Will Work For Airline Miles!

Ramping Up For Another Adventure!

2011-03-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

So Dana and I are ramping up for another adventure. We've got plans to cruise from Los Angeles to Australia, landing in the end of November 2011. We are then hoping to make our way from Australia to New Zealand and then probably hopping up some islands to Asia and from there who knows until we make our way home.

Of course one of the big things on our list "to do" is to check out the swing-dancing scenes abroad and get to as many dances / workshops as we can.

We are going to try and stay cheaply (mostly in youth hostels and budget hotels and camping where possible) but we've heard that Australia and New Zealand are pretty expensive for Yanks at the moment.

Now ...

Here's what we need from you!!!

We need input, advice, the names of places to go and see, tips on doing so as cheaply as possible and places to stay along the way. We're willing to "sing for our suppers" and between Dana's abilities as a CMT and my ability to drag yard waste around / haul gardening materials about / do manly lifting jobs and anything else mildly handy-man-like we'd love to find some people that could offer a bed for some odd jobs. If you know anyplace / anyone / etc. who might have some info for work/stay ... especially at any swing-dance camps, please let us know!

2009-11-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

I'm in the airport again. It feels like it has been forever since I traveled anywhere for pleasure. The last two sets of flights were to Hawaii to be with my mother-in-law after she had a heart attack. Since then DaLeiLei and I have made travel plans and had them thwarted multiple times due to family health concerns. This trip feels rushed and like I need to do it to get away from the rest of my life.

I've spent the last nine months trying to be a help to family members with very little success in that realm. It feels like the more I want to help, the less my help is wanted and that I just tend to upset peeps instead of comforting them. Unfortunately, now, I don't really feel like I have the strength to do it any more and I'm mostly numb and uncaring at this point. I think I'm beyond empathy at the moment. I'm sick of everyone and everything and am ready to head back to Asia where I was much, much happier one year ago.

Instead, I'm on my way to England and hope to find some stress relief in visiting loved ones there.

At the end of this trip we're getting on a cruise ship that sails from Barcelona to Miami. I'm thinking of stopping there for a while instead of going back to California. It at least sounds warmer and like there might be a chance of fishing if I hang out there.

Round The Bend

2009-05-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

So I just finished re-reading "Round The Bend" by Nevil Shute. It makes me realize a few things:

I have a very selective memory. One of the main characters dies in the course of the book of Lukaemia. How I managed to forget this from when I first read it as a late-teen, I'm not quite sure. There was no way I could read this book and not place my father-in-law in the position of Shak Lin and think of him as a prohetic character loved by all. It didn't make me sad, per-say, but it made me think a lot of Ben. On many, many levels. It's a book he would have enjoyed (and probably already had.) It was a character that I could associate with him, not just due to a common illness, but to their shared manner and beliefs. I guesing now that it will seem odd to my wife and sister-in-law that I was so insistant that this is a great book to read when it has this alarming similarity between the two men, all I can say was I was obviously drawn to read this book now for a reason. I hope that if they read it, they will see the shared beauty in the book that I see.
I believe myself to be "round the bend" much the same as the Englishman, Tom Cutter, in this book. I now feel like I've spent too much time abroad to be completely happy here. I can be here for stints, but I'm feeling very, very uncomfortable around Europeans right now. It feels extremely odd since I'm European, but there you go ... as I said, "round the bend." I am getting close to traveling again, either with my wife or on my own depending on her outlook in the near future.
"Sometimes you just have to finish things that you've started." This is a recurring theme in the book, and I guess I feel that way with my work. Right now, I'm soooo swamped with work and I don't really want to be. I was hoping by now to be working between 10 and 20 hours a week and instead I'm doing approximately 60 hours a week. As an added benefit, I can't really concentrate well on my work so I'm only billing about half of the time I'm putting in ... that makes this long hours seem really worth it! During the course of my mother-in-laws heart-attack and then losing a loved one, we dumped about half a years worth of savings and now we're trying to build the capital back up so we can travel more in the future so I guess putting in the long hours is what I should be doing. Also, the project that my boss has me working on is such an interesting project that I'd like to see through to the end, I think I'm in it for the long haul.

Not much else to write. Sorry it's been so long since the last post ... I've been ... let's say ... busy.

How I hate da mainland!

2009-04-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

"People are much easier to take when you don't speak their language. Otherwise when you're shopping you think ... damn these people are idiots!" - DaLeiLei, April 8, 2009

So today was the day I realised my culture shock. I hate white Americans ... at least on the mainland. And yes, I am indeed, a white American. Luckily, with a good tan I can pass for all sorts of other things so no one really knows what I am. I blend!

After spending the last 6 months in Asia and then on Maui, I didn't realize it, but I wasn't ready to go back "into the fray."

I spent the day in Marin, CA running errands and trying to do a little shopping. During the course of the day, I was: snubbed, shoved, sneered at, ignored, condescended to, argued with, cut-off, complained to, cringed from and avoided. This all happened in Marin, in the little areas that pride themselves on being all hippie-dippy ... well let me tell you folks ... free-love is dead. Unless you look like a wealthy marin-ite, these people have no love to give. Since I wasn't driving my Acura and wearing $500 yoga leotards, I wasn't part of the club.

Asia was so polite, even if they thought you looked like a goof or an under-dressed person, they would allow you to save face by being polite and trying your best to be a person that could be accepted into polite company.

Maui was so "island" that no one cares what your look like or do, as long as you aren't infringing on their ability to enjoy the cool breezes.

I can tell right now, I'm going to be island bound in a short amount of time. If not Hawaii, maybe somewhere in the Caribbean. Anyone know of a sail boat that needs a sitter?

What a long strange trip it's been ...

2009-04-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't posted more in the last while.

DaLeiLei and I returned from our travels in Asia and were in our California home for 3 days before we got a call from her father. It seemed her mother had suffered a heart attack while they were staying in their flat on Maui. We caught the next plane from Sacramento and headed over as quick as we could. Before I go any further, let me say that her mother is doing very well now and has a shiny new defibrillator that is ready to bring her back if any more of this tachycardia decides to rear it's ugly head again.

We spent the last month with D's parents and younger sister and her husband, doing what we could to make the situation easier. During the course of the visit, it became apparent that D's father wasn't feeling up to snuff either and so after he was examined by their doctor in Hawaii, we were informed that he has been diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia. It was a horrible shock and we all reeled a bit when we first found out. He is now at Stanford Medical Center and is starting treatment immediately. I hope you'll all join me in positive-thinking / praying for him and we'll hopefully report back soon that the family is in good health and our travels are underway again!

Peace to you all and fair winds in your sails!
KStJ

Meeting Friends Along The Way!

2009-02-01T08:39:00.001-08:00

Just met a great couple in the streets of Chiang Mai.

Richard and Stacey from Seattle were looking into the window of the U.N. Irish Pub when we had just walked out having scored a few shortbread cookies and a piece of Apple & Ginger cake that was delicious. They were looking in the window longingly and we offered them a piece and the four of us joked about the odd tastes of home that are special treats along the way in foreign places.

We talked for a while and it turns out they are doing a very similar trip right now.

They have been traveling all through asia for the past four months and are heading on to India and Egypt and are really going to see the world until May.

It was really awesome to meet-up with some people sharing the same experiences as we are and hopefully we'll see them over the next day or so in Chiang Mai before they head out!

Peace.

Blue Diamond: The Breakfast Club

2009-01-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned them in another post, but if you're looking for really good food here in Chiang Mai, go to "Blue Diamond: The Breakfast Club" and have a meal or three! "Ni" and her family / staff run a beautiful, organic, vegetarian restaurant (although you can get egg and even meat on request). The garden outside is gorgeous with a koi pond and fountain and there is no smoking in the restaurant so it is really a pleasant experience.

The clientele is almost all farang and the food is a bit higher priced than many small Thai restaurants. IMHO it is well worth it!

Today for breakfast, we started our day there. We each had a large bowl of fruit, yogurt and muesli and split an order of cinnamon toast. We ended up there tonight for dinner and had a fantastic meal as well. We had the "spicy avocado salad" that was delicious and filled with freshly roasted peanuts, among other tasty food sensations. We each ordered a curry, D ordered the red curry with vegetables over rice noodles and I had panag curry with veg and tofu and a bit of pineapple over brown rice. It was outstanding!

The service, food and atmosphere is so great at Blue Diamond, in Chiang Mai, Thailand that I can't recommend it enough!

Magic Bus

2009-01-22T02:59:00.000-08:00

Khao Takiap in Hua Hin, Thailand / photo by "UKDevon" - some rights reserved

Every day I get in the queue
(Too much, the Magic Bus)
To get on the bus that takes me to you
(Too much, the Magic Bus)
I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile
(Too much, the Magic Bus)
Your house is only another mile
(Too much, the Magic Bus)
Thank you, driver, for getting me here
(Too much, the Magic Bus)
-- Magic Bus, The Who

Okay ... so when I told a friend that I'd be taking a bus for 12 hours to get to Hua Hin for a long weekend he said, "Better you than me!" Right then it hit me ... "Oh crap, I signed-up to sit on a bus for 12 hours to drive half the length of Thailand ... and after two days ... I'd be doing it all over again!"

It's not like it's expensive to travel in Thailand right now. A plane ticket from Chiang Mai to Bangkok is about $50 USD per person. A train ticket from Chiang Mai to Hua Hin wouldn't have been much more ... but we decided to take the bus as a new experience.

We arrived at the bus station at about 7:30 AM. It was pretty quiet at the station and soon after we arrived the bus pulled in to the terminal. These are pretty big and comfortable buses.

photo by "madaboutasia" - some rights reserved

A lot of the buses are Mercedes engines with (I believe) a Scandinavian body placed on the chassis. There's leg room for Thai people (read very little for "farang" like me) and the seats recline almost to horizontal ... or course this would indeed squash the person behind you like a bug, but you can recline quite well without affecting the person behind you too much. (NOTE: If you are getting ready to take this trip, I highly recommend seats 1C and 1D, as they are above the driver and there is a "luggage platform" in front of the seats that doubles as leg room for those of us with long legs!)

We sat down and got ready for the bus trip, wrapped the blanket they supplied around our legs and started watching the movies / music videos that played during the course of each journey. We watched a plethora of movies ... some interesting ... some unintelligible ... some weird ... and then there was the karaoke.

They didn't just display music videos on the bus, they played karaoke videos. I came to realize many things about Thais and their ideas of the world by watching these videos. First of all, according to the videos, every person in Thailand is a victim and will be moved to tears during the course of the next 10 minutes. I've never seen so many people blubbering ... it's incredible. Also, they all seemed to bring on themselves. "I know he's cheating on me ... but if I smile sweetly he'll forget all about her ... wait ... no ... he's sleeping with her again ... boo hoo hoo hoo." Or, "I'm just a lowly mechanic who works on her father's tractor but I've loved her since we were 4 years old and she doesn't even know I exist ... maybe if I stand peeking at her from behind the tree she'll understand my devotion and not think of me as a stalker ... wait ... is that her boyfriend coming my way? ... maybe he wants to offer me my true love since he knows my heart is pure ... wait ... is he punching me in the stomach ... boo hoo hoo hoo."

This my friends is a Thai karaoke video disc in its entirety!

Now ... another thing about the bus ... my god do they feed you ... I'll try and remember what they fed us each way on this trip and it goes a little something, ah-like this:

Odd morning pizza pastry thingy, bag of cookies, sweetie cake with some kind of faux chocolate inside.
Drinkable Yogurt
Bottled Water
Pound cake
Genmai flavoured green tea
White bread sandwiches with segments of hot dogs and lots-o-mayo
Stop for lunch (included in the bus ticket price)
Glass of green apple juice
Glass of Pepsi
Glass of caffee yen (Thai iced coffee)
Orange (that seemed to be purchased by bus stewardess and given to the "farangs" in the front row)
... and I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few other items that were distributed amongst the crowds

As far as the movies go ... we watched: Get Smart, Death Race, Wanted, Battle Royal II (totally bizarre and completely, horrifically, bad), Some German film (looked to be made for TV) with a cop and dog and some zany antics, Twilight (the pirated copy was sooooo bad that we couldn't watch it, the English subtitles were written by a penguin that had been smoking crack all night ... okay ... at least by a non-native English speaker), Some monk and hippie drive across Thailand movie ... couldn't really follow that one ... but it did have themes similar to those in the music videos, a variety television program that had been recorded to VCD, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few other items.

So ... my review of the bus ... WILD!!! It's kinda worth doing once! Remember these tips:

Wear long pants and a jacket ... Air-con can be cold.
Wear ear plugs or headphones ... but realize the music / movies will probably be loud enough to override these.
Don't watch the road ... Thais drive fine as long as you don't project any "rules of the road" upon them.
Hang on tight and enjoy the ride!

Peace

Shave and a Haircut

2009-01-07T01:41:00.000-08:00

So I went to a barber day before yesterday and got a shave and a haircut. The haircut was unintentional. I thought I'd explained that I didn't want the haircut, just a shampoo and a shave ... I guess my Thai still stinks!

Anyhow ... I've never had anyone shave me before, much less with a straight razor. It was interesting ... and frankly a bit nerve racking. The guy even shaved my ears ... now I'll admit they get a bit fuzzy ... but shaving my ears ... wow.

So ... now I feel all primped and ready for the prom ... and it cost about $5 for the whole thing. My only complaint ... I need a shave again already ... I thought when someone scraped that much whisker off me it would scare them into staying away for quite a while.

Miss Hua Pok 2008

2008-12-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

So the other night, D and I were wandering about Chiang Mai and a young man handed us a flyer. Normally, we disregard them because they are generally advertising Muay Thai boxing which neither of us understand nor really want to watch. However, we had been discussing the fact that these guys just need to hand out all their fliers so we recently started taking them just to help out. I read the flyer and it talked about the Miss Hua Pok 2008 beauty contest. This is a Thai ladyboy beauty contest with a cabaret show. We both thought it would be fun and as the entrance was only 50 baht ($1.45 USD) it sounded like a great way to spend our Saturday night.

What is a ladyboy you may ask. Well, since I'm not an expert and can't definitively explain the meaning, here's the Wikipedia definition. From my experience, a ladyboy is a socially accepted transgendered person in Thailand and it is not at all uncommon to find a ladyboy working, socializing, living etc. with no noticeable discrimination from others around them.

The show was fun and the cabaret was very flashy and well choreographed. We were both unable to swear that there weren't biological females amongst the contestants because for the most part they were all so beautiful.

One of the more interesting parts of the pageant was when the finalists were instructed to remove their wigs and display their beauty with their own hair. Most of them looked just as pretty without the wigs and some even prettier.

Our favorites didn't win the contest but they did make runners-up. After the contest was completed, we joined the contestants backstage so we could have pictures with some of the most beautiful beauty pageant contestants I've seen, no matter what biological gender they may have been.

Soy Mak Mak! (Very beautiful!)

You can see more pictures from the show here.

Peace.

Merry Christmas 2008!

2008-12-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it's now the evening of Christmas here in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the year 2008.

It's bizarre and somewhat of a relief having Christmas in Buddhist country. There is very little hoopla about the whole holiday. We have some people wishing us Merry Christmas but for the most part things are just business as usual.

Christmas eve we went to dinner at a lovely restaurant and then walked back to our hotel. While people were enjoying Midnight Mass, I went and had a Midnight Mass-age. Absolutely fantastic! Tong-ma at Moonlight Massage in Chiang Mai is incredible and the massage is only 150 baht (approx. $4.29). It's very hard to do any better than that!

We then slept in until about 10 AM. We walked into town to our favourite vegetarian breakfast restaurant. Not very vegetarian since we have eggs quite often and they offer dishes with fish and meat ... but the fresh baked bread is great and the fruit and muesli along with cinnamon toast is to die for!

After breakfast, we headed to the Royal Lanna to help one friend who had damaged his computer system and then meet-up with Linda and Mike who we had made plans to have Christmas Supper with at "The Garden" (the place we stayed at when we first arrived in Chiang Mai a few months ago).

The meal was a nice buffet of both Thai dishes and a few English/Christmas favourites. We had Northern Thai green curry and prawns over noodles, as well as roast turkey and mashed potatoes. The owners of "The Garden" had also hired a Ponglan (Eastern Thai) musical group to play during the afternoon and they were very, very good!

After supper, we waved goodbye to Linda and Mike as they were off to hand out gifts at a local orphanage and we then had a nice cup of coffee and slice of chocolate cake. Afterwards, we went to Lila massage and both of us had a fantastic hour long Thai foot reflexology session! (same price as the massage the night before).

Now, evening has come upon us and we're going to go have a little bite to eat and then join some friends at a bar near the night bazaar. I hope you all have a very, very Merry Christmas!!!

Visa Run

2008-12-10T03:22:00.001-08:00

Every day we learn something new if we're open to the education!

I learned that my tourist visa expired today! If I had done a little more research, I would have found that the 90 day visa that Americans have for free in Thailand is only available if you pick it up at the consulate office from the USA. Now, we're stuck having to make a visa run to the border to renew our tourist visas and then determine what we will do in the coming months of this trip.

If you don't hear from us over the course of the next few days ... don't worry ... we're just jetting around Asia trying to make our passports valid once again! ( No, seriously, don't worry. This happens to travelers in Thailand all the time. )

Peace

The Doctor Fish Is In

2008-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Okay ... so I just had to share this one. DaLeiLei and I went out dancing today and on our way back to our room, we stopped for dinner. After dinner we decided to have a foot massage, as one does when one is in Thailand.

We came across this place called "Fish Spa". Now, there are a lot of weirdly named places in Chiang Mai offering massage so we just figured it was an odd name ... then we looked in and found out that they offered to have these fish eat your feet for 30 minutes before giving you foot massage.

We had just seen an episode of "Ugly Betty" in which the main villainess does the same thing to help rid her feet of callouses so she can more readily seduce a man so we thought ... I've gotta try this!

It was weird. You sit for 30 minutes with your feet submerged in a tank with 1000 of these little fish called "Doctor Fish" [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_fish ] as they swarm over to your legs, feet and toes and proceed to "nibble" off bits of your old, dead flesh. It was creepy, it tickled, and by the end of the 30 minutes it seemed like the most natural way to remove skin that could be imagined. We've already decided to try it again ... and the two women, Ann and Ead were great therapists for our feet.

Here's a video of the fish in action! [ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1925518/garra_rufa_fish_in_action_giving_a_natural_pedicure/ ]

My first haircut

2008-11-25T08:01:00.002-08:00

Okay ... not my first, but it's been a while since my last official haircut. In 1993, I had my friend, a hair stylist, cut my hair and started a new job at Apple Computers. (Yeah ... I know that it's weird to get a haircut to work at Apple, but I'm wacky like that!)

So, I had my hair cut and then let it grow out for the next five or so years. I had hair down my back, most of the way to my waist until I moved back to the Colfax area. Both myself and one of my best friends had very long hair at the time and we were both sick of how hot it was in Auburn and Colfax with pounds of hair hanging down our backs so we then got a set of clippers and shaved our heads. That would have been around 1998 or so.

Since then, the only hair-cutting I've had done is with a set of clippers and a 1/2 inch guard to shave my hair off. I've gotten to the point that I can trim all the hair of my head in under five minutes and do a pretty darn good job of it.

So today, my shaggy hair and I went in search of a barber in Chiang Mai. The first woman that I asked for a hair cut said she only cut women's hair and sent me down the street to a barber. The barber was a nice Thai ladyboy who did a fairly respectable job trimming my hair up. It was funny when she got to the grey hairs because the look on her face was definitely questioning what a "boy" like me was doing with grey temples. The hair cut was 120 Thai baht (approximately $3.50) and I threw in an extra 20 baht for a shampoo ($.60). So, for under $5 I got the first haircut I've had in 15 years. Not sure if I should make it a habit or not!

Thai time and the livin' is easier!

2008-11-20T01:25:00.000-08:00

So after a bit of a stress filled trip in India, it is awesome to be back in Thailand. If you haven't read my dry review of India you can find it here: My India Review

Also, my photos are posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwfam/sets/72157609642570017/

So D and I left India a few days early with three of our fellow companions. The five of us decided that getting out of the situation we were in was going to make us much happier and that we'd rather go back to Bangkok and pamper ourselves than continue on to Pushkar. I'm sure I will regret it later as I hear the camel fair at Pushkar is quite amazing, but at the time, we were ready to get back to a more pleasant place and enjoy ourselves again.

The five of us got to the airport in India and one of our companions flew to London while four of us flew back to Thailand. We all got in a taxi and headed to the Sheraton and we all spent the next few days eating, getting multiple massages per day and enjoying the pool and amenities at the Sheraton.

We also did a great "tour" of the canals off the Chao Phraya river and we were able to watch all the fireworks and launch our own "good-luck" candle in the river during the Loy Krathong festival.

After two great days with Jessica and Pat, we then changed to a much cheaper hotel in Bangkok for a few days and spent our time walking the streets, eating well, receiving massage and planning our next two month stay in Thailand.

We decided to head North and caught a flight to Chiang Mai. Once in town we went to a guest house we had read about named "The Garden". It's a great bed and breakfast run by an Englishman and his Thai wife, Tim and Thong and the vibe there is fantastic. If you're looking for a very reasonably priced guest house with great people running it, give it a try. Although we enjoyed The Garden, we decided that for 2 months we would prefer to have our own bathroom versus a shared one and found the place we are currently staying.

We are now in the "Queen Victoria Inn". The proprietor is a Korean born man raised in Switzerland, who owns an English pub in Thailand and speaks French, English, German and other languages, and adds to my complex about being a mono-glot white boy from California! The room is wonderful and we're planning on staying here until we head to Hong Kong in January. (We have talked about a trip to Cambodia before Hong Kong ... check back to see if we do it!)

At this point, I'm back to work and am enjoying days filled with good food, massage, warm weather and a decent Internet connection to work with. I'll try and keep everyone posted with new updates / events that happen while we're here in Chiang Mai for the next few weeks. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Peace.

My India Review

2008-11-11T04:59:00.001-08:00

So let me start my review of India by saying this ... I will go back in the future and try again. That being said, let me give you a bit of detail about this trip and how it happened for DaLeiLei and I.

There are a few places on the globe that both of us considered ourselves ill-prepared to visit on our own and India was one of them. A friend of ours who travels quite extensively was putting together a trip and described it to us about 18 months ago. She described a trip with 5 star hotels, a second "tour operator" who had experience taking other groups into India and a "first class" experience all the way. We talked about it extensively because the cost was the highest of any vacation we had ever taken and it ended up costing us over half of Dana's massage income for the previous year.

I will be the first to admit that this trip was probably a "failure" for me due to expectations on my part which may or may not have been valid based on the tour operator's ideas of how the trip would work.

When we arrived we found out that meals wouldn't necessarily be included, tips were generally up to us and that there would not be a "guide" every day to give us some history or direction in the locations we were visiting. After two days, I was ready to leave and DaLeiLei had to calm me down. She tried tell the tour operator how we were feeling about this trip and that it was rather unacceptable to not have guides every day or meals included for the $8000 ticket price that we had paid for this trip. (The price didn't include the airline tickets or all of the other extraneous things such as visas, travel vaccinations, transportation back to the airport at the end of the trip, etc.) Also by the time we were on the trip we found out that there was only one tour operator who was on the trip and she hadn't been in the destination cities that we were visiting for the past 28 years. So, needless to say, the trip had a few major blows from the beginning in my mind. But for now, on with the review!

(Also forgive the holes in my memory since my luggage was opened on the flight between India and Thailand and all my notes were lost somewhere en route!)

Day 1 - Kolkata

Arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta). Immediately had the tour guide take one cab and leave Dana, myself and one other passenger arguing over the cab fare from the Airport to our hotel. After 5 minutes of playing dumb he finally decided to take us to the hotel and try and get the money from our guide.
Got to the first hotel (HHI / Hindustani Hotel International). It wasn't too bad. It wasn't clean in our room and certainly wasn't what I would have considered much more than a 3-star any where else in the world. At this point, I did some math and started noting that DaLeiLei and I paid a total of $650 per day of our trip and if the hotel room wasn't at least $250 for the two of us per night I was starting to feel a bit ripped-off.
Went for a cab ride to visit the famous flower market at the Howrah bridge and ended up not getting back to the hotel for a few hours with the cab drivers taking us all over Kolkata and beyond to raise the cab fare. Also, we never made it to the flower market. On the flip side, we almost died numerous, numerous times at the hands of psychotic drivers who were ready to start their next incarnation on this earth!

Day 2 - Kolkata / Varanasi

Had breakfast and then sat through deliberations on what the day's schedule would include. In many cases, I think it is nice to have flexibility in group settings, but in this, I was relying on someone else to tell me what to see and what was important to visit while in India so the hour long confab as to where we would visit was a waste of time.
Went to a temple for Kali. At some point, a "priest" associated himself with our group and led us on a tour of the temple. At the end of the tour he took each of us individually through a semi-religious ritual and indicated that we should give money to feed the poor. While normally, I would feel a bit more cynical about such a thing, we were outside Mother Theresa's hospital and the people in front of me in line were giving large sums of money to help feed the local poor. I ended up giving way more than I wanted (approx. $50) and then found out that they were lying through their teeth about how much previous people had given and most-probably about giving any money to the poor. I was livid at this point when I was told about my mistake. What the f**k am I paying a tour operator if not to look out for me in such situations!!! (The best part was reading our tour operators guide book later that afternoon and having it spelled out in the section on visiting the Kali temple ... that says to me that she didn't even bother reading the tour guide book or just figured it wasn't important to inform us about what might happen during our visit to this site. This was the point at which I was truly ready to leave the trip. The remainder of the trip was done with me feeling very, very skeptical about anything else that took place. Any chance of the trip having a spiritual awakening for me was pretty much right-off at this point.
The remainder of the group went to a planetarium in the afternoon (I couldn't figure out why the hell I would travel to India to go to a planetarium) and I stayed in the hotel trying to lick my wounded wallet and reduce some of the frustration I was feeling at that point.
We made our way to the Kolkata train station for the 1st class train ride we would take overnight to Varanasi. We then ran back and forth through the station as our guide had no clue where we needed to be to catch our train and when the train arrived on the platform we ran up and down the length of the train (which was no small feat) to try and find the car we were all situated in for the night. Finally we were in our compartments and as we started to think of getting under the sheets to sleep our way to Varanasi, I noticed a plethora of antennae waving roommates who would be traveling with us in our newly acquired roach motel on rails! I slept quite poorly with every few minutes seeming to bring another set of itches across my arms, back or legs. EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!! 1st class my eye! If she had done this in the last 25 years she would have known to hire a van and have us drive or have us fly instead of having most of our group's first experience in a sleeper car be filled with roaches, disgusting toilets and layers of filth on all the floors, seats, walls and windows! By the way, the train ride was covered in our $650 per day and I'm sure the train tickets didn't cost more than $100 for each of us. I'd look into what the actual cost was but I think I would find it depressing to know that it was incredibly low!

Day 3 - Varanasi

Arrived in Varanasi after the roach coach train and headed into our hotel. This was another HHI but was of a lesser quality than the first one. The pool was out of commission and the building was quite a bit shabbier. Had breakfast and then tried to take a walk from the Hotel.
Taking a walk was near impossible. "Auto-rickshaw" drivers (similar to Tuk-Tuk) would actually pull their vehicles in front of our path and then block us from continuing so they could try and get us to hire them to drive us around. This didn't go over too well for me, and after walking a few blocks it was evident that our hotel was no where near any part of the city that we wanted to be walking through.
I believe it was at this point that DaLeiLei had a talk with the tour operator to try and let her know that we weren't pleased with the services being offered for the amount of money we spent and that if she wanted to try and make the trip better, we would suggest she start lining up tours as well as taking care of meals as well as the hotel rooms. Honestly, at this point, our operator did start paying for all of the meals (minus drinks) and there were also tours being given almost every day from this point forward. It looked as though things might get better from here.
We hung out in the hotel until Gaurav, the gentleman from Delhi whom our tour operator had befriended over the Internet while booking hotels for this trip, arrived and took us down to the Ghats to view the Ganges river.
The Ghats were one of the more interesting things I saw in India. I enjoyed the life down there when it wasn't busy trying to separate me from my wallet (which was 90% of the time) and watching the holy-men bathing in the Ganges river was quite fascinating. I personally would not set a toe in the river for fear of any number of diseases which could creep into your system but hey-ho ... they certainly wanted to bathe in the "mother" Ganges for religious reasons as well as hygiene (of a sort).
We took a boat ride to the largest crematorium on the river and watched as bodies were placed on the pyres and then set alight. Afterwards we watched the religious ceremonies being performed to say good night to the river.

Day 4 - Varanasi

A tour guide took us to the ghats in the morning and we got aboard another boat and went up and down the Ganges looking at the ghats we had seen the night before. He told us some things we didn't know but mostly repeated what Gaurav had said the night before.
We then were taken to a shop as part of the tour but it was really just a stop so the guide could make a commission of any of the sales that were made by us. We then walked back to the rickshaws and were taken back to the hotel.
We were then at the hotel with the option to go back to the ghats again that afternoon.
For the life of me I can't remember if we did anything else on day four. If we did, I'm feeling that it wasn't very memorable at this point.

Day 5 - Varanasi / Sarnath / Delhi

Hung out at the hotel until the afternoon when we went to Sarnath. An interesting site, this was where the Buddha gave his first teachings after receiving enlightenment. We visited the museum, viewed the Stupa (memorial) and then went to the local Buddhist temple.
Headed back to the train station. This was exciting. One of our fellow travelers had brought "leftover" food from lunch and upturned the plastic bag on the train quay for a cow who seemed to be waiting for the train as well. We watched locals stepping up to the tracks and then urinating onto the train tracks without any sense of modesty. Another member of our group screamed rather excitedly at the rats that were enjoying the comforts of the ladies toilet. It was all great and we got to spend an extra hour and half waiting for the train to arrive so that it was about midnight before we got in our sleeper cars and were able to go to sleep. I didn't see quite so many roaches on this train ... but it was still nothing like a first class sleeper in Europe!

Day 6 - Delhi

Arrived in Delhi around noon and made our way to the hotel. Not really a great hotel and it didn't bode well when the drivers couldn't find the destination no matter how many times they stopped to ask for directions.
Our tour operator attempted to find us another hotel and was unsuccessful for the first night so we got to stay in this lovely slice of heaven. The shower never got hot, the towels were filthy and our bed sheet looked as though some one had blown their nose on them while making the bed. We were grateful to have brought our hostel sheets to travel with at this point.
One of our groups members reported back that when the room porter brought them their two bottles of "complimentary" water, he then announced that it was complimentary at the cost of 40 rupees and waited for them to pay him to leave. They instead, strong-armed him from the room and told the front desk to not have another person bother them in their room or they would start throwing the bodies down the stairs rather indiscriminately!
Our group all got back together and headed over to the Imperial for a late lunch, early dinner. It was a wonderful meal in a beautiful hotel and while everyone enjoyed it, it depressed Dana to no end. She went to the front desk and asked what the room rate was for a single night. The rack rate was $450 US per night. This room had been announced as far too expensive for us to have on this trip, but even at full price, it would have left $200 in our nightly budget if our operator had only bothered to do the math. (Another excuse our operator kept telling us was that there were no more rooms available anywhere in India and that when she had booked the trip four months prior she had gotten the best that was available at the time. I personally would have been much happier if we had been told that the trip would be in sub-standard hotel rooms because of this issue, but didn't really receive that type of info until we were already in the country. After our time traveling around, however, I am convinced that a bit more research could have turned up rooms that would have been much more suitable to the amount of money we were paying.)
We tried to go to a "sound and light" show that was being displayed in the city (according to the 2005 guide book our tour operator had) and when we arrived found out that the show hadn't been displayed for 3 years or so. Might have known that with a bit more recent guide book!
We walked through some markets, had a few drinks (well others did ... I had a few sodas) and the strain of the trip started becoming evident on most all of the other members of our group!
We returned to sleep in our dingy room and hoped to not catch any communicable diseases that may have been lurking between the bed sheets.

Day 7 - Delhi

Moved to a new hotel which was a much nicer hotel and then went on a few tours.
Somewhere around day 3 I contracted "Delhi Belly" and couldn't eat much throughout the trip. Around Day 7, the intestinal cramps got really, really bad and I was starting to lose weight from not eating and having most of my insides forcefully removed every time I stopped by a toilet!
We went to see the world's largest Muslim Mosque, Jama Masjid, a Sikh temple and some other sites around the city before returning to the hotel.
As a group we talked with our tour operator and told her how unhappy we all were with the way the trip had gone. We asked her to find out if we could receive any refund on the portion of the trip in Pushkar and let her know that if we could, we would like to cancel the last few days at the festival. She said she would let us know if there was any chance of canceling that portion of the trip. (By the end of the trip, I had never been informed what the outcome of that request was ... I had to ask our other companions to find out that she told them that refunds would not be made no matter what!)

Day 8 - Agra

We hastened our trip to Agra because it was determined that our second day in the Agra, the Taj Mahal would be closed. Glad we found out before going since we were scheduled to see the Taj the second day in Agra instead of the first.
We arrived and went pretty much straight to the Taj Mahal. It is an astounding sight to see and is quite beautiful. I was feeling so sick at this point and couldn't care any less about visiting India so one of the eight wonders of the world was nice to see ... but I wasn't as blown away as I thought I might be.
We stopped at a marble factory on our way to our hotel (which was the first hotel that was booked that I felt lived up to the hype our operator presented before we signed on for the trip) and one of the tour members purchased a very nice marble table for the sum of $2k. They threw in some Masala Chai for us all so we were happy to drink tea and encourage our traveling companion to spend way too much money on a table for his home in Tahoe.
Another member of the tour suggested we go to the "nice" restaurant attached to the hotel instead of eating at the buffet as we had been doing everywhere else. It looked like a lovely meal and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I had chicken broth and white rice ... and then got rid of it all quickly thereafter.

Day 9 - Agra / Jaipur

We went to the Red Fort and then loaded into our van for a 5 hour drive to Jaipur. This was the fort that housed the Muhgal emperor Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, when his son overthrew him and placed him under house arrest until he died.
We stopped en route at the Fatehpur Sikri. The palace that was to be the capital seat for the Emperor Akbar but was abandoned after too many problems with water arose at this site.
We then drove-on to Jaipur and arrived at the hotel that would end up being the final hotel of our trip. The hotel in Jaipur was named the Naila Bagh Palace and was quite a lovely place. It didn't live up to the expectations set by our tour operator but was nice none-the-less. If you have proper expectations set, I would highly recommend this as a place to stay as the staff and owners are very, very nice and the hotel itself is the family home that has housed their family for the past 140 years. http://www.nailabaghpalace.com/
We talked with our fellow travelers and they all decided that they would be leaving the organized trip early and not continuing on to the Pushkar Festival and Camel fair. That was going to leave DaLeiLei, myself, our tour operator and her ex-boyfriend who was planning to travel with our guide after the end of our trip.

Day 10 - Jaipur

Went on a tour of the City Palace, the Observatory and the Amber fort. Also saw the Palace of Wind and the Water Palace in Jaipur from our tour van.
The sites were somewhat interesting, the only problems for me was that it was hot and I was having worse and worse stomach problems at this point in the trip.
That afternoon, we had lunch at a Jaipur restaurant and then skipped dinner that night.

Day 11 - Jaipur

We spent the day shopping in Jaipur and then our companions and us went and had a beautiful lunch at the Hilton. It was another case of disappointment for us as we found the room rates quite reasonable and the hotel grounds miles above most of the places we stayed during the course of the trip.
We talked further with our companions and Dana and I decided that we would be much happier leaving with the rest of the group and heading back to Delhi and then on to Bangkok for a little rest and relaxation after the trauma which was called India.
We broke the news to our tour operator and one of our companions overheard our guide explaining to the hotel owners that all of the members of the tour were leaving because we were inexperienced travelers and it was just too much for us to travel so far from home. We surveyed our group and each of the 5 members who left Jaipur to return to Delhi had traveled through a minimum of 15 different countries around the world.

Day 12 - Jaipur / Delhi

We said good-bye to our hosts at the hotel and to our tour operator who was heading on to Pushkar. We hopped in a private car that drove us to Delhi. We ate a fantastic dinner at the Imperial again and then drove to the airport for a 1 AM flight to Bangkok. Once in Thailand, our spirits lifted, our smiles grew and our adventures continued but in a much more positive light!

All in all, the best part of the trip were our traveling companions. We made some great friends and shared our woes and disappointments and swore that we would all travel again together to try and have a much better trip with fond memories to be shared in the future! Kim, Jessica, Pat, Dana and I all bonded quite a bit during this trip and when we have saved some money again, we're looking to take them all on a trip with us that doesn't have quite so many roaches!

I'll be posting about Thailand soon! Thanks for wading through such a long rant about India!

Ack! I'm in India!!!

2008-10-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

Okay ... I'm going to give it a few days before I make my final judgement, but so far I'm not thrilled with India. I've been scammed in a temple, ripped-off by just about every cab driver in the fourth largest city in the world and have spent most of today holed up in a hotel room reading a book to stop being stressed out.

One of the reasons I came on the trip was because it was a "tour" and I figured it would be a lot easier or safer with a guide who knew the ins-and-outs of traveling through India. It turns out I may have had higher expectations than I should have.

So now I'm having to try and reset my expectation on this trip ... I'm going to spend about 2 - 3 times as much as I had hoped to while in India. The safety factor is pretty small and now I feel like I have to "keep on my toes" more than I would prefer to do for two weeks and I'm not yet sure what exactly I'm going to take away from this trip, other then a sense of relief of making it out of India in one piece.

Now, I'm totally willing to believe this is just the impression I'm receiving today ... but frankly, I just have the overwhelming feeling that being a white person in India means I'm an easy mark and that I should be robbed blind and that right at the moment I've got no one on my side except for my sweet DaLeiLei who is trying to keep me looking at the bright side.

So, on the bright side, India is interesting. The people are beautiful, the city is filthy, the poverty is everywhere, the caste system appears to be alive and well and traffic is hellacious. Pretty much everything I heard is true.

Hopefully, I'll have a much better set of things to report the next time I catch y'all up on India.

Peace.

Thailand feels like home away from home!

2008-10-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Thailand again!

I love this country. The people are magnificent the food delicious and the temperatures are fantastic! I highly recommend Thailand to the person who wants an introduction to Asia.

We'll be leaving for India in another day and then will return here after. I promise to write more while I can in India but will give a much more detailed post when we're back in Thailand again. For now, I need to find some phad thai and a foot massage!

Peace!

Get Ready ... Get Set ...

2008-10-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're all packed and ready for the next chapter. Well, not "all" packed.

We didn't pack our entire house before leaving. I ended up having to write code for the whole time we were back in California before leaving for India, Thailand and Hong Kong so I couldn't have possibly done the work I needed to complete and pack my whole house in 8 days.

It was crazy ambitious ... and it didn't work. :) Oh well, when we get back in California there will still be the opportunity to pack up the house and get-a-long to the next destination. For now, we're off.

Tomorrow morning we leave for "Camp Swing" in Mendicino. Sunday night we fly from San Francisco to Thailand. From there we hop to India.

Today I was talking with someone who asked, "Are you excited?" and I realized, "Yes, I am." After he asked me I realized that this was the first true moment of excitement that I've had the time to enjoy. And now ... about 4 hours later ... I'm REALLY FRICKIN' EXCITED!!!!!

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Peace.

[ Removed ] A Call To Arms: Podango In Trouble

2008-10-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

Depending on how closely you watch this blog, you may have read my previous posting titled "A Call To Arms: Podango In Trouble". I have taken down the post for a few reasons:

1. It appears that the studio may close soon.

and

2. The illness that has Liana Lehua is much too serious to worry about her "company" when our thoughts should just be with her.

After reading a number of follow-ups to this story, I believe that the seriousness of the situation has very little to do with the Podango studios and has everything with Liana's health and that is where I think we should focus our good wishes and good will. Thanks for taking the time to read this, you can read more here.

http://leoville.com/2008/10/17/1885/

Peace.

Back to the mainland!

2008-10-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow we fly out of Maui. It will be a sad departure in a small way but we have so much to look forward to at this point that it will also be another step in the great adventure that we've started this last month.

Work has been crazy and I'd really like to get things organized as much as possible before taking off for India in just under two weeks.

It's 10 more days until Camp Swing in the Mendocino redwood forest.

And now ... I'm sitting in Maui, in a pair of shorts, enjoying the warm breezes at 10PM at night.

The other day, a friend on twitter (@exoticat), introduced me to a "Bucket List" and I really love the idea! So ... I'm keeping my list on twitter ... search the stream for #TTDBIKTB ... "Things To Do Before I Kick The Bucket". http://tinyurl.com/4o8lvt

Also, I've started at Twine for the topic and if you'd like you can visit my twine here: http://tinyurl.com/4slfkt

If you need an invitation to Twine, let me know.

Okay ... see you all soon on the Mainland! Aloha Maui. You are truly a joyous place to spend time!

Peace.

2008-10-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, Late as ever I found the "simpsonize yourself" website. It is cute. I do find it interesting that the only "body type" wearing flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt was so very thin. I'm having to admit ... it would look more like me if I lost a few pounds ... but I do enjoy the yellow pallor!

Get yours at: SimpsonizeMe.

Things in Maui are going okay. Work has been very trying this last week and even though I have a great internet connection I am struggling to get done a project before returning to the mainland to pack up the house and then head to India.

Hence, I'm procrastinating now and simpsonizing myself and writing a blog entry. You got a problem with that? Anyhow. The weather is perfect, the ocean beautiful and the West coast of Maui is splendid. Come visit when you can!

Peace.

To own or be owned!

2008-10-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

So, one of the reasons for the big life change I've been going through comes from about a year ago when I realized a few things ...

1. I have owned all of the toys that I thought would be great fun to own. Don't get me wrong ... I love toys! I have enjoyed the hell out of most of the toys I've owned and have had great experiences trying all sorts of sports from boating to motorcycle racing to 4x4-ing to woodworking to just about anything! But, most of the time there was a huge commitment to owning these things that made me feel much more like the slave than the master. For every toy I possessed, some amount of free time was spent maintaining the toy or earning enough to be able to use it.

2. To me, a description of being middle class means owning a bunch of stuff and having to work hard to keep it, whereas, being rich means having the funds to own what you want, but, also having the funds to rent things when you want them and let others take care of the maintenance, upkeep and upgrading costs. Being rich means not being owned by your "stuff!"

So now, I'm loving the idea of not being owned by material possessions ... although, as I stated above, I still love toys. I have a sweet little computer (MacBook Air) and a number of bicycles, a great truck / camper combo and a few other toys ... but the thing that is really getting me excited ... is getting rid of more and more stuff!

After we get back to Colfax from Maui, I expect we will do a whirlwind job of packing up our residence and getting it ready to rent while we are in Asia this winter. It will be wonderful if it could be earning enough money to take care of the things that come up while we're traveling ($3K in plumber's bills this month so far from a rotten pipe) and keep us light, mobile, and free of being owned by "stuff!"

Peace.

Could It Be Any Sweeter?

2008-10-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, right now I'm convinced life couldn't get any better!

I've been working, using a high-speed internet connection here in Maui. I've swam in the ocean and pool a few times today. Outside my front door is the beat-up cruiser bicycle that I bought yesterday to replace the car I have had in my life for years.

It feels like a perfect world for me right now!

Sorry, I forgot the camera cable so I can't post new pictures for another few weeks, but as soon as they are there, I'll get 'em put online.

Our friends Kevin and Pam are going to come over from the mainland and see us in a week or so and we'll all go out dancing when we can!

Peace!

Quick Post From The Beach

2008-09-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dana and I arrived in Maui today. Our flights were fine and we decided to use the bus instead of renting a car. It cost us $8 instead of $80 to get from Kahalui to Napili and now we're in heaven.

We dropped our luggage, stripped our clothes off and donned our bathing suits to hit the beach. We had a quick dip with a few sea turtles that swam about 5 feet from us for 10 minutes and now we're showering to join a new-found friend at a swing dance / luau in Kihei. We'll be sending you updates soon from paradise!

Peace!

The Fall Line of Designer Sleepwear

2008-09-22T11:20:00.001-07:00

So this was our last weekend at home in Colfax. We had a good weekend and did a lot of packing! We also had some fun. We converted our plain, off-white sleep sacks to these gorgeous hippie works of art! I figure these things look soooo darn good now that I should get all sorts of free love!

Voting From Abroad

2008-09-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

While technically I'll be in India during the US elections, hopefully at a fishing camp in the Himalayas fishing for Mahseer, I will have sent my absentee ballot in before leaving. So don't fret! I plan on voting during each election in which I'm still qualified to cast a ballot and will let my one, lone, squeaky voice be heard. Now, one thing I might suggest is that everyone do a write in campaign with my name on the Vice-Presidential Ballot. While I'm not a registered Republican, I'd be happy to do the job to make sure that Palin didn't! Whattya think??? Sound like a good plan!!! I promise I've learned more about foreign countries in the last 10 years than she has potential to learn throughout the course of the rest of her life. Anyhow ... seemed like a good idea to me!

My my my boogie shoes!

2008-09-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

So one of the things we'd like to keep doing during the course of our travels is to keep on dancing. Anyone know of any good swing dance locations near them? We're interested in East Coast, Lindy Hop, Balboa and anything else you might want to teach us! Where in the world would you go dancing? Any place in Thailand? That would be awesome. How about across the US? Anything on Maui?

On the same subject, I'd really like to get the "Cruise Ship Dance Instructor" gig sometime. Anyone out there know what it takes? I think we'd need to go through an agency but I'm not sure what we need in the way of qualifications and experience.

Tell me where you dance, when and I'll try and make a date some time to come "cut a rug" in your neighborhood!

Is it sinking in yet?

2008-09-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

So most of the people I've spoken with in the last few days seem pretty convinced that I'm not trying to give up my current lifestyle and heading off into the world with a backpack and a 'puter and nothing much else. Why is that? Do I have a history as a liar or someone who doesn't follow through on hair-brained ideas ... or is it that people get a little nervous when you start to do something out of the ordinary? I think the main reason is nervousness! I think the majority of people I've spoken with recently want to believe that I'm not going to follow through with my plan because the next obvious question for them is "Why am I not doing this too???"

Now, the truth of the matter is that this life change isn't the right choice for most people. Most people would not want to live this way so it wouldn't make much sense for them to get wrapped up in questioning why I would. It would probably be easier to just accept that I'm choosing to do this for now, I don't need your approval or consent, I just want to share what I'm doing and hope it either inspires you to try something a little out of the ordinary or at least gives you a glimpse into another way to live. But who knows, maybe I am just crazy and I'm dragging my spouse away from her career and life and we're going to travel for nine months and then decide we'd rather be in one place for the rest of our lives ... hmmmmm ... nah!!!!!

Trying To Find Us???

2008-09-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm ready to figure this is a bad idea ... but what the hell! I've made a calendar that displays on the front of our website and tells where we are while we're busy traveling around! Feel like knowing where we will rest our head on September 20th this year? Well now you can look and have your curiosity slaked. Check it out at willworkforairlinemiles.com. Peace!

The Countdown

2008-09-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Now we're on our countdown! We have 23 days until we leave for Maui. We'll be in Maui for 2 weeks, return to Colfax for 8 days and then we're off to Camp Swing for a long weekend and from there flying to India via Thailand.

You know that feeling you have when you're trying to get everything done before a week long vacation? I kinda have that feeling times 100! I'm excited, stressed, happy, confused, overwhelmed and exhausted. Oh well ... I certainly don't want anyone feeling sorry for me! ;)

Thank you to everyone who responded to our farewell email! We're looking forward to couch-surfing at your house soon!

Peace,
KStJ

A Good Jacket Is A Good Thing!

2008-09-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

So I've been in the market for a good blazer. After traveling in Barcelona last year with a good friend who wore his sports coat everywhere, I realized that he knew what was what! When the evening got cold, he lifted the collar and wrapped his coat tight about him, and when we were in museums or restaurants, he was able to "blend" very well with a smart outfit on at all times. This was the "look" I wanted to know better!

I finally found a sports coat at the local thrift store. It fits well and is in good shape. It's light weight and should travel fairly well. Of course, being from the thrift store it has some moth holes in it already, but what are you gonna do for $6.99?

One thing that I'd love to find is a newly designed / created sports coat. It should be gortex or something similar. A material that will "breath" and remain weather proof. I'd like it to look as much like a sports coat as possible so I could wear it into an upscale restaurant but would like to be able to wear it in inclement weather as a shell. I'd like it to roll up into a backpack and come out with a minimal amount of wrinkles. I'd pay handsomely for this jacket, but I've yet to see one. I have noticed, however, that whenever I enquire about such a jacket in "adventure travel" stores, all of the male clerks say ... "Yes, that would be nice wouldn't it?" and then get a far away look as they imagine owning such a smart jacket of their own!

Will Work For Airline Miles!

2008-09-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

As most of you know already, I'm jumping into the next chapter of my life with both feet! D and I will be traveling indefinitely and will be updating these pages to try and let you all know where we are and what we're doing.

You can leave comments here on the blog, or can write to us on the site. [willworkforairlinemiles.com] Also, you can follow us on twitter at:

Keep in touch and come visit us somewhere in the world!!!