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Trapped on a plane for 10 hours. You know, people have died from such things. If you're inactive for too long, blood clots can form. The Rick Steves european travel site recommended various stretches and walks during such travel, and noted that the in-flight movie was good for only one thing--sleep. During the flight I started to wonder if it was such a good idea that I watched so many air crash investigation videos on youtube. I'd made a point not to mention such morbid things to Eric during the days leading up to our flights. However, knowledge can be a powerful thing. Was that bump merely turbulence, or had the aileron shaft thingie sheared off? Compared to riding TheBus in Honolulu though, the ride was positively luxurious, and definitely smelled better.

Ah, California, my birth state. Breathe in that fine Californian air! *cough* *cough* *gag* Yup, just like I remember it. Sure, I still had some nostalgic attachment to this place. After all, I still had friends and family here. While the latter hardly acknowledged my existence, at least my friends were all eager to see me. Down the causeways, past the one-way security escalator, and out the sliding doors, we found ourselves waiting at the curb.

Where to go? That was the question, or at least it was after Eric interjected that he wanted to explore central america. Having seen some islands for sale at a somewhat reasonable price, Eric wanted to visit them. Thus, I found myself looking at grainy satellite photos of Belize and elsewhere. He liked the idea of visiting South America, Central America, and India. Sparking some interest with me, I looked into Macchu Piccu. Unfortunately we couldn't visit any of those locations plus europe without at least doubling the airfare cost. So either we visited europe, or some other region. Doing both really wasn't in our budget. But then again, going to europe was really not in our budget anyhow, but we were going to do it, weren't we?

And so, my mantra was born. I kept saying to myself, "I'm going to Paris, I'm going to Paris." Still, I feared going to the highest peaks right away and proclaiming my decision. I knew all too well that I've made grand decisions before that didn't pan out. I didn't want this trip to be one of those.