I wish I could just lean over and fall asleep on Sarah's shoulder. I only got seven hours of sleep last night and this girl needs a solid nine. Sarah has really bony shoulder though. The kids are loud and there's three Leapsters going. The radio's playing something by Asteroid Galaxy Tour which is really catchy actually. After seeing a Moroccan bellydancer a few weeks ago I've had it in my head that I've just got to learn to do that. I've watched a few how-to's on YouTube but think I'd do better with real lessons from a pro. In the meantime, I just practice alone at home or in the backseat of a Land Cruiser on road trips. And that's what I'm doing with my love Sarah right now. We're taking a road trip to ... read more

Kumar hadn't actually spoken to his wife til the day of their wedding, or should I say the days of their wedding. It seems the wedding ceremony when you're Hindi can be drawn out for quite some time. He told me he had seen her about nine months earlier when they'd been in a room together with their parents. He was able to look at her for about ten minutes. Just look and observe--no talking. I asked him what he thought when he saw her. He said he knew she would be a good wife because she was calm and quiet. Calm and quiet.... That's when I knew I'd be destined to a life of singleness and thus barrenness if I were here. I doubt any man has ever spent time with me and thought, "Now ... read more

What do you think makes a good travel buddy? Just because you like someone or even if you're good friends it doesn't mean you'll travel well together. Traveling will take whatever relationship you have with this person to a completely different level. Here's a few of my prerequisites for a travel buddy: no snoring, no complaining, carry your own stuff and keep up and watch for changes. You don't have to be able to read a map. I can do that; but it would earn you some bonus points. You don't have to speak the language. That's why there's Rosetta Stone. I've had some good travel buddies and some bad travel buddies. I wish I could speak frankly on this matter but they may eventually read this blog. As far as a good travel buddy goes, ... read more

I was taking a nice long walk on the beach with Kumar. There was a rare moment of silence between us so I piped up, "Kumar, tell me something funny." With my direct command he switched gears between "friend" and "driver" immediately. "Oh...funny...madam, I don't know. I need to think," he says. He gets quiet and pensive and I can see he's straining to think of something funny to tell me. He's looking down at the sand and shaking his head thinking hard like I just asked him to find a Steak 'n Shake. "Nevermind Kumar. Its ok. You don't HAVE to think of something funny. I'm just trying to be conversational and thought maybe you knew some good jokes or something..." "I'm not sure what funny really means," he admits. "Something funny makes you laugh. ... read more

I can’t believe Sudha is ripping me off! I am so naïve. Almost without exception I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I think if I’m nice enough and accommodating enough they’ll like me. I’ll trust you until you give me reason to not. After my long day of shopping with Kumar I unloaded all my bags in my room then had a date to meet Sudha again at 5. By this point I’d been out all day in the heat and on my feet and was pretty pooped. But I didn’t want to miss a chance to spend the evening with my new Indian friend Sudha. She doesn’t get a whole lot of time off work and she wanted to spend her evening taking me shopping for spices. So we meet outside the hotel ... read more