Sunday, October 23, 2016

Perception Is Deception Until Reality Is Revealed

The perception about the safety of traveling to certain regions of the Earth is generally negative. The media and the government tend to over protect the American people, which maybe insulates us and prevents us from venturing out to see the beauty that the world has to offer. Don't get me wrong. I'm an American, and I'm thankful for the protection I receive, but doesn't it go overboard sometimes?


I have a friend who lives in Turkey. When he received our round-the-world itinerary he questioned why Turkey was not on the list. I told him that we had originally planned to visit. But we removed it from our destination list because we feared the recent strife and deadly conflict in the region. I even checked and cited to him the travel warnings on the State Department's website. I asked him for his opinion.

He told me that there's really no concern, but he can understand what it looks / seems like from the outside in. And if we decided to change our plans, then we should let him know.

Imagine it from his point of view. It would be like trying to visit California while there's hurricane in Florida or terrorism in New York and reading a travel warning for the entire United States. The incidents are isolated. The country is huge. It's ridiculous to fear travel warnings that are so broad. But it's happening to the United States (see here).

Well, anyway, we changed our plans. Turkey is back on the list, and we'll find out for ourselves what the reality of the situation is. And despite the trouble we've heard about, there's certain to be beauty to be seen, flavors to touch the palate, and aromas to stir the olfaction.



Pique your interest? Dare to join? Let's GO

Saturday, October 22, 2016

What to do with my do? Hairdo. Hairplane

In just under 40 days, my wife and I depart for the first leg of our round-the-world trip. We've been preparing ourselves mentally, making our to-do / to-bring lists, and setting aside the very few things that we're going to carry with us. We know what we need; we know what we want; we know what's available. 

But the one thing that I still can't figure out what to do is my hair! 

Do I keep it short all throughout? Do I grow it out for the entire duration? Or do I try to maintain a mohawk? 



Whatever the case is, I'm going to have to find a barbershop in all the locales that we visit. My hair grows fast. I get a haircut almost every 1.5-2 weeks. And over 6 months, that's at least 12 haircuts!

It should be a fun experience to have my haircut in various cities / countries along the way. What should I call that? There's gotta be a word for it. Let's just call it hairplane.

hairplane ˈ/herˌplān/ - the style of your hair while you travel; travel hairdo;

Anyway, I'll just add this to my requirement to taste the bread, drink the water, and sample the local brew everywhere we go. I'll let you know where I have the best experience. And I'm pretty sure I won't be able to hide where I have the not-so-good experience. Photos to come.

What do you think I should do?

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

When To Rob A Bank?


I recently bought this book at the airport on my way to Las Vegas. I have this tendency to not buy books when I'm at home because I have this feeling I won't read it. Whereas when I'm on an airplane, I'm more likely to delve into one to kill time. 

I'm a slow reader, but I'm nearly done with this book. It's been very interesting and insightful and I'm looking forward to reading the rest. I'll probably be done before the end of this week, and then it's on to the next one. 

Reading is FUN and Mental. Reading is Fundamental. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Running Man


Yes, that's the REAL running man. And that's how I've been feeling these past few days/weeks. I'm constantly on the GO. If I'm not working late night to catch a deadline, I'm attending this or flying there or visiting here or delivering that. It's been tiring. I'm like an over-caffeinated chicken with its head cut-off in the middle of a cockfight. Eventually, I'll fall over. But not just yet...

This weekend is another West Coast swing to celebrate the nuptials of said friend in previous post. It's exciting to be traveling though. This is just a small taste of the back to back weekend flights that I'll be experiencing soon. So to the Bay Area I come for another wedding and delicious grubbin.