Outside

Our school has a subscription to a number of English-language magazines for the school library. The A-Level teachers convinced the school staff last year that magazines were excellent reading resources. They come in a range of interests and reading levels and magazine articles are far less intimidating than whole novels.

The other benefit is that we get to read them, too!

I share an office with my Handler, who does many things besides keeping me from getting in trouble out there in the big 'ol world. One thing he gets to do is unwrap the magazines and take out anything unacceptable for a high school audience. He was showing off the magazines to me, including the music magazine that had pictures of scantily-clad women in the summer issue. The school had been scandalized. (I didn't see such photos in the fall issue.) Then he flashed the Outside at me.

"Outside!" I yelled.

"What? Is this a good magazine?" he asked.

"It's only, like, totally awesome if you love outdoor sports," I replied.

"Well, do you want to borrow it for a week before I take it downstairs?"

Did I ever.

In this month's issue, they had a list of the Top 50 Things You Should Do This Year.

Number 1 on the list? Get a passport. Fill it up.

Check... and I'm getting there.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my colleagues about our holiday over Chinese New Year. "Where are you going?" is the big question. Wow, I realized, I can go anywhere. I don't have to stay in my apartment. It's expected that I will take a vacation someplace fun. Wait a minute...

Then I considered my summer vacation. Overnight, my whole world opened up. I don't have to run back to the U.S. in the summer and sit in one place. Oh, sure, I'll go back and visit, but I'll do that -- visit. I don't live there. I can stop by Japan on the way out. Vancouver on the return. Korea. Australia. Thailand. Singapore. I don't need to sit in my car on a freeway speeding across the desert just to see one person. I did that LAST summer. It was fun, but now it's time to sit on an airplane... and a beach. In a hotel. With drinks with little umbrellas in them. Taking pictures of the world's monuments.

I know more than a few of you are groaning right now. That means more weeks I won't be spending in your company, but I have this passport, and I'm going to use it. Save your pennies and come visit me someplace. We can meet in the middle.