Well I have just recovered from my second migraine. My first was about a year ago down in Costa Rica, and lasted 11 days. This one, thankfully, only lasted about half a week. My friend Scott deals with migraines on a regular basis, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Enough about that... Let's get on with the stories!

As is my usual style, I waited until the very last minute for a lot of things before this trip. You know, little things, like renewing my passport! New Zealand immigration laws require that your passport be valid for at least 90 days past your expected departure date. Since I would not be departing that country until mid November, and my passport was up in January, I had to rush and expedite the renewal process. My new passport arrived in mid-September, just in-time for my October 5th departure for Italy.

With that out of the way, I could focus on more important items, like shopping, a hair-cut, and packing. I bought some new white deck shoes just for the trip. I figured they looked "very european." As I tried to break them in over the next few days, stupidly without wearing socks, they cut my heals up pretty bad. Dumb move. I ended up leaving them at home and brought more band-aids instead.

I decided to save a little money and gave myself a fresh buzz cut the day before I left. This went fine, but gave me very little time to pack, which I had not started yet. Perhaps this was not such a hot idea, since I would be gone for a month and a half and visiting both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Doing well so far.

The morning of October 5th I found myself wide awake long before the sun woke up. I had managed to pack two bags, one for Italy and one for New Zealand. The plan was to swap them out when I flew from Italy back to LA, during my eight hour layover.

A few hours before my ride to the airport, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was not bringing enough clothes to Italy. I jumped up and hastily emptied both bags, sorted through the mess and created one giant bag. I had a new, brilliant plan.

I would unpack my enormous bag during my layover, do some laundry, swap out a few small items that I would only need in New Zealand, and repack everything... we'll find out just how well that plan worked later.

As time went on, while I waited for my ride, I started to look around the house for anything I might have missed. Oh, I can fit this... Wait, what if I need this... Well if I brought this, I can bring that... It was the result of a poorly prepared packing job, and it continued to the very last minute.

My parents arrived right on-time, ready to take me to LAX, and I was forced to leave whatever I had missed behind. They had already picked up my traveling buddy Scott, and it was still early in the morning, so the four of us made great time getting up to the airport. So quickly that we had several hours before either of us were scheduled to fly.

Scott & I were flying different airlines with me leaving first, then him later. We had a few hours to kill, and he was able to switch to a much earlier flight. However, because he would be delayed twice on this new route due to weather conditions, he would arrive several hours after I checked into the hotel in Venice. It was not a race, but I totally won.

But, I digress. For me it was smooth sailing departing from LA, transferring in Detroit, then Paris, and finally touching down in Venice. The European Union has recently changed their immigration rules, I found out. Since I had cleared customs in Paris and received a French stamp in my passport, I would not receive an Italian stamp in Venice. Bummer.

Needless to say it had been a long day, covering 6,448 miles over 16 hours and 9 time zones. I was anxious to get to the hotel. I had several options available for transportation once I left the airport terminal; bus, shuttle, walk. In the end I simply hailed a cab, paid more than I should have, and quickly checked into the room for a much needed shower. No sense in messing around.

This, after all, was just the beginning.

Scott & I arrived in Rome this afternoon, just as a protest was getting underway. In some parts of the city, these peaceful protests turned in to dangerous riots. Thankfully, we were a few miles away from the heart of the violence when it erupted. Tomorrow we will be visiting some of the areas where these events took place.

Oddly enough, this is the second protest we have run across on this trip so far. The first was in Venice, and from what we could gather, the two demonstrations were protesting the same issues, "corporate greed." Apparently, this is all tied back to the "Occupy Wall Street" protests taking place recently in New York.

Coincidentally, a few years ago, Scott & I were also mixed up in the London metro bombing, which took place just minutes after we departed the train. I promise we have had nothing to do with any of these events, just bad timing, or good timing considering neither of us were hurt.

We are safe, and we will continue to stay safe.

** side note: as for my trip so far, I'm averaging about a page of notes and 250 pictures per day... looking forward to sitting down and officially writing up all the adventures... stay tuned

Hi All. I'm almost a week into my six week trip, and am writing from Cinque Terra, Italy. Yesterday we were on Lake Como, before that Milan, and we started in Venice. So, its been a busy week.

Tomorrow we leave for Florence, but are stopping in Pisa for a quick trip to the leaning tower. I heard from a fellow traveler that you can climb up the inside now, so that's what we're going to try to do. Last time I visited the inside was closed off. We did climb to the top of the Duomo in Milan, which was a thrill and had a beautiful view.

I can't process any pictures until I get home sometime in mid-November, so I'll post the pictures then. I'm keeping detailed notes everyday, so I have lots to write about. I just wanted to drop a note and let everyone know we're having a great time, and I will post more about the trip soon...

Villa Riviera, Long Beach, CA

Two weeks from now, I'll be boarding a plane headed to Venice, Italy. From there, it takes us about two weeks to go through Florence, Milan, Lake Como, Cinque Terra, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Capri, and back up to Rome.

44 hours later, I arrive in New Zealand for another two weeks. I land in Auckland, and road trip from the north island to the south island, continue to Lake Wanaka where my brother and his wife live, then to Christchurch, then back home.

I've always said that 50% of traveling is the anticipation of the trip. That's one of my favorite aspects of the entire process. You get to dream about all the amazing places you'll be visiting, research what adventures you'll take, choose which cities to stay at, talk to friends that have been there, and the list goes on.

My last hike through Italy has mostly fallen into oblivion due to a poor memory and unfortunate circumstances. I left my backpack in a taxi cab. It happened around two weeks into a month long excursion around Europe, and I had just switched memory cards. As you might have guessed, the memory card, with all my photos, was in the backpack... along with the camera's battery charger. I came home with almost no pictures, but with a big smile on my face.

Live & learn. Two weeks into this trip, my pictures get sent home on a hard drive, memory cards get flushed, and I start again. I hope to have all of my photos in two places at once while traveling, and come home with some beautiful shots.

After the next three two week adventures, a smile is a foregone conclusion.

A few weeks ago I made a promise to myself; by September 1st, I would have launched both of my pending projects. If this was baseball, I'd be batting 500.

Travel plans have a way of sneaking up on you, and October 5th is doing its best to keep up the tradition. Come Monday, it will officially be 1 month until I leave for Italy, then New Zealand, and back stateside in November.

This weekend, I, unfortunately, have to work. Not that life really cares, cause it simply goes on without your best interests involved. If only we could go back to school, when 65% was almost a passing grade, and you could convince the teacher to pass you.

One thing I am working on in my own life, is to find balance. In years gone by, I would have spent every waking minute at work. However, I have seen what that does to my life, how it effects me personally, professionally, and physically. I refuse to return to my frame of mind at the beginning of this blog, and simply start over.

I am working today, of course, but not until after I took a long run along the shoreline, spoke with my friends, and worked out some issues that made me loose my focus today.

For example, I just finished processing this picture (was not taken with my hi-def camera), and how cute is she? The child of a long-time friend of mine.

Far too much time has passed since my blog saw a new post. Life for me has settled back into its usual course of work, with spouts of rendering my next big adventure, if only in my mind. Lately my schedule has enjoyed a healthy balance, more than I was previously accustomed to.

Last weekend was spent with my Dad in Catalina, a self-imposed vacation from the daily grind of a computer screen. We worked on the house together, went to our favorite eateries, refueled our relaxation tanks and had a lot of fun just simply catching up with one another.

I'm presently in the middle of a big push to finish my current projects before September 1st. After that, life gets a little hectic again, with welcomed appreciation. The salmon are about to run, and plans are in the works for me to fly to Washington for some fishing around mid-September. It all depends on the fish.

October 5th is my jump off date. I leave LA bound for Italy. After over 16 hours, with just enough layovers in Detroit and Paris, I'll be tracking down my bags at the Marco Polo airport, about five miles north of my final destination. Searching for a bus into the heart of the floating city is no stranger to me, but still I expect complications. Venice is one of only two places I will have a hotel reservation. More about that later.

Italy's itinerary is penciled in, with the eraser close at hand. Should any city require more attention than anticipated, my travel buddy and I will adjust our plans accordingly. Truth be told, I have visited most of our expected destinations on previous trips, but those memories encompass 16 years, not all of which I remember.

Italy is a beautiful, historic, endlessly interesting country. No one trip is enough. Yet, this is not where my adventure ends.

October 23rd is the beginning of what I expect to be the longest day of my life. I will be traveling west from Rome, headed to Auckland, New Zealand. From departure in Italy to arrival in New Zealand takes 44 hours and 15 minutes, covers 15,192 miles, and spans 15 time zones. That is over 61% of the Earth's circumference on this one flight, well over half way around the world.

Hotel reservations are not built into this trip. Hostels, as I grow older, are unfortunately not an option. In Italy the plan is to show up and bargain to the best of our ability. In New Zealand, we rented a "Jucy Van" and a road trip will ensue towards Wanaka, crossing over from the north island to the south.

I should arrive back home around mid-November. Unfortunately, my time at my brother's house in New Zealand has, according to this schedule, been cut short. Those plans may change, but for now, I need to focus on work.