I wasn’t the sucessful candidate, and I’m completely happy with the decision. Sure, I would have been thrilled to get it, but I already have the best job in the world with GeekBrief.TV!! I’m happy to be home and getting back to work with regular Briefs, and working on new projects.

The experience was one I won’t forget. I met 15 amazing people. We all got along fantastically and genuinely liked each other I think. At least, I genuinely like each one of them! I got to cuddle with koalas, feed kangaroos and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. Everyone from Tourism Queensland was awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many happy government employees before. The staff on Hamilton, Hayman Island and Daydream Island were extremely courteous. The seafood on the islands and in Brisbane was the best I’ve ever had! Seriously…when you go, get some Salt and Pepper Calamari. There’s nothing better.

Thanks to everyone who made this experience happen! Here are some pictures from the trip:

Best Job in the World
Hamilton Island
Queensland
Queensland Video

We got to the hotel early Friday morning, before our room was ready, so we walked around Brisbane for a couple hours and grabbed lunch at a place called Jo-Jo’s. The food was fantastic! Every plate we walked by on the way to our table looked delicious and I wanted to try the whole menu! I wanted seafood, though, so after reminding myself that BBQ Salmon doesn’t mean BBQ Salmon as I know it, I ordered some along with the Caesar Salad and an appetizer of Salt and Pepper Calamari. The Caesar Salad was a bit different than what I’m used to in the US. Actually, I liked it better. The dressing was tangier and there were bits of BACON! How could I not like it better?! And the Calamari? It matches the best Calamari we’ve tried so far from a Chinese place on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Calamari is much better in lightly breaded chunks than as deep-fried rings.

We took a walk along the river through the Brisbane Arboretum, browsed Queen Street Mall and took in a small opera performance. My first impressions? I like it a lot! It feels a lot smaller than it is (2 million people) and the weirdest part is that it feels less like a different country than Canada. I feel very comfortable here.

We’ll have a meetup in Brisbane on May 11th. Details are being worked out here.

I’ve been getting emails since we started GeekBrief.TV from viewers in Australia asking exactly when we are going to come there and do a meetup. We’ve traveled all over the United States and have had the pleasure of meeting Geek Brief viewers in many of the 50 states. I can finally say…let’s have an Australia Meetup!!

If you’ve been following my quest for the Best Job in the World, you’ll know Neal and I are heading to Australia in May. I’ll be very busy from the 2nd of May to the 10th with interviews and shooting GBTV episodes. Tourism Queensland has been awesome in working with me to set aside a day for a GeekBrief.TV gathering in Brisbane, so much appreciation goes to them!

Now, I have never been to Brisbane, so I’m going to need a little help from you guys! The meetup will be on May 11th. Where should we meet? What time is best for everyone? Leave a comment below to help me set this up.

I’m looking forward to meeting you!

UPDATE May 3rd:

I wanted to do Southbank as everyone suggested, but it’s going to be in the evening and dark, so I think it’s easiest and centrally located if we chose a place like Jo-Jo’s. Since it’s the type of place you don’t have to order something if you don’t want to, I think everyone can be happy! So, here are the details:

Monday, May 11th
6:00 PM
Jo-Jo’s (upstairs – take the escalators)

Pavilion Building at the Brisbane City Mall
1st Floor Cnr Queen Street Mall & Albert Streets
Brisbane QLD 4000 Ph: 32212113

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably already know that I made the cut for Top 16 in The Best Job in the World competition. The job is Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The successful applicant will live on an island for six months, blog and create videos about the exploration and experiences…and share them with the world.

It will be an amazing, once in a lifetime experience for the final caretaker. I travel around the U.S. a lot. As you know, we almost always take road trips instead of flying so we can experience the country up close. We shoot episodes of GeekBrief.TV in the middle of nature, and I blog and create videos about the places we visit and the restaurants we try. I want to take the experience I have, what I do every day, and apply it to promoting something as amazing as The Great Barrier Reef. I want to help people experience the GBR.

That’s why I applied, and I’m thrilled to get to the Top 16. What happens next?

The 16 candidates are going to Australia from May 3rd-6th for interviews. I fully expect them to put us to the test…can we create an interesting video about feeding the fish or snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef? I don’t know exactly what they have in mind or what we’ll be asked to do, but I’d like to know what YOU want to see come out of my week in Australia. I don’t know yet if we’ll be producing Geek Brief episodes during my interview week, so I’m mostly interested in finding out what questions you have about the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. What would you like to see me show in videos, pictures, and blog posts? Leave a comment below!!

A lot of people continue to ask me “What happens if you win? Will you stop doing GeekBrief.TV?”, so I want to be clear about this. If I win, I will be acting as Caretaker for Tourism Queensland AND we will continue producing GeekBrief.TV, just as you know it now, except with much more beautiful backgrounds!

One of the best things to come out of the weekend was getting to know six of the other Top 50 candidates. I wish I could meet all of them, but understandably, not everyone was able to make it to Long Beach for the event. These are the candidates that came (in no particular order): Sandi from Connecticut, Melissa from Canada, Hailey from Queensland, Marcella from Canada, Angie from New York, and Mark from Los Angeles. Everyone was very friendly and we had an awesome time hanging out and getting to know each other!

Time and time again, people kept coming up to me asking if each of us candidates had met before this event. I told them no, this was the first time most of us had met. They appeared shocked, and when I questioned the reaction, their response was “well, you all get along so well.” LOL! It’s a great bunch of girls (and Mark), and we all genuinely liked each other.

I did some Qik videos and took a lot of pictures. Here’s a look:

Pictures on SmugMug

Qik | Cape Tribulation
Qik | Hamilton Island (phone died during this stream)
Qik | V Australia
Qik | Hibachi

Sunday, the event was held outdoors on the lawn in front of the Aquarium of the Pacifics. The weather was threatening rain in the morning, but we wound up with extremely harsh winds instead. Everyone was freezing! Lots of Geek Brief viewers came  to hang out, take pictures and learn about Australia. I think they were impressed by the prices on flights! Here are some of the photos:

Cali’s SmugMug Photos
TechFrog’s Photos
TypicalMacUser’s Photos

Video of 6 of us Top 50 Candidates

Now I’m in Los Angeles to do some cool interviews that you’ll see on Geek Brief soon!

I’ve had many, many requests for a meetup around Los Angeles and in all our travels, we’ve never been able to have one. Now’s the time!

Sunday, March 22nd, Tourism Queensland will be holding an event and GIVING AWAY two tickets every hour to Australia!!! It’s being held on the lawns of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, so it’s the perfect place for us to hang out and get to know each other!

Date: Sunday, March 22nd
Time: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California – on the lawns

There is no registration or RSVP required, but I would love to know who’s thinking about coming, so leave a comment below or send me a email! I’m looking forward to meeting you LA folks! @TypicalMacUser…you better be there!

Follow my Twitter account for any updates on the day – I’ll post exactly where I am when I get there.

I submitted an application to The Best Job in the World a couple weeks ago. People kept telling me I should, and at the last minute, I decided to give it a go. Tourism Queensland is doing a marketing contest to get someone to blog and create videos from The Great Barrier Reef for six months.

1) I was interested in the competition
2) I love shooting Geek Brief in front of nature
3) Geek Brief friends in Australia keep asking for a meetup, and if I win, I wouldn’t have to pay for a plane ticket!

Out of 35,000+ applications, I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of 50 shortlist applicants! Here’s the deal:

Starting today (March 2nd) I need your help to vote for me in the competition. In about a month, they will narrow down the applicants to 11 people, who will then go out to Australia for interviewing. If I have the highest number of votes on the website, I’m guaranteed to be in the 11 Final Candidates.

If you’re reading this, chances are you know about my dream for The Big Trip. The economy said no to that for now, but I’m hoping I can have one over-the-top adventure before I have a child. Like I said on the entry video, I already feel like I have the best job in the world, thanks to Mevio. I would LOVE to do GeekBrief.TV in a beautiful, natural environment for 6 months and share the whole experience with a couple hundred thousand friends! I just want to say thanks to all of you who vote, and thanks times 30 to everyone who votes every day for the next month!

You can vote for me at IslandReefJob.com/Cali