Where is Darran?

On the last day of 2008 I came up with some goals for 2009. In blue is the actual.

January 2009 – Finally retake the GMAT

Almost a year later and I’m only a little closer to doing this. Completed the GMAT review book, but haven’t even registered for a test.

Jan/Feb 2009 – Apply for Australian Permanent Residence – who knows, I might stay here

After evaluation of both New Zealand and Australia, I determined that applying for permanent residence in New Zealand was more appropriate for me. I began applying for PR in NZ in Jan 2009 and was granted a Work to Residence Visa around August of 2009. Not bad turnaround.

Completed.

April 2009 – Ironman Australia

Completed. A great event.

April/May 2009 – Parents are coming over to see IMOZ and then want to travel OZ/NZ together

Parents and littlest sister came over mid June and we drove to Canberra, Melbourne, and along the Great Ocean Road

June 2009 – Possibly Ironman France (The course looks amazing and the run is alongside nude beaches)

Will have to happen in 2010 or later.

July 2009 – Open

August 2009 – My current Australian visa expires – Have to head back to states or a different country – I could bounce next door to New Zealand for a year. Stateside, I am planning on relocating to Boston or Portland. Boston, if I get into a B-School. Portland, if I don’t get accepted to B-School. Portland is the number 1 ranked city for cycling in the States.

Portland is still on my mind – Similar thoughts on this for 2010+

All 2009 – Going sober. No alcohol and still no drugs. This will probably be the biggest challenge of the year, but I think it will also be the most rewarding.

Complete Sobriety lasted until April 6, 2009 (Day after IMOZ), then it was off and on. Sobriety was great. My head got very clear, reliability increased, and I had minimal downtime during training due to alcohol induced fatigue. Got on the bottle pretty hard when travelling New Zealand. Looking for sobriety in 2010. Will flush out 2010 goals in another post.