September 16, 2006, Sydney. .

I thought that maybe I should make this opening page a little more exciting, so, before you delve fully into this blog, read through my sales pitch. . You will not be sorry, I'm actually writing this addition from Sydney on the home stretch of a most incredible journey, and some highlights follow:

SEE--Pictures of a man in numerous countries in various states of dishevelment, mountains, oceans, trees, beggars, and of course temples. From the banal to the bizzare (or should I say "baazar?")!!!! Watch a man without a plan drift with the whimsy of chance.

HEAR--Well, perhaps one cannot actually hear, as such, but using imagination, and strategic links, there are actually audio clips of random sounds I recorded before my little recorder broke down. .

SMELL--You can almost smell the masala, the heat and the sweat of India, the pad-thai vendors and mekong whiskey in Bangkok, the rarefied mountain air. . Or, did someone fart again.. .?

TASTE--Cheap cigarettes and stale beer. Or is that stale cigarettes and cheap beer? What's the difference really?

FEEL--The elation and the despair, the triumph and the tragedy, the pleasure and the pain, and all that kind o' good stuff. Also feel the abdominal cramps at the Singaporean border. .

TOUCH--Your forefinger to your mouse, proceed with caution, and enjoy. I hope you like my feeble attempts at description. And, hell, no matter how bad it may be, it still beats working. It starts a little slow, but picks up in Londontown. .

We now resume your regularly scheduled program:



January 9, Boston. . .

Still have, as yet to finalize my itinerary, the dates are coming up fast. Having done 48 states, and some mexico and canada, I am well past due to strike out into the world.
It's kind of scary, but I cannot let my own Chattering Monkeys affect my destiny. I have been lucky all my life, and this is no different.
The means for this trip fell into my lap while I was going through a particularly hard time, what with a nasty heartbreak, personal reassesment, and turning 40. The latter, some would say caused a midlife crisis, but I would counter that by calling it an "adulthood crisis" as I have never really grown up fully, only in the ways that I have had to. And, hey, 40 is the new 30 after all.

I'm looking for information on such things as what vaccines to have, places to stay on the cheap, and what to pack, though I know from reading the blogs of the others who have come before at least a tiny shred of what to expect logistically. . The rest will have to come as it comes, and I have always been one to "wing it," so I trust that the right thing will always happen. The Tao is never far, only our trust is. Travelling light is my modus operandi in any case. .

And as always no matter how much one prepares, there is always something overlooked that has to be taken care of on the fly. I am not sure of what to expect, and I am a little apprehensive about leaving my lucky and comfortable life here in Boston, but now is my time to do this, everything is in place, and there is no turning back.