The Next 3 Months...

As I started to write this blog, I turned on my iPad and the battery showed 61% power. For those that don't know, 61 is the football number that my brother and I shared. It is a number that has always embodied our brotherhood; that being smaller in stature did not mean we were less. Every time I see the number now, it is a sign that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. That place at this moment is Nadi, Fiji.

I have just completed two weeks traveling through the South Pacific with stops in Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. (It rained literally every single day just to remind me that I was their for work). I met with an organization doing microcredit on these small islands along with the women looking to make their lives a little better by investing in their businesses. Some women told me that they joined to share the simple enjoyment of their neighbor's company at weekly repayment meetings.



Tomorrow I depart for Indonesia where the bulk of my time will be spent working with one of our partners on executing their business plan. As well, we (Whole Planet Foundation) have hired a new Regional Director for Asia. She begins in mid February so a good chunk of my time will be spent working to transition the oversight of the projects in the region.

The following picture is a tentative map of my travel for the next three months. Although the dates are not yet fixed, it gives you a good idea of what is in store.


Sorry it is upside down; I think it adds to the craziness anyway.

In short:
1) Indonesia to Bangladesh
2) Bangladesh to Malaysia
3) Malaysia to Indonesia
4) Indonesia for a month
5) Indonesia to East Timor (Timor in the local language means East)
6) East Timor to Malaysia
7) Malaysia to Thailand
8) Thailand to Vietnam
9) Vietnam to India
10) India to home

I have found that people will look at this schedule with either complete confusion as to why someone would want to leave the comfort of home for such random places or those of the wanderlust variety look with such envy that it inspires hatred. Please don't hate; it is not healthy. There will be times that the travel will get tiresome and I will long for the Tempurpedic, but these extended trips always seem to give me the time to reconnect with the World. Here is to finding many more signs of 61 along the journey.

Peace and love,
Steve

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Asia - now, Nadi, Fiji