halloween to thanksgiving

I love making travel plans. I’m not sure if I would enjoy doing this for a living, but I sure enjoy doing the research before I visit a new place. I make packing lists and spreadsheets, I detail the places I want to visit, I analyze costs, and I make more lists of the gifts and supplies I bring to my hosts. The Internet makes planning easy, but I also swear by the Lonely Planet guidebooks. Aside from a month I spent in Spain with my maternal relatives, this may be the longest time I’ve been away from home.

My itinerary is confirmed:

• Oct 31 - Depart SFO for Taipei
• Nov 2 - Arrive in Bangkok at 2am, catch a Druk Air flight to Dacca, Bangladesh, arrive in Paro, Bhutan at 11am
• Nov 17 - Depart Paro for Bangkok
• Nov 27 - Depart Bangkok for SFO

I’m especially looking forward to seeing my friends Cameron and Dale in BKK. Cameron is a medical researcher for Unicef, and Dale is teaching English. I hope to visit with them for a few days before flying up to Chiang Mai. It seems that all the times we’ve crossed paths has been during the whirlwind of Pride activities here in San Francisco. This time, I get to play the jet-lagged visitor.