And Off We Go!!!

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk besides me and be my friend.
- Albert Camus

After much preparation, planning, and packing, we have finally left San Antonio for Los Angeles to begin our much anticipated around the world trip. We didn't have enough time to get excited since we were trying to figure out how to properly fit all of our stuff from the apartment into a closet that is 5 feet by 9 feet. With lots of help from Nate, Randy, and Tim, we were finally able to carefully balance our bed, dresser, and armoire in such a position that it fits in our little closet-sized storage, as long as a couple of spiders don't jump on it simultaneously.

In prep for our trip, we were lucky enough to have several opportunities to see friends and family. One of the first get-togethers was having friends come across and down to San Antonio for our "International Beer Party." Everyone brought their own beers from several continents, and they all were quite tasty. We had friends from TU (University of Tulsa) and friends from TU (Trinity University) who came over. The day after the party, we went up to New Braunfels to float the Comal river for a day and tried not to scrap our butts on the bottom. Great weekend!

Now that we are here in L.A., where the smog begins 30 minutes before you land at LAX, we have been able to take an entire day to do nothing, relax, and just "be" for awhile. Today, we walked to the beach and rode a bike from Santa Monica's beach down to Venice beach. As I walked around Venice Beach with our TU friend Chrissy and her roommate Vola, I asked everyone at the beach where the gym was as I grunted and flexed with my chest puffed up. What has been most surprising to me about L.A. is that the weather here is quite cool and the people aren't as odd as I thought they would be. They're actually quite normal in their fancy clothes.

Tomorrow evening we fly from LAX to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, our first stop in our trip around the world. I hope to update our blog at least every two weeks along with photos. If you need to email me, drop me a note at jwhit003@gmail.com.

Peace, JW

Life is an adventure: risk it.
Life is a challeng: face it.
Life is a hymn: sing it.
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta