Gosh, I should just change my name to 'well beyond falling asleep!' But seriously folks, I was ACTUALLY able to get a kitchen pass to do this. I won't say what the caveat was. This is one of the times that it is good to be 1) Self-employed, and 2) Possessing a client base that faithfully pays the invoices in a timely fashion!
If I went and essexjay wasn't my travel buddy, you would have to hold your breath until your face turned blue. What a rush, checking out another boatload of new brews to put up against the finest the Beavers have to offer.
As someone who usually flies 'by the seat of their pants' (no pun intended) I find the thrill of not knowing where the next day will lead both fun and challenging. It's the best way to travel. The new friends that are made and the great 'war' stories to tell your kids; oh, hold me back.
Regardless of the final financial responsibility, put my name in the hat! You only live once and you can't take it with you. I no longer fly 100,000 miles a year and I'm down to elite on just one airline. Although I know how to say 'beer' in over 100 dialects, I don't speak ten languages; only one, the universal language of a friendly smile. But I do know how to ask the cost of something in about 20 languages! And my wife thought I never listened to what she was saying?
A sense of adventure and a free spirit serve as my guiding light. In Switzerland I refereed American football with a crew that had three women officials. They were so much a part of the crew that we all showered together after the game. I had food poisoning in Prague so bad that I thought nothing could be worse, even death! I danced on the Berlin Wall 11/89. I wrote graffiti about the East Germans that made the AP wire (They came. They saw. They did a little shopping.) right where JFK made his stunning speech. So what if it makes no real sense in Deutsche to say, "Ich bin ein Berliner?" I smoke cigarman's best without regret. Who could care if they're not kosher in the States? I've toasted kings and queens with catman and Sam Adams. OK, so they were drag queens in Dusseldorf and it was Dunkelhof. I've been to the best winefest in the World in Bad Durkheim and been all but undressed by, what was her name, while my wife watched and couldn't believe her eyes. I've traded Marlboro's and Playboys for uniform insignia and Soviet contraband while passing through Checkpoint Alpha and Checkpoint Bravo. But never did make that river crossing with the Contra's way down south. I had the worst case intestinal crud from the vendor pistachios at the bullring in Zaragoza, Spain.
So, I ask...what will the next adventure find in the book of cultural awareness? I'd love to be fortunate enough to find out, disappointed if I wasn't, but happy for those who are actually selected to take this plunge. So, where DOES the rubber meet the road?