END of TRIP--Random Thoughts

Heading Home.

      Today may be my last post, as we leave early tomorrow--by car to San Sebastian de la Gomera, by ferry to Los Christianos on Tenerife, by bus to Santa Cruz , by taxi to North Tenerife Regional Airport, by Iberia Airline to Madrid, by shuttle to the Madrid Airport Hilton Hotel, by shuttle to Madrid International Airport, by Delta to Atlanta and finally by Delta to Madison where someone will meet us with coats (something we have been gleefully without) to drive us home. It's not like going to the Dells from Cross Plains for a vacation, that's for sure! And yet, all that seems normal by now.
TIME.     
         If I were to observe anything at this point it would be that Life is Indeed Short. "A short trip from the cradle to the Crypt" (Steve Goodman) We visited many temples, pagodas and churches....

And uniformly they promised many things. But, the one thing they never promise is "tomorrow." As our visit to Pearl Harbor so graphically reminded us-- our freedoms come at a great price, and we must cherish every day.

I dearly love being a lawyer, but taking the time to breath outside the law has been everything I had hoped.

PLACES.

        What a trip! We planned this trip to go places we had never been, and often places we might never go. Get out of our comfort zone--or in Karen's case, off of her planet. And boy did we achieve that... A party on a third-world river--Irawady River sandbar, Bagan, Myanmar/Burma

A truly huge city--Hong Kong

Life with forms of transport never imagined.

Sounds trivial, but such travel really does remind us how wonderfully varied and exciting this marvelous world can be.

PEOPLE.

     The real highlight of the trip was to have the great pleasure of seeing, meeting and being able to enjoy so many different people and their cultures.  From sharing a moment with our new friends in Burma, dressed in a longyi--the native 'dress' of Burma. (Perhaps I'll wear this next week in the Wisconsin Supreme Court... test their tolerance a bit?)

Learning of monks and all thing monk-like.

Enjoying the rural life of Hawaii

And the rural life of the Canary Islands.

Testing our limits in a city that makes New York look small--Hong Kong
 Testing our limits visiting a Muslim desert enclave--Dubai

And enjoying the energy of an enigmatic city--Barcelona

In each of these places I tried to share with those reading here something about the people--what they eat, where they shop, school kids and old folks. We stayed long enough to taste and enjoy each stop. Perhaps we could have stayed longer, but never less.

Would you Do it again?

      YES!

Will you ever get the chance to do it again?

     Who knows? We can only say, it was indeed the trip of a lifetime. I thank God, Karen, my family and those many friends, clients, partners, associates and colleagues who had faith in me over the years--they made this possible.
       BUT, we are really anxious to see our kids and our adorable granddaughter.  It will be good to get home.