Picture Practice

(click photos to enlarge)

Savannah, Georgia - June, 2007
The boys and I pause to watch a ship head down the Savannah River and out to sea.





Yellowstone National Park - February, 2004
Zeb and Lachlan flanking a tree with bear claw marks. The snow depth was about five feet and the boys were about four... so, the bear was doing some reaching.

Amsterdam, Netherlands - September 1987

We just arrived from Chicago. While on board, I asked Susan to marry me... (she said, "Yes.")

For some different views of this airplane, click here and here.

Athens, Greece - August 1963

That is me, second from right in the foreground, between my dear, sweet mudder and my younger-older sister. (I also have an older-older sister and an older brother.)

Thanks Anyway, Messrs. Greeley & Soule…

…but we are gonna go East.

We did give it some thought and decided that it would be better to go that direction for a few reasons:

1) Susan and I have both traveled to Europe and we thought it would be a good idea to start this trip off with some places with which we have some familiarity. That way we can sort of “ease into” the concept of extended traveling.

2) Going east will start us off with the comparatively shorter flight segments. Going west would have us facing at least two rather lengthy flights, which we thought might seem even longer with the anticipation that accompanies the beginning of a journey. With those flights at the end of the trip, we felt that we all might be better able to relax, if not rest a bit, during them.

3) We have some relatives and friends who are contemplating joining us along the way during the European segment. We felt that we would rather do that sort of thing early in the trip when we are less likely to be road weary.

4) It was “tails”.


So… with the direction decided, we now needed to start to set down some of the basic logistics of the trip. Things like an itinerary… modes of travel… where to stay. There were many options for us and it would take some thought on all of them. But – that makes good fodder for another post.

Neverland

I have crossed the Pacific three times… never by air.

I have crossed the Atlantic 27 times, but never by sea.

I have never crossed the Equator.

I have never driven an automobile in Europe.

I've never been to South America (Aruba was close... but no cigar).

I've never been to Spain (but I kinda like the music).

The Birth of a Notion

This trip we are now planning has part of its roots from when I retired back in 2003. Susan gave me the entirely unexpected gift of a trip to Aruba… just her and me. I don’t think the kids were really thrilled at being left behind, based solely on their nearly constant ragging us about it for a while, but they don’t often mention it any more. However, I knew then that when Susan’s time came, the boys would definitely be going with us.

Aruba was lovely… I have never in my life spent an entire day doing absolutely nothing, but I did do it for one day during that trip. It was marvelous! The other days were spent doing the Aruba stuff… snorkeling, touring the island, having some rum drinks...

This is the view from our hotel room.

click to enlarge

After our return home, I began to think of where she might like to go when her career is done. I had in mind a place that, like Aruba, starts and ends with the letter “A”…

Alabama.

She had a slightly different place in mind…

Australia.

Well, if she wants to miss out on the myriad learning opportunities associated with an in-depth visit to our 30th largest state… who am I to stand in the way?

So, Australia it would be. Neither of us has been there and both of us have thought for a long time that we would like to go. I set about gathering information and doing a little initial planning but, up to that point, it was all geared toward a “there and back” type trip and the biggest question was: for how long? Surely, for all that distance, no less than three weeks. A month, maybe?

…Then Susan said, “Well, we will have all summer available.”

All summer, eh? We certainly could cover a LOT of Australia in that amount of time. There’d be no reason to hurry. We could spend as much or as little time as we wished with nearly every facet of such a long trip. The entire summer… hmmmm. I wondered if that might be too much time to spend.

Why, that’s even longer than the trip I took when I was ten years old...

That’s when the thought entered my mind, and I mentioned to Susan, “Ya know… Australia is halfway around the globe. Whadda ya think of going to Australia, and then just keep on going the rest of the way to get home?”

It took no convincing, and now here we are… less than a year away from starting out on a trip around the world. The new biggest question became: which way to go to get to Australia… west or east?

All for now… more later.

Places, Everyone!

Places I've Been (starting with where I have lived):

Bismarck, ND -- Seattle -- Okinawa -- Seattle (again) -- Arlington, VA -- Honolulu -- Alexandria, VA -- Raleigh, NC -- West Point, NY -- Raleigh (again) -- Greensboro, NC -- Charlotte, NC -- Asheville, NC -- Tampa -- Fayetteville, GA

Places I've Been... (first RTW trip):

Tokyo -- Hong Kong -- Bangkok -- New Delhi -- Beirut -- Jerusalem -- Cairo-- Athens -- Rome -- Florence (countries from here on) Austria -- Switzerland -- France -- Germany

Places I've been otherwise (in no particular order):

New York City -- Oklahoma City -- San Diego -- San Francisco -- Vancouver, BC -- Whistler -- Banff -- Key West -- St. Louis -- Dallas -- Venice -- Denver -- Abilene, TX -- New Orleans -- Boston -- Bangor --Bar Harbor -- Friday Harbor -- Concord -- Disney World -- Disneyland -- Chicago -- Indianapolis -- Annapolis -- Chattanooga -- Roanoke -- Fredericksburg -- Norfolk -- Flint, MI -- Tijuana -- Cozumel -- Grand Cayman -- Grand Bahama -- London -- Brussels -- Munich -- Berlin -- Aruba -- Paris -- Anchorage --Amsterdam -- Brugge -- Ocean City --Ocean Isle Beach -- Vero Beach --St. Augustine --Zurich -- Salzburg

Well... there are more. But that's already more than enough.

Hopefully reading over this list:
a) ignited a little curiosity
b) brought back a few memories
c) did both.

A Little Background

I am the fourth child of a career army officer and, as such, have lived in many different places. Moving can certainly be a pain and many of those painful parts (such as bidding goodbye to friends, many of whom you may never see again) are difficult, if not impossible, to avoid. Other aspects of it can fall anywhere between onerous and enjoyable, dependent upon your outlook. Accordingly, the actual physical relocation of yourself and your family can either be a task or, as was often the case with my parents... an adventure. They had a knack for emphasizing the journey rather than the destination.

One of our relocations involved moving from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. Rather than return to the mainland and travel across the country, we spent six weeks traveling around the world. Although I was only 10 years old at the time (I'm much older now), I still can vividly remember most of that journey. That trip solidified the outlook on travel that I have to this day.

That trip was also among the many, many gifts that my parents gave us... I could not possibly pay them back for any of them. For one thing, my father is now deceased and my mom is not the type that would accept anything. I can, however, do something in a fashion similar to what a guy named Doug (who I have not yet met) describes as "paying it forward" .

Sooooo... in just under a year, my wife and I will give to our kids the same thing that was given to me back then. I hope they enjoy it as much as I think they will. I also hope that one day they might be inspired to do the same for their kids. If so, then what better way to say, "Thanks again, (and again and again) Mom & Dad!"

For Starters

I'm thinking....

Come back later, please, whem I'm not.