Hello again, Blogonauts!

Lumbering about the world, for me at least, means the precise opposite of slumbering about the world. Between the challenge of sleeping on an airplane, jet-lag, and downright giddiness at travel, I and the sandman are suddenly barely speaking.

But nonetheless, "s'wonderful" lumbering off again, even without the an initial "S" ... or coveted "Z's."

But on to matters now underfoot:

Asia feels closer than it is. Sarah Palin notoriously thought she could view it from her bathroom window. But in fact it is so far away that the quickest way to get there from North America is to FLY OVER THE ******NED NORTH POLE.

I am not kidding. Six months of darkness. Outside temperature? -88º F. I can see Santa from here!

The Pacific Ocean is so unimaginably wide that airlines flying between North America and Asia must essentially avoid it altogether, and contrary our love of latitude lines, must cross the Arctic Ocean instead.

This is no small feat, either. It may not have the enormity of the Pacific, but the Arctic Ocean still includes the word "ocean."

Cathay Pacific (misnomer) Airlines flight 807 picked me up in Chicago on Saturday at 2 PM. We communed together for the equivalent of a double work shift, sailing through arctic darkness across both the pole and the international date line. After a moment to change planes in Hong Kong, and another 2 hour flight, Cathay Pacific (misnomer) and I parted company at approximately 4 minutes before Monday.

Which means that Sunday was simultaneously both the shortest and longest day I have spent in my entire life.

So I am in Bangkok on Monday morning, awaiting a flight to Yangon, Myanmar, where my friend Zoë has planned a chance-of-a-lifetime encounter with a country emerging from decades of heavy-handed military rule. The egg is cracked, and I get a chance to see the chick struggle to free itself.

I've uploaded a few photos to document the initial leg of the journey. Stay tuned for coming attractions!

Blog to you later!