One place my travels have never really taken me is California. In fact, outside of a 1-day stay to meet up with a business associate, the closest I’ve gotten is a sampling a bottle from a California wine club. It was good, though.

I’ve been considering a move to San Francisco for a job that would pay about 4 times what I currently make. I’m told that’s about the kind of increase you’d need to be able to actually afford to live there. It does seem exciting, though. Perhaps I could meet some cool friends, check out the parrots of telegraph hill, and get through a winter without seeing snow for once…

Being away from my family so much lately, I’ve come to miss the recipe sharing that always went on at reunions and parties. That’s why I’ve decided that, as long as I’m on the road, I might as well be collecting recipes. Almost everyone has at least a couple of great recipes that they pull out when they want to impress. If I ask everyone for their favorite, I should end up with a pretty cool souvenir of my trip by the time I’m done. It’s kind of like the culinary equivalent of those little guestbooks that they leave in bed and breakfast rooms.

Now let’s just hope I don’t meet a lot of bad cooks!

The other reason I haven’t been posting much lately is because I’ve been having some computer issues. I had a guy out from the cable company a few weeks ago, and he told me I needed new cables. CAT5e, to be precise. Of course, he wasn’t able to sell me any or even tell me where I could go buy some, but he was able to tell me I needed it (and show me an unhealthy amount of butt crack while he was at it).

Finally, I got the nice guy down the street to help out. So much for real tech support.

I’ve spent over $300 at the local bookstore in the last month. It feels good to have some free time to be out on the road, reading and writing as I go. I’ve been reading a lot on New York City travel lately, as I’d like to make it out there in October, but for now I’m actually spending my days soaking up Texas sunshine while reading old Isaac Asimov books. I picked up several of his books at a used book sale a few weeks ago and they’ve actually been my favorites out of everything I’ve bought in the last month or two.

I don’t know why sci-fi gets such a bad rap.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t been posting much lately, it’s because the weather has finally turned warm and I’m on the move most of the time. My mind has been occupied with thoughts of flights, travel health insurance, quick-dry swimwear, and all the wonderful, scary sorts of people you meet when you travel. If I could do this all the time, I most definitely would.

Of course, it could be tough to keep pets while traveling all the time…and I do love my pets. I guess I’ll just have to be content to travel when time allows.

I’ve been planning on getting out of town lately, so I’ve been doing a lot of online shopping in preparation. I didn’t even know what a cell phone repeater was before this week, but I came across them while I was looking for some cell phone travel accessories. I also managed to pick up some cute fold up dresses (with the really thin fabric), some thin shoes, and a quick-dry swimsuit, among other things.

What would you guys recommend for a long trip? I’m still looking for good travel items.