@SirCork Witness Update: Today is the day I take off around the world for 5 countries in 18 days. Much excite, many nervous, so circumnavigation, wow!

Hey Again Steemitizens!

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Today is the day I finally take on my trip of a lifetime. I am going to be travelling for 18 days through 6 countries (including my own, the USA) and I have to admit, I am freaking out on so many levels right now, it's got my stomach in a bit of a knot.

To start off, let me begin by saying my discord and chat availability will be intermittent and at odd times of day over the next 19 days. Please be patient if you are reaching out for either @YouAreHOPE or @SteemStarNetwork related business discussions.

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After departing the USA via a 90 minute stop in Philadelphia Pennsylvania to change planes, I will be arriving in Amsterdam Netherlands, where I will spend Sunday and Monday with the ever so lovely @poeticsnake, and I am very excited to meet her in person. At the current time it is our plan to actually do the Steemitizens of Steem broadcast from her home. It will likely be a shorter broadcast than the usual 4.5 hour show and will definitely be starting later than usual, stay tuned for an announcement a short while before we go live, and join in the fun as we do the show together, with me probably very much in an "Amsterdam state of mind" if you know what I mean. ;)

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After that, I will be flying to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. I was planning to meet up with @nnnarvaez there but his travel plans have been changed and that will no longer be possible. I may or may not leave the airport here as a result, because I only have an 8 hour window between flights and I'm terrified of missing any planes on this journey due to the tight scheduling of my stops and the risk of massive costs for flight changes mid-route.

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Once I have successfully made it past these first two destinations, I will be heading to Kolkata India in West Bengal, the land of amazing tigers and beautiful landscapes. I will be attending a wedding there for one of my non-steem company's employees, a gentleman who is not on STEEM (YET!) but who has been my friend now for a couple of years, as well as my senior lead business analyst and team director onsite in India. I am super excited to meet this very dear friend in person and to attend a four day long(!!!!) traditional Indian wedding ceremony. India is a long time destination dream of mine, and I will be there for about 11 days before departing for points even further east!

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After India, I am heading over to Hong Kong, where I will de-plane and board a jet ferry to the pacific island of Macau. I have to admit I had never heard of Macau until my cousin suggested I skip the Hong Kong experience and go straight over there. At first that made no sense at all to me, until I learned that Macau is also known as "the Las Vegas of the East" and is known for it's 36 major casinos on the rather modest sized island.

Macau is quite interesting because it was settled by the Portuguese which seems very odd to me since it is all the way around there off the coast of China! I am quite looking forward to this experience of mixed, historic culture and of course, I love playing poker in casinos, a hobby I have had for years. I am not the world's worst player so I expect that will be an amazing experience. I was able to book an affordable beach side room, so even though I will only be on the island for about 20 hours total, I will be sure to get in some great card games, and a nice pacific beach sunrise, before boarding the jet ferry back to Hong Kong to depart towards America again.

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Upon arriving back state-side, my last stop is a quick layover for a few hours in Chicago, Illinois where I will be reunioning with an old buddy from my childhood hometown for a bite of world famous Chicago style pizza and a beer, naturally!

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And then finally, back to Richmond, Virgina, my current place of residence, to sleep and sleep and sleep!

I am excited, nervous about the countries, foods that could kill me and all that stuff. I am travelling solo and if anything goes wrong in a country where I neither speak the language or know anyone around me... Well, let's just hope nothing goes wrong and I don't forget where I am, and accidentally drink some hotel orange juice or coffee made with local water I'm not used to, because that could be very bad.

I know your instinct is to say, don't worry, nothing will go wrong, but when I last travelled out of the country to the UK in 1994, I drank a canned beverage, that was not heat-pasturized for bacterias like we do in the USA and ended up in a hospital for 3 days! That experience has left me quite worried about the potential for a repeat experience on this trip.

Aside from that, I am SO DAMN EXCITED!

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It's hard to believe that in 19 days from today, I will be able to say I have been to 12 countries total in my 49 year young life, an experience a rather proportionately small number of people in history can probably claim. It's awe inspiring to consider that.

I am not a rich man, this is a very big deal to me, made possible by the big Steem December lift, and a rather modest inheritance I received last fall of a few thousand dollars. If those two events had not coincided, none of this would have ever been possible at all. So thank you steem for showing me the whole world!

I don't have a lot of time left today before the Uber comes to take me away, so I will leave you by saying that I love you all, and I ask you to pray or think of me in your own ways as I make my way, solo, around the world to the East and back again in a full circle of this big old dirty, wet, brown and green and blue rock we all live on and share with each other.

Video by @IntheNow

While I am on the road, I will change from @YouAreHOPE founder, to an Agent of HOPE putting boots on the ground first hand, as I've cashed out a small amount of the community's generous donations to YAH, to use as I see opportunities in the streets of some of these countries to touch lives in need around the world.

Photos taken during a meetup with Steem's own "The Writer's Block" founder @RhondaK

DONT FORGET THE T-SHIRT SPOTTING CONTEST!
Remember, I bought a bunch of STEEM t-shirts with the logo and my name on them. If you see me wearing one, anywhere on Earth and approach me and say hello, I will transfer 5 steem or sbd (depending on what I have on hand) to you, either right away or as soon as I am in a spot with wi-fi!

Wherever you are, may your day ahead be bright, and with any luck, the four winds will likewise, blow me safely home again.

See you on the other side!

Yours in service,
@SirCork
Founder @YouAreHOPE Foundation for steem backed & community fueled worldwide humanitarian aid.
Founder @SteemStarNetwork - The 24/7 live stream at the center of the steemiverse!
Steem Witness #74