A college instructor named Mr. Gallagan, who by the way I mentioned in the Writing Inspirations Category of this blog, suggested an event is often mostley process and preparation.  With this latest trip: we started with the idea; moved on to the plane tickets via Expedia; found a house sitter; and, sent in for the visas via FedEx, all never having left the house.  This week: our house sitter showed up; I contacted a hotel in Hanoi www.vietanhhotel.com via the Internet; my wife started taking preventative Malaria pills; and, via email I was able to find the guys that helped me get across Laos last year (not an easy journey), again never having left the house.  
   I re-read some of my notes from my first two trips to Vietnam and Laos.  We both also skimmed through a couple of our go-to travel books.  Heide even took another look at David Lamb's book Vietnam Now.  The month prior to a trip like this seems like a virtual reality trip.
   The next time I blog may be in Hanoi if I can find a computer cafe that can find www.cooldadiomedia.com on their system.