Hampton Inn Jamaica

Thursday December 25th: Christmas Day Our day started with a visit to Ali. We dressed for the day and walked to Lenox Hill Hospital. Good news! Ali was able to be discharged after lunch. This news gave us all a huge 'lift'. We left Ali in a much happier mood and strolled the 20 blocks downtown along beautiful Lexington Ave to our restaurant, '81/2' for lunch. Kath and Kim would have called this place 'fine dining'. We had a pleasant ...

... yes I was late at 8.45. Lesson two, do not under any circumstance wear a white coat on the streets of Manhattan, NEVER. I was harassed so much on the two-block walk (5mins) home with mine on that I took it off.... 'Doctor, can you please help me with just thirty cents?', was one of many.... Course when someone says 'doctor help' and your in my line of business you tend to stop (reference plane journy). Then what do you do when they ask for money... well you just have to ...

So this w*s my d*y. T*xi to the SONO tr*in st*tion. Metro North tr*in to Gr*nd Centr*l Termin*l. Shuttle bus to the *irport. Airpl*ne to Beijing. All I needed w*s * bo*t thrown in for good me*sure I would h*ve h*d the glob*l w*rming trifect*! Everything went smoothly. Almost too smoothly. M*tt, Lynn *nd I m*de it to the *irport without *ny problems. (Lynn is one of my friends. M*tt met Lynn on * H*bit*t build ...

... im now on the bottom bunk but meh! heat rises so tuff tits to u matey!!! they got kitchens here so guess master cheff will be taking place but then again it just smells of pizza down there! got a day of nothin on 2moz so guna have a wander further into the citty of manhatton! so i guess its day 1 im here and bring on the other 74!! ok ya 10 weeks looks less ha!

... While discussing the practicalities of traveling in India with my friend Jerry (who will be joining me for two of the six weeks) we both decided that traveling light with only carry-on luggage is the way to go. For me that meant one thing: very little in the way of clothing but just enough hight-tech gear to share this journey with my friends and family: a digital camera, a tiny digital ...

... the Baltics, more at the end. I verily charged through Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania. Four forts in four locations in four days? That's an easy recipe for exhaustion. I suppose I'd avoid having my passport and all my money stolen, too. That wasn't particularly pleasant. As for solo travel, I'm really glad I did this trip by myself for the strength and confidence it's given me, and were I planning a trip on the moderately beaten path with hostels ...

... sat by the window and watched the residents of Hells Kitchen stroll pass- most of them holding their own Starbuck´s cup in their hands as they went and a cell phone in the other. I finally moved myself from Starbucks land and walked another 15 blocks until l reached Central park. By the time l reached it l had hardly anytime to explore it- so l simply walked along Central Park avenue off 5th avenue which overlooks the beautiful park. I passed the world famous Plazza Hotel (currently ...