Beginning in September 2013 my wife Holly and I are taking a trip around the world entirely by ground and sea transportation. The idea is to circumnavigate the earth the way someone would have one hundred years ago. In the process see how big the earth really is and interact directly with as many cultures and individuals as possible.
The idea started in the summer of 2009 when my Dad and I took our first trip to Alaska. In downtown Anchorage we stopped into a fur shop looking for presents to take home. The owner of the shop was Old Jack, a native Alaskan. Jack asked about my family and I told him about my wife and daughters. Jack has raised many children (I seem to remember he said he has 9 children). His shop was lined with pennants from the Ivy League schools his children had attended. Jack offered me advice about raising my daughters (make sure they learn French) and about travel. Jack told me that when traveling, I should fly only over water. Traveling on ground transportation, trains, buses, etc. is the best way to meet people and see how they live. Jack also told me that travel was the best way to broaden yourself.
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| Me on the left (in the Presidential Coat) and Old Jack on the right in his shop Fur Alaska – Anchorage, Alaska |
Jack let me try on the “Presidential Coat”. A fur coat that both Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon had worn. I bought my wife some beaver slippers and my daughters slippers made of moose hide. I went back to Jack’s store two years later when my Dad & I made another trip to Alaska to fish on the Kenai peninsula, this time joined by my brother Scott. We stopped by Fur Alaska again to talk with Jack and took a picture with Jack and the Presidential Coat. I also bought beaver slippers for my wife again; and this time, for all my daughters. If you are ever in Anchorage, I highly recommend a stop at Fur Alaska to talk with Jack and purchase some of his terrific furs he obtains from the local native Alaskans. https://www.google.com/search?q=alaskan+furs&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADRA_en#
Categories: Trip Around the World
markmeltonblog 
Hi Mark
David said to ask you how often you are going to update your blog. And good luck on your trip.
Dad
Dad-
My intent is to update the blog as often as I can – depending on access to the internet – and as often as I have either interesting pictures or stories to share.
Mark