baby blogging steps

-houston airport-

for some strange reason, houston airport is more like tram city. there are more people riding in these large golf cart station wagons than walking. i remember reading somewhere that houston has the highest obesity rate in the states... coincidence? hmmmm... ponder that while i....

hi. this is my first blog. it's weird, i'm not gonna lie. to think this is going to be where my deep thoughts, and even deeper non-thoughts will be made public is absolutely daunting, but i'll do my best to keep the self-editing at bay and spit out what this is all about.... in about 3 hours i hop my flight to ecuador where i kick off my 3-month devouring tour of everything south america.

top 3 responses from family and friends when i tell them this...

1) why south america?
- because my family will be taking a 15-day christmas and new year's cruise from chile to argentina and, i'm not an idiot, so i figured why not just extend the trip and explore the rest of the continent. so i am.

2) you're going alone? (followed by a long-winded gasp!)
- yup, i'm going solo.
(except for the machu picchu trek with my brother and the cruise part with my family and all the cool people i have yet to meet...)

3) are you going for fun or for love?
- ummm, sure.

i suppose if i have to really answer why this trip, the best thing i can come up with is... why not. i'm single, i have some time, and i have a teeny nest egg to blow. i already blew some of it in INDIA last year, so why not get out there and see more of this ridiculously fascinating world?

when i left for INDIA last year i had a very specific need. i wanted it to rip my heart out, throw it on the ground, toss it around, spit on it and say "now find the beauty in that." that happened ten-fold, but definitely not the way i had planned... of course. nothing that spectacular happens off of a plan. i am convinced of that.

this time around, i don't have a specific need. well, not one i am fully conscious of anyways. i'll venture off to say my main need is to learn. believe it or not, there are lessons to be learned from hole-in-the-ground toilets and vomiting in the middle of meditation. and i'm here to learn them.... er... hopefully.