Today I start my 40-day Asian Sabbatical. Every 5 years, my company gives us the opportunity to take 4 consecutive weeks away from work - a sabbatical. I was able to add 1 week of vacation and schedule around the July 4th holiday - effectively maximizing as much time as possible. Over the next few weeks, I'll be visiting 7 countries (Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Phillipines, Cambodia, and Thailand) and will then spend a few days visiting with family in St. Louis & Denver at the end of the trip.
I've been looking forward to this date (June 30th) for a long time. It's been 5 years since my European Gap Year. I still look back at my posts to this day. It was a special opportunity and I'm very thankful I did this. I'm really excited to get it going again - albeit on a much smaller scale. Hang with me as I explore an area of the world greatly unknown to me.
I write this aboard a 12hr, 30min United flight bound for Tokyo from Chicago O'Hare. My trip started on Thursday, June 30th when I hailed my very first Uber. Well - a have a lot to lean about the whole "Uber thing". $102 to the airport - ouch! I was expecting about $60. I ended up ordering an UberXL unknowingly and we went on a toll road where fees were even higher than normal. Lesson learned. When we arrived at the airport, the driver's phone errored out and I didn't know my fare until about 2 hours later. I didn't feel great about the situation - but, I'll call it a learning experience.
I flew out of Denver to Chicago Midway via Southwest where I met up with Randy & Wendy. They will be joining me for the first 2-1/2 weeks of my trip. I met Randy at the airport as his flight in from St. Louis arrived about the same time as mine. Wendy graciously picked us up and then we stayed at her house on Thursday night.
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