The end of a long journey

As I sit here in the lobby of our Jordan hotel watching the staff set up and decorate a Christmas tree it's hard to believe that nine weeks have passed by so quickly.

It took fifty years of dreaming and two years of planning, negotiating, and scheduling to get going. We used 72 different tourism vendors, eight individual tour companies, and seventeen private guides.

We rented and drove cars and ATVs, were transported in vans, trucks, busses, taxis, metros, trains, boats, and ferries. We saddled up camels, donkeys, and horses and covered a lot of sand and rock. Collectively we flew on twenty-one different air carriers.

We met countless charming, open and welcoming people who embraced our uniqueness and shared theirs. We gave and received gifts.

Fourteen powerful and resourceful friends found a way to travel intimately for weeks, sometimes sharing close quarters and all the while getting along. Spats certainly occurred and every once in a while one of us in turn needed to be reeled in, me included. However love and genuine respect always won out in the end.

Memories abound and were formed and three newcomers joined our merry band for future adventurers. As the saying now goes, "once you've been with a leopard, you'll never go back to your old ways!"

Personally this was a journey of completions and new beginnings. I loved traveling with my beautiful wife and awesome son. I've added six new countries to my list-it's up to 57 now and growing. I've made many new friends. My world is growing closer. I have once again seen that no matter who we are, what religion or belief we embrace, we are truly one. Lets all hope our governments can soon figure out what we all have known for a long, long time.

I can't wait for the next great adventure. Stay tuned!