One curse (or is it a blessing?) about this journey is I can’t hold a cell phone call for more than a few minutes. The cell phone reception out here in the middle of nowhere is few and far between. It’s kind of annoying when I keep getting calls disconnected, but then I realized I kinda like it. If you already know my distaste for really talking on the phone at all—this is perfect! The phone conversation just abruptly ends itself. No fuss, no muss. “What? Sorry can’t hear you. Talk to you later!”

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me…” You know the rest.
Today I turned 34 in South Dakota. Never done that before. Well, never done either I guess! This is one SMALL town. I’m in Kadoka, South Dakota, population:
706. 85% of the population is white and almost all the rest are native American. Last night for dinner, I went local and had the requisite American meal: meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Mmm…nothing says the West better than meat lovingly formed into the shape of a loaf! It was actually quite tasty. My waiter at the small roadside diner was a guy from Bali! Of course, another local waitress told me he was from Bali, India. Not too worldy in these parts I guess. I’m sure she meant Indonesia. She had the first 3 letters right, at least.
I even overheard her teaching him nursery rhymes.
“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb…”
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a fence…”
She went on loudly like this for about a half hour. I mean seriously! The guy was more than 30 years old. I mean hand him a newspaper if you want to help him with his English. Nursery Rhymes?? Seriously.

Then at breakfast I gave my newspaper to a guy who also seemed to be from ‘somewhere else.’ Turns out he’s from Tajikistan. He’s studying at Stanford and was driving around the country like me. We shared a bit of “this is definitely middle America” comments and went our separate ways.

I headed off to the Badlands in the chilly rain.

The weather seemed to match the scene. Here the prairie gives way to a rugged no-man’s-land of unusual rock formations carved by wind and water. Its weird, multi-colored peaks, desolate buttes, desert-like moonscapes and fossil-rich fields, is an easy stop for road trippers like me zooming down I-90. This fascinating landscape of the park erodes at a rate of about 1 inch per year providing an ever-changing landscape. It’s a stark, craggy beauty really breaks up the monotony of the trip and the rain adds to the feeling. And aptly for this moment, Def Leppards, “Rock of Ages” came on the radio as I navigated through this eerie landscape. Very cool.
This little detour ended at Wall, South Dakota. If you’ve never heard of Wall Drug Store, I guess you haven’t lived because it has truly made the tiny town of Wall a thriving shoppers mecca! It’s a testament to great marketing, that’s for sure. What a crazy phenomenon. Welcome to the Disney World of Dakota! This town would be nothing without this ‘drug store crap emporium.’ The whole main street WAS the drug store. Through the racks of T-shirts, rows of shot glasses, and loads and loads of tchotckes I searched for the actual drugs. I finally did find a tiny apothecary. This place was sensory overload, but it teemed with tourists searching for the perfect “jackalope” keychain or “I’ve been bad in the Badlands” t-shirt. Not my scene. I bought my mom her second Jackalope and got the hell out of Dodge, or Wall as it were.

My bottle of ‘bomb infused’ spring water was just confiscated by the flight attendant on my flight from Newark to Chicago. I know, nowadays just uttering (or typing?) the word ‘bomb’ is a no-no, but I’m just reporting the news here, right?
As you may know just one week ago, the British authorities foiled a plot by terrorists to carry bombs on several planes in London. These bombs were a cocktail mix of a sports drink and ‘bomb juice’ (made that up). So, the result of this is the current ban of ALL liquids on all domestic and international flights. This includes your everyday lip balm, shampoo, toothpaste…and, yes, one of today’s most common accessories—the Starbucks cup or bottle of ‘fancy’ water scooped out of some stream in the Maine wilderness (or maybe just some guys toilet).
So, about an hour into our flight, 30,000 or so feet above the earth, I was reprimanded. I told the nice male flight attendant I had bought it after I passed through security (yes, this was a lie), but apparently no liquids are allowed onboard period. Actually, I was well aware of my carry-on hydration secret as I stood barefoot on line at the security checkpoint. I figured I would just keep it in the side pocket of my backpack. I stuck my pack in one of those gray plastic bins and for the heck of it, kind of tucked the bottle out of view, even though I was almost sure the X-ray folks would see it and make me throw it out. But if not, I could keep my bottle of refreshing goodness and no one would get hurt. To my surprise, they did not stop me—either they didn’t detect it or I was racially ‘profiled’ on the spot as a non-threat. Now, believe me, I was glad to keep my water, but disappointed at the ease of which I smuggled such ‘newly labeled contraband’ into the gate area. Good thing I can feel safe with such high alerts and crack security agents watching out for bottle-wielding hydration freaks like me.

#1. I booked my tix for the first leg of my journey yesterday and it turns out I WILL be able to stop in New Zealand (wasn’t sure if I’d go there, although, many people have told me how amazingly beautiful it is) for free since my flight stops there anyway. So I will stay for 10 days! So on my way home I’m reading this book called “Adventure Divas” by Holly Morris—a Globetrekker Host and also a TV producer (yes, I’ve already emailed her. I also emailed the Dancing Matt guy and he wrote me back—but I digress) and it just happens that the chapter I’m on is about her trip to New Zealand! Meant to be.

#2. I’m also very excited about my journey down to Chile and Patagonia. On Saturday I showed my condo to a couple –the wife has traveled around the world twice and her husband, of course, just happens to be from Chile and has tips for me.

I love when things like this happen! Sadly for them though, I did not rent them the place. They had 2 kids. That’s 2 kids too many for my condo.

I just have to mention I went running on the Lakefront Path this morning and was just running along and smelled the fresh cut grass and looked up at the pretty trees and smiled. I smiled while i was running?!?! I know, odd considering I simply despise running, but I truly love this city and it’s nice to have these moments when you feel lucky to be alive and healthy!
That’s my ‘carpe diem’ moment of the day!
LL

The next email goes out to friends and family:

From: Lisa.G.Lubin@abc.com
Subject: Around the World in 365 Days?
Date: July 31, 2006 2:34:09 PM CDT

Dear friends & family-

Hi there! As most of you know I love to travel. So…I am about to do what the subject line says. I plan on traveling around the world–starting this August in the US…and continuing on in October to Central America, South America, Australia, Asia, possibly Africa, and all of Eastern and Western Europe. Just this week I gave my notice (aka: quit!) at ABC7 after 9 years! And I sold my other condo. I will be renting out the condo I live in starting October 1.
This is a dream trip for me and I am reaching out to all of you for ANY help/advice/contacts/thoughts
(I apologize in advance if some of you have already gotten a similar email–there’s some crossover).

Here is the VERY rough plan I have so far:
October–Costa Rica
November–Ecuador (Galapagos Islands)
November–Chile (Patagonia)
Nov/December–Argentina
Dec/Jan–Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland/GBR, Cairns)
Feb/March–Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore
March/April–Dubai, Turkey
(possible trip to south africa)
April thru Summer–Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Baltics) and Western Europe (Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal)

I know some of you plan to meet me at certain spots which I am very excited about. I also am looking for any contacts (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) you may have abroad. I would love to visit some places and meet locals who can really give me a feel of their community and culture. And, many of you have done some traveling also and I’m looking for ANY and ALL advice/tips you have as well.

While traveling, I also plan on taking some classes (Spanish Immersion in Costa Rica & Spain, Cooking in Tuscany, photography)
and volunteering some. I’ve been in touch with the Chicago Sister Cities Program to do some work for them.
This is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do…and I am so fortunate to finally live my dream!
I plan on documenting much of my trip with photographs and will be in touch through email. If you would like to hear from me during my travels, please write back and I will include you on the email list. Thanks so much for your thoughts and excitement as I embark on a wonderful journey through our world!
See you along the way… or in a year!

Travel Love,
Lisa

PS–Stay tuned for the ‘bon voyage’ party in September!!
————————————————————————————————————————–
Lisa – That is fantastic!! It’s funny that you wrote today – I started writing you an email yesterday and our computers locked up at the end of the day, so I was going to finish it this morning. I’m sorry to hear about you and Andy. I know that must have been tough, but it sounds like you obviously have a lot going on! What a great trip this is going to be!! Are you pretty much traveling by yourself and just meeting up with people? I am so excited (and envious) for you!!! I OF COURSE want to be on the email list! We have some friends in Belgium and actually Shanghai that we could put you in contact with. The couple in Shanghai are super nice – they are sort of friends of a friend). We met them at a wedding and I know they would love to have a visitor. They teach English over there. So if you are going to Shanghai (which I just realized wasn’t on your list) just let me know. And if you go to Belgium, let me know – our friends Ron and Kat would love to have you! I am SO SO excited for you!!! I know this is a dream come true!! Cramer and I were talking just the other day about what the greatest job would be and I really think it would be to have some kind of travel show. Maybe you can do that when you get back!! Definitely keep me posted on everything!
Love, Susan

Wow this is HUGE …..Please put us on the list. As you always know we want to know how you are doing!
I have a friend who I will send this to and see if he has any advise/contacts for you! He has some extensive travel under his belt.
Take Care-and as always we will pray for you!
Brian Correll

You are amazing! I’ve always said that you are one of my heroes and you’re proving it once again. You have such an independent spirit and I love that in you. I love you Lisa. OMG, I can’t believe you’re doing this. It is so great. And I was going to send you an email and tell you I went to Nagel’s. How exciting is that? … I’m sure you’ve got a million things to do. I want to hear everything that happens. So keep me onthe list. This is so exciting. I’m going to tell everyone about my dear friend.
I love you, Rhonda

Lisa,
Awesome.
I didn’t see England in there. Let me know if and when you will be there. I will put you in touch with my friend Matt who grew up in Luton Town just outside of London. He will be living in Derby by then. He is a riot.
Grant Detrick

This is incredible. Wow. You’ve been talking about this for 15-years. I’m so impressed you are going to live out your dream
Yes, I know some people. Stay tuned. Which e-mail address will you be using–sbcglobal or yahoo?
Love and congrats.
Dougie

Uhhh…I think it goes without saying that I want to be on the email distribution list for the ATWITSFD tour.
Patrick

Hey Lisa-
Sounds amazing! Of course I’d love to hear from you during your travels!
If you ever decide to do a tour of the Western Suburbs, my door is always open J… Naperville is divine in the Spring….He He He
Travel Safe,
Nicole

Congratulations! Of course put me on your email list, and put me down as a “maybe” to meet you in Ecuador/Gallapagos and maybe Turkey next spring.
Hope to see you tonite for a drink,
Marsha

Wow Lisa! You’re doing what I wanted to do my whole life. I hope I can do it someday -and I hope I won’t be so old that I will confuse Moscow with Madrid. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and congratulations for having made that decision. I don’t know where it comes
from, but I guess we all want at some point in life to stop doing what we’re doing and travel around the world for a change. Good for you!
I will get you lots of information about Argentina. I don’t know what your plans are going to be, but as I said before, I have relatives there and they will be more than happy to host you in their homes. I also have friends in Ecuador and Chile so I will contact them to ask about the must-see places in their respective countries.
Good luck and talk to you soon.
Damian. (more…)