My Bestie - Beware it's Gooshy...

This evening a friend of mine asked me, "What was your favorite part about Australia?"

No question. Ali.

My Best Friend, my Bestie, my Most Favorite Friend in the whole wide world.

I wish my Ali lived next door, or even in town, even 200 miles away, or 500 miles away... but no, she's about 13,000 - 14,000 miles away... and really what's a 1,000 mile difference when your talking about that kind of distance? It takes about 20 hours on the fastest available forms of non billionaire transportation to get together for a cuppa. Shes always 18 hours ahead of me - convenient when she comes to visit here because the clock when she lands in Boise reflects about the same time her clock said when she left home in Australia... not so convenient on the way back... And, huge plus... she can always let me know ahead of time if the end of the world is coming based on whether the sun rises.

[Ali and Cam July 2010 - Magnetic Island, AU]

TRUE friends are so important. I don't know how I survived before her, and I can't imagine how it would be to lose her. There is no topic off limits. We can trust each other with our opinions, decisions, and feelings because we love and care about each other unconditionally. Even when we don't agree. She can give me objective advice about the most sensitive topics without offense. She already knows everything so I'm afraid that part of our friendship is one sided... No joke.

[Cam and Ali - July 2010 Northern Australia Outback.]

[This picture taken moments before Ali dove into the water and wrestled a crock. REALLY.]

So when asked what my favorite part about Australia is, my mind goes straight to Ali's kitchen table, crafting together, watching Glee, and being about to talk, just talk, nonstop for hours, face to face. Ali and I have been best friends for five years, total time spent in person: about 4 weeks - total.

[The outdoor catalogue pose]

Ali is Australian, I am American. We met through eBay of all places. After several transactions we started emailing and just never stopped.

[Ali and Cam - July 2010 Cairns to Townsville lookout point]

I remember after one transaction that occurred probably months before we ever started to email as friends. The package I mailed to her never showed up. It was several weeks late. Usually when this happened I would offer to replace the merchandise, if the buyer would agree to pay shipping for the new package. Ali would not... She would not allow me to replace the merchandise without paying me something for it. That was a first... and it really impressed me.

((I wouldn't have done that. I would have wanted my seller to feel responsible, and probably tried to get extra free stuff out of them for my inconvenience of having to wait extra time for the replacement... I know, right? I need to be more like Ali.))

[Cam and Ali - July 2010 Beach in Cairns]

By the way, have I mentioned Ali is 6ft tall, gorgeous and has a fabulous accent (and a fabulous husband... so leave her be)? Meanwhile, I am 5'5'', and have an American accent.. and American manners... need I say more?

We balance each other.

Love you Ali. xoxo

Cam