The Long Road Home...

I am back safe and sound! My Sam Gamgee moment came just as we touched
down in Chicago, en route from London. "Well, I'm back". It's the phrase
that ends the Lord of the Rings (both books and movies), and I've found
over years of traveling that there's always that moment when the return
becomes more real than the trip, with a certain bittersweetness.

It was a very long day. Ask me about it over a pint sometime, but the
upshot is that I had to pay through the nose to check the dulcimer as
baggage and that American Airlines has yet to get it to Cleveland. I
should have kept it as a carry on when I took it through customs, but jet
lag and travel fatigue weren't exactly helping my mental clarity. I'm
just hoping that it's OK, wherever it is, and that it makes it to me soon.

After crunching some numbers I've decided that going back to Italy this
summer is a bit unreasonable, but I'm already setting dates for my spring
trip next year (February 7 to May 6). The trip was a truly ecstatic
experience, and surprisngly financially worthwhile, and I cannot wait to
do it again.

Thank you all for reading, it has been a real pleasure to write these
missives. I'll keep blogging my life, albeit much more sporadically, on
myspace at http://www.myspace.com/vinceconaway if you care to keep
reading. I hope that you are well, and look forward to seeing each of you
soon.

Ciao!