There are a few things in life that I have loved for as long as I can remember. A few of these are peanut butter, soccer, all things Russian, and probably the most consistent has been a love of travel. I can remember the thrill of playing in the ocean when I was three-years old. I remember my fury when Mom and Dad didn't let me play in the snow with my older brothers in a California mountain pass in June when I was five. And I remember taking my first plane ride to Europe when I was fifteen. On that trip I used the French I learned in high school (quite poorly, C's and D's mostly) and got around quite well despite this.
At the suggestion of a friend, I think I will start to collect these stories and adventures in a single place so that it can be enjoyed by me once again, because in the telling I will re-experience the trip. I had kept journals and Christmas letters detailing many of my trips, perhaps just for this occasion. And so, I hope that you can enjoy this journal as much as I am sure that I will enjoy writing it.
Suffice it to say that I have not traveled nearly as much as I intend to. I don't seem to be happy unless I have a trip in the planning, and I think half of the fun is exploring resources, digging through guidebooks at first and then the internet once that became a reality. I do not exaggerate when I say that I have a collection of guidebooks and travel literature that rivals Barnes and Noble. I have Lonely Planet guides from Antarctica to Russia. I have some marvelous travel literature that I could share with the world. (My favorite of all time is "Danzinger's Travels", which I read during medical school. It is about a man who travels along Marco Polo's route on the Silk Road back when the muhajaddin was fighting the Russians and not us.)
And so, I hope you enjoy the ride because I certainly have.
