Travel

I love travel, don't get me wrong. However, I think some people view it as much more romantic than it is - or at least much more romantic than my travel budget allows. You do get to see a lot of wonderful sights, although it also means weeks away from family and friends and eating a lot of meals alone (which is why I love the travel journal that my sister Beth bought me - it gives me something to do while waiting for my food) and staying in budget hotels to stretch the budget and watching a lot of TV in foreign languages (by the way, The Simpsons in Arabic doesn't translate very well). Making arrangements is troublesome, not only with the universities in regards to planning meetings but also just plane and train trips. Thank god I have the help of Rochelle from Child Travel, although I suspect she shrieks every time I send her one of my e-mails. Here's an example from earlier today:

"Rochelle,

OK, I guess we should start working out the nightmare of the Jordan-UAE-Kenya-Uganda flight (I cringe at the thought of it, although I went by the travel clinic yesterday for my yellow fever shot [and second meningitis shot] so I guess it would be silly not to follow up on it now).

Just to get the conversation started:

21 or 22 October – Burlington to Amman

30 October – Amman to Dubai

3 or 4 November – Dubai to Nairobi, Kenya

7 November – Nairobi to Eldoret, Kenya

11 November – Eldoret to Kampala, Uganda

14 November – begin trip home, probably back through Amman to take advantage of some cheap initial round trip to Amman (although there’s a chance I might stay in Uganda for a couple more days to visit Mbale, but I doubt it)

My brain hurts just thinking about it . . .

g"

And my colleagues at Champlain think I'm difficult to deal with on a daily basis . . .