Firstly, I would like to reiterate again to anyone else thinking about this and not sure whether they should make the trek or not (ie., me 1 month ago). Do it! Especially if you like travelling and like seeing new places. And I don't mean make the commitment up front to MOVE to whoop whoop if you are unsure about it. Come up, drive around, meet people and see the places. There really is no need to make a commitment up front to stay in one particular place.
Yes, many people say it's good to hang around one place and dig yourself in there. I do not disagree, this definitely seems like one way to get a job. But, you don't need to randomly pick a place off the map and then go there. Try a few places, see where you like and what place you'd like to hang around (if at all). Whilst I may be at a disadvantage with SOME places for not hanging around (ie., not deciding yet where I will base myself), I have had the opportunity to meet lots and lots of other people in the industry in the mean time (and see some interesting places). Some senior people even have agreed with me that it's good to see lots of places and meet lots of people at least initially.
Anyway, a few thousand KMs later I am chasing up a couple more leads. Only one serious one to go. Interestingly, a few of the leads I have been chasing on this trip have been unrelated to me being on this trip (although for at least one, being on the trip meant I was able to meet the relevant people!) What I would like to say though, is there are leads out there. Yes, there are lots of pilots, but I'm finding that there are opportunities to be had. I'm not saying I've got a job yet, I'm just saying that I can see there are opportunities about that are beyond the obvious. Maybe I'm talking BS - but I'm hoping that in a couple of weeks I can say that I wasn't!
Oh - and I LOVE the lightning storms!!!