Miami

Florida

June 14, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

I am off again.

To hell with the money; to hell with the stock market; to hell with caution and trepidation.

I got my typhoid, diphtheria, yellow fever, hepatitis A and hepatitis B shots and I am ready.

On Monday I leave for a return trip to Southeast Asia. I fly from Miami to Los Angeles on American Airlines. Then to Hong Kong and Bangkok on Cathay Pacific. I will arrive on Wednesday June 19 in the early afternoon, just in time for a cold one at my favorite Bier Garten. (I think I have finally mastered the international dateline stuff.)

I say "return trip" because I was in Thailand in December-January. This time I will also be traveling to Cambodia with my buddy Jeff who now lives and teaches in Bangkok. I expect to spend about two weeks in Cambodia visiting Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. I am also planning some serious beach time in Thailand.

By chance I struck up a conversation with a neighbor who has a daughter in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. So I may head north as well. I know it's not Paris. But I thought, "Why not visit some of the old colonies?" And I can still practice my twelve words of French, n'est-ce pas?

From Bangkok I am planning to head west to London to visit my cousin and her family. And then home. That is, if I don't make a side trip to Romania to visit friends there as well.

Yes, I am off for the summer. And I am starting to get excited. Also a little anxious. But I always get anxious with new alphabets. Thai? Forgetaboutit. Cambodian? Are you kidding? Laotian? Get real.

Au revoir,

Jan