I'm a retired American from the Northwest, and I am 67. I left the U.S. on 9/11 (isn't that a date for a departure). Little wonder it was such an easy ticket to get! As one of my best friends has always said, "Life's a risk, so you might as well just do what you want."

The current travel plan, subject to change at anytime, is to spend about 9 months in Asia, then, around mid-June, when Asia becomes unbareable, climate-wise, depart Asia for Brazil.

My first stop is Bangkok. This will be my 5th trip to Bangkok and I'm going there specifically to get tickets to other places. If you're not aware of it, Bangkok, London and Athens have 'bucket shops' which are places that typically sell some of the cheapest tickets anywhere on the planet. I'll be there for about 10 days, getting tickets and a visa to India (the one place I'm traveling on this segment that requires a visa a head of time and a ticket showing you are exiting the country). The other potential destinations on the first phase of this trip - Nepal, Tibet, Laos and Vietnam are easier when it comes to visas.

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