I packed my bag, last night, preflight

In late March of this year, I'll be heading out -- The Big Out.

First stop is to spend some time with a charity that I used to support.  I sponsored a child, helped -- financially -- with the construction of a school and a clinic, and ... bought them a goat.

Because a goat is universally considered to be The Perfect Gift :-)

But I'm going to see the village that I 'helped,' many years ago, along with my cousin and the President of the charity, Frances Dixon.

It's been a profoundly difficult 3-1/2 years for me.  Too much stuff to detail -- some of it, I'm legally bound (court-ordered Gag Order) NOT to discuss, at all.

Which should say enough, all by itself.

In 6/2012, I moved out of my house, and into a cheap hotel.

In 11/2012, I flew to California, to help my mother.  In 3/2012, HER neighbors burned down THEIR condo, causing significant damage to my mother's house, in the process.

I came for three weeks, but stayed for four months.  She needed lots of help.  I did what I could.

I was born with lousy eyes and a banged-up immune system.  The eyes took me out of work on several, multi-year, occasions.  Each time, through dint of tenacity, I found my way back to work.  The last time, though, I was prescribed eye drops, which -- after 6-1/2 years -- burned my corneas.  I now suffer from the OLD issues, AND the burned eye thing.

So ... I'm heading to the tropics.

From California, I've handled most of the necessary logistics to prepare for this trip.  I've also spent a few bucks, at Amazon.com, buying what I'll need FOR the trip.  I have a lot of travel stuff, already, but ... it lives in the inner sanctum of a 10' x 25' x 10' storage space that is packed to the rafters with my Worldlies.

I've traveled before.  It's my passion.  But never have I gone out into the world as a medically disabled man.  This one ... well ... it's new to me.

I also travel with the aforementioned Primary Immune Dysfunction, and the recently acquired diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder -- neither of which takes up a great deal of room in my backpack, but ... both of which constitute a large part of the baggage that I'll carry with me ;-)

And so it goes.

And so will I.

I'll be blogging along the way.  I have severe difficulty reading, but ... can usually type fairly well without looking.  I glance, occasionally, to be sure my fingers are still on the keyboard's "home row," but ... don't we all ??

The Gulag was once a place, but now ... it's a state of being; a condition.

So it's still The View From the Gulag, but ... soon ... the view will be vastly different, and ever-changing.

I'll keep you posted.

I'll open up the comments section.  Also, I can be reached by e-mail.