Kickoff in London

 Yes, I still owe you basically the entirety of my summer travels through Southeast Asia. But in the interest of maybe actually keeping current this time, just a quick update to let you know I have kicked off the next leg of my journey! I'm going to be in Europe in some fashion or other for most of the next year (that's the plan, at least), and right now I'm all set up to experience the holidays in London. My first Christmas away from my family, which is going to be odd. 

(This is from a few months ago, I am not dressed like this in London in December)

Of particular interest this first day, if I manage to stay awake for it, is that I have landed and made it to my hotel in time to catch England in the World Cup quarterfinals! If I'm on a second wind when the game starts I'll probably try to wedge myself in a bar somewhere near my hotel
with the faithful. If I'm fading fast, I'll watch it in my room but throw open my windows so I can hear the city lose its mind when they score. 

Adventures in the Cloth Market of Hoi An

As briefly alluded to in my last post, the entire purpose of my current sojourn to Vietnam is single fold: to obtain a custom wardrobe for my future travels through hot and tropical areas. Specifically, I wanted items that would fit several criteria:

• Able to stand up to constant sweat
• Somewhat modest (i.e. knee length or longer, shoulders covered, no cleavage)
• Still cute and stylish
• Blue, green, blue-green, teal, or black/grey/white 

The first requirement is fairly straightforward, I would think. Being of almost exclusively northern European ancestry, and growing up in Seattle, my body is not designed for 90 degree nights and 100% humidity. I start melting pretty much straight away. I am looking for things that won't just immediately become a giant sweat stain, or start to smell immediately. 

The second requirement, particularly in combination with the third, is what really sent me looking for some custom-built pieces. I can buy things to wear in extreme heat in the US, but it generally involves spaghetti straps, plunging necklines, short hemlines or slits up to there, etc. I'm finding that most of the countries and areas I go to with tropical weather have more conservative cultures. Sure, they've gotten used to tourists prancing around in bikinis, but it's still appropriate (and yields fewer creepy guys) to be a little more covered up. Different areas have different norms surrounding precisely what parts of the body should be covered, but generally speaking I was aiming for items that would reliably cover my shoulders, thighs, and chest. But still look cute and fashionable and be something I am excited to wear - over and over and over again. 

The final requirement - the color scheme - is one I strictly stick to in order to stick to a single carry-on bag rather than checking luggage. Every single item, from my shoes to my head, needs to be able to coordinate with every other item. Basically, anything on the spectrum from blue to green, or white, black, or grey. Jewelry is also strictly silver. 

In anticipation of this, I literally only packed three items of proper clothing as I set off to the other side of the world for two months: a pair of capris (grey) and two shirts (sage green t-shirt, emerald green t-shirt/blouse). Plus my sun shirt, which I consider more of an accessory than actual clothing item. It goes over whatever I am wearing. 

My first full day in Vietnam, I waited until the worst of the UV was over (so, down to 8 instead of 11, basically) and started to wander in the general direction of the cloth market, which I understood to be the place to get my clothing made. I figured I would get the lay of the land, maybe poke around and see what fabrics I liked, find the store I had seen recommended on a blog, etc. 

Instead, I got about half a block away from my hotel and was immediately outclassed by the sales ladies. My GOD those women are a force of nature. I managed to walk away from the first one (Flower), but found myself swept down a winding maze of tailors shops by the next one and ended up a custom shoe stall. I wasn't even intending to get shoes! I now have two pairs of custom walking sandals. While I'm sitting there, having bottle after bottle of cold water pressed into my hands by about five different people, Flower, the lady who first found me outside comes by, spots me, and waits until I'm done with the shoe lady to snatch me up and whisk me away to her tailor shop. I'm plunked down, immediately given another bottle of water, and given book after book of designs. Now, I did intend to buy clothes, so I settled into this one a lot easier, and told them about what I was looking for, and we ended up selecting a few designs and making modifications so that they would fit my requirements and be something I was excited to wear. They took me around to different stacks of cloth to choose my fabric for each item, took exhaustive measurements, and that should have been the day.

Except another lady, Ahn, came and grabbed me as soon as the tailors turned me loose, and dragged me off to her souvenir shop. I did a better job of turning down what I truly didn't want, but still ended up with a few more trinkets and knick-knacks than I intended. I'm probably going to leave some of it behind in my hotel room. And as I'm trying to make my escape from Ahn, she grabs my hands and decides I should get a manicure. And... dang it, I do want a manicure. Which somehow escalates into my being pushed into a chair in an empty luggage stall with yet another lady threading my eyebrows. She did an excellent job, but the brief terror as I felt her zipping around my eyebrows without so much as a by-your-leave was startling. Then she reached down, rubbed my legs, decided they were "too hairy" (this barely a week after having them waxed, mind you), and proceeded to thread my legs for the next half hour, while her daughter in law pulled up on a scooter with her manicure kit and started doing my nails. 

I finally made my escape after promising to get a pedicure when I came back for my fittings the next day. And I did indeed get my pedicure - the lady sat me down in a chair, and then whipped out an honest-to-god straight razor are spent an hour shaving off every last callus. She did a great job, my feet are still nice a smooth over a week later, but it was intense, to say the least. 

And I got my clothes! These are the two I am wearing the most often thus far:

We added small cap sleeves to cover the shoulder, and a higher neckline. This is me after two hours of walking in 110+ weather and sky high humidity, and it still looks fresh and lovely!

A light floaty fabric that is a dream in this kind of humidity. Higher neckline, and nice sun-blocking long sleeves 

I also ended up with a maxi dress (blue and white stripes), and a pair of green capris, that in particular go perfectly with one of the shirts I brought. And another dress that has no business being in my bag on a trip through weather like this, it was just a really fun design and I found the perfect teal fabric and went nuts and got it. 

I'm going to kind of end this post here with a thud, because I've gone on to have a few more Vietnam adventures and now I'm in Bali, and I don't want to get too behind! I really do want to properly keep up this blog again. See you in the next one!

The Little Lost Lamb of Incheon

I really will get better at telling you about my trips, not just the transit to get there, I promise. 

But here's another tale of my transit adventures!

The trip: 10 days in Hoi An, Viet Nam, primarily for the purposes of having the tailors there make me a custom travel wardrobe, then off to join WiFi Tribe in Bali for a month, then another few weeks of something somewhere for my birthday (I currently have some bookings in Thailand, but they can all be cancelled if I decide to do something with someone in WiFi Tribe instead). 

[Then home for the playoffs (YES, this is the year, I don't care for your moaning and groaning about the series with the Astros) and to see all of the new babies my friends are having this summer, and then off again for 6-8 weeks leading into Christmas. But more about that later...]

Going from Seattle to Hoi An is not a one-shot flight, sadly. I opted to use some of the miles I have been steadily accruing on my travel card, and found a flight with a 20 hour overnight layover in Seoul. Covid protocols being what they are, I figured that it would be more trouble than it was worth to try and enter the country to get a hotel. But, this is Asia, I figured. Aren't they known for their capsule hotels? What I actually found at Incheon (the Seoul airport) was more of a micro hotel than a capsule - a tiny room with a proper standalone bed and my own shower, rather than the little coffin-like pod of a capsule hotel. Per the official information, because I was flying in on Korean Air I could reasonably expect to be in Terminal 2, so I booked my hotel room for my layover in the Terminal 2 hotel and went on my merry way. 

The flight from Seattle to Seoul was a nice one - another one much like my flight to my connection in Dubai back in 2015 in that we flew in daylight the whole time. I read and am pleased to confirm that Korean Air has great leg room even in the furthest reaches of economy. And the flight wasn't overly full, so as soon as the doors officially closed my seat mate popped over into a mostly empty row and I had my little two-seat row to myself. Excellent movie selection, no one to coordinate bathroom trips around, plenty of space. A surprisingly pleasant way to pass 11+ hours. Important to pause and note here: longtime readers may recall that I generally can't sleep on planes. This continued to hold true on this flight. 

Upon landing, however. 

To start with, I had not been given a boarding pass for my continuing flight (the one 20 hours later) when I received my boarding pass for my first flight. This meant it took me a heck of a long time to figure out where I wanted to go and how to get there. I assumed I wanted to go to Terminal 2, based on the information I had read before flying and the fact that my hotel was there. But there was a sign saying "Go through if you have a boarding pass." I did not have a boarding pass. There was a giant Korean Air desk with lots of terminals. No one, in the entire two hours I spent during this part of the saga, ever came to man that desk. Or pretty much any other information desk or Korean Air desk I found for a very long time. 

I wandered this way. I wandered that way. I was sometimes the only living creature in my stretch of hallway. I encountered the same handful of crew members who thought they had helped me and could't figure out how I suddenly showed up through a different door 20 minutes later. (This happened multiple times with multiple people) Through a combination of the weight of my luggage and my mask, I could not stop sweating profusely. It was super cute, I assure you. 

At some point it became clear to me that my actual transfer point was in the "Concourse" between Terminals 1 and 2, but if I got there I would not be allowed to come back to Terminal 2. But my hotel was in Terminal 2, and I was extremely tired and very much in need of that shower. I wasn't able to locate anyone who spoke enough English to explain the whole situation to. (I did spend a good chunk of time a couple of years ago starting to teach myself Korean, but never got much beyond learning the alphabet and a collection of random nouns) I had no boarding pass to show to anyone. I shuttled around that entire airport about three times. 

I finally ended up going through a security checkpoint and made it out of the weird transfer zone and into the Concourse, even though I knew my hotel was in Terminal 2, but at least I was finally somewhere. Concourse was weirdly deserted, no one was at any Information desks, the lounges were all closed, as were most of the shops and restaurants. But then finally, finally, I found an inhabited Information desk. I showed her my itinerary on my phone, and then I showed her my hotel reservation. She kindly explained what I had already worked out, that technically I couldn't get to my hotel. I asked rather desperately if there was also a hotel in Concourse, because the flight wasn't until tomorrow. No, no there's not. I think at this point I must have been giving off strong kicked puppy vibes, because she got on her phone and did lots of texting and calling and then walked me through a few gates so that I could circumvent the usual protocols and take a transfer train directly into Terminal 2. She did warn me that I would need to find another staff member to get me back to Concourse the next day, but just get on this train here and it will all be okay. And lo and behold, when I got off the train - I walked straight into Terminal 2. No checkpoints, no nothing. 

The story wraps up fairly smoothly from here. I did go straight for the Korean Air desk to try and get my boarding pass (and finally found one that was actually staffed with people - multiple people, even!), but they couldn't give one to me since the flight, while booked through them, w as being operated by Vietnam Air, and they only existed in Concourse and Terminal 1. So that was stressful, but at that point I figured it could be handled tomorrow, and please please just direct me to my hotel. 

At the check-in for the hotel she asked for my itinerary, and I braced myself to go another round when she determined that my connection left from a different terminal, but she just needed to confirm that I had a connection and wasn't just weirdly loitering around the airport. Then she handed my my key, told me checkout was at 11am not 7am like I had feared, gave me the WiFi password and pointed me to my room.

My beautiful blessed room (that I was very clever to have reserved in advance, because they were fully booked by the time I finally showed up at the front desk). Air conditioning, a big bed covered in those crisp white hotel sheets, and my very own gorgeous shower. I used it twice. 

The next morning involved a little more Lost Lamb wandering, but this time I had a printed out itinerary with a special Transfer stamp from the ladies at the Korean Air desk in Terminal 2 that I was able to use to get shepherded around several more checkpoints to get back to Concourse, located my gate, and hung out there until someone showed up and was able to print me my boarding pass. Where I started working on this blog post. 

Fun little benefit of all this drama, though. I was so exhausted by the time I finally got settled into my hotel room that I was able to sleep overnight, and I've been more or less on local time ever since. After the utter debacle that was my jet lag last winter in Dublin, I'll take a few stressful hours to buy me two more functional weeks of my trip!

Trainus Interruptus - or: Bonus Time in London

 Going to jump way out of order here. I know I still owe you the rest of my time in Kerry (I haven't even started on all the fun stuff!), and the highlights of the last couple of weeks in London. But for right now, I'm going to tell you about this morning, because UGH. 

Long-time readers may recall a short trip I took to London during college, in which the first day was A Day That Will Live in Infamy. It actually wasn't that bad, if I were to lay it all out, but it was just very frustrating and tiring and everything seemed to go out of its way to go wrong. This morning has been a bit like that, though it is finally looking up. 

After several days of dithering about perhaps cutting my trip a few weeks short due to the skyrocketing Covid numbers over here, I finally decided on a middle ground of heading to the relative isolation of the countryside for a week and then heading home a week earlier than planned. I was supposed to take the train from London to Windermere today to start the final leg of my European jaunt. It was all going well - I got all packed up and checked out of my London hotel without incident, walked the few blocks to get to the train station with direct service to Windermere, and the train station at Windermere is only a few blocks from my inn. No transfers, no taxis, no nonsense. So smooth and simple. 

Well, no. 

Apparently there is some sort of "severe weather" event going on somewhere along the tracks, and all of the trains going to Windermere have been canceled. The workers at the station kept assuring me that my ticket will work tomorrow, but well, the ticket isn't really the concern! Having no place to sleep tonight is the concern. My place to sleep tonight is over a hundred miles away! 

I spent about an hour trying to find a cheap hotel that wasn't a hostel dorm (not willing to go that route during the pandemic). That wasn't working. I tried finding hotel rooms in Preston, the furthest town the train was actually going to. Shockingly devoid of any places to stay whatsoever. I finally remembered that I have travel insurance, and surely this sort of thing must be covered. Couldn't get anyone on the phone since apparently they keep US business hours, and my not having a place to sleep tonight was not deemed an "emergency." But I was finally able to dig up a copy of my policy, and confirmed that there is indeed coverage for up to two nights of "trip delay" reimbursement. I found the absolute perfect place, just a few minutes walk from the train station and cheap enough to qualify for full reimbursement. One room left. I pulled away from the screen just long enough to double check the conversion rate of pounds to dollars, popped back in literally less than 90 seconds later, and in that time someone snuck in and booked the room out from under me. 

Can I just tell you, in case it isn't already immediately obvious, a last-minute booking in London for a Saturday night, especially when there are probably several hundred people all in exactly the same boat as me, is not easy to come by, nor is it cheap. I tried two more hotels that were less conveniently located, but still "affordable" (a laughable usage of the term by any other standards). Again, they were sniped while I was trying to book them. I finally ended up in a pretty posh place that is over the reimbursement limit in the heart of the West End. Hopefully my insurance reimburses me for part of it, because this was literally the best I could do! But I finally just went for it before even something that expensive was no longer an option, and even if my claim somehow gets denied, hey, that's what the emergency savings is for. Emergencies like having nowhere to sleep! 

Still more drama trying to get to the hotel, lugging my enormous backpack the whole way. For some reason the Euston Underground was temporarily closed for about 15 minutes, and security guys were blocking all of the entrances, and it was just this chaotic crush of people. I had my mask firmly in place, which of course made me a sweaty mess, and kept causing my glasses to literally slide off my face and onto the ground if I so much as glanced at the floor. Took over 20 minutes to just get to the Tube (for reference - the Euston train station and the Tube station are one and the same, just above ground vs below ground. I didn't have to walk anywhere, all I had to do was go down). I had the good sense to wait for the second train that was literally a minute behind the first, which the entire backlog of people packed onto, and I was able to just float over to a seat on the next one. 

And once I finally got to the hotel, I was too early for check in and my glasses fell off TWICE as I was trying to offload my bags for the porter to stash. I also didn't know it at the time, but my hair was sticking out in about eight directions, and as previously mentioned, I was a sweaty mess. I did not feel up to snuff for a swanky hotel. 

But I was able to finally remove the massive literal weight from my shoulders, and wander around Leicester Square for 45 minutes - there was a little Christmas market set up in the middle of it! I wandered through a protest in Chinatown, saw the movie theatre they held all of the Harry Potter premieres at (and sadly did not go inside in deference to the lack of vaccine and mask mandates here), and found a side street that consisted entirely of Italian restaurants. And now I'm finally in my room, and it is darling. Cool view over the rooftops of London, a robe and slippers, and a big squashy armchair. 

Not entirely sure what the next day or two shakes out like. If the ice or whatever it is clears overnight, then I'm going to continue on as planned and take my train up to Windermere and enjoy a week of hiking around in the Lake District. If trains are cancelled tomorrow as well, I think I'll just heed the Very Loud message from the universe and move up my flight home. Off to research Covid testing centers in case I need to do that! 

A Week in Kerry - Part 1

 I don't even know how to begin my series of blog posts on my time in County Kerry. For one thing, there are literally over 500 photos to wade through. I guess I'll just work my way through chronologically, and stop whenever the post seems to be getting too long!

Where our story really begins and ends is with Liz, the owner of The Anvil Bar - the BnB and restaurant/pub I stayed at for the week. When the staff worked out that I was alone and without a car, she basically adopted me for the week and personally took me all around the county. I learned so much about the history of Kerry and Irish culture, and had such a fun time with her. If you ever find yourself in southwest Ireland, head outside of Castlemaine to find The Anvil and say hi to Liz for me! 

I know I said I'd go in order, and this is already out of order, but here's the lovely Liz herself!

Now onto a more linear narrative:

I knew I wanted to travel by train as much as possible during my brief stint in Europe, so rather than take a quick puddle jumper from Dublin to Kerry, I opted for a leisurely train ride instead. It was such a low key and simple way to travel - no worrying about security lines and weight limits and minuscule seats, just plenty of space to move around and lots of scenery to watch. I was feeling a little edgy when I started, as I find I generally am on travel days, but I pulled up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on my Kindle and the accompanying movie soundtrack on my phone, and boy if that didn't just whip me right into a good frame of mind. Going between reading and staring at the rolling green fields while Hedwig's Theme played, even if I was technically in the wrong country, just felt so fitting and like I was on an adventure and maybe even on the right path. 

Scenes from the train

The windows were evidently tinted blue!

Everything was surprisingly ambiguously signed, but I made my transfer correctly and upon alighting in Tralee I found the taxi stand - though it took about half an hour for a taxi to show up (there was one leaving right when I arrived, so I wasn't just standing around optimistically, I promise). My taxi driver gave me my favorite weather forecast I think I've ever heard: 

"If you can see the mountains, it's going to rain. If you can't see them, it's raining."

The Anvil is on a quiet road out in the countryside - the only stretch with sidewalks has the Anvil, another bar called Murphy's Bar, a sewing shop, a church, and a tax advisor. There is also a hiking loop that starts right behind the bar, but it was apparently closed for renovations, so I never tried it out. The pub itself was exactly what it should be - dark wood and amber lighting and a good crowd of regulars. And SPECTACULAR food. If you ever stop by (and you should!), try the grilled goat cheese. My taste buds swooned. 

Working dinner in the pub

Monday morning I took it nice and slow - but was actually awake during the morning! Jet lag is finally over! I enjoyed my lovely room and the views of the rolling hills I could see from my many windows, and rescued a butterfly that somehow got inside my skylight:

And I went for a little walk around the stretch of neighborhood that I could reach. It was very peaceful, and since I was in the countryside and did not need to block out city weirdos, I did not have headphones in, which is how I discovered that I was walking past a burbling brook:

Returning to the Anvil, I came across the owner's son who works the bar, and he figured out pretty quickly that I didn't have a car, and told me about the shuttle buses. During the summer they are available for the guests in the high season, but during the winter they actually function as school buses. But that means that they make runs into Tralee and Killarney each day for a few hours (and for the full day if I wanted to go with them for the morning run at 7:30am, which I decidedly did not). "Just let them know at the bar, and they'll let the drivers know." 

And then later that night, I met Liz. She popped by my table as I sat enjoying another fine meal in the pub to give me a handwritten schedule of the bus for the rest of the week, and we got to chatting. Soon enough, she had brought me a brochure of County Kerry and all of the places the school bus could drop me off for a few hours. When we were done talking and she left me to the rest of my meal, I experienced one of those odd moments that happen only when I'm traveling, where I have an actual physical feeling of overwhelming joy and like the whole universe aligned to create this singular moment. Running off to the Irish countryside was such a random, spontaneous decision on my part. Choosing this particular BnB was a complete whim, and the whole thing came together in a matter of minutes. I didn't do enough research to realize that I couldn't walk anywhere from the BnB, I had no idea what even was in the area to see, and it just generally could have been such a dud of a week. And instead, I was sitting in a picture-perfect pub with music playing and rugby on the TV in the background and that warm glowing lighting, eating a warm meal and getting ready to adventure around the Dingle Peninsula for the week, making friends, and it just felt amazing. All of those days and stretched where traveling is so much harder than just living at home, where I don't feel adventurous just overwhelmed, where I wonder what on earth I am thinking doing this with my life - this was one of those moments where it all pays off. 

I'll take you through the adventures and wanderings that ensued in the next post. For now, I leave you with one more out-of-order photo, just because I like it:

Having a WONDERFUL time on my impromptu Kerry trip

An Evening in Dublin

 First, an exciting announcement: I appear to be FINALLY over my jet lag. *knock on wood* This means I can actually spend the middle of the day out enjoying where I am, instead of sleeping until I start work in the afternoon, then hanging out awake all through the wee hours of the morning with nothing to do but play around on my computer, and I didn't need to cross continents to do that!

I left Dublin by train this morning, and as referenced above and in my last post, between the sleep schedule and the work schedule I didn't get out and about to see much. But last night I was determined to venture out into the city before I left, so I booked an evening walking tour through the AirBnB "Experiences." 

It. Was. Spectacular. 

Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator

It was chock full of the history and culture of Ireland in general and Dublin in particular, ancient and modern. We started at The Spire on O'Connell Street, and learned all about it's namesake (that's him at the top of the statue there), wandered down the River Liffey and into the Temple Bar district, which included a surprising amount of rock n' roll history.

This is one of my favorite travel photos I've ever taken

A nice small group of friendly people on the tour with me!

I learned the background of the phrase "beyond the pale," and why milkmaids are traditionally understood to be gorgeous (it has to do with nutrition and immunization, of all things). I learned that Van Morrison is Irish, and still alive. And I learned that apparently there is an Irish superstition that Christmas decorations not taken down by January 8th must then be left up all year. Last year because of the lockdowns, the Temple Bar couldn't get enough workers to take down the giant Christmas tree you see pictured above, and so it's actually been there all year long. The whole city is starting to get done up for Christmas now, so it wasn't out of place to us, but apparently Jack the tour guide has had to explain it to people all year long!

It was such a fun night - I just wish I'd managed it a bit earlier in the trip so I could go back to a few places. After the tour, two members of our party had to split right away to make a dinner reservation, but the tour guide and the French girl Stephanie and I all hung around at a pub for well over an hour, talking Celtic culture and language and the French's obsession with food and all manner of things, and when we finally called it a night Jack was nice enough to escort me back to my neighborhood, even paying for my bus fare. 

It was an absolutely excellent evening, and I'm so very glad I got myself out to do it. 

Checking in From the Emerald Isle

 Hello everyone!

Sorry I have been lax in updating you. I'm in Europe now, after a brief sojourn home to celebrate my Mom's birthday. There aren't too many pictures to show you - between my work schedule and the jet lag which is only just starting to lift, I haven't ventured much beyond my little neighborhood. I am right in the heart of Dublin, though, so it's not a bad neighborhood to stick to! 

Since there aren't any wild tales to tell right now, here's a smattering of things I've learned or noticed:

• This is a wildly international city. I can probably count on my fingers the number of actual Irish accents I have heard! Almost everyone here, myself included, seems to be from somewhere else. Maybe that's just my neighborhood (see "haven't been anywhere else," above), but it has certainly been a surprise. 
• Fireworks are a Halloween thing. I gather they are illegal in Ireland but legal in Northern Ireland, and with the open border you basically get fireworks going off all over Dublin for a solid month leading up to Halloween. On Halloween itself it was nonstop for hours. When I went out that evening, the whole city smelled of that unique smoke/ash that they generate. 
• Churches EVERYWHERE. 
• Frustrating but also supremely useful: they don't have American junk food here. Junk food aplenty, to be sure, but it's not American brands and even the ones that seem like they will be straight dupes actually taste quite different, and not usually in a way I enjoy. So my eating habits are being kept in check whether I want them to or not! My kingdom for a bag of plain unflavored potato chips. 
• Also on the subject of potato chips: they come in every flavor I've never even thought of - Balsamic vinegar. Curry. Shrimp. Cheddar and onion. And if it looks like a big US-style bag, it's not - it's actually a big bag filled with six mini bags. 

Double rainbow, as seen from my window

My time in Dublin is wrapping up here shortly, and from this point on I actually hop around quite a bit for the next couple of months - a week on the other side of Ireland in a tiny little town, staying over a pub, then a couple of weeks in London and a couple of weeks in Paris, then home for the holidays (again, a couple of weeks), and then I join my first Chapter with the WiFi Tribe! I'll talk more about them in another post, but in short it's a really neat digital nomad group full of people doing just what I'm doing - traveling while working remotely full-time - that sets up shop in various places around the world for a month or so at a time. I'll be spending January with them in Dahab, Egypt!