In ten days, I will be boarding a plane to Brisbane. I am flying to a city, a region, a country, a continent I have never been to before. I am 56 years old and there are many places in this wide, beautiful world where I have never been. I am seriously under-traveled and unfortunately, monolingual. But I’m trying to make up for lost time. Eleven days from now, I will be landing in the Gold Coast Region of Australia to visit my friend Allison. I met Allison a year ago when she piled out of a dusty van in front of the Lotus Bungalows resort in Candidasa, along with 15 other travelers who attended my first Write, Travel, Transform retreat in Bali last year. Most of us were ... [Continue Reading]

My favorite part of getting ready for this trip (aside from picking up a very thick wad of brightly colored Balinese rupiah at the bank) has been saying “no.” For the past few weeks, I’ve been divesting myself of obligations and saying no to new work, new projects, new requests, and new ideas:

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t read your manuscript.” “No, I’m sorry, I can’t meet with you.” “Oh that’s a really good idea, but I’m going to have to pass right now.” “I agree. It’s unfortunate that you just joined my class and now I’m taking the summer off. But I’ll be back in the fall.” “Call me in September about that.” “I’m not interested in doing that any more. I’m moving in new directions. I’m sorry.” “Look, if you want to do that, go right ahead. But I don’t think ... [Continue Reading]

There is something very satisfying and freeing about all the last minute things that need to be done before a trip:

• Calling the bank to tell them I’ll be out of the country
• Putting a vacation message on my email account freeing me from the need to answer email for a month
• Putting a vacation hold on my mail and the newspaper
• Getting my toenails done (I rarely do this, but always before a big trip)
• Packing up my c-pap machine, my thyroid medicine and my vitamins
• Packing the cords, adapters and plugs for my electronics
• Turning “data” off on my phone
• Shutting off notifications from Facebook, Pinterest and other social media—amazing how my email reduced by half instantly
• Double-checking my ... [Continue Reading]

Many of you are already familiar with my 85-year-old mother, Temme, who I moved out to California four years ago. She lives in Sunshine Villa, an assisted living facility about ten minutes from our house. Yesterday the last thing I did after all my errands and the final check of my bags was to go over to say goodbye. When I got to her door, I knocked. I usually carry a key to let myself in, but I’d already stashed it, along with my safe deposit key, in a baggie in my underwear drawer. “Mom,” I yelled from outside Room 103, “Open the door.” She yelled back, “Come in!” “I DON'T HAVE A KEY,” I yelled louder. “You’re going to have to let me in.” She, louder: “COME IN!” “I can’t! I don’t HAVE A KEY!” I knocked and called two more times. Then I waited a long time, five ... [Continue Reading]

When I got to the airport in San Francisco at 9:30 PM, ready to check in (and wait) for a 1:15 AM departure, I made my way up to the ticket counter and was immediately relieved that my bags were not overweight. The agent took my passport and my ticket but then she kept typing on the computer with a quizzical look on her face. Finally, as the passengers all around me were being processed and leaving the counter with their boarding passes, she called over her supervisor, and he, too, began typing into the keyboard and staring intently at the screen I could not see. I stopped listening to Gregory David Robert’s Shantaram on my ipod, and pulled the headphones out of my ears. “Is anything wrong?” I asked. The ... [Continue Reading]

When I woke up on Singapore Air Flight #001 out of a drugged sleep, it was 10 AM by my watch, but pitch black outside the window. After a very cramped night’s “sleep” (if you can call it that) in economy class (any semblance of sleep made possible with the help of two Valium, two Advil and listening to Jim Greiner’s wonderful bells on repeat on my headset all night), I got up to stretch my very achy knees and stiff body. As I made my way back to the bathroom, I realized that I was walking through the plane with writer’s eyes, writer’s ears, writer’s senses--because I knew I was taking you with me on this journey—because I was recording it, not just for me, but for you, my dear reader. I had switched into a whole different ... [Continue Reading]

After an all night flight, I stumbled out of the cramped coach compartment at 11 AM local time into the shiny megacity that is Singapore’s Changi Airport. The size and scale of the place is staggering. Think of the biggest mall you’ve ever been in and inflate it ten times in size. This sprawling shopping paradise sports indoor billboards, multi-levels, hundreds of restaurants and shops, and a train that takes you from one end to the other. Everything is clean, well-lit, and well-marked—all in English. The first thing I did was duck into a bathroom to change out of my long pants, ... [Continue Reading]

Today is my first full day in Australia. I arrived at 6:30 AM after a six-hour flight from Singapore, and my main agenda for today is staying awake until it gets dark. To that end, I’ve found it’s good to keep busy. Every time I stop my momentum, a wave of exhaustion sweeps over me. Yet I know staying awake until dark and getting on this time zone as soon as possible is the best thing I can do. I had a wonderful reunion with Allison at the airport and we’ve been talking non-stop ever since. We went to the grocery store for provisions, where we bought the most delicious coconut-vanilla yogurt I’ve ever had. The total bill for our groceries was about ... [Continue Reading]

Allison and I started the day at the local fish market and bought some of the largest most gorgeous prawns I’ve ever seen, some local glistening tuna, and something called a Moreton Bay Bug, which is kind of like a lobster, but it’s all tail and all meat. It’s a specialty of this area. We’re going to have quite the seafood feast for dinner. On the way home, Allison explained a bit to me about the political system here—namely that every citizen must vote in every single election—or they have to pay an actual fine. Can you imagine a country with 100% participation in the political process? What do we average in the U.S.? 40% is a good show for national election, with local elections dropping far below that. What if ... [Continue Reading]