In a few days I am going to get on a plane and leave this country. There was a time when I was something of a globe trotter. My most famous trip to date was the 10 months I spent backpacking with my husband on a journey that, among other things, took us on a voyage that included the Trans-Mongolian railroad, with stops in Siberia.

Before you ask, yes, we did that before we had a child.

Most days n0w? I seem to travel a route that just loops back, over and over again between Jersey City and Hoboken. Last week I had lunch in Manhattan with an editor, near the Flatiron, but life is usually not that glamorous. (Jersey City, Hoboken, Lower Manhattan pretty make up my personal version of “the tri-state area” — it’s just the tri-city area.)

So yes, I AM excited to be leaving the U.S. and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to take my daughter with me. She’s excited about her brand new passport and I am excited for her to see all those blank pages, like her life before her, waiting to be filled up with her own stories. [Read more...]