I couldn't resist letting you know we made it as far as JFK airport so far. Nothing like a 6:00 am flight to get me out of bed early in the morning! (Considering I've been waking up at 3:30 every morning for the last week - damn those pre-travel anxiety dreams! - it wasn't as hard as I had anticipated.) So, one quick flight down, and one loooong one to go. How long, you may wonder...? Well, it may be one of the longest nonstop flights on the planet: 17+ hours. I imagine many hours ahead spent reading, watching the seat-back entertainment system, stretching in a desperate attempt to avoid DVT (that's Deep Vein Thrombosis, for all you non-nurses), eating, sleeping (thanks to Ambien), and developing that lovely hairdo that happens when you spend 17 hours ... read more

Not much to report, except that I am in the countdown phase of travel planning. I can tell you how many days until we leave. (56) I could tell you what airline we're flying and how long the flight will be. I could tell you how many vaccinations and visas we will need. I could tell you what hotels we will stay in. I could tell you what foods I am looking forward to eating, and in what languages I need to learn to say "hello," "please," "thank you," and "where's the bathroom?" I could tell you which guidebooks I've bought, which websites I've frequented, which movies I've watched and which books I've read or plan to read in preparation for this trip. But I can't tell you anything yet, because my mother might read this, ... read more