She is killing me!

Hello everyone. This is my foray into the blogosphere. I don't know why I haven't done this sooner, since I like to talk so much trash and have people listen:)!  Thanks Rich and Ana for the inspiration; and thanks for unleashing my wife on this trip.  I swear she is like a pitbull when she gets a hold of something she wants:)

Needless to say, this has been a dream of ours since we went on our honeymoon.  I knew the very first day in Cancun when I told Carmen I signed us up for Scuba lessons, and she initially refused, then changed her mind immediately when I said I was going to do it without her, that she was a "ride or die chic".  Now I am the one being dragged around like lifeless cabbage patch doll!!!!!  Literally everyday since we left Australia she has been on the web researching places and things to do and how much this and that costs.  I try to argue why we can't do this or that, but she always has a rebuttal and in the end I realize that this is "our" time.  The stars have aligned so that we have the time and the money to realize our dream of seeing the world on our terms.

I agree with Carmen totally when she says,"I thought this was suppose to be fun?"  It gave me terrible flashbacks of medical school. Up late at night with the dry erase board, countless travel books and magazines, our bible (A Thousand Places to See Before You Die), and the web, trying to figure out where and when we would go.  Who argues about whether to go to Bali vs the Maldives?  Bruce & Carmen the hyper type A personalities thats who!  Don't say it....we are silly and spoiled for arguing about it; but this is probably our last chance to do this, and we want to get it right!:)  We finally hammered out the itinerary (15 countries) in about a week (wheeew!), then we got the tickets purchased (special shout out to Wally our travel agent for going through that ordeal with me), then it was off to shop for our clothes and gear...  More disagreements in the Sports Authority and Cabellas about this backpack vs that backpack and how many convertible pants I could get!  Cmon man!  She complains about me wearing the same jeans everyday and how I always wear gray or shades of gray.  I actually picked up green pants and pastel colored shirts and she still balked!  I love convertible pants. They are for real men.  Men who get dirty and sweaty and wet dammit!  One pair of my pants has 8 pockets with zippers and velcro! It would take a robber 30 minutes to find my money, he's liable to give up! As far as I'm concerned you can never have to many convertible pants, in the end she let me get 4 pair:)  I lost the battle for the waterproof pack because the color scheme was all wrong for my baby's ensemble. Cmon man! Ladies does it have to match? Especially since Im gonna end up carrying it anyway?! Needless to say, when her stuff is wet from our ferry rides in asia, she is not getting to wear any of my dry convertible pants!  Seriously though, the logistics of this trip are hell.  With all the different climates, the different social norms(casual vs formal), and airline weight requirements.  I give up!  I'm going to throw what I want in the suitcase and jettison stuff along the way!

I am indeed excited, scared and humbled by this opportunity.  To my family and friends: If I should fall off the face of a mountain, get eaten by a shark, die from altitude sickness, liver failure from drinking rusty moonshine in a 3rd world country, kidnapped by a terrorist; remember this blog....It is what I want with everything in me! I believe in the circle of life!  I'd rather die living than live dying!  To Carmen's family: Nothing will happen to Carmen cause her survival instinct is too strong! I know you've seen her escape a dog, but have you seen her walk on water trying to get away from a 6 foot moray eel!  Damn she can move!  Seriously, if she can survive the mean streets of Atlanta, she can survive anywhere:)  Baby, thank you for putting this together and thank you for being my "Ride or Die Chic".  Its been a wonderful 14 years and I can't wait to see what tommorow brings! I LOVE YOU, ALWAYS HAVE.............................................
PS-Look out world...Here come the Browns!