Hello Friends, Family, and Fellow Travelers,

Well, not much since my last update, and I’ll be posting a Christmas update in a week or so. You won’t be hearing too much from me this month, since I’ll finally be putting some time into the website, sending out Xmas cards (first time in 3 years—quite the Herculean task), and getting ready to fly to Chicago for a week to see family and friends.

As far as travel goes, the current plan is to save up a bunch of money and see where I’m at financially and mentally in May. I may do some shorter trips over the summer, or perhaps I’ll finally save up enough for a round-the-world trip. I’m still excited about a trip to Asia, especially Thailand. I’m also hoping to go back to Europe. There are people there I haven’t seen since ’98. But right now it’s too early to tell, and I haven't decided if I want to leave Santa Barbara for good, or at least long enough to make returning difficult. Besides, if I make a plan now, it’d change so many times before coming to fruition.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing some writing, and I even submitted a few small pieces (finally!). I’ll be working on more stories throughout the next few months. By May I hope to have about 15 pieces finished and (hopefully) off to publishers.

In the meantime, I’ll be tweaking the blog here and there, but I’ll start adding to it on a daily (or at the very least, weekly) basis starting in January. Feel free to add comments. I’d like to know who’s checking in.

Happy Holidays!
dave