I got two private emails following my recent post about traveling to Sydney
for the ILCA conf.  Both writers essentially confessed how nervous the idea
of such a long trip and travel outside the US made them.  I love to travel,
so I guess this point of view surprised me a bit, but after thinking about
it, I realized that a lot of Americans don't realize that travel abroad is
not much different or more complicated than travel within the US.  When you
buy your ticket, the airline helps you with issues such as a Visa (which
Australia requires).  You do need a passport, which isn't hard to get,
though you do need to allow many weeks for the processing time.  Once you
get on the plane, everything is taken care of for you, and the crew walks
you through things you need to know, like customs declarations.  My
experience is that the airports are so clearly organized that it is
difficult to make a mistake.  When you get off, there are money changing
booths right in the airport, and clearly labeled signs for what line to
stand in for everything coming and going. Credit cards work there (although
your cell ph. probably won't.  It is impt. to tell your cred card company
the dates of your visit so they don't think someone has gotten your number
and is using it illegally on the other side of the world.

 Once in Australia, everyone is so amazingly friendly and it feels so safe,
that I couldn't help but relax and have fun.  While the tickets to get there
do cost a lot, the currency exchange rate is very favorable to Americans.  I
am paying about $140 a night Australian for our hotel room, which is about
$80 a night US.  So your dollar goes a real long way, enabling the US
visitor to have a lot of fun without feeling especially guilty:)  The
wildlife is impossibly exotic.  When I went to Melbourne a few years ago, on
a drive down the beautiful Great Ocean Road, I saw a koala bear standing by
the side of the road, free-ranging kangaroos on a golf course, and king
parrots and cockatoos whizzing around in the trees.  All the Australian LCs
are smart as whips, everyone does research, the government has a bureau that
enforces the WHO code, so it's incredible to experience a country whose
people and public policy supports what we care so much about.  It's just the
funnest place in the universe to visit, and by combining it with a conf it
can be written off as a business expense (at least partly!).  Plus, you get
to see people you know, at least by reputation, so it doesn't seem as scary
as going someplace so far away and not knowing a soul.

The ILCA conf. in Acapulco was the most enjoyable ILCA conf. experience I
ever had, and I think Sydney is going to be the same kind of deal.  I don't
work for ILCA, I'm not getting a kick-back or a discount for saying these
things, but those two emails really made me realize that fear of the unknown
was making at least two people miss something memorable, and I just want to
let everyone know that getting to and being in Australia is NOT SCARY.


Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
LactNews Press
www.lactnews.com

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