great story You are my best example of a guy who can't kick the thrill of adventure and travel. Can't wait to see the next. Anne and I retire for good in Dec. Maybe buy you a beer one of these days!
Oh to be able to travel and write like this! Thanks Jon for the sweet words that brought a smile to my face this morning. I still hold out hope that someday I may join you in one of these epic journeys.
Don't panic! Hi Jon and Debra! Your story put a big smile on my face, nice writing.
You don't have to worry if you have 500 PSI, still time enough to surface slowly and safe. And mellow haha.
That picture of Debra in the car is hilarious!
Diving Bonaire I had to laugh at your diving description. We are divers that float along loving the deep blue sea loving every moment. I'm calmer under the water than any place else. So many walls to dive and so little time.
Under the Cold Dark Sea Finally, a diving blog I can relate to! I can only imagine I'd fair similarly, or worse, condemned to breathe until the murky depths below the surface, but I haven't had the courage yet to put this to the test. You left us with quite the cliff-hanger, but I'm assuming you survived. Glad to hear of it.
Jon, I love reading your blog; I almost feel like I was on this trip. Except of course that I am comfortable, clean, and not more than my normal level of frightened. And drinking a California Zinfandel out of an over-sized glass goblet. But except for all that...
A message to all 21st century people Dear Mr. Computer science, being a citizen of Pakistan i didn't understand your reason for presenting this black side of the picture. If the reason is directly or indirectly related to the religion of Muslims(Islam) then let me introduce you some 21st century people(60,000/year from all over the world including 20,000 /year from USA alone) who reject this so called version of 21st century and choose to become Muslim and start praying towards the same Qibla which you mentioned in your post. And if your reason for this post was to prove that you are good in pointing out only negativity than let me introduce you some people from Pakistan who can write similar posts about your so called 21st century countries too but they don't do it because they follow some good rules which comes from the religion called Islam.Looking forward to your future posts.
Cooking, Study and learning to catch your transfer Switzerland is one of the next countries we hope to travel to. We will need to write you and get a list of must do's. I guess your profiling of these young women turned out to be ....oh...so ....wrong. Only cooked in a microwave? Sad. What is this world coming to. Glad everyone enjoyed the black surprise. Very glad you talked them out of the fries. What were some of the other dishes? We are glad you did not have to make all those phone calls.
and the winner was Several students from India made a chicken curry that was fabulous. Another team of boys made good crepes, even after I sent the girls to their apartment to sabotage them.
"Please tell everyone in your country that we are not all terrorists" Excellkent blog Jon, one of your best. The difference between perception and reality flows through a lot of this blog. As I have discovered in many destinations with poor safety reputations, they are usually the friendliest and least threatening of places; sure they are some very perilous parts, but they can be easily avoided if you do research. This blog has convinced me more than any other I have read on Pakistan to travel to that country.
I always look forward to summer when many of our bloggers take their annual vacations... and in your case, do academic exchange programs. Reading about your frustrations with setting up the AIOU (only vowel missing is E for Energy and/or Efficiency) online program, I started brainstorming solutions, like hosting the site in Canada as the hosting location with all the servers is irrelevant on the internet. Your observations about life in Pakistan are very insightful. Interestingly, your past blogs have been more humorous, with this being more somber given the circumstances. Stay safe. I look forward to your future blogs.
I officially started my travel addiction during a Fulbright year in Zimbabwe back in 1991. Since then I've had a number of visiting professor gigs in interesting places. In a good year I'm able to squeeze in two or three trips. Sometimes I feel like I could simply not return and spend the rest of my life living out of my suitcase.
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mike conniff
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great story
You are my best example of a guy who can't kick the thrill of adventure and travel. Can't wait to see the next. Anne and I retire for good in Dec. Maybe buy you a beer one of these days!