Approved!

So I fished out the approval email from my spam box today. I've been approved and uploaded. It didn't hurt - I swear. :) Would you please give me a 5-star rating?

Application Process

Tourism Queensland announced an opening for The Best Job in the World, and is asking for applicants to submit a 60 seconds video of themselves. Check out http://www.islandreefjob.com to apply.

After I heard this story on CNN, I was fired up! I e-mailed my family telling them of my next job and went to work on reading every single thing I could find on the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland. I spent a week coming up with a script and trying to recruit friends to become official film-makers. I then spent a fun Sunday with a couple of friends playing with a tiny camera, and followed that up with countless hours of learning video editing. It was tiring but fun! I sure learned a lot about videos.

I finally submitted my application on February 10th and it was approved just now, on February 16. Yeehawww! What a great V-Day present.

My application

I cannot wait until the application gets accepted, so here is the unofficial
version :)

Adventure is in my blood

The adventurous streak runs in my family. My parents were Alpinists (kinda like a Russian version of Sherpas), leading expeditions through Urals and other mountains of the USSR. That's them up there on the left. That's how they met, btw, my Dad was leading a group and my Mom "forgot" her plate ;). Isn't that convenient? :) They'd be gone for weeks or more, out in insanely treacherous terrain that I can only imagine from the pictures. Those are some amazing adventures.

I think this is where I get my sense of adventure and exploration from. While some people think I'm insane for wanting to get this job in Australia (what, you want to move to Australia? Hell yeah!), my parents are behind me all the way!

This is fun!

I'm starting to build the website at www.islandscaretaker.com. It's a little bare at the moment while I'm spinning it up. But please stay tuned for more.

We have lift-off!

OMG! OMG! OMG! It submitted, and only on the 2nd time. After spending over 100 hours on the application, and reading all of the messages about people having trouble uploading, I was bracing for a nerve-wracking experience. I picked the time in the middle of the night in US. Then looked up the time in UK an Australia and made sure it was odd times of day there too. That seems to have made the difference! No one is uploading at 2-5am :) Yeehaw! And we are off. *Crossing fingers*

Lift off in 10...9.....

After putting about 100 hours into the video application, I am now within smelling distance of the finish line. Just a few little tweaks, and I am launching this baby into space!

Wish me luck :)