I depart for Kunming with Karen on Wednesday morning from O’Hare at 7:30AM. We’ll fly to San Francisco, then Beijing, and then Kunming, and be gone until August 16. No matter how much I’ve planned, practiced, agonized, prepared, packed, researched, and anticipated, I still can’t believe we leave so soon. And, in doing all of that planning, practicing, agonizing, preparing, packing, researching, and anticipating, I’ve forgotten to ask you all something very particular:
What do you want to know about this trip? I’ve got my travel diary all ready to go, some extra pens, and my camera and both of its batteries are packed. But what do you want in the form of pictures? Or in stories? Anything and everything? Only the things that seem big? For instance, I already have some plans:
- For Andrei, pictures of my stuffed moose at landmarks around the city and in each airport we visit. Probably in the cabs, too.
- For Jose and David, pictures of all the food I eat in the order it is consumed.
- For Melinda, a visit to the fake Apple Stores that are apparently rampant in Kunming.
- For Rachel, at least one visit to a KTV to partake in some good old karaoke.
- For Julian, I’ll be seeing what Chinese takeout is like in China (I don’t care if that was a joke, I’m going to find out now either way!)
- For Chris, a never-ending search for a teensy tiny gong
