I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
-- Confucian proverb

I plan to travel around the world this year. I want to see and do new things, meet people of different cultures and languages and learn about the world I live in. It's going to be a lot of fun!

This journal is my way to bring family and friends along on my travels. I will write it as I would to a trusted friend; sharing a record of the experiences along with my personal thoughts and observations both good and bad. I hope you will feel that you are enjoying this journey as if you were travelling with me.

Most of my travels will be by motorcycle and my trip will be composed of several segments:

First I will visit my friend Botter in northern Thailand.

Hawaii comes next. I'll stay there for a few days and ride around the island of Oahu. I've done this several times before and it's only a short day-trip but it is beautiful and never loses its pleasure for me.

The biggest segment begins in May. Start in Shanghai, China going north into Russia then west across Siberia and the Black Sea through the Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic and ending in Munich, Germany. This trip is with a small group led by Helge Pedersen. There are twelve of us in the group and the journey is scheduled for 65 days and will cross 11,000 miles.

I will ride to Paris where Deb will meet me and we will tour France. Somewhere in here, either before or after, I plan to explore western Europe.

Back to the U.S. Most likely I will go back home to Seattle and rest a bit. Then I'm off to tour the U.S. to visit my friends and family around the country.

This is what I hope to accomplish but on a journey like this anything can happen and it's important to be flexible in my plans. The goal is to enjoy the journey and see where it takes me rather than worrying too much about sticking to a rigid itinerary.

I will try to keep this journal up-to-date but there will be many places where internet connections are not available so the postings will likely be intermittent and appear in batches.