93 days to Go

This trip will be very different for me. Already it is different. As I think about where we are going to stay or what we will be doing, I can see the buildings and people in my minds eye. For most of the trip, I will be returning to where I have been before at least once. It will also be different to be travelling with people that I know before hand and acting as the sorta guide; do the finite planning. I think I am very good at seeing the little and big picture at the same time. That is what makes me a good grant writer. At the same time, I like adventure and just following my feet and not having a plan. To make folks feel comfortable, it is sometimes more important to go for comfort and not the high adventure. Like the line from The Matchmaker that has stuck with me for many years, when you are in the middle of an adventure, you wish you were home reading the paper, when you are home reading the paper, you long for the adventure - life is just the right amount of reading the paper and having an adventure.
I see my function on this venture as sweeping the streets in front of the path....make the arrangements easy but the adventure open so that the first time folks don't know what is around the corner but can see, smell and experience as if no one has ever been there before.
As a reference, this will be our general travel plans: Bangkok 1/30-2/2, ChiangMai 2/3-2/5, Elephant Nature Center 2/6-7 and sleeping at ChiangDao Nest that night, Chiang Mai 2/8, Cambodia 2/5-2/11 (Page and I stay and extra night) The early crew return to Bangkok for 2/13 and fly home 2/14.
Page and I go to Ho Chi Mihn City 2/13-14, Hanoi and north 2/15-2/20 then return to Bangkok 2/21 & 22 and fly home 2/23. All the air and lodging has been booked and most paid for in advance. Yes, this should be an adventure. In the next post, I will give my thumb nail of each of the travelers. That should be an adventure also.