At Least Nothing Was Thrown

I was tempted though. Dinner this evening was interesting.

I'm not sure how the conversation got around to it, but I mentioned that I was going to take a boat across the Atlantic at some point in my life, and most likely next summer on the way to or from Study Abroad in Belgium (and Beaky better go too, or I'll be very upset and cry in the corner inconsolably for at least a decade).

This was met with, "You and what navy?" I responded, "The Queen Mary 2, of course*." The subsequent parental response was limited to hysterical guffawing which lasted the better part of five minutes. As I'm not fond of being laughed at if I'm not being funny, I was forced to go get my Cunard catalogue and prove that while there are $25,000 per person suites, there are also rooms for less than $2,000 a person. Which isn't bad at all especially if you consider that it is six nights and you're crossing an ocean.

Anyway, the masochist in me took over my brain and I continued on, outlining my around-the-world-mostly-by-train-with-some-boats-and-planes-thrown-in-for-good-measure plan.

For some reason, despite the fact that I have explained it probably hundreds of times over the last 5 years**, they keep forgetting that Mongolia isn't a tropical region and as such chided me for wanting to go to a hot climate (I don't do well in the heat, just ask the people I know in Cairo, on second thought you can't as they're not speaking to me, so nevermind). They got quiet when I said I would be crossing it with the Trans-Siberian.

My mother wanted to know "why in Heaven's name" I would ever want to go there. That's like me asking her "why in Heaven's name" she likes to sit at home between shopping sprees and watch Fox News. There is no real explanation (at least none that would really make sense to anyone else) and no way to dissuade her from it.

Then we got to the rather tired, "Well, don't expect us to pay for any of this." And my tired response, "Have you paid for any of my traveling***, ever?" Really, I can't think of a better way to spend my own money than on an around the world trip.

It was sort of funny as I left the room when the meal was over, I heard my mother whisper, "We can't let her do that." To which my father replied, "Well, we can't stop her, remember Yemen?" "Oh God, don't talk about that!"

So, my father is being a bit more perceptive about these things. I still haven't divulged that I'm going to Kyrgyzstan in August. Actually, I haven't even told them I'm going to London and Denmark. I'll break the Europe part of it to them when I'm in Providence. I'm thinking I'll wait on the Kyrgyzstan part of it until after I'm safely out of the States...

*These things must be done in style and I'm pretty sure they're the only company that does the route regularly

**I've been obsessed with going to Russia/Central Asia/Mongolia since I got back from Southeast Asia in 2000

***Independent traveling anyway, they did pay for things when I was like 8 and forced to go on those HappyFamilyVacations