"I ate the last mango in Paris,
took the last plane out of Saigon,
took the first passport to China
and Jimmy there's still so much to be done."- J. Buffett
Some of those "damn, this is what it's all about" moments:
At the YoHo bar in Salisburg having "Dancing Queen" come on and instantly travelers from every corner of the world
are on top of the tables singing arm in arm until close in the early morning.
Over Christmas break, having just been reunited with my classmates from Duke, seeing the sun rise through a window
as we board the plane in Hong Kong to go to Vietnam.
Driving through the Fijian highlands with my own private guide (because no one else showed up
for this tour), local school kids waving as we go by, with the "Lonely Planet" theme song in my head.
Sitting in a cramped seat on a mini-bus of wide-eyed strangers, we drive through the Australian outback,
listening to Sting and Crowded House over the speakers.
First full day in China, not understanding a damn thing anyone can say but looking like
I should, walking through the chilly post-sunrise air and life in Tianamen Square.
After a day of seeing the sites in Rome, sitting around on the Spanish Steps late in the evening
listening to the small group if guitarists serenade our crowd of strangers to the classic "More than words."
A chilly Swiss night in Montreaux singing "Bohemian rhapsody" in the shadow of the Freddy Mercury statue on Lake Geneva
with my new Dutch friend Marielle.
Snorkeling around the underwater bungalows at our resort in Moorea, running into some new friends in the water as the sun
goes down, and as I get back to our room and look through the window seeing Sonja curled up and sleeping
peacefully on the bed.
Asia
Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Osaka, Kyoto
October 1999
Greece/Italy
September 2000
Alaska
August 2001
Cuba/Bahamas
December 2002
Canada
Toronto, Whistler, Vancouver, Victoria
Spain and Stockholm
August 2003
Peru/Ecuador
December 2003
Costa Rica
April
Rio/Buenos Aires
November
Hawaii '04
Curacao
December
Heidelburg/Switzerland
January
Virgin Islands 2005
St. John, Tortola, Prickly Pair, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, Norman Island
Tokyo/Vietnam/Cambodia
November
Chile
Easter Island/Santiago
December
Tokyo/Okinawa
May
Windjammer- Eastern
Caribbean
Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, Guadeloupe, Iles des Saints, Dominica
August
New Zealand
November
Hawaii '06
Those "It's a small world" moments:
Near the end of my stay in London, while having a beer at a near by pub with some classmates- eyeing
a girl and she is eyeing me. Comes over to introduce herself and it is a girl from my high school
class, Sheri Horowitz.
Standing on a street corner in Saigon- and as one of thousands of scooters go by, someone riding on the back of one yells
out my name. Turns out to be my Fuqua classmate Rakesh.
Standing in the immigration line to leave Capetown, I see my co-worker Barbie standing a few people
in front of me.
Checking in for my flight to the Bahamas, my friend from middle school Mark Engel is a few
people behind me with his family going to the islands as well.
Missing my friend Eleanor's wedding since I'm heading off to Rio, but meeting up with her in Buenos Aires on her
honeymoon.
Updated March 14, 2010