hallejulah! my flights are booked!

thank God I got an email from Sari this morning, telling me not to book China Airlines. it was the cheapest flight from New York to Jakarta, but after hearing that it's not the greatest and most comfortable airline around, I booked Malaysia Airlines from Newark to Jakarta, as well as Jakarta to Sydney. To round it out, it's American Airlines/Quantas on the way home.

January 1/24: Newark -> Kuala Lumpur -> Jakarta, arriving 1/26

February 2/20: Jakarta ->Kuala Lumpur -> Sydney, arriving 2/21

February 2/27: Sydney -> Los Angeles -> New York

"CANNOT WAIT TO MEET YOU. You have to buy cute bikini to wear in Bali. I've told all my good friends in Jakarta and Bali that mybestroommateever is coming to town. :)))" ~ Sari

the holiday season is gearing up- the tree is up, presents are wrapped and I'm being so incredibly domestic by baking apple and pumpkin pies and making soup! with all the concerts, parties and things to look forward to this coming month and a half, the time is going to fly by... I just know it!

name this blog

welcome. as I was reading Chonny's Life of Cinematic Moments and drinking my 80 cent coffee this morning at my desk, I was moved to start my own blog that would incorporate my travels from this moment on.

not that I'm going anywhere, other than Maryland for Thanksgiving this month, but I am looking forward to a trip to Los Angeles and Daytona Beach in December, and more importantly a long pilgrimage to Southeast Asia and Australia this coming January & February.

as I logged onto gmail this morning, I asked friends to name this new blog I was going to start. anthony responded with "Power's Peregrination" (which ultimately won) and morgan gave me "Wanderlust" (which I am also in love with).

I am going to Jakarta, Indonesia & Bali to visit Sari, my former roommate on West 17th Street. she was only in New York for a year and many came to love her personality and style. she even snagged herself a NYPD boyfriend! as I was coming up on 4.5 years at my current workplace, I decided it was time to move on and take a break to do a little sightseeing before jumping back into a new position in life. this is where Sari came in and I basically invited myself to stay with her for a few weeks. she has taken it with great enthusiasm and is practically planning our travels together (Bali for her birthday) and mine alone (Singapore).

Peregrinatio (sometimes anglicized as Peregrination) is the Latin word for pilgrimage, according to Wikipedia. loving the sound of the blog title, but a little put off by the defination of pilgrimage. I am Catholic, but lapsed. I have recently taken an interest in my boyfriend's beliefs, Self-Realization Fellowship. founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920, it combines beliefs from different religions of the world. when MP was in New York in October, we went to a service and I have to admit that I almost fell asleep! this was due to a long period of meditation and absolute silence in the room. after some chants and a reading regarding reincarnation (quite funny), we left and I mentioned that it was incredibly relaxing. in a time where we have so many technological distractions, it was nice to have an hour to think about nothing but the positive things I needed to tend to.

I am interested in taking the time while on this upcoming vacation to sort things out in my life. I have wonderful friends and family, all whom I love very much and want the best for. decisions need to be made about what I want to do with my life. work- event planning, tourism? a need to focus on the positive and weed out the negative (which always manages to squeeze its way in there one way or the other).

so although not a pilgrimage in the tradition religious/spiritual sense, the more I think about it, the more I like the name of my new blog and the meanings behind it. welcome to my blog. xoxo.