Contemplating the trip

After 4 months, 10 months or realistically more than 10 years of planning, hoping, researching and imagining a journey to far away lands, the day nears at T-minus 5 days. How long will I travel? Where will I go? What will I see? How many strangers will I meet? How many of those strangers will become friends?

Did I pack the right stuff? What will I forget? Will it matter? Are there still places in the world where you can't buy a toothbrush? Or is the world shrinking as technology expands? And if it is, is globalization good, bad or both?

And no departure for India is complete until the requisite 50 + people detail the varied ways in which a human can suffer from dirt, bacteria, terrorism and kidnappings. First piece of advice for future traveler's to the grand subcontinent: after the first 5 people tell you horror stories they've read, heard, made-up or imagined, start telling people you're going to New Zealand instead. May help reduce the anxiety of traveling to a country many Americans perfer only to call when they need tech support from Dell or customer service from United Airlines.

The Plan: Over the next several months, I will thread through the world, starting with India, weaving my way through SE Asia and up through the new power on the world block, China, and then onward to a former 20th century power, Russia, via their mutual neighbor, Mongolia. Where I go from Russia is undecided and will likely involve a game of darts and a blindfold (I don't have the stomach for Russian roulette).

My primary aim will not necessarily be to see how many top sights I can see before I die, contrary to a very popular book, but rather my personal lithmus test on the differences between people, culture, politics, religion and values. My travels thus far lead me to believe that I will not find signifcant differences at the core of most people, but have events like 9/11 and wars in Afghantistan and Iraq changed that? Will I encounter hostility towards me because I was born in the US? Does anyone care for whom I cast my vote? Hopefully it's not a shoot first, ask questions later scenario. If it is, I hope I'm quick enough to point to my countries national flag . . . with the beautiful red maple leaf.