 At a touristy hostel in Cairns, my travel partners encouraged me to sign up for a weekly talent show, despite never having seen me perform for an audience. I played  Revelation Song , a song about a variety of places that most of the European audience had probably never heard of. I have no idea how good the performance truly was, but it felt good.  I did not win the talent show. I ended up losing to a young male backpacker who stripped down to a thong resembling a crocodile who proceeded to shotgun a beer. But something about that felt more right than winning free drinks I wouldn't drink. 