I could Thai here

Ok, I know. I say I love everywhere. In fact, those of you following our blog can probably keep a count on how many times I say "I LOVE this place". I will at least try not to be redundant with the same reasons: 1) nice beach 2) nice people, blah, blah. I will try to be specific. So this is why Thailand is an awesome place to be...

We arrrived here after yet another long day of travel from Japan. The flight was hellish not for the distance/time (it was 6-1/2 hours) but because I was seated next to a guy who was convinced that nose picking is an Olympic sport and Bruce sat next to a guy who not only snored loud but snorted and grunted. (God knows what he was dreaming about!) Needless to say, we arrived in Bangkok and ended up having to do some minor dashing to catch our next flight. It could have been an fiasco if it were not for the excellent service that Asian airlines give you. Because our flight from Tokyo was a tad late, we were met at the gate by  uniformed agent for our next airlines who HAND DELIVERED us to the service desk to get our boarding passes and to get ushered thru immigration! I mean seriously?! Can you imgaine one of the pissed off gate agents in the US doing that for anyone? I"m really going to miss the service in Asia....ah well....
We arrived at our gate for our Phuket flight and noted that of course, it was delayed by 40min. Perfect!
A smooth 1 hr flight later, we arrived in Phuket. But this is not our final destination. We were headed to Khao Lak, a small Thai town 1-1/2 hours north of the party city of Phuket. We drove thru rubber plantations and tiny towns to get the beautiful area of Khao Lak. Pristine beaches, people few and far between and of course, excellent service. We were greeted by smiles and "Sawadee" (that means Hello/Welcome in Thai), cold washcloths and iced green tea! 

We chose to stay in such a remote place because Khao Lak is the closest area to get to our dream dive site, the Similan Islands. The Similan Islands are also the best sights in Thailand for seeing the gigantic manta rays and even larger, whale shark! 

Our first day in Khao Lak, Bruce wanted to do a elephant safari in the jungles near Khao Lak-Lam Ru  National Park. Like an idiot, I agreed. How often do you get to ride an elephant thru a jungle? We arrived to the park, met our guide who spoke little to no English and got on top of an elephant to ride off into the jungle.  My gut started telling me that it was a bad idea. It was hot as hell, Bruce was sweating so hard i'm sure he lost a gallon of water from his body. Then, our perch on top of the elephant was a bootleg, home made contraption made up of some kind of wood and rope. Our "safety belt" was a piece of rope covered with garden hose (for comfort)...Now i'm feeling more nervous.

We head out into the jungle and for whatever reason, i didnt realize how thick and scary jungle could be. Our guide, who sat on the elephants neck, would pull branches out of the way while we passed (so we would get smacked off the back). The trail was so narrow...i couldn't believe how close the branches were. It was starting to freak me out becuase I have only one major phobia...bug/spiders, etc. Yep, this from a chick who went on a little boat in South Africa to see great white sharks, went diving in the famed "Stingray City" so I could touch stingrays and let them swim over me, and even more dangerous, went to high school in Southwest Atlanta!!!  (I gotta death wish::)) Needless to say, i'm not scared of much but anything that has more eyes and legs than me. So here I am, on the back of an elephant, riding thru a jungle in Thailand with trees and branches surrounding me. I'm freaking out slowly because I'm imagining thousands of spiders and bugs watching me and waiting for their chance to get me...So our guide, in his best broken English sees a snake, curled up in a tree directly next to us about 8 feet off of the ground...

For me, the only reason why i'm concerned because i'm thinking "if the snake jumps, spooks the elephant, its going to veer into bushes and i'll be covered in spiders"...Honestly, i don't care about snakes...not really scared of them at all. Poor Bruce was less than a foot away. He's not that scared either but it was a crappy place to be!  We continued on top of our elephant and wouldn't you friggin know it...The guide stops the elephant and in his cute, broken English i hear the most hated of all words "See, spider?"...WTF!!!!????
For my medicine friends, my heart rate was thru the roof, i started breathing 30 times/minute and seriously considered dying...The crappy thing about it is I COULDN'T LOOK AWAY. On a gigantic 3-4 foot web, not more than 12 inches from us was the biggest damn spider I have ever seen!!! Can you find it in the picture??? Just to give you an idea, we cropped most of the web in the picture so you can see the spider in the middle of the picture! It was a huge web and a bigger frickin spider!!!

  So what do you think a college educated, mid aged, physician would do? I started whimpering like a friggin stupid baby... I dont know why i'm so freaked by spiders? I couldn't keep it together. Bruce was giggling his ass off (like it was funny) and the guide, even thought he could bearly speak English, laughed at me to. The whole time these idiots are laughing, WE ARE NOT MOVING!!! The damn spider is sitting there, chilling, probably looking at me...Right before I started a full on panic attack complete with a Indiana Jones style jump from the back of a elephant, we started moving. Oh now, its too late. I'm feeling that creepy crawly feeling like something is on me and I can't relax...Thank God we were almost to our destination which was a deserted waterfall/pool in the middle of the jungle. Unfortunately, the last portion of the journey was too steep for the elephant and we had to walk about a half a mile to the  waterfall. Wouldn't you know it? ANOTHER FRIGGIN SPIDER ON THE WAY! I seriously thought that that was the day i was going to die. But you know what? I talked my way thru the extrodinary fear and walked by the damn thing. Bruce estimted that the spider was probably 1 foot across! (and insisted on telling me every little thing about the stupid thing.Like how huge the web was, how juicy the body of the spider is, oh and my favorite..how big the fangs were...he was killing me!)
All the trauma of the day culminated in the beauty of a cool deserted waterfall and pool. It was so cool and refreshing! I couldn't believe how nice this place was! I enjoyed sitting there, relaxing and reflecting on how I almost died....:)

After all of the fear of the day, we made it back to camp safe and sound. I had to reward our elephant with her favorite treat! Bananas! Overall, it was a great fun day in Thailand. I didn't die, I faced a huge phobia and got the opportunity to do something i'll remember for the rest of my life...

Tomorrow, we head off to the Similan Islands to do some diving and hopefully see the famed manta rays!!!

Check out our pics from our trip in Thailand

Tokyo on My Mind

I had been to Tokyo when I was 14.  I snuck off with the Air Force basketball team when my dad was stationed in Hawaii.  A different story for a different day...:)

A lot about Tokyo was the same, but much has changed!  Or maybe I changed (matured)? I remember a lot of staring and people not really being that friendly.  This time people were polite, smiled a lot, were very helpful.  I think we both regret not staying in Tokyo longer than 3 days:(

We arrived after that hellish flight from San Francisco.  We immediately notice how people move briskly, but politely.  Not like us, no pushing, elbowing to get off the plane. Just brisk purposeful movement.  The airport was clean, bright, and freaking efficient.  The luggage came out in 5 minutes!  I couldn't believe it, the plane was huge with hundreds of people, they must've have had robots unloading or something.  We get our luggage and walk outside into the crisp, cold Japanese air.  I hate cold, but this seemed different.  It was crisp and clean, like a nice glass of iced Patron (tequila) on a 110 degree day in Phoenix!  We got on the transport bus to the hotel (taxis are way too expensive), which was comfortable, clean and quiet.  I fell asleep immediately and woke up two hours later in Tokyo's city center.  The driver unloaded our luggage and I went to tip him, but he refused.  Lesson #1: It was explained to me that Japanese dont believe in tips, because you should take pride in your job and the service you provide to your fellow man; and not be motivated by something as trivial as a "tip".  What a concept....

Upon entering the Sheraton we were greeted with the "bowing" and the smiles and the service.  It was great!  I felt like a movie star or something.  The hotel was beautiful, clean and comfortable.  We chose to eat in the hotel restaraunt.  We were both disappointed about the taste and the cost of the meal.  I think it may have been "dumbed down" for westerners.  I could see it in her eyes, Carmen eat reflex kicking in. I knew tommorow I would be eating raw fish, pork stewed noodles, sea cucumbers, seaweed and god knows what else she had read about.  I unpacked the pepto for tommorow to prophylax myself!

The tour bus was scheduled to arrive at 0745 and that's damn sure when it arrived.  More bowing and more smiling.  Rode around picking up other people and switch to a motorcoach.  The day was sunny and bright with clean snow everwhere.  We watched the quick moving Tokyoins going to work after getting off the train.  Reminded me of home (Washington DC), but just in a parallel universe.  They are so different, but yet so similar.  Everyone in their conservative work clothes, umbrellas, ipods, and cofee in hand.

We did the Mt. Fuji tour and it was beautiful, clear day.  A good omen for the rest of the trip!  Tadashi our tour guide taught us alot about Japanese history, as well as its present.  He spoke of the complicated relationship between the U.S. and Japan.  It was my favorite part of our stay.  He answered so many questions in my mind.  I wont go into details because a lot of his discusion was very political and this is not the forum.  I will tell you this...the Japanese are reevaluating their embracement of our culture and whether it really works for them.

Mt Fuji is a volcano and the area around it still has many active volcanos.  We visited some quaint towns up in the volcanic region where there was a lake within a caldera (volcano crater) and ate a traditional Japanese lunch.  I ate about 15 different small things that were beautifully arranged, and could only recognize the tuna!  I went to the gift shop and bought some chocolate for the ride back.  I knew that stuff I ate wouldnt hold me over.  No wonder they are so damn thin!

We caught the bullet train back to Tokyo. Damn that was neat.  200mph and it was smoother than anything Ive ever rode in!  We changed trains two more times to get back to hotel.  It was pretty easy.  Most signs were in English and Japanese.  And when we got a bit confused, a subway employee noticed then helped us.  Then again we were helped by a businessman get to the correct side of the platform.  No pushing and shoving like the old days.  People smiled and bowed and kept about their way.  It was great people watching on the train.  The japanese are very stylish people.  Their appearance seems very important to them.  The young people really have a flair for combining traditional Japanese style and contemporary american styles such as hip hop styles or urban country stuff like ed hardy.  It was really cool.  I wish we could've gone to a club to do more watching. 

As we ate dinner and I reflected on the last day and a half, and wondered how in the world did we defeat these people in WW2?  Their culture is based on honor, pride, discipline, sacarafice for the group, and precision.  Being a left brained person, I really admire their society and how they just want to do things with perfection.  When you say you'll be somewhere at 10am, be there dammitt.  This is a whole society of people like me! Type A, perfectionists who pursue that perfection irregardless if someone else is watching and they do it with consistency and not at the expense of someone else.  If you are science or math inclined, make sure you put Japan on your list!  With that said, they probably need to loosen up a bit.  The pressure of perfection can be great evidenced by my high blood pressure!  They should think about going Shark diving with us!:)

Let's Get this Party Started!

Alright, Alright I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and this journey is something most people will not be able to do; but I was getting hesitant. No.. let me not lie, I was getting scared! That's right, I know it's hard to believe that I would fear anything, all the dumb stuff I've done over the years, but this is different.  I was scared first of all that I didn't have the stamina to make the trip.  It's a lot to inflict on oneself: away from the comforts of home  for 5 months!  My beloved bed, my bar with all my favorite remedies, my backyard where I lay on the fake turf with my dogs to try to solve the worlds problems, and my one splurge in life - my hottub!  For those of you who don't know, I have some physical ailments that I've accumulated over the years from sports, pledging (getting hazed), and general abuse of my body over the years.  I know, I know, I look chiseled, but trust me I'm like a 1956 Corvette....looks good on the outside but you really don't want to ride in it cause the ac doesnt work and the seat springs are constantly digging into your ass! Well that's my body. When it is prepared and it's time to push it, the adrenaline kicks in to numb the pain and this body will do anything I tell it in world class fashion.  However, I pay for it later. Thus the hot tub, cognac, and celebrex (my favorite anti inflammatory:)!  Well you can't prepare your body for a 12 hour plane flight in economy! On top of that I'm hyper and hate to be closed in with other people that long.  You start hearing the sneezing, coughing, snoring, and it gets louder and louder and louder! I usually start losing it around hour six, Thats when Carmen starts the pep talks,"Baby, you ok? You want a drink? How about some food? Please don't strangle that dude next to you who's been grunting and snorting the whole trip." To which I reply,"Dammitt don't ask me if I'm ok, you know I'm not ok. My inferior iliac bone has eroded through my gluteus maximus (my ass bones are poking through my ass cheeks). My knees feel like they've been hit by a sledge hammer because this damn chair in front of me is pressed up against them. My neck feels like there is a samuri sword sticking right through it, and my lower back has been in spasm for the last three hours! Dont pep talk me, just give me one last kiss.  Cause after I strangle this guy next to me, I'm sure the air marshalls are going to taze me to death! They better, because if they don't I'm going to open the plane door and take everyone with me; cause baby, Im not gonna make it another hour on this plane and I'm too pissed off to go by myself dammitt!" Can the airlines just charge us the extra $15 and make the economy seats a little bigger? By hour 12, I'm usually wishing I was on a slave ship in the middle of the Atlantic, at least they got to lay down!  So now you see my mindset the day we were leaving. Carmen is buzzing around the house like a bumblebee. Checking her packing list (30 times over), yip yapping about this tour and that tour, giving my mom instructions about the dogs and showing her where everything is in the house.  Meanwhile I'm in the bathroom throwing up and chain smoking the last of my cuban cigars.  I can't believe I paid $4k to subject myself to 25 flights in 5 months! Thats just the flights yall, I didnt mention airport security. The proposition of having to submit to a cavity search is a real possibilty for a brother these days since this Christmas day bombing attempt.  Now yall know I am not submitting.  Can you imagine? "Dr. Brown we are gonna have to check your colon for bombs sir. " Did yall see Indiana Jones Temple of Doom when the Indian priest reached straight through his enemy's chest bone to pull his beating heart out in his hand?  Well I feel for the TSA officer who tells me he has to do a cavity search on me! I've been to 6 continents in the last 2 years and still get scared.  I have dove with Great White sharks and still get scared. I grew up in Washington, DC in the 1980s and still get scared.  I have hiked through the densest jungles and I still get scared.  Ain't that what its all about yall? Overcoming your fears and your comforts to become something better than you ever thought you could be? Self actualization period......

Needless to say, I got myself together, loaded the bags and kissed my home and my momma goodbye! Popped Willie Nelson on the Ipod, "On the Road Again"...

Turning Japanese

I love Japan...I didnt expect to, not with the crowds and the "big city" atmosphere but I think we fell in love with the place. It honestly comes down to my simple principles of life...the people are amazingly polite and kind, the food was good (big ol plus) and it was really clean.  Anyone that knows me knows that I have a mild OCD when it comes to cleaning. I don't walk barefoot, sheets must be clean, etc. Well, I must have found heaven in Tokyo! Our room was so clean, it was like being at home!! The staff was so nice and I really got used to the bowing...The piece de la resistance was the awesome automated toilet in our room...There is NOTHING better in life than a heated toilet seat!!!! It was wonderfully cold in Tokyo, complete with snow on the ground. We arrived in Tokyo after a long, painful 12 hour flight from San Francisco. Although we were exhausted, we were excited to start our journey. The first thing we noted was the efficency of the airport. The customs and immigration line was non-existant and it was complete with nice policemen to usher you to the shortest line. Our luggage came out within minutes of us hitting the baggage claim and we actually easily found transportation to our hotel! Simple! The only hitch was the ride to the hotel. I had no idea that the Tokyo-Narita airport is actaully no where near Tokyo...Seems like the airport name is a misnomer. I think the airport was actually closer to Hawaii than to central Tokyo. We got on a nice, heated motorcoach and proceeded to drive 2 hours into central Tokyo...oh well, it was still a smooth trip thus far.
The next thing I noticed was the bowing and the extreme politeness of everyone. Anyone that you made eye contact with immediately folllowed with a nice bow. From the time we exited the bus at the front of the hotel to the time we made it to the reservations deck I bowed no less than 10 times to random people.  I think the thing in Japan is service above all else. There were people, standing around at the hotel who's sole purpose was to look out for any log-jams, lines or anything that could annoy you and immediately make it better. We never stood in a line. We kept getting ushered from one place to the next. It was awesome. (Bow, bow)
We also got a shocking dose of reality on our first meal in Japan. That place is expensive!!! Whew! We decided that after a $100 noodle dinner we would walk around more and price compare!

On our second day, we decided to do a day trip to Mt Fuji and a small village, Hokone. We had an cute little tour guide, Tadashi, who entertained us on the way up about Japanese Shogun history and information about the mountain. Mt. Fuji is the tallest point in Japan and also a huge volcano.  The special thing about the mountain is that it is usally very hard to see because of the beautiful cloud cover but winter time is the best opportunity to see the peak. We had a dose of amazing luck that day. Not only did we see the peak without clouds but it was such a clear, cold day!! It had just snowed and it looked like the set of a Japanese movie.  It was a memorable day. We actually dressed right for the weather!!!! Here is our pic with the beautiful Mt. Fuji in the background.

 On the long trip back into Tokyo, our guide, Tadashi kept us entertained with oragami paper tricks. We both tried our hand at the art of paper folding...see:

The most fun of the day was riding the famed Japanese "Bullet Train" back into the city of Tokyo from Hokone. Normally it is a 3 hour drive by car but the Bullet Train turned that into a quick 30min ride. We were armed with directions on how to ride the train and did just fine by ourselves, even though we had to make 3 connections. Once again, the Japanese were horribly nice and helped us several times navagate the station when we looked lost. One business man actually walked us to our train and almost missed his!

My only gripe about Japan? The toilets. I cannot tell you how happy i was to see "Western style Toilets". The alternative?

Overall, I wasn't ready to leave Tokyo. I really thought that it would be fun to explore a little more...I really thought the people were nice, the city was big and clean and I really loved the super punctuality of everyone!!! No sitting around waiting for no reason here! I'm sure one day, we may come back, but only if I can find Western Toilets!

Check out our pictures of Japan: Bruce and Carmen in Japan

Away We GO!

Ok, for anyone who wants to find us (or notify the US Embassy where we were last...hee-hee) this is our final, crazy itineary...
A couple of things...
1) We know that we can't see everything we want. This is pretty much the formula of the locations we've chosen...

WOW Factor+If it is in our "bible" (1,000 Places to See Before you Die)+Cheapness+Distance from our "new home" in New Zealand

We know that there are so many places not listed that we wanted to see..(India, France, China) but we are happy with the final round draft picks!

2) The trip is pretty whirlwind. It may seem pretty difficult to lots, but anyone who knows us will agree....We don't tire very quickly and we bore very easily. We figured it would do no good to hang out in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai for a week each because lets face it...most big Asian cities have a lot in common. Also we wanted to maximize culture. We really wanted to try to go "off the beaten path" and explore less common vacation destinations. Of course, there are the exceptions to the rule...We are doing London and Tuscany but we are also adding the "huh?" places of Copenhagen, Khao Lak and Maldives...(yes, I had to check a map, too)
So this is it...the Crazy Browns trip itinearay


Jan 31...Get the Hell Out...(via San Francisco)

FEB:
Tokyo Japan(3 days)...see Mt Fuji, tower over Japanese people, etc

Khao Lak, Thailand...Dive the Similan Islands, See whale sharks, avoid getting killed by sea creatures, etc

Colombo, Sri Lanka (2 days)...Make sure the US Embassy knows we're there..Avoid death

Male, Maldives (9 days)...Liveaboard a boat, dive all day and all night..avoid getting killed by sea creatures

MARCH:
Hong Kong (2 days)...rest, enjoy city life, eat recently dead things

Philippines(9 days)...See the family, not understand the family, go to Boracay, enjoy the beach, live like king/queen because its so awesomely cheap!!!!

London(3 days)...Do the London thing, ride the tube (Mind the Gap, Reine!), see Big Ben, eat everything at Harrods

Amsterdam/Brussels...Recharge,relax, you know....

Copenhagen...Not sure, but my brother LOVES this place...

Venice(4 days)...See St. Marks Square, don't get wet...eat lots of carbs
Tuscany(4 days)....drink Chianti in Chianti, drink anything they give me...continue carb loading

APRIL
Barcelona(7+ days)...Rest, recharge, hang out, party hard, eat late
Buenos Aires(7+days)...More rest, party, drinking and eating
Peru(5 days)...Hit Lima, Cuzco and Machu Picchu...hopefully, they don't hit back
Miami, Florida (quick one day stop...had to go back thru...)

MAY
Panama...see the Panama Canal, remember my Spanish, be stuck translating....
Aruba....dive, dive, dive!!!!
Somewhere else in the Caribbean...more drinking, diving, not in that order

Consider coming home....We'll see...

I didn't include exact dates because we may decide to stay longer in some places or leave sooner from others...that is the beauty of the One World Round the World Pass...Totally changeable...Gives us a little wiggle room to be spontaneous....Hard to believe that we are spontaneous, huh?

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.....

Ok! We are at countdown! Today is my next to LAST day at work and i am battling a strong urge to flee...Don't get me wrong, I love the people I work with and I love what I do but the call of the Boeing 777 to Tokyo is WAAAY more seductive..
Needless to say, last night i tried to pack. It was a fiasco. Maybe I'm trying to make this into a scientific endeavor. I had a list that I compiled from my travel guru, Ana and from my new favorite site, http://www.onebag.com/ According to this man, I should be able to travel the world with some toothpaste, three pairs of panties and some flip flops.  Ok, not really but he is really strict about packing. In fact, he has wonderful, gut churning articles about how often luggage goes stolen and missing everywhere in the world. His belief? A checked bag is a stolen bag. Why did i read that?! ugh! Anyway, i'm packing and i'm trying to keep the weight in check, being realistic on how much crap I really need. I keep repeating the mantra "I can buy what I need when i'm there"....Right? WRONG!!! Unless i have just magically morphed into my tiny Asian genes I will be SCREWED if I have to buy anything while we are in Asia. I know this from experience. Our first foray into overseas travel (and my first time out of the country) found us in Beijing, China. It was a wonderful trip except for the fact that our bags never left "Lost" Angeles Aiport. No worries, I packed about 3 days worth of clothes in my carry on. On day number 3, we decided it would be fun to go out and buy a couple of new things. We went to the closest Chinese mall and despite the SERIOUS language barrier were able to understand 3 things...1) I'm considered a cross between Yao Ming and the tallest woman that ever lived. 2) I'm fat by Chinese standards 3) Hip hop lives on in China, evidenced by the fact that Bruce had a multitude of stores selling everything from Ecko, Sean Jean, Phat Farm, etc. It was like we went into a mall in China and ended up in a urban clothing store in South Central LA! However, whenever we went to a store and pointed at clothes and pointed at me, I was greeted with a frown, rapid discussion then a wonderfully broken English reply of "too big, no clothes for her".  Now I am 40lb lighter, i want to travel back to China just to show them that i'm not "too big"! Needless to say, my horrible anxiety of buying things in Asia has lead me to staring at an open suitcase at 9'oclock at night trying to figure out what is too important to leave behind.  Will I be able to buy drawers in Denmark? or pants in Peru?  Toothpaste in Thailand?...ok, now i'm fixating...
After another couple of hours of useless staring and internal arguments and conversations, I abandoned the packing.  I'll try again today.

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!