the departure.

It took me hot shower after hotter shower to finally get here...the Long Beach Airport. Tearful goodbyes behind me and now I lift my head to look to the future. What lies ahead is an experience that will hopefully change my life and satisfy this travel bug. Staging took place in Washington, D.C. The night before I left, I had a lot to do, including: packing, recovering from a mean hangover, saying goodbye to everyone, a last Long Beach meal at Marri’s Pizza (a Lampert Family favorite since 1977), and getting a tattoo with my mom.



I don’t remember much of staging, it happened so fast. With the peach core budget cut, what used to be four days is now squeezed into four hours. After some ice breakers and our per diem payment, we disbursed into groups of last meal preferences. Fourteen others and I quite enjoyed the last sushi & sake we will probably see in 817 days, and it wasn’t even that good.

Miami, Florida, USA

Before we knew it, we were shoved on a plane to Miami at two o’clock in the morning, only to wander lethargically around Miami Airport for an hour before hopping on another plane to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. All the while lugging around two years worth of junk in heavy suitcases. After being awake for 42 hours, we finally landed. Landing in Tegus is one of the scariest landings anyone will ever experience. I highly recommend anyone visiting me fly directly into Roatan. I will gladly meet you there.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras