rtw2

Hey Kiddo I will overlook the sore I feel that you didn’t include me in your email to papa about your concerns about our upcoming trip.  I am not the fatalist he is.  I do not expect this to be my last chance at a great adventure.  I’m sorry to read he feels that way.  Yes, I feel stuck into this plan.  And yes I will get on the Flight to Tel Aviv on Saturday, and yes I am sorry I am not looking forward to what I’d hoped would be a beautiful, smooth , maybe tad  indulgent,  but adventurous trip around the world. But, but. We get our pneumonia and shingles jabs tomorrow .  We will get on a plane on Saturday morning.  My heart and mind are set on it and  above all seeing you ( and the bonus of Geoff) in Siem Reap for a post Valentines love fest.  But we will take advice along the way, and act sensible and decisively. I feel fortunate to be able to even consider these options.  My heart is so heavy for all those folks in Wuha...

Syd, This is a tough one to decide, no doubt about it. We are taking an unusually high but still small risk, in order to have an experience that may well turn out to be a lot more stressful than we have been anticipating. There’s no rational way to weigh the risks and rewards. I would add, however, that the calculation looks rather different at our age than it must to you and Geoff. We don’t expect to have many more chances to do big trips like this, nor does “having the rest of your life to look forward to” mean quite the same thing to us as it does to you. (Your mother thinks you will not want to hear this, but I think you are well able to hear it mindfully.) Furthermore we can turn on a dime to plan Q (I’ve lost count). If we find out while in Israel that things have deteriorated a lot faster in SE Asia, we can cancel Siem Reap and Chiang Mai, and do Tel Aviv =>Amman=>Doha=>HongKong (2hrs in transit)=> Tokyo, and then either spend 10 days in Japan before goi...

Hi pap! I have to give you my two cents on your trip. I haven't been too concerned about your itinerary until the last couple of days and then traveling to and arriving in HCMC where EVERYONE is wearing masks and travel just feels uncomfortable.  I know you two are going to make up your own mind about what you'll do but it really worries Geoff and it worries me increasingly day by day that you guys will be transiting through these countries (especially Thailand with the most cases of the virus reported outside of China) and in these hyper-touristy, crowded spots. I really don't want you to have to keep changing your plans that have been in-flex for so long so, if you're set on coming and sticking with the current itinerary, we will meet you in Cambodia and I'll shut my mouth (unless there's some major news event that i can't help but sharing). I urge you and Mum to have a conversation again and talk about how comfortable you'll be on those lo...