"Du-Buh-Bye!"

Where it began, I can't begin to know it...no, wait, that's the beginning of a Neil Diamond song! And I actually do know where my interest in travel began. It started in 1972, at age 13, when my parents put me on an airplane to Houston. My Aunt Jean and Uncle Marv left the Chicago area in fall, with travel trailer in tow, and headed south for the winter. I believe they did a Mexican Caravan with Good Sam's Club before settling in Galveston. I flew down on Spring break to tag along on the ride home but not before we stopped in New Orleans for a few days.

Awe, ain't I cute and check-out all that hair!
(That's my mom in the background)

Not sure if my parents put me on a plane alone, because they knew I could handle it or if they just did it hoping for the best, but here I am thirty some years later heading off to Dubai on my own and this would be, I don't know, the 5th or 6th time I've done such a thing. I know some people think it's kinda crazy, and it's not that I can say I never give it a second thought, because I do, but I just, somehow, believe all will be well, and I also tell myself I'm not the first person to do this. People travel all over the world all the time, and a lot of them do it alone. It's probably actually easier to do it alone, at least for me, because I can move a lot faster than when there's someone in tow.

My goal during this trip is to make blog entries and post photos as much as possible. I leave out of LAX on Monday night the 16th headed to London for a 9-hour layover where I'll meet-up with my friend, Ruth, who just moved there. Internet access in airports can be rather expensive so the first you'll hear from me will more than likely not take place until Wednesday when I arrive in Dubai. The apartment hotel where I'm staying has free Internet access in their business center. I'm back and forth on whether or not to take my laptop...currently, I'm leaving it home, because I just don't want the hassle of lugging it with me.

Eenie-meenie-minie-moe if it don't fit, it can't go!