It's the slur that I detest. I had a temp office job, straightforward 9 to 5 which I came to hate real fast. Not because what I did was so bad, it was actually fine, but just giving up so much time every. goddamn. weekday emptied me. I really hope it is because I'm about to start my adventures abroad. Hong Kong is great by the way. I'd definitely recommend that if you happen to fly in the area.I always imagined living abroad would be difficult. But in many ways, living here was easier than living at home.
Hong Kong might actually work really well since it's one of the cheapest flights between LAX and the other half of the world. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do LAX - Sydney, hop around a bit, and then do Hong Kong - LAX. The key to doing a bunch of cities trip is figuring out where the cheap links are. For example, Sydney -> Sri Lanka is $1000. But Sydney -> Bangkok is $500 and Bangkok -> Sri Lanka is $140. With the $400 you just saved, you can have a very brilliant time in Bangkok! Say whaaaa?! flights.google.com's map feature is key.
I'd also check Kayak.com, it's where I found my tickets the cheapest. Find the most common business routes & hubs (Dubai, London, Frankfurt, HK, Singapore), they're often very cheap last-minute. Or find out where an airline has their main hub, it's often cheapest to fly there even if it's a detour.