tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184082242007-12-13T08:09:04.111-08:00Rion and AnissaBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-33097223056285544502006-12-24T08:48:00.000-08:002006-12-24T08:50:27.725-08:00

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! I hope that this email finds you well and that you are able to take some time out to enjoy time with family and friends. Rion and I are really missing those opportunities this year, and have discussed often, as of late, how much we miss having our friends and family near to us. At the same time, though, this Christmas is very

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1158570017170260292006-09-18T01:46:00.000-07:002006-09-21T10:57:34.863-07:00

“We’re sorry, at this time we are unable to process international credit cards. Please call customer service for assistance” I felt my frustration level rise as I read theses words from the computer screen in the internet café. All I have is international credit cards! All my credit cards were issued in America and I need to make a plane reservation from Bangkok to Phuket. Anissa and I had been

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1153129764716891712006-07-17T02:44:00.000-07:002006-07-17T02:49:24.723-07:00

When I was a little skater punk of thirteen, trying to break my neck on our homemade half-pipe with punk anthems playing on the boom-box, I knew every word to the Black Flag song “Holiday in Cambodia”. I can still remember the chorus chanting: ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ in a scratchy gothic-punk yell, but that is all I can really remember of the song. I have a vague idea that it was a dark satirical

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1153128942392232552006-07-17T02:33:00.000-07:002006-07-17T02:35:42.400-07:00

Thanks for reading my last post about the children here in Cambodia. Today, Anissa and I spent the afternoon with a Christian missions group from the USA working with the kids in the Kompong Cham Province. It was a fun-filled afternoon of games, crafts, skits, and language barriers broken by laughs and smiles from everybody. It reminded me of my high school years when I would go with our local

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1152450273182328602006-07-09T05:55:00.000-07:002006-07-11T14:12:39.783-07:00

Quick, grab a phone and call your favorite NGO (non-governmental organization) operating in Cambodia and sponsor a child, now. I know we have all seen Sally Struthers on TV beg and plead for “The cost of a cup of coffee a day” and wondered how many children would be saved if she stopped eating the supplies and lost a few pounds. I have changed the channel each time one of these commercials

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1152018695235435072006-07-04T06:05:00.000-07:002006-07-04T06:11:35.246-07:00

I am sitting here in the Singapore airport waiting to board a flight to Cambodia marveling at the ease of air travel outside the USA. If you haven’t traveled on an airplane within the US in this post-911 arena then you may not quite identify with all I am about to say, but read on for some enlightenment. The USA has the most intrusive security screening process, not the most secure, of

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1151845207430556512006-07-02T05:52:00.000-07:002006-07-02T06:23:52.170-07:00

I must say that I am more than a little pissed off! I feel as if I have been duped, lied to, laughed at, and then spat upon. This hurts worst than finding out that a fat man in a red suit with a cookie habit did not bring me a Big Wheel when I was six. I will picket outside P.F. Changs to let the whole world know; there is no such thing as Singapore Street Noodles. Anissa and I arrived here in

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1151840437738777932006-07-02T04:14:00.000-07:002006-07-02T06:16:14.096-07:00

I had no idea it would be so hard to drive 10,000 miles over two countries and write witty journalistic blogs at the same time. I have been taking notes like a good little writer, but I haven't been able to make the time to write the great stories with lots of research and interesting facts. Anissa, in contrast, has been doing a fantastic job keeping the photo Blog updated with new pictures and

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1147505409394318222006-05-13T00:26:00.000-07:002006-05-13T00:30:09.403-07:00

“Go north young man!” is what I wanted to tell you an old Kiwi said to me as we left Auckland. That is what we did, but I would be lying if I told you an old man said that to me. Anissa is the young vibrant beauty who said that to me. If I were even to allude to her as an old woman I would spend the coming months as celibate as a priest, as celibate as a priest is supposed to be, modern

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1147176683168254392006-05-09T04:55:00.000-07:002006-05-09T05:11:23.176-07:00

So where are we going and when will we be there. For those who are intrested here is our itenary for the next year or so. March 4, 2006 to March 13 2006 -- Hawaii, USA March 15 2006 to May 2, 2006 -- New Zealand May 2, 2006 to June 29, 2006 -- Australia June 30, 2006 to July 3, 2005 -- Singapore July 3, 2006 to July 24, 2006 -- Cambodia July 24, 2006 to August 15 2006 -- Thailand August 16,

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1147173987655224712006-05-09T04:19:00.000-07:002006-06-04T07:07:27.180-07:00

I was recently asked by a friend, “How are you feeling after a month and a half of being on the road?” Well, honestly, has it been that long already? One of the most amazing things about a life is that you just keep on living it until you stop. It really seems obvious when you look at it from this side of the fence. Before we left for the trip there was a flurry of activity keeping us

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1146027969315325752006-04-25T22:00:00.000-07:002006-04-25T22:06:09.320-07:00

Do you realize they drive on the wrong, well unusual, side of the road here in NZ? We were sent out on the road for this new adventure with a pat on a back and a hearty “Good on ya mate” (Translation: Good for you, have a great time.) from the rental agent and no warnings about the basic rules of the road and how they might differ from driving back home in the USA with the sole exception of; “

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1146027539978183472006-04-25T21:57:00.000-07:002006-04-25T21:58:59.986-07:00

I have now had fulfilled my biggest adolescent fantasy! Like many of you I grew up in the 70’s with such role models and Jack, Larry, and Mr. Roper. There was also the inspiring freedom and discovery of Mork with Mindy. Lest we forget the most cool of them all, Fred and the Gang in their Mystery Machine. As a child it was quite a mystery to me what a guy would be doing with an apartment on

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1143761997536771442006-03-30T15:21:00.000-08:002006-04-24T11:22:58.413-07:00

What a silly question. You jump off of it of course! From the country that brought us such fun a tieing a rubberband around your ankels and jumping off a bridge or climbing inside a rubberball a being thrown down a mountain (google Zorbing), what else would you expect? Downtown Auckland is home to the tallest manmade structure in the southenrn hemesphere and at 192m up the 328m structre there is

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1143706783340039882006-03-30T00:16:00.000-08:002006-03-30T00:19:43.350-08:00

So, it does appear that time travel is really possible. Let me see if I can explain it as I understand it. When you travel west and pass a special line on the planet called the “International Dating Hotline”, you have the opportunity to make a toll-free call to the love after-life and post-dating help desk, currently outsourced to a call center in India. To make this call, a phone appears to you

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1142328559361050812006-03-14T01:23:00.000-08:002006-03-26T14:34:40.936-08:00

Journal Entry March 11th 2006 Day Seven: The Monsoon season has arrived early this year. The natives are restless and have stopped all trading in the local markets. The rains have washed out the only access roads, both above and below our camp, trapping us here like rats on a sinking ship. All we can do is sit it out, wait patiently, and hope our supplies last until a clearing in the storm.

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1142060779718033572006-03-10T23:05:00.000-08:002006-03-10T23:06:19.726-08:00

As you may know, Anissa and I have a budget that we created for The Great Trip. We must stick to this budget for us to make it all the way through out our journey around-the-world. To that end, we are eating “self catered” meals as often as possible. I thought it might be fun to share with you, our readers, what we are eating on the road. So here is our debut issue of “Recipe from the Road”.

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1141897015611610942006-03-09T01:05:00.000-08:002006-03-09T01:36:55.666-08:00

Leonard Nimoy sits in a chair coolly evoking the words, "Tribbles... Gremlins... Rabbits... 4th graders... Blogs..." Sandy from Idaho, sweat beading on her brow, blurts out, "Things you don't expect to multiply so fast, but do..." That top cube in the pyramid spins around, lights flash and the camera zooms in just as Leonard loses his mystique, leaps up and lunges into Sandy’s outstretched arms

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1141773357822698362006-03-07T15:14:00.000-08:002006-03-07T22:09:01.433-08:00

Well, we did it. We left. We are gone. We are “On the Road”. We are on “The Great Trip”. I can honestly say that it still does not quite feel real. There have been great expectations, much and fretful planning but, it still does not quite feel real. Yet, this is it, here we are. In the weeks and months leading up to Saturday March 4, 2007, I have fantasized about the great revelations that

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1134522748212023472005-12-13T17:12:00.000-08:002005-12-13T20:56:34.926-08:00

These are the two wonderful girls that we will be leaving behind. Clio and Rhea.

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1133565581300505612005-12-02T15:05:00.000-08:002006-01-14T15:17:47.686-08:00

Well we launched a "gallery" to be attached to this web site. http://www.thegreattrip.com/pictures and if you are like me you may browse quickly through them once in a while or just have a warm fuzzy knowing that its there if you ever want to see pictures, ooh ahhhh. So if that is your kinda of thing to enjoy, have at it. I will be adding all sorts of old pictures for safe keeping and we will

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1132343952835597402005-11-18T11:29:00.000-08:002005-11-18T14:55:47.140-08:00

For those of you how don't know what Skype is yet, it is a voice communication program for computers. In very simple terms it turns your computer into a very expensive phone that can make very inexpensive, sometimes free, "phone calls". If you have a high-speed internet connection you should really download and install the application. http://www.skype.com/ The application if completely free of

Rion and Anissatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18408224.post-1130531621442739632005-10-28T13:32:00.000-07:002005-10-29T11:10:33.426-07:00

Wow, I never realized how many options there are for tickets around the world. We are looking into Air Consolidators and Air Alliances right now. I will update you as we have more information.

Rion and Anissa