what do you want from where?

Last evening, I was telling a fellow TIP volunteer about my trip, and one of the destimations made her eyes light up. "Oh, I've always felt connected to that place. Would you bring me back something from there?"

Which seems to me like a great idea. I'm going on a round-the-world cruise, but a lot of people I know consider that to be a waste of time since there's really only one place they want to visit. And they'd like to have a souvenir from that one place.

So if you are such a person and want me to bring you back something, just ask. (If you're someone I've never met, sorry, this offer does not extend to you.) It won't be anything massive or unique, but I'll try to avoid handing you something that from, say, the Suez Canal that says "Made in China". I'd love to bring friends along, in spirit, anyway, and if you'd like to have a piece of coral from the Great Barrier Reef (unless that is known to contribute to the death of the Reef by over-harvesting) or a thimble-full of sand from Egypt, just let me know. I obviously can't haul back a bunch of stuff, but I'll figure out how to get you your vicarious souvenir if you'll just let me know where you want it from. Limit of one thingy per person. OK, two if that's what your soul cries out for.

Lord only knows, I'll probably be unable to fit into most of my clothes when I get back, there will be lots of room in my suitcase once I send all my skinny clothes home via FedEx -- or give them to Goodwill in Florida after disembarking.