Departing the U.S.A

I'm sitting at Reagan Airport right now waiting to board the first of many planes during our long adventure. I wish I knew what to expect, but in all honesty, I have no idea. The idea came to me while I was sitting in one of my classes this past year. Before I join the brutal world of business, it is necessary that I take a trip to celebrate the end of my time as a student. As I suffered through the 60 hour weeks of studying for the CPA exam this summer, the thought of China and sunny Australian beaches gave me the strength to pull through. It is amazing that this very anticipated day has arrived. The cities we plan to hit on our trek through the far east are: Hong Kong, Guangzhou and surrounding areas, Beijing, Macau, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands and various other beaches on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.

Since Liz is coming from Richmond, we will connect in Chicago and take flight from there to Hong Kong. The flights in their entirety will be a grand total of 17 1/2 hours. We had to pack light to ensure that we can get around once we're in Hong Kong. I somehow managed to fit everything in one bag and a carry on. This was easy for me, as I don't like to carry a lot. Liz had a little more difficulty. I imagined she would. When she went home just for a weekend during college, she managed to pack up about half of her room. On the flip side, whenever I've traveled with Liz, she always manages to have everything I forgot! I got a text from her this morning, her bag that was supposed to be 50 lbs ended up an unbelievable 78 lbs! But at least she managed to fit it all in one bag!