Books, Figures, and Munny's Hall of Fame

Made it back to Jackson on the morning of April 20th. Looking out the window, my thought was, "It sure is green around here." I've been at 810 recuperating and managing to catch up with a few old friends who either live here or happened to be in town. The plan is to head north tomorrow - pick up Jonah in Philly on Friday and head to Providence, where we'll spend a couple of weeks rehearsing before our shows start. We have shows in Portland, Cambridge, Providence, Brooklyn, Philly and DC (we'll be updating our website soon with the tour schedule, in the meantime you can check out our facebook page). From DC we'll come through Raleigh, Asheville, Nashville, Birmingham and on to Jackson. So stay tuned for a full schedule!

As my last post I thought I'd share some figures from my trip, my booklist, and offer a last time shoutout to my Hall of Fame, a.k.a. people I may owe my first born.

Figures

You've probably wondered how I've managed to pull off this trip. And while my folks have occasionally pitched in (like paying for the safari and time with them in Africa, or donating some frequent flyer miles for a free flight), it's been otherwise self-financed. Anyone who has seen me, or my "Adventure Book," knows that I've become a meticulous record keeper during this trip and I can basically tell you what I've spent every penny on. So, with that in mind, here are the figures:

• $18,252.78 - cost of a 13 month peregrine deviation. This figure is basically what I spent on 13 months of around-the-world travel in pretty fantastic places.
• $1,404.06 per month - I have many friends in DC who spend this just on rent, but I spent it on adventure instead. Turns out, traveling the world is cheaper than living in DC.
• Southeast Asia trip per diem (non-inclusive of flight): $27.44
• East Coast roadtrip USA per diem (inclusive of gas): $20.28
• West Coast roadtrip USA per diem (inclusive of gas): $44.72
• South America per diem (non-inclusive of flight or Machu Picchu trek): $32.02
• Africa per diem (non-inclusive of flight or Kilimanjaro trek): $36.30
• Machu Pichu trek: $540.00
• Kilimanjaro trek: $1,556.58
• Cheapest night on the road: $1.62 for a shared room in Pakbeng, Laos
• Most expensive night on the road: $27.00 for a shared chalet on the beach in Zanzibar

What is not included in these per diem costs are my flights, both car and health insurance, and money spent on recording an album. All of those costs are, however, reflected in the overall figure of $18,252.78. Captain Safety jokes that I should be put in charge of the federal budget since I seem to be so good a number crunching and living frugally.

Booklist

At times the books chosen were deliberate, but every now and again the Kindle broke or the second-hand bookstore only had a few options. Here's the list in full:

1. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
2. Girl Who Played With Fire - Steig Larsson
3. Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Steig Larsson
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
5. Bangkok Haunts - John Burdett
6. God Save the Sweet Potato Queens - Jill Connor Browne
7. Tess of D'Ubervilles - Thomas Hardy
8. Resistance - Anita Shreve
9. Savage Detectives - Robert Balano
10. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
11. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
12. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
13. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson
14. Rising Tide - John Barry
15. In the Woods - Tana French
16. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America - Douglas Brinkley
17. Encounters of the Archdruid - John McPhee
18. Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
19. Buy-ology - Martin Lindstrom
20. Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
21. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
22. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins
23. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight - Alexandra Fuller
24. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
25. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
26. Snow Falling on Cedars - David Gutterson
27. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
28. The Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe - Peter Goodwin
29. 1491 - Charles Mann
30. The Temple of My Familiar - Alice Walker
31. The Betrayal of Africa - Gerald Caplan
32. Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
33. Dead Aid - Dambisa Moyo
34. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer

Hall of Fame

After this past year I am forever indebted to many of you - travel companions, owners of couches, givers of food, offerers of a free ride somewhere. If you fed, housed, transported, or accompanied me any time in the past year you are entitled to a "free stay at my place" card, you just have to wait until I actually get a place somewhere.

In order of appearance, though, are the heavy-hitters, those my adventure would be entirely different without. A deep-felt thank you to:

Mary Ann Scott, Sarah Schwarz, Big, Shelley Katsh & Mark Gabry, Robert & Barbara Munford, Captain Safety & Pops, Nicole Melas, Hannah Wadsworth, Freeland Church, Mary Jo & George Johnston, Jaimi Norden, Lauren Plettner, Liddell Shannon, Anya Kaplan-Seem, Jon Hampton, Lucy Whidden, Joan Sullivan-Owomoyela, Sister, Scooter Walsh, and Laura Kergosien.

I hope one day I can return the favor to you and to the universe. I am humbled and incredibly grateful for all the generosity, warmth, and laughter I've been privy to this past year. To quote Alice Walker,

I thank the Universe for my participation in existence. It is a pleasure to have always been present.