1 Monty: You have the Palladium? Mind if I have a look at it?
2 Ginny: Here it is.
3 Monty: Dad! Catch!! {throws the Palladium out the back of the truck}
4 Ginny: That wasn't very nice.
4 Monty: I thought he'd be better at catching than that.
4 Ginny: Ouch.

As this comic goes to air, I will be in central Australia, on a vacation that I've wanted to take for a long time. If there's one part about being a globe-trotting archaeologist that really appeals to me - besides the finding cool mystical artefacts and beating up Nazis - it's the globe-trotting. I think that's also a good part of the appeal of James Bond (not coincidentally another of the themes I make comics on).

Travel really does broaden the mind, as the old saying goes. Seeing things first hand is a great way to learn about them. If I was rich and had children (neither of which are the case), I'd dedicate a couple of months each year to taking them to foreign countries and teaching them about the world, first-hand. It's a shame that not many people have the time and money to educate their children this way.

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2020-01-05 Rerun commentary: I had a great time on that trip to the Northern Territory. As usual, I kept a detailed travel diary, which I've put online, with selected photos. If you're interested in seeing what central and northern Australia are like, please check it out.

Petrol for our hire car was very expensive. The average cost listed on the travel diary of AU$1.797/L works out US$4.80 a gallon. And this was back in 2008. Yeah. That's what you get when you have to haul it through unpopulated desert over 1000 kilometres from the nearest port.