Long plane rides suck.  There’s no getting around that.  And the trip from IAD to Australia is about as long as they come.  Door-to-door, from your own home until the moment you walk into the hotel lobby in Sydney, (including the mandatory connection at either LAX or SFO) it’s 24 straight hours of crampage and bleariness. I’m not gonna lie to ya…George Clooney glamorous it ain’t.  But like so many of the what-have-I-gotten-myself-into’s of life (home ownership, childbirth, agreeing to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time) the PIA factor is so neutralized by the reward. 

Four years ago, I never would have imagined that Sydney would be anything but “a place I’ve seen on TV, where they once had the Olympics.”  But last week, I just completed my fifth trip. And I already can’t wait for the sixth.  If you’re even just “barely thinking about perhaps maybe going some day,” lemme see if I can coax you one step closer to Dulles, where your long journey will begin.  You’ll be hating me at Hour 23, but thanking me at Hour 24-and-one-minute. 

Here are five reasons why it’s so worth it:

5. The single most amazing thing is that you’re actually there.
Once you unfurl from your travel-coma you will likely be swept away by an emotion you’ve never experienced before.  You’re as far away from home as you will ever be.  But what will really “get ya” is not how different Australia is, but how comfortable it is.  How could you possibly be “at home” in a place so distant?  But you will be. For me, it took…a little less than an hour.

Sydney Harbour is bookended by the Opera House on one side, and the Harbour Bridge on the other.  You can walk from one end of the bridge to the other for free, or for about $200 they’ll let you strap on a harness and walk across the top of the span. I’ve never done it, but my Mom has—and she continues to say it was among the single most amazing experiences of her life.  And if you knew my Mom…

4. Sydney is everything you could ever want in a major city.
How many places can you think of that combine dizzying architecture, waterviews everywhere you look, more mainstream and offbeat tourist attractions than any itinerary could ever hold, and palm trees in the middle of busy business intersections?  It’s a tropical version of Toronto.  It’s a sun-baked Seattle.  It’s Hong Kong without so many dead ducks hanging in windows.

But more than anything, Sydney is truly a world city (meaning, people from all nations are here, and all are welcome, including us ugly Americans).  Business, pleasure, dining, comfort, efficiency, transportation, infrastructure—nothing half-assed about any of it.

3. Sydney is, in fact, just one of the MANY fabulous places in Australia.
You could spend the rest of your life in greater Sydney, and never tire of it (in another life, I intend to try).  But one thing the locals will continue to ask is, “When are you going to see the REAL Australia?”  Melbourne, for example (the trip from Sydney roughly the same as IAD to Chicago) is another extraordinary city, perhaps even more culturally-aware, home to a google of great restaurants and a riverwalk that makes San Antonio’s look like a drainage ditch.  It is by no means “the second city” of Australia. 

Australia’s beaches are ridiculous.  Bondi (home of ass-kicking surfers, and ass-biting great whites) is one of the top-5 beaches on the planet.  Manly (a 30-minute ferry ride from Sydney) is the kind of laid-back beach town that immediately gets you to wondering whether you really could get away with ditching your corporate job, and earn a living renting umbrellas or running a flip-flop shop.

But take a pass on Perth.  Nice enough folks there, but as cities go, it’s kinda like all the parts of the Florida Panhandle that aren’t anywhere near the beach. Say no more.

As amazing as Sydney Harbour is, the Yarra River in Melbourne is every bit as visually dazzling.  Is this Australia’s second-coolest city?  It’s more like 1B to Sydney’s 1A.

2. The people are as cool and fun as the residents of any city in the world.
Turns out there’s a huge difference between “don’t worry, be happy” and “no worries, mate.” 

If you’ve been to the Caribbean, you’ve experienced that Island culture that’s all about being half-in-the-bag at 2 in the afternoon and letting the days melt into each other. Nothing wrong with that. 

But the Australian vibe is very different.  It’s much closer to cosmopolitan—there’s serious business (and serious wealth) going on here. And while the average suit-wearer takes his/her job very seriously, they just don’t take themselves quite so seriously.  There’s nothing braggadocious here, no sense of having to impress you with how impressive they are.  People work hard (and smart) from 9 to 5.  But at 5, it’s pub-time, mate.  Or beach-time.  And no one’s less ambitious or less successful than any of us US-type-A’s.  When are we finally going to learn?

Day or night, you can’t take your eyes off the damned Opera House.  Go ahead, try.  Like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, it’s not gonna be denied, Dan.

1. Your worldview will open up in a way you could never imagine.
Once you’ve traveled as far as you can go, every other trip you take will somehow be less impressive as a result (certainly in terms of frequent flyer miles earned).  But that doesn’t mean you won’t wanna go to other places.  Just the opposite.  Traveling across the Pacific to the Southern Hemisphere—and being in a place where it’s constantly summertime, and the livin’ is easy—will make you wonder what else you’ve been missing all your life.

While your initial motivation for the stupidly-long trip may be to “finally check the Australia box,” I bet your bucket list will actually grow much longer as a result.

Which will only make you want to live longer.  Which is kinda the point, right?

HOW ABOUT YOU?  What’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled? Or, where’s the farthest place you WANT to go?