Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Follow The Yellow Brick Road!!!!! 

OR 

We're Off to See the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

It's early morning, November 9th, Philadelphia.

The sun is shining, Fall is crisp in the air. The house is clean, the linens freshly washed, the dishwasher unloaded, the fridge empty. The weekend had Shelby and David here, and Sunday dinner with Spencer for the last pre-trip kids 'fix'. It has to last a while. The car is sleeping soundly in the suburbs, there's no milk left for coffee, the bills are paid for months ahead. Itineraries are given out both for and to prevent emergencies, goodbye calls, emails and texts are sent and received.

And we are packed! Again, each with precision in the same orange 24" suitcase from our last big adventure. Black and white color palette will reign, a repeat performance (let's hope it never goes out of style or good taste), shoes are always challenging and this time, along with rain gear and hiking boots for the glaciers of 'the South Island' and cocktail attire to celebrate a 60th birthday in Sydney- jacket and heels de rigueur- we MUST be ready. 

Nails done.....check

Hair keratin.....check

Legs shaved......check (GBR first stop)

Haircuts had.....check

NYT digital subscription, $0.99 a week.......check

VISAS secured (yes you need one)......check

Driving maps (learned the hard way it is easier to bring them than find them when you need them).....check

Cell phone charged (yes bringing one smartphone with free international texting).....check.

Planning ahead....

And yet, there is one more looming task, one final decision that has reached the pinnacle of procrastination and been pushed to the limits of everyones patience and curiosity------

To Blog or Not to Blog

That is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in my mind to answer to the siren calls of the multitude of emails (thanks or no thanks to Steve, depending on your perspective) asking we again provide a brief respite from the daily drudgery, to be consumed by family and friends each day with their morning coffee, of a slew of words, a passel of pictures and a once in a while WTF?

Or to mine own self be true and wait for a funny moment, a witty observation, a majestic view, a cultural WOW or simply the urge to create with words to finally strike me?

Which will it be?

So first, the logical will prevail, knowing the idea of writing almost daily provides routine and balance to traveling for two months, far away, each day different from the last- which by its very definition is the opposite of routine. 

Then efficiency will likely arrive, knowing blogging one hour a day will eliminate at least twice the time it would take to keep up with the individual  emails and texts and stay in touch with everyone back home's'. 

Next I will probably recall the fun of letting our blog subtly inform our days- snapping a special photo that would be just the perfect food porn (well, ...we were in France for six weeks) or finding Steve's particular WTF niche to post and share.

But then I will remember how much I hate a repeat anything- restaurant, vacation spot, blog(???)- because it not only gets boring but how can you always reinvent and top yourself. It is bound to be disappointing, perhaps lack the spark of a 'first time anything'.

I'll also think about change, how I love to find a new edge, see something differently to ignite some creativity and reinvent the mundane. And so now, my first challenge as we soar across the sky this evening, from East Coast to West Coast, over the Pacific Ocean to Oceania and the GBR, is to figure out a new spin on an old blog ..... marciandsteve.blogspot.com.

I've got 24 hours to come up with something. I am down to the wire, time has run out, the countdown is well underway. So stay tuned, re-up your subscription and grab your iPad with your coffee each A.M. We are still not sure what's coming but something will wing its way across time and space from Down Under as we head to Oz.

So stay posted, stay in touch and stay well.....as we venture out and blog our way past kangaroos and koalas. All you have to do to come along is......

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Marci and Steve