A few travel-related notes for once...

I'm working out the details with Greg & Thalia for the 2006 Galapagos trip. Interest has been high for this one, so I'm hopeful that a good group will sign up for it pretty quickly. I'm trying to determine the feasibility of doing the standard Galapagos trip, followed by a scuba trip to Darwin and Wolf -- I should hopefully know more before the end of the month.

South Georgia is only three weeks away now, and more details of the trip are coming into focus:

• It will take four flights spread over four days to get from Oakland, California to Stanley in the Falklands.
• From Stanley it will take another three to four days, depending on weather and currents, to sail to South Georgia.

• The captain of our yacht, Jerome Poncet, is a legend in the South Atlantic. I've heard several stories already, and can't wait to meet the man in person.
• We'll have approximately eighteen days on South Georgia. Ted is planning to take three days to retrace Shackelton's route across the island with part of the group, but unfortunately my lack of experience traveling over snow and glaciers is going to cause me to miss that one.
• On Ted's advice I've purchased a set of alpine touring skis, which are basically light downhill skis that allow the heel to unhinge, thus doubling as cross-country skis. They're pricey, but should be great for the terrain we'll experience.
• Snowfall was lighter than normal this year, and temperatures are expected to be mostly between thirty-two and fifty-five degrees fahrenheit, much cooler if we go inland.
• In addition to the new digital camera I've purchased a new tripod, so with luck the pictures will come out well.
• Following the South Georgia trip I've booked two weeks in the Falklands, mostly at guesthouses on outlying islands. It should be isolated enough that I may not know who the next President is until nearly tens days after the election.

I found a trip log from a previous trip to South Georgia aboard the Golden Fleece. It's a fairly crazy tale, here's a sample:

South Georgia (11/6/01) Hey this is Doug Stoup live from the island of South Georgia for IceAxe TV... We're now positioned in Drygalsky Fjord -- a beautiful fjord... there's 3000 foot walls right out of the water... right now, there's an overcast sky. The barometer dropped 4.7 millibars...that is the most I've ever seen it. It's not a good sign; it could mean either high winds or a storm coming...the temperature's 45- degrees and I just got a 45-knot gust of wind that about blew me off the boat...

South Georgia (11/7/01) We've been up for about 17 hours straight, trying to battle 80 mile-per-hour winds in the boat, The Golden Fleece. Jerome has been an amazing captain, staying up the whole time, trying to keep the boat into the wind...in the fjord...We're now positioned at Larsen Bay, around the corner from Drygalski Fjord... 80 mile-per-hour gusts have been coming up and down the fjord...currently a low-pressure over us right now and we have five to eight inches of snow on the boat itself and minimal visibility -- so we're just sort of hunkering down and waiting for the weather to break...

I've got ten working days left with Warner Brothers before the third retirement starts, and I'm pondering what might come next. I keep thinking it might be fun to do something like work at Starbucks for a while -- there's always at least one cute girl behind the counter at Starbucks, the customers are generally friendly, you get to work with muffins, and for the first time in my life it would be a job where wearing a hat to work wouldn't be frowned upon. Granted, having a job where wearing a cowboy hat to work wasn't frowned upon would be way better, but you've got to start somewhere.

I apologize in advance for posting politics again, but this is the first thing Kerry has said recently that actually made me more enthusiastic about voting for him (from CNN):

"The president stood right here where I'm standing and didn't acknowledge that more than 1,000 men and women have lost their lives in Iraq," Kerry said. "He didn't tell you that with each passing day, we're seeing more chaos, more violence, indiscriminate killings."

"That is the truth, as hard as it is to bear."

"I believe you deserve a president who isn't going to gild that truth or gild our national security with politics, who is not going to ignore his own intelligence, who isn't going to live in a different world of spin, who will give the American people the truth, not a fantasy world of spin ... "

It would have been nice if that last bit was worded more positively rather than as an attack, but hopefully Kerry is beginning to push the message that he will be honest about the state of the world. He doesn't need to attack the Bush administration, but simply say "they have not been completely truthful with you, but I will be". If he can do that then I (and many others) may become enthusiastic about voting for him, rather than enthusiastic about voting against Bush.

I walked out of Warner Brothers a free man today, and with luck I'll stay that way for a while yet. The South Georgia trip is looming, life outside of work has been really good, and all in all the world is looking mighty nice. The only downside is a case of what I think is food poisoning that has knocked my weight down almost eight pounds in the last week. Assuming that I'm going to get really seasick during the three day crossing from the Falklands to South Georgia, weight loss could become a big issue.

Left Los Angeles today, and with one notable exception it felt tremendously uplifting to be closing that chapter of life and opening the next - aside from the trip to South Georgia the future is completely wide open and uncertain. Made it back to the Bay Area just in time for Ma Holliday's birthday dinner, and on Monday it's off to see the Goob in Chico before starting the long slog to South Georgia (seven days on planes and a boat) on Thursday.

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -- Ed Howdershelt

The obligatory introspective start-of-travels entry follows. I'll try and stick to interesting stories after this, although it may be a while before I can post anything since there will be no internet access until the end of October. I may not be able to immediately check or respond to emails, but please send them, and I promise I'll write when I can.

Travels always start off differently, and this one seems to be starting off with a sense of who and what has been left behind -- probably moreso than any other trip I've ever done, there were reasons to stay before leaving this time. Even so, South Georgia island is as close to a perfect place in nature as exists anymore in the world, and it affords the rare guarantee of simplifying life in a way that reveals what's important. November 15 seems like a long way off, but hopefully when that date rolls around it will be possible to return to a life that is unchanged, but to do so as a somewhat different person.

Here's the itinerary in full:

• 30 Sep to 02 Oct - Travel from OAK to the Falklands (via LAX, Santiago & Puerto Montt)
• 02 Oct to 06 Oct - Crossing from the Falklands to South Georgia aboard the Golden Fleece
• 07 Oct to 25 Oct - Explore South Georgia Island
• 26 Oct to 30 Oct - Crossing from South Georgia to the Falklands aboard the Golden Fleece
• 30 Oct to 13 Nov - In the Falklands
• 13 Nov to 15 Nov - Travel from the Falklands to OAK (via Santiago & LAX)