World Tour commences soon ...
Well, one week from today, I embark on my "world tour" -- a friend of mine has persisted in pointing out that I was brandishing the "world tour" label incorrectly thus far as all of my travels through Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah have been travels through the continental US and do not qualify for "world tour" status. Hopefully the upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia will validate the "World Tour" status once and for all. Preparation and planning have been a bit exhausting. Selecting the travel date was easy -- I wanted to be somewhere else when the wind and rain come to Seattle -- November. It wasn't until I had booked the flights that I realized I wasn't alone in this train of thought -- apparently half the world goes to New Zealand in the November - January timeframe ... (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but that's the impression I've come to as I research accommodations and th