The Eve of Departure

It's reached that time of year again. Ellen is becoming antsy, stressed, and needs to deal with it the only way she knows how: by abandoning all her responsibilities and dumping all her obligations with little to no warning to go jetsying off into the unknown. It's what we like to refer to as a "best practice " in the working world.

It's become a bit of a tradition at this point to wrote my customary 'eve of departure' posts...after I've already left. But as they say, never do today what you can put off for tomorrow!

About the Trip

I'm so excited! For the next 11 days I get to hit two exciting places: Jordan, a major world producer of yummy dates...

..preceded by Italy, also a notable producer of yummy dates.

Naturally, this makes them a commonly paired destination package, I'm told.

Thanks to the ingenuity and generosity of early-birthday-present-providing Mr. Boo Thang--who despite the misleading nickname is neither a ghost nor Asian--I will be flying out Saturday to join said gentleman in Rome: the city of art, architecture, and cigarettes. From there, we will depart on a whim-dictated adventure to scout out the finest wines, the most delicious foods, and naturally, a location for my future castle.

(Ball's in your court, buddy)

Assuming we don't get wrapped up in a migrant smuggling ring or discover a long lost love for the Sicilian lifestyle, we then head to Amman, initiating what is perhaps the most imperative part of this trip: checking Ellen's fifth World Wonder off her list.

(*Sightseeing* list. Jesus, people, what other kind of list could I've meant?)

After all, what's life if not an opportunity to self-validate through an arbitrary list of must-do's?

Feel free to follow along with our adventure, suggest activities, and share with others! Or even just feel free to click the site's link periodically - from a readership stats perspective I won't be able to tell the difference :P

Onward, good friends!