About

This blog began in 2006, just as I had signed on for an open-ended expatriate assignment in China. Being tired of sitting around and doing the same old thing, I decided to really shake up my career and do something about as different as I could possibly dream up. I remember My Lovely Wife asking, “Where exactly is China on the list of places we’d like to live?” My answer was, “It’s not on the list at all.”

My goal at the time was to capture that whole experience in words and photos, both as a means to remember it and as a way to communicate in real time with my family, friends and colleagues. After a lot of learning, and changing things and trying to decide what was worth writing, my story began to take shape.

It was a good decision, because I ended up with a record of some really amazing things. Highlights, lowlights, many nights spent sitting in my apartment on the 27th floor staring out at the Yellow Sea and wondering just what the heck I was doing there. It turned out to be a true growth experience – before doing this I hated traveling. But not too far into those 5 years, I began to feel like I couldn’t get enough of it.

I came home in October of 2010 and retired shortly thereafter, going from a life of International Businessman of Mystery with elite status on the airlines to a relaxed gentleman farmer, spending time doing what I wanted to do instead of what I had to do.

Since then, the blog has evolved. We make a regular trip in the spring to Europe and another in December to Mexico (to count birds for the National Audubon Society among other things.) Sometimes there’s another trip dropped in between, but in the hotter months we prefer to work around our place, maintain our flower and vegetable gardens and plan our next outing. Because truly, who wants to go anywhere in the summer?

This is our travelogue – the places we go, the people we meet, the sights we see. Please join us as we explore our world.