Regular Business Hours

After two months of travel, there are a few things we're starting to miss.  Mostly, we miss spending time with our good friends and families. But we also miss less important things, like regular business hours. In Chile, shops would open at 10, or maybe 11, shut from around 2-4 (or 1-3, or 3-5, depending on the whim of the owner), then open up again until maybe 9 or 10, except some days when they would mysteriously close early or be open until midnight. From there we went to the opposite extreme. In Australia, shops open promptly at 8, but close absurdly early. Even in Melbourne, 6 pm is considered late, and most stores close at 5.  Of course, this makes for a nice, regular work day for the staff. But it also makes it hard to buy things or get a campsite when you roll into a town at 6 pm. So we are starting to miss the always-open nature of many businesses in the US, along with a few other things, including:

Proper coffee (although we are now traveling with our own French press);
Internet that works, and doesn't cost $5/hour;
The news;
IPA;
Regular work outs;
The Titan;
Good, inexpensive lunches (lunch is the main meal of the day in south america and somewhat overwrought, and Australian restaurants are very expensive - think $15-20 for a burger);
Fahrenheit;
Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey.

And, in an odd but not unexpected way, we miss our work - not the sitting at the desk part, but the intellectual challenge and satisfaction of a job well done. But work will be there when we return, and for now we're enjoying new experiences and the freedom of travel, while also dealing with various minor hassles one encounters along the way.

But today, it's wine tasting in the Barossa Valley. Which is certainly not a hassle.