What a crazy start to the new year it has been! I hardly even know where to begin. I skipped over the stroke of midnight myself, as I was flying high above the world on a 17 hour flight from San Francisco to Singapore. That’s right, I’m on the other side of the world, again. (Big thanks to my loving Fletch who always supports my every endeavor, and to my sister whose generous airline attendant perks were able to get me there for next to nothing.) It was a bit of a last minute surprise. As you may already know, I’ve been trying to up my blogging game, and well, it’s tricky to build a travel blog without traveling.

My mind is still spinning in a dozen different directions, trying to figure out where I want to take this, but here’s a little bit of what’s to come:

I still have two final stories from Oman that I never got around to posting, what with the flurry of preparations to leave for 3 months.

And then we’ll get on to the new and exciting, Southeast Asia backpacking adventure! Yes, I’m doing the cliche backpacker thing and seeing what kind of ground I can cover in 3 months. (Famous last words before I get stuck on an island somewhere.)

I will of course keep you updated with all the stories along the way, but there may be a few tutorials and how-tos thrown in there as well. I know the majority of my current readers may not have any need for this kind of information, but this is the kind of information that I found useful while planning for this trip, and thus the kind of information that I hope to pass forward. Not all of you want to live vicariously through me; I hope to inspire some of you to set out on your very own adventures, in which case a few tools to do so would be valuable.

My week’s worth of planning got me as far as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I just spent the past 3 days. What a vibrant city full of warm-hearted people and excellent food! I have a lot of writing to catch up on for such a short time there.

Now I am on a bus headed up to George Town, Penang, which I hear is a lovely little colonial town with lots of history and architecture left over from the era of British rule. To top it all off, it is considered the food capital of Malaysia. Yum! My tentative plans after that are to ferry to Langkawi for a few nights, and then catch another ferry to Koh Lipe, Thailand. Nothing is set in stone though; that’s the beauty of this adventure. I’m making it up as I go.

Any and all feedback is always welcome. Ask questions, request a post on a certain topic, recommend places to go, or things to do… I’m all ears. If you find any posts especially enjoyable or helpful, feel free to spread the love by sharing. Shares are what allow people in this crazy, digital nomad lifestyle to thrive and flourish. Thanks to everyone who has been reading all these years. Here’s to a new decade of adventures!