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Reports

During my travels, I received free accommodation for a night in exchange for writing a daily travel diary. This diary documented how I reached my next destination, the hosts who welcomed me, the food I was offered, and other experiences along the way. Below, you will find the archives of these extensive reports. Please note that English is not my native language, and most entries were written quickly, often around midnight. Enjoy!
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Friday, 5 April 2002
--> New Farm, Brisbane, Australia

While figuring out the talk they wanted to have with me while I was there, I mentioned my wish to stay for a day in the Australian Big Brother house (the new series starts in two days on April 7), their eyes were glowing! That seemed to be a great idea and a lot of people at the station started to give me a big push with that. Publicists started writing, PR-managers started managing, media alerts sent out and before I really knew what was going on, I already heard that the Big Brother producers were going to have a meeting about my project and me.

Liz took me to the breakfast show of 97.3FM, a popular easy-pop radio. Another day at my hostess' place Liz Reid was really necessary, as we figured out.

De radio station had a talk with me earlier, when I stayed with Stan Fung in Sydney. I even had a chat with Sam Forbes (my host of earlier this week) on air!

Liz works at 4BH, a easy-listening radio station, right in the same building and dropped me off with the hosts of the morning show Paul and Sam.

While figuring out the talk they wanted to have with me while I was there, I mentioned my wish to stay for a day in the Australian Big Brother house (the new series starts in two days on April 7), their eyes were glowing!

That seemed to be a great idea and a lot of people at the station started to give me a big push with that. Publicists started writing, PR-managers started managing, media alerts sent out and before I really knew what was going on, I already heard that the Big Brother producers were going to have a meeting about my project and me.

And that's where I had to jump in, had some formal chats on the phone (I had my own office for a while!) and even the television come to me again!

But we couldn't talk about that on the radio yet, figured Paul the deejay out. Only if it would be sure that I'd be able to get into the house, it would be interesting, of course.

When Paul asked me where I wanted to go up next, I mentioned Stratbroke Island, as it was suggested to me yesterday. I only had no place to stay there yet. "We will get you on that island!" he said. "Just leave it to us. You know what? On Monday we'll get to that island!" Sam told me.

Channel 9 Brisbane (the local part of the national Channel) came over to the studios to hear all about my wish and filmed me during the breakfast show. And the film crew loved my project and saw the A Current Affair footage and wanted to do a follow-up story on me in Brisbane.

They even wanted to chat with Liz about me and have an official interview with me.

The crew drove Liz and me to her apartment in New Farm, where nervous Liz was interviewed. We had to chat together on the balcony and fake a drink in a pub too. Then the crew drove me to a park in New Farm, where they set up the whole thing for the official talks with me.

You know it just takes hours and hours to have enough footage for a three-minute item on TV?

Just after this all I was deadbeat. In the mean time of this all, I had already done six other interviews. It was either on the Internet at the station, or on my mobile phone and every time I just had to tell that same story again.

Than add all the hassle of TV and the time it all takes to get things going and I was on my knees when it was all over.

Because of all that Liz decided to take me along to Shelly’s place in Ascot (overlooking the Brisbane river) and just have a night off with a pasta meal and a DVD movie.

And that was good to me, however the rest of the day was a bit too much of media to me. Sometimes it’s too overwhelming, too direct and sometimes even unnecessary. Especially when I speak with a journalist who says he has seen my website but still doesn’t know how to spell my name or what age I am and wants to know exactly what I am doing. But I always stay polite; you won’t get me that easy…

Good night New Farm!

Ramon.

(published in a hurry)

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