So here is the weather forecast for the next few days in Phnom Penh:

Looks grand.  I am pretty sure there is no air conditioning where I am staying since the description includes adjectives like “rustic” and phrases like “teeming with life” and “visitors in your room”.

So Friday I had the pleasure of driving to Detroit to get an expedited passport.  The reason is good: I had only one and a half pages left in my old book (and over a year left before expiration). Apparently, I need one page for my Vietnam visa and one page for my Cambodian visa and a page for stamps.  Though no math expert, I can see that this doesn’t add up to what I have.

The new passport should arrive by Thursday.  One week before I travel.  So I should be okay there.  The passport official looked at my order of the double size passport (with 52 pages as opposed to 28) and asked why I travel so much.  Apparently it is typical for oil executives to request these double passports but not so much for average citizens.

What can I say?  I like the promise of adventure.

Leave Cleveland Airport at 7 something on the morning of the 4th of June.  Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City on the 6th of June roughly midnightish.

Take bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Phen.  Approximately seven hours of fun with a border crossing to boot.

Meander along to find the Billabong Hotel in Phnom Phen.  Rest as best can for the few hours left.

In the wee hours of the 7th, travel to the Elephant Sanctuary.  Stay for six days.  Hopefully get really close to the elephants.  Explore.  Learn new things.  Be helpful.  Relax.

Take a flight on Cambodian Airways from Phnom Phen to Siam Reap.  Figure out how to rent a bicycle.  If hotel has a pool (and it will), swim.  Consider a spa treatment.

In the wee hours of the 14th, bike to Angkor Wat – ideally for sunrise.  This will take some discipline but it can be done.  Spend the day sorting out the temples.  Wonder at what people can build.  Wish for the past.  Hope for the future.  Bike back to hotel.

Bike back to Angkor Wat on the 15th – possibly for sunset this time.  Repeat yesterday’s thoughts but look for new spots to think them in.

Fly back to Phnom Phen and take arranged transport to Sokha Beach in Sihanoukville.  Return to the place where gravity is kind; the ocean.  Swim.  Snorkel.  Swim.  Snorkel.  Do this pattern until feel exhausted.

Journey back from the beach to Phnom Penh and board a bus for Ho Chi Minh City on the 20th of June.  Enjoy the border crossing again.

Spend the 21st having a go at Ho Chi Minh City.  Find some amazing food.  Eat it.  Sleep in a hotel very close to the airport so can leave in the wee hours of the 22nd of June.

Return to Cleveland in the late evening of the 22nd.  Think about how strange it is to be in Cleveland when earlier in the day you were in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Deny that jet lag exists and go back to work on the 23rd.

Perhaps the most exciting part of any journey is the time leading up to it.  This is the time for wonder, for what ifs, for unfenced imagination.