Hello all...I am currently in Hong Kong...it's 7:41 pm here....in Los
Angeles like 4:40 am!! The worst is over. This was a 15 1/2 hours straight
through. No major anxiety or panic and I didn't even use my nicotine
patch! though I was dying for one when I got to Hong Kong and they do allow
smoking in the terminal....nice terminal with free internet!! So I thought
I would have a smoke, email, and then catch my flight in one hour ....the
next flight is to Saigon...but is is only a 2 hour flight so that is a piece
of cake.

Everything has gone smoothly thus far....check in at LAX was less than 5
minutes and I was so lucky with my seat...no one sat next to me. Still
cramped but I could spread out a little. I have to admit...this was one
hell of a long flight I am so glad that is over with. I did get anxious at
one point and did self talk, deep breathing and calmed down.

Though as long as the flight was...it wasn't as bad as I expected. I may
try to email when I get to Saigon tonight...but may have to wait until
tomorrow when I'm a little more with it and acclimated. It seems so odd to
have been in Los Angeles...and now in Hong Kong...my first time crossing the
pacific.

Its1:15 here and I'm at the hotel....need to be fast. My flight from Hong Kong
got to Saigon 1/2 early and the hotel was ready to pick me up. I waited for 3
hours for my friend from Minneapolis...he never showed up. I don't know where
he is or what happened. But I'm at the hotel safe...it's dark..and all I
could see driving here were 1000s of mopeds and bicycles. I hope my friend
gets here tomorrow....

I hope to get a good night sleep and start exploring tomorrow. Take
care..just checking in to let you know I am here!

Well my friends and family...we are about to embark on our next journey!
Welcome to the new people in this email group! ..It's Monday, November 5th
and I leave in about 2 ½ for the airport via the public bus. I can't
believe I bought this plane ticket on March 5th this year only a week after
my angiogram!

I'm filled with excitement and a little bit of fear. This trip has been a
bit overwhelming for me at times. This is truly a new adventure...new
language, religions, cultures, etc and will prove to be very interesting As
nerve wracking and overwhelming as it feels...I am so grateful to be going
on this trip. There is always so much to learn and see, new people to meet,
peoples paths that you cross never to see again, and of course all of the
spiritual lessons I learn on these trips...like one day at a time, seeing
the bigger picture of life, trusting in the universe, feelings of
gratefulness and thanksgiving and feeling the interconnectedness of all
people. I am all packed (35 pounds in my backpack) and ready to live out
of a backpack for 3 weeks. As most of you know I am a member of hospitality
club http://hospitalityclub.org and will hopefully be relying on some of
those people for accommodations and to meet for dinner or coffee. But it is
all very tentative which adds to the thrill of it. As most of you know, I
try to send out updates along the road with antidotes, historical notes,
places I've visited and people I've encountered.

The days leading up to these trips are always nerve wracking and somewhat
emotional as I find it a time of new starts, reflection, hope, missed
opportunities. As I get ready I think of people I have met on other trips
and I think of the many hills and valleys in my personal life the last 4
years-the loss of my father, my own health concerns, and other life issues
that have arose. Part of the reason I travel around this time is it's my
sobriety date on November 15th.God willing I will have 11 years of sobriety
and my travels are a way of celebrating my new life and seizing the
opportunity to experience the things I missed for so many years in a drunken
stupor. In the last few months I have been suffering from anxiety/panic
attacks which has been very difficult for me and has added to my anxiety
about this trip. At times the panic attacks have been so intense I have
contemplated canceling the trip. But as with many things in life, I feel I
must walk through it.forge through it.or if I allow things like that to keep
me from doing stuff, it isn't much of a life worth living. To paraphrase
Thoreau I do not want to get old and near death and realize that I had not
lived life.

My first hurdle is my flight.I leave LAX and fly for 15 ½ hours (my longest
flight ever) to Hong Kong where I then will catch a flight to Ho chi Minh
City (Saigon). I will arrive in Saigon at 10:20 on Tuesday night.so you may
not hear from me for a while. In Saigon, I will meet up with my friend
Michael from Minneapolis who will be traveling with me in Vietnam and
Cambodia where we will part separate ways and I will go on alone to
Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. I desperately want to get this initial
flight over with.

The tentative schedule is we will spend a few days in Saigon then tour the
Mekong Delta. WE will then head up by bus/boat to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for
2 days. Then to Siem Reap and to visit my highlight Angkor Wat!! We will
be there for 3 days. From there we will separate and I will fly to Bangkok
for a few days. Then hop a flight to the Malaysian Island of Penang. I
will then journey by bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I must see the
Petronas Towers and the Batu Caves! The last leg of the journey will be a
bus ride to Singapore.

I will do my best to email updates along the way. Know that if you are on
this email list you have encouraged or inspired me in some way and a part of
you is with me on this trip. Though I am 9,000 miles away from
"homebase"..you will all be in my heart during this adventure.