Going on Vacation

I'm headed off for traveling adventures tomorrow and it's likely that I will be completely out of touch (& yes, that means not blogging or reading blogs) until I return the 1st of November. When I sent my itinerary to my sister she asked "And where aren't you going?" and it's true, I'm doing quite a bit of moving for such a short trip. But oh(!) I'm so excited. Here is the sketch of my trip:

SCOTLAND: Here I will be visiting a dear Swiss friend who is pursuing a Post Doc in Aberdeen. We will be joined by her boyfriend who is originally German but lives in Switzerland, another dear friend. We met when they became my housemates in Fairbanks, Alaska where they had come for his post doc and a portion of her PhD. There she fell head over heels in love with the Disreputable Dog despite the fact that the first words out of her mouth to me were that she did not like dogs.

All map courtesy of Meriam-Webster's Geography

MOROCCO: This is the original pupose of the whole trip. I will be meeting up with a very dear Dutch friend who I met in Ghana. We're making this a girls trip. We both like to travel footloose and fancy free and we haven't made and determined plans although we have vague ideas in mind. I've never been to Morocco and am terribly exited about seeing the architecture and the textiles and to feel the heat of the desert.

HOLLAND/ NETHERLANDS: I will head back to the Netherlands with my Morocco traveling friend to met her family, her husband and two children of whom I have heard many stories and whom I have yet to meet. I suspect they're equally curious to meet me especially since I'm dragging their wife & mother away from them for a week. And I may have a chance to visit the school for mentally disabled kids and talk about Alaska while I'm there.


Does that not sound like a fabulous trip? A little summer in Morocco before returning to the winter of Alaska. Exotic sights and sounds and smells and yet the comfort of seeing very good long held friends after a long absence? And there's sure to be a little adventure and some unexpected, unplanned events in there to boot.