Me, in Tibetan Himalaya (Autumn 2002)

Wondering Wandering...

The condensed timeline:

May 2002 to Aug 2006:   The traveling years
Sept 2006 to Dec 2006:   America and new (old) job
Jan 2007 to Aug 2008:   Living/working in England
Sept 2008:   Return to the USA
Oct 2008 to Feb 2009:   Living/working in Munich, Germany
Feb 2009 to Dec 2009:   Melbourne, Australia
Dec 2009 to ???:   USA, then England, then India!

Welcome to my site!  Click on the "Away Awhile" logo up top, anywhere within the site, to return to this page.  Click on images below to view entries.  Enjoy!

Mushrooms in Tasmania

We are in India (or thereabouts). During that time (January - July 2010), click here to find our temporary blog!


The archived journal entries:

#   Photo Date   Title of entry   Countries visited   Commentary
1   Me, shortly before departure 19 May 2002   "The Beginning"   USA   ...in which I depart, having little idea of what I'm doing, and no idea of what I'm getting myself into...
2   Frogs and birds at a market 23 May 2002   "Bangkok"   Thailand   ...in which I'm naive, but showing some promise...
3   Carving at a Balinese temple 28 May 2002   "Bali = Heaven"   Singapore, Indonesia (Bali)   ...in which I show signs of the randomness that will come to characterize my journey...
4   Sunrise atop Gunung Agung 7 Jun 2002   "Fulfilling Sentence in Gili Air"   Indonesia (Bali, Gili Air)   ...in which I accidentally leave Bali, not to return for 18 months...
5   Islands of Nusa Tenggara 22 Jun 2002   "Hopscotch Across Indonesia"   Indonesia (Gili Air, Flores, Sulawesi)   ...in which I get my first glimpse of adventure travel, though I'm still shy of ekonomi class...
6   Cliffside effigies on Sulawesi 12 Jul 2002   "One Giant Leap"   Indonesia (Sulawesi), Hong Kong   ...in which I really begin to get the hang of things...
7   Hong Kong skyline 23 Jul 2002   "Chillin' in China"   Hong Kong, Macau, China   ...in which I temporarily enjoy a relaxing life in southern China...
8   Rice terraces of Longsheng 18 Aug 2002   "Trans-Asian Northbound Express"   China, Mongolia   ...in which I begin to enjoy doing things the hard way...
9   Mongolian farmers 30 Sep 2002   "(Mis)adventure in Mongolia"   Mongolia   ...in which my horse runs away...
10   Muslim cemetary in western Mongolia 8 Oct 2002   "Masochistic Road Trip"   Mongolia, China   ...in which I'm introduced to pain and built lots of character...
11   Sand dunes near Dunhuang 28 Oct 2002   "Long Road to Pakistan"   China   ...in which I see a side of China that I'd never imagined existed...
12   Ruins of Guge Kingdom 23 Nov 2002   "Sinless, Yet Stranded, in Ngari"   China (Tibet)   ...in which life gets yet rougher, but at least my sins are erased...
13   Near Everest base, Tibet side 17 Dec 2002   "My Personal Shangri-La"   China (Tibet), Nepal   ...in which I finally see the color green again...
14   Camel in Rajasthan 20 Jan 2003   "India By Storm"   India   ...in which the Just brothers take India by storm and are nearly defeated...
15   Me and the Enfield 24 Jan 2003   "Really Had No Choice..."   India   ...in which I buy a motorcycle/travelling companion...
16   Teafields of southern India 23 Feb 2003   "The Bullet and Me"   India   ...in which my travelling companion is broken a lot...
17   Sigiriya ruins, Sri Lanka 6 Apr 2003   "Sri Who?"   India, Sri Lanka   ...in which I discover a new vocation in Sri Lanka...
18   Fisherman in the Backwaters 20 Apr 2003   "Quick Run North"   India, Nepal   ...in which I take the quickest motorcycle route to  Nepal...
19   Ama Dablam peak 24 May 2003   "Himalayas Are Pretty Big"   Nepal   ...in which I search for yeti...
20   Me, Sri Lanka 29 May 2003   "A Year?"   -general-   ...in which I summarize my first year on the road...
21   Boy on banks of Ganges, Varanasi 29 Jun 2003   "The End of India"   Nepal, India   ...in which I dump the bike and meet my friend Kris...
22   Me, getting a shave in Delhi 17 Sep 2003   "Every Now and Then I Fall Apart"   -general-   ...in which I ramble on about nothing for a few pages...
23   Ruins of Bagan temples, Burma 20 Sep 2003   "FECs Suck"   India, Myanmar, Thailand   ...in which I say goodbye to India and jump into the open arms of Burma...
24   Monks in Luang Prabang, Laos 28 Sep 2003   "Stupid Farangs"   Thailand, Laos   ...in which I sink a boat, among other stories...
25   Street scene, Hanoi 23 Oct 2003   "Same Same But Different"   Vietnam   ...in which I jump down Vietnam from north to south...
26   Angkor Wat, Cambodia 26 Oct 2003   "Variety Pack"   Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia   ...in which the other Just brother joins me for five weeks of mayhem...
27   Orangutan in Sepilok, Sabah 13 Dec 2003   "Borneo: Clockwise"   Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia   ...in which I get stuck on a large island...
28   Carved figure, Prambanan, Java 24 Dec 2003   "Jungle Fever...or something"   Indonesia   ...in which I end up on Bali once again...
29   Houses of Sumba 17 Feb 2004   "A March Towards Independence"   Indonesia, East Timor   ...in which we are very creative about sleeping accommodation...
30   Children picking munchies, New Ireland 14 Mar 2004   "Island of the Fuzzy Hairs"   East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea   ...in which I decide that New Guinea is the strangest place on the planet...
31   Me, at BBQ in West Papua 18 Mar 2004   "Asia and Me"   -general-   ...in which I blabber on about the stereotypes I've gained by experience...
32   McDonnell Range, Outback Australia 5 May 2004   "Driftin'"   Australia   ...in which I hitchhike all over the place and comment on the interesting characters along the way...
33   Me and a PNG dude 28 May 2004   "Another Year?"   -general-   ...in which I comment on my second year of travel...
34   Tongariro, North Island of New Zealand 24 Jun 2004   "Land of the Long White Cloud"   New Zealand, New Caledonia   ...in which it's cold but I don't care...
35   Betters in Tokyo 25 Jul 2004   "Friends in the Far East"   Japan, South Korea   ...in which I see a completely different side of Asia...
36   Panda in Sichuan 17 Aug 2004   "One Final Plunge"   China   ...in which I return once again to this massive country that I love and hate...
37   Monastery in Russia 9 Sep 2004   "Momentum"   China, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania   ...in which I take a lengthy train ride...
38   Colmar, France 12 Oct 2004   "Windmills and Roquefort"   Lithuania, Holland, France   ...in which Ma Just and I join forces...
39   Floor tiles, Rhodes 7 Nov 2004   "Rumelia"   Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia   ...in which I really wonder where I'm going and why...
40   Me, French Alps 9 Nov 2004   "The Anatomy of a Decision"   -general-   ...in which I display how I really wonder where I'm going and why...
41   Toilet on an Albanian train 23 Nov 2004   "Pleasantly Decrepit"   Kosovo, Albania   ...in which I really like Albanians and discover a pocket of the world I knew nothing about...
42   View above Kotor, Montenegro 13 Dec 2004   "I-Go-Slavia"   Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia, Slovenia   ...in which I tramp through many fast-changing countries...
43   Swiss sunset 5 Jan 2005   "Abracadabra"   England, Switzerland, USA   ...in which I get a bit too theatrical about surprises...
44   The land of everything, including fried Twinkies 13 Jan 2005   "Made in America"   USA   ...in which I explore my own country, just a little bit...
45   Goodbye (again) dinner 14 Mar 2005   "Arbadacarba"   USA   ...in which I depart once again with a head still overfull of unformed ideas...
46   Ait Benhaddou, Morocco 17 Mar 2005   "Bogart & Co."   Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco   ...in which I spring into Africa...
47   Mauritanian dude 12 Apr 2005   "Saharan Tribulations"   Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia   ...in which I spring into Black Africa, which I realize is completely different from northern Africa...
48   Peugot 504 26 Apr 2005   "East in a 504"   Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali   ...in which by bum blisters begin to form...
49   Djenne's mosque 19 May 2005   "Toubab in Timbuktu"   Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana   ...in which I'm really hot for most of the time...
50   Me, with guitar in desert 26 May 2005   "Year #3"   -general-   ...in which I statisticize my third year since the beginning...
51   Sandstorm approaching Niamey, Niger 31 May 2005   "Bobo in Voodoo-Land"   Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger   ...in which I start to get tired...
52   3-day ride from hell 22 Jun 2005   "Happy Happy Joy Joy"   Niger, Chad, Ethiopia   ...in which I'm officially sick of the desert...
53   Man in Tigray, northern Ethiopia 22 Jul 2005   "Abyssinian Days"   Ethiopia   ...in which I find a new energy amid the wondrous Ethiopia...
54   Mountain gorilla in DR Congo 6 Aug 2005   "Mzungu, Meet Mapuwa"   Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda   ...in which I get back to proper Africa, and even see some gorillas...
55   My campsite near Livingstone, Malawi 14 Aug 2005   "The Life of Brian"   Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi   ...in which I traverse miles and miles of bloody Africa...
56   Namibian desert 22 Sep 2005   "Botswana"   Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa   ...in which I do a lot of things I never thought I'd do, and quite enjoy it...
57   Rhino in my backyard, South Africa 27 Oct 2005   "East Coast Exit"   South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Tanzania   ...in which I have my own private game preserve before an impossibly tiring journey up the east coast of Africa...
58   Yemeni mountain village 11 Nov 2005   "Magic and Mountains in Arabia"   Yemen   ...in which this little mountain-desert kingdom amazes me...
59   Me, truck in Africa 14 Nov 2005   "Me and Africa"   -general-   ...in which I spout off my thoughts of Africa...
60   View above Jerusalem 30 Nov 2005   "How I Almost Returned to Sri Lanka (and other stories from the Holy Land)"   Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Palestinian Territories   ...in which Syria denies my entry, among other minor adventures...
61   Landscape of far eastern Turkey 12 Dec 2005   "Kurdistan and Beyond"   Turkey, Georgia   ...in which I'm cold and alone all the time but still manage to enjoy myself...
62   Church in northern Georgia 3 Jan 2006   "Warm Cold Caucasus"   Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh   ...in which I find one of my favorite pockets of the world...
63   Painting in a Cappadoccian cave church 11 Jan 2006   "Some Kind of Exit"   Georgia, Turkey   ...in which I find warmth and hospitality in Ankara, Turkey...
64   Me, Dead Sea, Israel 16 Jan 2006   "Bye"   -general-   ...in which I cut off communication until my eventual return...
65   Crossing into Texas 15 Aug 2006   "1553"   USA   ...in which I show up unannounced at my parents house...
66   The street I grew up on 22 Aug 2006   "The End, Part II"   -general-   ...in which I rummage through the contents of my backpack...
67   Train graveyard, Bolivia 24 Aug 2006   "The End, Part I (this is it!)"   Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico   ...in which I fit many months of travel into a couple short paragraphs...
68   Oxford street scene 1 Jan 2007   "New Year, New Beginning"   USA, England   ...in which I find a new direction, a different type of travel perhaps...
69   2007 photos 17 Jan 2008   "2007"   England, Wales, Italy, Switzerland, Malta, Germany, Denmark, South Korea, Sweden, Chile, Argentina, USA   ...in which I attempt to be 'normal' again...
70   Oregon - Minnesota trip on my motorcycle 1 Nov 2008   "England to Germany (via Minnesota)"   England, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, USA, Germany   ...in which I have a general plan, but continue to find that no plan lasts more than a few weeks...
71   17 Feb 2009   "A Change of Climate"   USA, en route to Australia   ...in which I charge into uncharted territory...
72   Downtown, viewed from our kitchen window 23 Mar 2009   "A Quiet Life"   Australia   ...in which I write and cook and enjoy each day...
73   13 May 2009   "Writing"   Australia   ...in which I exist...
74   My balcony in Samoa 31 Jul 2009   "Australian Winter"   Australia, Samoa   ...in which I write some more...
75   Mushrooms in Tasmania 18 Dec 2009   "Changes Ahead"   Australia, USA   ...in which I finish a manuscript and then move once again...