen its copiers: The Next Best Job (which had to be canceled due to the economic downturn) and A Really Goode Job (yes, it’s supposed to be spelled like that).  Back when this Australian opportunity first appeared, my mom showed it to me and suggested that I apply.  Were it not for the video entry, I probably would have, but video is not my forte.  I love to blog, I love to swim, I love wildlife, and I love what I’ve seen of Australia, but I do not want to spend hours editing film footage to vlog about.  Another thing stopping me from going crazy over this chance to live and work in Australia is the lack of company.  I’d have to live alone, or maybe bring my mom along, but everyone else in my life would be far too busy to join me.  Other than that, it’s really an amazing job and I’m sure Ben will have a spectacular time.

This was truly a great publicity stunt on the part of Queensland tourism.  It generated a lot of buzz and coverage because of its unusually generous offer.  Plus, they had international reach, with nearly all finalists from different countries.  Additionally, it didn’t take much effort on their part to set it up and share the news.  I’m sure a lot of viral marketing took effect to help spread the word, like how I found out from my mom.  Now that the hype’s over and things have settled down, I wonder how Ben will do in maintaining public interest in his activities.  I wish I could do something similar to that, visiting all the exciting places in a beautiful place like that (or, even better, in an entire region of countries).  I also wish I could do something fun like Matt, going around the world and doing a silly dance like that (and sharing the joy of the goofiness of it all).

Ben Southall

Of course, this “dream job” is not without its challenges, what with the constant updates on various social media mediums and the constant activity.  I’ve never really wanted to be famous because I don’t want people tracking me all the time and I want the freedom to be lazy on the weekends or sleep through something I shouldn’t, or any number of the other flaws that people have.  Looking at his itinerary so far, it’s like bam, bam, bam – visit here, visit there, and then off to the next place.  I hope he has more down time, or else it could get quite tiring to be trying things all the time without a day or two to lounge around in bed or not have to absorb everything new and think of how to write about it.  Overall, I’m sure it’d be absolutely fabulous to do what he will get to in the coming months and I look forward to keeping a loose eye on his activities.  I look forward to the day that I can go to Australia again, and this time actually go in the ocean!