Well hello, stranger

Clearly it's been a long time since I've blogged when I can't remember the web address.  Oops.  But I was kind of boring myself for a while - one can only get so much mileage from tennis and stomach bug stories - but the times they are a changing these days!  We leave Kathmandu on July 13th just as it seems to be dissolving into lawlessness and further political idiocy.  Buh bye.  I like to think that it's sensitive and patriotic to bravely join the ranks of the American unemployed in a gesture of global comradeship, but considering that we're planning to travel Asia for 4 or 5 months before coming back to Santa Fe, it just kinda seems a tiny bit self-indulgent.  But awesome!  And no, mom, we won't be "free-loading" by living with you in Santa Fe; we'll just be living for free and eating your food while amusing you with travel stories.  There's a BIG DIFFERENCE.  And we're kind of used to having a cook so let's discuss who's going to cut up our fruit and peel our lychees and put all of it in a pretty bowl in the refrigerator for a refreshing chilled dessert.  Ah, when I was 20 where did I think I'd be when I turned 40?  It's a pretty safe bet that it isn't Mongolia.  So the tentative schedule is Mongolia-Beijing-Tibet-Northern India-Thailand-Malaysia-Indonesia-Cambodia-Viet Nam.  December is still open at this point as the budget may have run out and I might have a lead on a job and so may have to reenter reality.  But New Zealand is on the back burner.  If any of you are considering traveling, and it really is a great time to travel with deals galore (if you still have a job, that is; it's tough out there these days), then I can post dates and specifics.  The first part of the trip through India is trekking and harder stuff and the middle part is easier touring with lots of beaches.  Bev Day and Karen Schreiber are thinking of doing the Cambodia/Viet Nam leg.  So that's the big picture...I'll keep you posted!  xoc