Where am I? Well, right now I am in Salem Oregon, two days before I cross an ocean and enter the world of SE Asia. My mind is racing back in forth planning, trying to ferret out some lacking essential in my gear, my mind is in flight. I am busy .
And the sound of the wind chimes brings back to here. A beautiful red leaved autumn in the Northwest.
My next post will be in Thailand. Sunshine to everyone. No matter where you go there you are.

A River runs through it

How does one prepare for a journey of indeterminate duration to no fixed spot all over SE Asia ? How do you proceed ? Slowly. For a seasoned traveler who has independently traveled through the worlds byways, maybe three months. Everyone else at least six months to a year of chipping away at the details and research. Accumulating all the little things that hopefully will provide great benefit down the line. Like my collection of classical music. I’m still getting new selections in and at last count I had about 130 disks on my 30 gig iPod. That’s a little over seven days of music that I have collected over the past three months. It is glorious music of the Baroque era 1600 to 1750. It includes the best composer in all music JS Bach. Bach is represented by over 30 disks. It also gives ample space to Corelli, Locatelli , Telemann and others who built a body of music that is timeless in its beauty.
Music. What else is needed for this journey floating down the Mekong. This mother of rivers as it is known to all the people it touches from the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, through Chinese territory in Yunnan, along troubled Burma (NOT Myanmar the name that the ruling murderous military gave it), Thailand and Laos share the beneficent Mekong, and finally Cambodia and Vietnam. One day soon if the preparation is there, I’ll float this river and listen to a Vivaldi recorder concerto…At least that’s the plan.