First off let me thank you for taking time out of your busy day to come visit my little web log. For all my friends and family I'd like to say “Hello” and “What's up.” For my Vanuatu and Peace Corps friends, “Olsem Wanem” and “Kusé!” For the next three months five or six months I'll be on the road, taking a long trip after three years of Peace Corps service in the island country of Vanuatu. For those of you who are unaware, Vanuatu used to be called New Hebrides and is located in the South Pacific near Fiji and Australia. It's one of the least developed countries in the world (by Western standards) and is one of the poorest countries in the world (also by Western standards).

But enough about its history, I leave Vanuatu on December 9th after myself and other volunteers finish our Closure of Service (COS) conference on December 8th. From there I leave with Mike, who came with my group and also extended a year, and travel to Australia for a few days, enjoying the food, infrastructure and wildlife. As a former Marine and Lawyer, Mike should be an interesting travel buddy. Then it's off to Singapore for some time as I try to get adjusted to Asian life. Of course Singapore isn't the more rural of Asian countries but it is a gateway to our next destination: Baghdad, I mean Bangkok. While in Bangkok we hope to meet up with Adam Kane, another RPCV who has been traveling the world for almost a year on the money he saved while in Peace Corps Vanuatu. Adam has to be one of the most misery, resourceful people I know. I don't think he plans on going back to the States anytime soon.

However, before I leave Vanuatu I plan on getting in some last minute travel in country. Tomorrow I fly to Tanna with two friends, Joe and Melissa to check out the volcano and visit the other volunteers down there. I've been to Tanna before but the volcano wasn't as active as I was hoping. I had the same problem when I visited the volcano on Ambrym. I seem to have bad luck with volcanoes. After a week in Tanna I may be installing a solar system on Mota Lava in the Banks (Northern Vanuatu). Looking ahead seems difficult when I still have so much left to do in country: paperwork, last kaekaes, medical checkouts, selling all my material possessions, etc.

I'm burning to CD all the music I think I can take traveling with me. This of course begs the question: what kind of music does one take around the world? I suppose one could also ask the question: what music would you take to a deserted island? The answer is: as much as you can take. I have artists ranging from System of a Down to Mozart, Rob Zombie to Bob Marley, Shakira to Tomoyasu Hotei. All the music I can't take will stay on my laptop, to be enjoyed by whoever eventually buys it. Selling off my stuff has been hit or miss. Some things like my travel chair and solar battery charger I've been able to sell very easily to my friends. Other things like my internal frame backpack have been more difficult to sell, I'll probably give a lot to my old host family in Epau Village. I find myself in a strange position in that I will have to fit all my worldly possessions in my backpack as I travel. No suitcases, no rolling monstrosities, just what I can fit in the overhead compartment (which seems to get bigger every time I fly an airplane).