Travel Tip #3: In all tropical regions, the Rainy Season is also the Hurricane Season. Plan your trip accordingly.

WAYA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Today we had an update on the weather. Apparently there's a tropical cyclone over New Caledonia that's headed more or less in our direction. Great. That would explain the steady bands of rain we've seen for the last four days. The current prediction is for three more days of rain here, followed by a couple of days of sun and high winds, and then the possibility of being slapped by the tail end of the storm as it passes south of here. The resort staff have assured us that they're completely prepared for anything that might happen, but that's really not much comfort. I mean, we're talking about a bunch of straw huts. On a beach. In a hurricane. Not liking that scenario so much.

NP: Echo & the Bunnymen, "Ocean Rain": At sea again/And now your hurricane/That brought down this ocean rain/To bathe me again...

WAYA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

We've now had three days of nearly constant rain. Sometimes it's just a drizzle, and sometimes it seems like we're in the middle of a tropical storm. There's not much to do here when it's like this--the island paths become rivers of mud, and the sea is churned up into a grey froth, so basically all land- and water-based activities are a wash. Literally.

This afternoon we left Korovou and transferred to the Octopus resort on the island of Waya, an hour to the south. This is actually the resort that the woman on the plane to Denver recommended to us. It's a nice place, for sure, in a very cool setting. With its jagged volcanic peaks, Waya looks a lot like Skull Island from King Kong, especially on days like today, when they're covered in clouds and mist.

People met today:

• Andrew and Rachel from Jersey (the island between England and France, not the state next to New York).
• Doug from the UK, who gave us loads of info on traveling in India.
• Marko and Jonas from Sweden. Marko gave us a brilliant breakdown of the social dynamics of Scandiniavian cultures, but all I can remember from it is that the Finns drink a lot, and the Swedes make fun of them.

NAVITI, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Travel Tip #2: It's called the Rainy Season because it tends to rain. A lot.

NAVITI, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

After Chris' intro dive yesterday, he and I decided to do a "proper" dive (for certified divers) this morning. But I have to admit I was really hoping it would be canceled when I woke up to driving rain and choppy seas. No such luck--the dive boat showed up on our beach promptly at 8:20, and after a bone-jarring ride back to the dive shop at Manta Ray resort, we met up with two other divers and our dive master, a Scot named Fordy. We then motored south to a dive site known as the "Garden of Eden."

Our dive started about 18 meters down (my deepest dive yet), at the base of giant bommie (coral head). We then swam slowly upward from a depth of 18 to 3 meters along a vertical wall covered with fan coral, then across some pretty amazing coral landscapes. Unfortunately, the choppy seas made for some pretty limited visibility, but there were a few interesting sights: a school of batfish, several really big puffers (one bright yellow), and a couple of adult emperor angels.

The boat ride back was completely miserable, as we were pelted with stinging rain and sea spray the whole way.

People met today:

• Andrew and James from Toronto. Andrew is a pediatrician who looks way too young to be a doctor, and James works in the energy industry. They're in Fiji for a week after spending time in Tasmania, where James has been working. (I got some good information on things to do there from them.)

Fiji Fun Facts:

• The traditional Fijian greeting is "bula!" You will hear this exclamation approximately 1,500 times a day, from absolutely everyone you meet. Eventually it becomes an automatic response to anyone you encounter, including animals.
• When traveling in Fiji, you will soon become acquainted with the phrase "Fiji time," which is a quaint way of saying that no one here can be bothered to show up at the appointed time. This includes buses, by the way.
• Based on my calculations, approximately 98% of visitors to Fiji are devastatingly good-looking and speak at least three languages.

NAVITI, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Last night we were cornered by the hyperactive Scotsman who runs the scuba shop at Manta Ray resort. Since Chris hasn't dived in about 15 years, he decided to try an introductory dive this morning, as did James from Southampton. I went along to snorkel, as I didn't need the refresher, and they were diving just off the beach at Manta Ray.

According to Chris, the scuba sights weren't that great, but I thought the snorkeling was the best so far--the water was clear, and there were tons of fish that didn't seem afraid of me at all. I saw large schools of chromis, cornetfish, Picasso triggers, and giant needlefish, as well as some big trevally, some giant clams, two fantail filefish, a reef pipefish, and a little yellow spotted trunkfish. I also came across another shark--this one was a whitetip. I actually followed it around for awhile, as it was swimming pretty slowly, but then I had to back off when I realized I was getting a little too close!

After the divers put up their scuba gear, James and I hung out on the beach for a bit before doing some more snorkeling (we saw another emperor angel and a snowflake moray).

At night: Yes, more dancing. This time, the grass-skirt guys performed the Fijian Fire Dance, which was actually quite thrilling. Mainly because the dancers weren't that good, and kept dropping flaming batons dangerously close to the spectators. Now that's entertainment.

NAVITI, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Chris and I had wanted to return to the rocky southwest point of Tavewa to do some snorkelig, so this morning we walked halfway there down the beach, then paid a local fisherman F$10 to take us the rest of the way by boat. We snorkeled around the point, then shot past the reef break and into the deeper water on the west side. This was more than a little unnerving, because it meant swimming just inches over razor-sharp coral while powerful waves broke over us. Yikes. Once we made it over the reef flat, though, the scenery was great--lots of hard corals growing on black volcanic outcroppings, with deep channels cut through the reef filled with schools of parrotfish and tangs. On our way back across the reef flat, I saw a pretty decent-sized blacktip reef shark, which turned and swam away as soon as it saw me. The coward.

After lunch, the staff of Coral View sang us the Fijian farewell song and gave us all hugs, then we hopped on a water taxi to meet up again with the Yasawa Flyer. On the boat I saw Gareth and Irene, who were returning from several days at another resort. It's funny how we keep meeting up with the same people, although everyone seems to island-hop a lot in the Yasawas.

We traveled south for less than an hour before coming to our next stop: Korovou Eco Tour resort on the island of Naviti. We didn't plan it this way, but the resorts we've stayed at have been getting progressively nicer. This one has fresh-water showers (the ones at Coral View were brackish), as well as rooms with ensuite bathrooms and electric fans (yes!). Not to mention a nice deck with picnic tables, a swimming pool, and lots of hammocks to lie around in.

It turns out that James and Gemma from Southampton are staying here too--this is their last night in the Yasawas before heading back to Nadi, and then Vancouver. Chris and I had dinner with them, and afterward we hung out and talked (mostly about British and American TV shows). They really are some of the nicest people you can imagine--very cool. Then we were subjected to Korovou's version of "bula time," which featured guys in grass skirts doing some dances, then getting everyone to join in. The "traditional Fijian dance" they taught us, though, had some moves that were suspiciously similar to the Macarena.

People met today:

• Craig the drunken Scot (is that redundant?), traveling for a year, mostly in Australia.

TAVEWA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Early this morning, Chris and I took the steep and muddy "sunset trail" from our resort, thinking it would be a shortcut to the west side of the island. Actually, it just leads to the highest point on Tavewa, which offers a bird's-eye view of the entire island, the fringing reef, and the sea beyond. It was impressive enough on a cloudy morning, but I'm sure it would be an amazing view at sunset on a clear day. We then hiked back to the main trail and walked south along the beach to Savutu Point. On the way we saw mudskippers on the shore, crazy bug-eyed fish that hop out of the water to sit on rocks like little frogs. Mudskippers, you amuse me greatly.

The snorkeling off Savutu Point was pretty much the same as in front of our resort: shallow coral flats inshore, and a dropoff further out with large coral heads and ledges. This time I saw bird wrasses, lemon peel angels, schools of striped cardinal fish, a pair of sharp-nosed puffers, rabbitfish, a herd of convict tangs feeding on algae, and an electric-blue juvenile emperor angelfish.

After lunch we joined about 20 other resort guests for "reef jumping," which meant we all piled into a small boat and were taken out to several offshore reefs to do some more snorkeling. The scenery wasn't really any better than off the beach, although some people saw sharks.

Tonight as part of "bula time" the resort held a crazy hat competition. Lord, kill me now. But the rule was "no hat, no dinner," and everybody was taking this very seriously, so at the last minute I slapped something together out of four large leaves and some dental floss. Two Canadian girls told me I looked like something out of Ferngully--I told them that was exactly the look I was going for. Which was, of course, a lie. When I lost the contest to the same girls, I was completely inconsolable, and ran back to my bure to cry myself to sleep. Or something like that.

People met today:

• Neal and Charis, a super-nice couple from Oxford, England.
• Two goofy dudes from Edmonton, Alberta. I can't remember their names, but I kept wanting to call them Bob and Doug, eh?
• Chris and Cynthia from Sacramento, CA. He's a laid-back surfer type. She's completely the opposite, and had to complain to me about every conceivable aspect of their vacation. Typical American. :-) (She also appeared on an episode of Blind Date, which might tell you something.)

TAVEWA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Just after sunrise, Chris and I walked through the tide pools in front of the resort, and came across a two-foot-long banded sea krait, the most common sea snake in Fiji. They're not aggressive at all, although their venom is several times more deadly than a cobra's. The locals sometimes pick them up to show how harmless they are, but I wasn't that brave.

During breakfast a squall blew in, and it poured down rain for an hour or so. We abandoned our plans to do anything on the other side of the island, and instead snorkeled just in front of the resort. Surprisingly, once we made it out a few dozen yards, there was a great variety of live staghorn, lettuce, brain, and plate corals, and a dropoff with some large coral heads. There were more fish than I'd seen so far here, too, including harlequin filefish, trumpetfish, puffers, gobies, blue runners, various triggerfish, and a moray eel. I also saw another sea snake poking around on the bottom about 20 feet down. Or maybe it was the same one--they all kind of look alike.

I took it easy in the afternoon, while Chris rented a kayak and paddled around the eastern part of the island. At one point, I woke up from my nap to hear some horrible screaming from down the beach. At first I thought someone was in trouble in the ocean; then I realized it was a pig squealing. I found out later that some locals actually dragged it out of the woods and into the sea to drown it, rather than slaughtering it in the traditional way. Ah, life in the islands! Actually, it was kind of disturbing. Even more disturbing: No pork chops for dinner, just a curry buffet.

People met today:

• Ben and Kay from Perth, Australia, on a two-week holiday. She's a manager in the mental health field; he works for the Australian government's Sport and Recreation Department, or something like that. As part of his job, he takes troubled kids on Outward Bound-type hikes in Western Australia. They gave me some great tips on how not to be suckered by merchants in Bali.

TAVEWA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

In addition to the guests and staff at Coral View, there are two cows on the property, two dogs (one named Snoopy), and several chickens which have a habit of walking into the dining room while we're eating. Luckily they didn't walk in last night when we had chicken for dinner. That would have been awkward.

Chris and I had arranged to visit the Sawa-I-Lau caves today, so at 9:15 Joe's Water Taxi picked us up on the beach. After collecting a few more people from nearby resorts, we then sped off to Sawa-I-Lau island, a very bumpy 45-minute ride to the north over some pretty rough seas.

After anchoring at the island, we walked up some stairs from the beach to the entrance to the main cave, which is well-lit by daylight and has a dome-shaped roof about 75 feet high, and a deep pool below. We dove in the water and made our way to one end, where we then had to swim underwater through a short tunnel in order to surface in another, much darker, cave. Our guide led us with a flashlight through tunnels that led for many yards underground. It was very echoey and surreal--almost like I would imagine it would be swimming through Pirates of the Caribbean or one of those other Disney boat rides. Pretty cool, though.

After exiting the "secret" cave and splashing around some more in the main pool, we got back in the boat and rode back to Tavewa. This time our captain wisely decided to take us back on the leeward side of the islands, which made for a much smoother ride.

People met today:

• Kate' from Finland, traveling on her own for several months, on the boat to Sawa-I-Lau. Strangely, she has a perfect American accent, probably because she spent seven years in Washington, D.C.
• Mick from Belfast, who's returning from a working holiday in Australia.
• Bjornar (BJ), a mechanic from Norway, who showed us on his laptop some cool pictures he took in Norway, China, and Australia, including a panda sanctuary in China and New Years' Eve in Sydney.

TAVEWA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

I discovered why our resort is named "Sunrise" when I woke up at 6am and looked out the window to see the sun coming up over the ocean. What an awesome view.

After breakfast Chris and I again took the path across the island to do some snorkeling at the Blue Lagoon. As Captain Jack from the Bahamas told me last night, the reef here isn't that spectacular--mostly dead coral, with limited visibility--but there were a good number of fish, along with some soft corals and anemones. I saw most of the same fish as I did on our day cruise, plus a few others: sweetlips, grouper, trunkfish, cornetfish, moorish idols, and an orange-lined triggerfish.

We were only able to book one night at Sunrise, so after lunch we checked out and were taken by water taxi to a different resort on a different island: the Coral View resort on Tavewa, just across the Blue Lagoon from Nanuya Lailai. The facilities here are slightly better, and the bures are on a nice stretch of grass, but the beach in front of them is pretty rocky.

After walking halfway around the island, we discovered that the nice sandy beaches are on the south side, along with a couple of other resorts and a dive shop. At the southwest point of Tavewa, we came upon some high volcanic cliffs, which we climbed to take some pictures. The entire west side of the island is rocky and faces the open sea, so the big waves breaking here are really dramatic. Looking down as the waves crested, we could see the reef below, which looked to me like it would make for some great diving on a calm day.

The walk back to our resort was brutal, as it was incredibly hot and we hadn't brought any water. Luckily we reached Otto & Fanny's resort right as afternoon tea was ending, so we were able to grab some soft drinks and banana cake. (Afternoon Tea: Possibly the greatest holdover from Fiji's past as a British colony.)

At dinner, talked with some of the other guests, and were then subjected to "bula time," where the staff of the resort attempt to humiliate the guests by making us dance with them.

People met today:

• Peter and Teri from Germany, both of Czech heritage. She's visiting him here for a few weeks, then he's going on to travel for several months in Australia, New Zealand, etc.
• James and Gemma from Southampton, England. I talked to them about traveling in Thailand (they were just there), and British and American politics.

NANUYA LAILAI, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Today Chris and I finally left the "mainland" of Viti Levu for two weeks in the Yasawas, a chain of islands to the northwest of Nadi, just north of the Mamanucas. We took the Yasawa Flyer, a yellow catamaran that serves as the main shuttle between the islands, on a 4 1/2 hour cruise past low limestone islands and high volcanic peaks. The scenery along the way was really spectacular, and the sea is incredibly blue. On the way we saw schools of flying fish, purple moon jellies, and large coral heads in the shallow waters near the islands. Toward the end of our journey, the sea got a bit choppy, several people got sick, and one girl even fainted. I just got a headache.

We got off at the Flyer's last stop: Nanuya Lailai, where we had booked a night at the Sunrise Lagoon resort. Actually, they call these "resorts," but the accomodations here are pretty basic: no A/C, limited electricity, no hot water, just some thatched bures on the beach and an open-air dining room. Three meals a day are included--but drinks cost extra, so we brought some bottles of water, and later filled them from the rainwater tank the locals use.

After lunch, Chris and I walked along the beach to the west side of the island, site of the famous Blue Lagoon. And yes, this is actually where they filmed a good part of the Brooke Shields movie--but it's also a pretty accurate description, as the water here is a brilliant shade of swimming-pool blue. To get back to our resort, we took a path that cuts across the island over some high grassy hills, which provided some amazing panoramic views of the surrounding coast and nearby islands.

People met today:

• Jack, an American boat captain based in the Bahamas, and his wife (forgot her name).
• Gareth and Irene, a really nice and friendly couple on their honeymoon. He's a physical education instructor from New Zealand, and she's a teacher living in Austria. He told us a pretty amusing story about how he got a concussion at his stag party and spent the two weeks before his wedding in the hospital.

NP: Laurie Anderson, "Blue Lagoon"

Travel Tip #1: When traveling to a tropical island in the summertime, don't wear jeans and a sweatshirt, even if the plane is cold. Unless you're absolutely, positively sure your other clothing will arrive with you.

NADI, FIJI

Another day and still no bags. This sucks! We can't leave Nadi until our backpacks arrive, so all this time we've been in limbo, hanging around the hostel and occasionally riding the bus into town to buy supplies.

When we didn't hear anything from the airline for a second day, we were determined to do something, so we went ahead and booked a day cruise to the tiny island of Tivua in the Mamanucas, an island chain just west of Viti Levu. We left this morning out of the port of Denarau on a 110-foot sailboat, along with a horde of noisy tourists from England, Australia, and Malta. After an hour-long boat ride that included morning tea, we came to the island, which is so small we were able to walk completely around it in about six minutes. After a kava ceremony on the island, we went snorkeling just offshore through some cool staghorn coral gardens. Among the creatures I saw: sailfin tangs, squirrel fish, cleaner wrasses, blue sea stars, glassy sweepers, goat fish, feather stars, damsel fish, various angelfish and butterfly fish, and an enormous crown-of-thorns starfish. I also saw some clownfish in an anemone--when I got too close, one actually came up and bit me on the finger--hard! Who knew Nemo was so cranky?

After a mediocre buffet lunch on the island, we then went back to the sailboat to try some handline fishing. I didn't catch anything, though. As we headed back to port, the clouds rolled in and it poured down rain. I didn't mind this, since it cooled things down, and I needed to wash the salt off me anyway. As the rain clouds passed, we saw some really cool rainbows over the ocean and the mainland.

When we got back to Horizon Beach, we were relieved to find our bags waiting for us. Finally! Since we didn't have time to pack properly before we left Atlanta, Chris and I decided to move to a different hostel just down the street--the Beach Escape Villas, where we rented a private room where we could lay out all our stuff and sort through it. As it turned out, this was actually a nicer place than Horizon Beach, although the people staying here aren't nearly as friendly.

Fiji Fun Facts:

• Fiji isn't a island; it's a chain of over 330 islands. The largest is Viti Levu (literally, "big Fiji"), which contains the towns of Nadi, Lautoka, and Suva.
• The population here mainly consists of native Fijians and Indo-Fijians. The native Fijians are some of the friendiest, most laid-back people you can imagine, which is ironic because up until the late 1800s they practiced cannibalism. The Indo-Fijians are descended from indentured servants brought here from India in colonial times, which is ironic because they now own most of the businesses in Fiji.
• Popular programs on Fijian TV: soap operas, Malcolm in the Middle, Smallville. On Fijian radio: UB40, UB40, and UB40. Also the Crazy Frog (no!) and Coldplay.
• At night, pink geckos come out and climb over the ceilings and walls of all the buildings here. They chase each other around, chirping like birds. If you've never heard a lizard chirp before, it's pretty funny.

"He would travel happily must travel light."

- Antoine de St. Exupery

NADI, FIJI

Well, Chris and I arrived in Fiji this morning at 5:15 am. Unfortunately, our bags didn't. Not sure what kind of omen that is for the rest of the year, but it was kind of a pain for us today. Hopefully our packs will arrive on the next Air Pacific flight tomorrow morning. If not, then we're really screwed....

As we went through immigration at the airport, five local musicians played Fijian songs of welcome to the arriving passengers. A nice gesture, but I probably could have done without this at 5:30 am. Then, after watching that cursed baggage carousel forever to no avail, we filled out a lost luggage form and caught a shuttle to our hostel, the Horizon Beach Backpackers Resort. It's the sort of place travelers use mainly as first-night lodging, as it's only about 10 minutes from the airport, next to the beach. As we soon discovered, though, it's kind of a dirty, muddy beach, and not really suited for swimming, snorkeling, or sunbathing. Instead, everyone hangs out by the hostel's swimming pool, which is pretty nice, except for some reason it's not shallow enough to stand up in, which means you get tired of treading water pretty quickly. Ah well.

After checking in, Chris and I walked up and down the beach to a nearby seaplane port. On the way, we were adopted by two local dogs that followed along and played in the surf. We then decided to take an open-air bus into the town of Nadi (pronounced nan-dee) to buy some supplies, as the airline had given us F$50 (about US$35) each to buy replacement items.

The town itself is nothing special--a main street lined with run-down stores selling overpriced stuff, with lots of annoyingly aggressive salesmen. We bought the essentials: swimsuits, sunscreen, flip-flops, and towels, and I had my first experience with haggling while buying a dive mask--a skill that I guess I'll have to get good at in the coming months. When it was over, I don't really know if I got a bargain, but at least I paid a lot less than the initial asking price.

Waiting for the bus back to the hostel, we met two really nice college students from Vancouver, B.C., Thomas and Laura. She's going on to study in Australia for several months, and he's going on to explore New Zealand. (Seems like everyone here is doing the Fiji-New Zealand-Australia circuit.) Other people we've met include Melissa from Ottawa, who's going to study at the University of Brisbane, Jocelyn from Utah, who's on her way back from a year-and-a-half world tour, and Rhett, a recent Berkeley graduate from Lake Tahoe, who's doing a solo five-month world tour that includes Australia, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. (Everyone here thinks he's kind of crazy for trying to do all that in such a short time. I would have to agree.) I lent him my Lonely Planet guide because he has absolutely no idea what to do in Fiji.

AIR PACIFIC FLIGHT 811

What the heck happened to Monday? We left LA on the evening of Sunday the 15th, and arrived in Fiji 11 hours later on the morning of Tuesday the 17th. Yeah, I know we crossed the International Date Line, but it still doesn't make any sense to me. I feel slightly ripped off, but I don't know who to speak to about this.

"A year to go around the world! A whole twelve months of scenes and curious happenings in far-off foreign lands! You have thought of doing this, almost promised yourself that when you got old enough, and rich enough, and could 'spare the time,' you too would go around the world. Most of us get old enough; some of us get rich enough; but the time! the time!--to spare the time, to cut loose from goods and lands, from stocks and dreary desks, quit clients, patients, readers, home and friends--ay, and our enemies whom we so dearly love! Full many a promise must be broken and few the voyagers round the world."

- D. N. Richardson, A Girdle Round the Earth (1888)

AIR PACIFIC FLIGHT 811

Well, today's the day: After one last frantic morning of moving out, throwing stuff away, packing, and dropping off my car, Chris and I actually made it to the airport on time. Glory!

On our first leg, from Atlanta to Denver, we had the good luck to sit next to a woman who had just returned from six weeks in Fiji. She gave us some great advice on where to stay and what to do, as well as generally praising us for our decision to travel for a year. That was very cool.

After a really short layover in Denver, we continued on to Los Angeles, where my brother Mike met us at LAX. He then treated us to dinner at Encounter, which is a restaurant in the old LAX control tower. Very retro-futuristic, complete with modular furniture, black lights, lava lamps, and space-age bachelor pad muzak in the elevator. The food was really good, too. Thanks bro! And sorry we were so rushed, but after dinner we barely made it through security to get to our gate in time for our flight to Fiji. I have to confess that we totally cut in front of about 200 people in line in order to do so. But what's up with the airport being sardine-packed at 10 pm on a Sunday, anyway?

The flight to Nadi was about 11 hours, but really not so bad, considering we were so knackered we slept most of the way. Somehow I also managed to watch all of the movie Corpse Bride, although it took the entire flight to do so: I watched the middle, fell asleep, watched the beginning when it played again, fell asleep, then watched the end when it played a third time. I kind of had to figure out the chronology just like when I saw Memento. I'm pretty sure it was a decent flick, though. :-)

NP: Marillion, "Map of the World"

NORCROSS, GEORGIA, USA

Everyone tells me how life-changing this trip will be for me. Well, I'd have to agree, and it hasn't even begun yet! This past week alone, I quit my job of seven years, moved out of my apartment, stopped the mail, got rid of my computer and cell phone, gave away my furniture, put the rest of my things in a 5' X 15' storage unit, and said goodbye for a year to pretty much everyone I know. Talk about life-changing.... On top of that, I also flew to South Florida for a day to attend the funeral of one of my best friends. So to say that I'm feeling a little uprooted right now would be...well, let's just say an understatement.

In the middle of all this chaos, though, I was really touched by the thoughtfulness of my friends and coworkers, who have all been incredibly supportive and positive. On Friday, 11 of my coworkers, past and present, took me out for a farewell lunch, and gave me an international calling card with codes for most of the countries I'll be visiting. Very cool! Later that night, about 25 of my good friends showed up to my going-away party at Apres Diem. They presented me with a signed farewell card along with a big wad of cash, which was totally unexpected, but much appreciated! The best part, though was just getting to hang out with all my buds before I left, including some friends I rarely get to see. Thanks again, guys! You rock.

At this point I should give a special shout-out to Kevin, Trevor, and Leonard, who really went above and beyond in helping me move all my stuff. Especially Leo, who helped wrestle my gargantuan TV down three flights of stairs while both intoxicated and hung over. That boy is talented.

NORCROSS, GEORGIA, USA

Saying goodbye is never easy. And sometimes it's about the hardest thing in the world, as I found out on Sunday when I learned of the sudden and unexpected death of my good friend Larry Brickman. Put simply, Larry was one of the most important people in my life. So as I begin this trip, my feelings of excitement are mixed with deep sadness. Right now part of me just wants to be at home with friends and family. But at the same time, I also know that this trip will be an amazing experience, and in a way, given what's happened, I'm more determined than ever to take some chances and live my life to its fullest, leaving behind as few regrets as possible. So here goes...

NP: Genesis, "Fading Lights"