January 2000

Happy New year,
Thanks for the note. I'm still in Morocco surfing. Will stay here another two weeks then get out of the country, sell the van and fly to india. Trouble is, it would be easy to stay here all winter. New Years in Maroc was cool -- just a few dozen surfers around a campfire, looking at the stars and getting crispy. Just got back from a week in the south. We were trying to find a break called Desert Point. Not sure we succeeded, but it was wild getting way out there. Ireland was lovely in late September. The visit was too short. Next time I'll plan to stay a month or more. I may be back in the states by 2001. Will have to see how things go in Australia/NZ. When I get back, maybe I'll live in the Bay Area for a year or so. I've always wanted to try SF for awhile. Anyway, stay in touch and good luck with the snow. Ciao Rob

AEM, Congrats on the biz/marriage deal. Sounds like things are working out. My state of mind is pretty good. Surfed Anchor Point again this morning -- four guys out and overhead. Got some good rides. Two months in Maroc, however is enough. I'm headed back up to Spain Sunday to sell the van and hop a flight to India via London. Looking forward to the next stage of the trip. More later, RBC

Simon, Culture shock is already taking effect. The Spanish women should patent those tight pants they wear. Beef and I are in Gibraltar now, Malaga this evening. Last surf was up near El Jadida; Lalla Fatna wasn't working. Hope you get some up the coast. Me, I'm going to India. Via con Dios, Rob

February 2000

Hi Dad, Got to Bombay OK yesterday morning around 3 am. I'm staying in a cheap hotel in the Colaba district (India Guest House), although I may look for a better spot since it's noisy. Slept most of the day yesterday. Doing errands today. India's a panic. Lots more going on in the street than New York or Morocco. Bombay's hot, but tolerable. Looks like I may stay a few days since I lost my ATM card. Just visited Citibank here in town, but they can't issue one direct, so Citi NYC may be sending you the card. I'll send you an address to FedEx it to if that's the case. Otherwise, things are going pretty well. Post you soon. Love, Rob

Hi Mom & Dad, Still in Bombay; still waiting for that card. I've been using the time to work on the site. Just loaded the new issue. Still have to fix some links in the archive, but it looks and works OK. Also starting to use the online databases to start job search for Australia. I'm not sure if I told you, but the Jaipur job fell through -- the Indian side of the operation isn't running yet. I still plan to go to Jaipur, but it will be a short visit. After Jaipur, probably Delhi for a day then up to Naintal, one of the old British hill stations. I should be able to get a look at the Himalaya there without having to wade through hip-deep snow. From there Benares, Calcutta, Madras, Pondicherry. After that I'm not sure. Currently looking at airfare/shipping options, which will decide how and where I leave India. Tomorrow, I'll take a boat to Elephant Island, here in Bombay harbor, to see a temple there. With luck, I'll be able to get the card and leave Bombay next week. That's all for now, Love, Rob

March/April 2000

Ya Pat, Beefy, Howyadoin? I'm finishing week 6 in India and I'm ready to go. Fascinating country, but nothing works. I tried twice before to email you guys and the connection cut on me. Hope you made it out of the jungle OK, Pat. How were the waves at Argun? Let's hook up in Indo. Islands east of Bali look like a go. Allan, how's the spring snow in New England? If everyplace else is stuffed try driving north to Jay Peak. Anyway, hope the girls in NYC treated you well. Let me know if you need any contacts in RI, CO, or CA. Happy travels -- Rob

Mir, Great to get your message from NYC. It's the highlight of my day here in Madras. So much of my experience in India has been about waiting. Waiting for a package to arrive, waiting for trains, waiting to get a boat ticket. Right now I'm waiting to get a flight the hell out of here. I had hoped to be on a boat to the Andaman Islands now, but I learned last week that after putting my name on the reservation list the Shipping Corp. of India sold the berth. There are flights to those remote islands, however they are costly and funds are running low. So now I'm waiting for confirmation on a multistage ticket from Madras to Bangkok, Bali, Sydney, Auckland, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Honolulu, LA and SF. The travel agent is in San Francisco, which is 15 hours behind Madras and communication has been difficult. Once I get confirmation, I can go down to see the temples at Mamallapuram and wait there until it's time to leave India. India has been frustrating and fascinating in equal measure. Since I sent that letter from Bombay, I've seen the Shivartatri festival in Jaipur (where everyone was stoned on bhang lassi, including the blue god himself); the Himalayas at dawn from a remote hill station called Ranikhet; bodies burning on the banks of the Ganges at the holy city of Varanasi; the tree under which a prince named Siddahartha found his enlightenment and became the Buddha; tribal fisherman taking their boats out in Orissa; families living on the street here in Madras; and way too much of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways are actually not so bad. Of course, Western concepts of linear time do not apply to this railroad and the trains are sometimes very crowded, but you can't beat the price. A second-class sleeper from Gaya to Madras, a distance of some 2000 km, cost about $28US. All in all I've covered over 3500 km by rail. If I had nothing to do but move around and absorb the culture, I could easily stay in India another three months. This trip has a purpose, however, and that is surfing. Board #2 was finally wrested from Indian customs officials last week. There's a beach at Mamallapuram, although the likelihood of rideable waves there is slim. I'll need to paddle around there anyway and try to get back into shape, because the next stop is Indo and that's big league surfing. Frankly I don't know if I'm fast enough to ride those waves, but I'll give it a try. If I start with some of the lesser waves, I hope to be able to ride some of the big reefbreaks like Uluwatu in Bali without killing myself. We'll see. Women? I've resigned myself to the life of a wandering monk. In fact I'm so certain of my continued solitude that I've started growing a mustache. It's hideous -- as if a wooly caterpillar had died under my nose. Cultivating stupid facial topiary is the prerogative of solitary travellers ... and a good way to pass the time. Until next time, Mir. Love, Rob

Mirth, congrats on getting out of DC. Western MA is a great place to be. Has Jo found work there as well? I'm in Mamallapuram now, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Nice little town with some 1400 year old Pallava temples and a decent beach. Best of all it's quiet. I'll probably hang here until I can get a ticket out of India. Who knows when that will be, cause my farking travel agent has gone AWOL. Spring 2001 is a possibility, although can't say for sure. OK. Gotta log out and go get some cheap beer. Ciao, RBC

April 2000

Wally, In Bali now and life is beautiful. Yesterday I took an outrigger to a reefbreak off the eastern shore of the island. Pretty farkin' heavy. I think I've found my Yosemite. The plan is evolving, but it may include travel to Flores, climbing a volcano and surfing some really remote spots east of Bali. By June 17 I'll be on my way to Sydney and, I hope, a job. Finances are pretty low, but i don't care. Last night I was thinking about all the places I've been since starting out nine months ago, and it's been totally worth it. Just hope I can sustain the trip into next year. Even on this odyssey I stop sometimes to think about my friends busy building families and lives. I'd like to do that too, but must find the right partner first. Sounds like your setup in Maine is ideal. I'll have to come visit the estate when I get back. Best regards to K & A. I'll try to get tubed for you. Ciao, RBC

Pat (et al), Get unstuck. Caught up with Matt a couple days ago. He's probably out surfing Ulus right now. We'll hook up for an arvo session somewhere on the Bukit. Wet season wind pattern has finally broken and the SE trades are starting to work and Bali's beautiful. Get your ass out of Sri Lanka and over to Indo! The plan is to hang here until Monday, May 1, then hop a flight for _______. From there we'll get a boat to ____ . We'll probably base out of _______ or ____ on the island's southwest corner. Likely hang there a week or two depending on the surf, then start westward on local ferries. If you get to Bali before May 1, look for a couple of little bungalows just before the bridge that overlooks Padang-Padang. We'll be there. Hope you can make it Pat -- there's a lot of good lefts here. As for the rest of you stuck in colder climes, my condolences. You can take some comfort from the fact that Bali is not reality -- you have to leave eventually. At least I think you do .... ask me in a couple of months. Ciao, Rob

Christina, Just got back to Bali after six weeks on the out islands. Saw some fantastic stuff (dragons, volcanos, sharks, waterbuffalo) and surfed some of the best waves of my life on Sumbawa, near Lakey Peak. Another week surfing western Bali (Medawi -- it's a long lefthander) then I'm off to Oz. Know anybody who needs a hand building websites around the Sydney Olympics? And what are you doing in Amsterdam? -- Rob (barney)

June 2000

hey stevo, sydney now. second day here. looking for an apartment share first. no luck yet; staying in a hostel in kings cross, sydney's red light district. it's seedy, but convenient. how's the building biz going? heidi mentioned you had another renovation project going in nyc. usual aggravations -- clients, building codes, coop boards -- I expect. sounds like you're going to be a father again -- nice work. my life is so easily derailed: just got an email from s. she's moving to bejing to be with her diplomat boyfriend. she may never come back to nyc. you'd think i'd be over this by now. maybe there are some things you never get over; you just have to get on. and that's what i'll do. another round of calls and in a day or two i should have a place to stay. wish me luck. ciao, rob

BLV, Australia has changed in the last 20 years. My memory of Sydney was of a pleasantly situated, but somewhat sleepy, provincial city. Not anymore. Sydney's very much the modern Anglo-Asian hub. Good restaurants, trendy clubs, cosmopolitan street life, state-of-the-art transit and next-century communications make a lot of American cities seem dull by comparison. I'm overwhelmed and underdressed. And I intend to stay. I found an apartment share in the sunny southern suburb of Cronulla. Not coincidentally, it's five minutes from the best surf in the region and an easy 50-minute train ride to the city. The next project is sorting out the visa and finding a job. There's no shortage of web development work here, however the paperwork may require a quick trip to Bali to reapply for a working visa. That's OK -- a booster shot of Indonesian surf would suit me fine. If it all works out, I'll work in Sydney until after the Olympics and then travel around the rest of the continent for a semester or so. So the trip shifts into a different phase. It's been a year since I was gainfully employed. I guess i can manage the transition back into the working life, but it will be a shock. How's working with you now? You were only away for, what, three months, but I imagine things are radically different in 17C with a brand-new person to take care of. Is it tough being editor-in-chief and Mom at the same time? So that's the update. Let me know how you're going in NYC and keep me posted on any antipodean mine inspections you may have planned. All the best to K and C. As ever, RBC

Christina, Thanks for the promo. No word from your aussie pals yet, but the market for webdevs seems solid. Spoke to a couple of IT agencies yesterday and they seemed pretty eager to get me on contract. Got some shoes too -- sort of a funkified version of the old R.M. Williams jackeroo boots. They hurt. I've got band-aids all over my feet (a combination of blisters and slow-healing reef cuts). This is just one of civilization's discontents. Cronulla's cool. What the suburbs were meant to be. Kind of looks like the neighborhood the Brady Bunch grew up in, that is, there are a lot of houses that look like the Brady's mod ranch -- we never actually saw the rest of the neighborhood. Come to think of it, there were never any exterior shots in that show; creepy metaphor for American suburbia, or what? Anyway, if you want to check the surf in Cronulla, here's the beach cam: http://www.coastalwatch.com.au/cam.asp?cam=4100 (I'm the kooky black dot on the left pearling). How do you like the expat life so far? Amsterdam's a great place to decompress from NYC's hyperlife. What's the ecity project? Do you ever miss NYC, or Montauk? OK, back to RL.

Hey Llew, Good to hear from you. How're things in the Canadian summer? It's faarkin' freezing here in Sydney, Australia. I arrived just a month ago on an overnight flight from Bali. Talk about culture shock. I spent the first week wandering around the city in my sandals (I'd given my boots away in India), shivering in the winter chill and gawking at all the pretty, blonde women. Starting to adjust now. Found a cheap apartment share by the beach in the southern suburb of Cronulla and am interviewing for web development jobs. A box of warm clothes arrived from home last week with my winter wetsuit. I expect my laptop to arrive today or tomorrow ... haven't installed one of those pretty blondes yet, but I'm working on it. Friday I'll fly out to Auckland, NZ, to get a work visa. By Thursday, July 27, I should be back in Sydney and ready to go. Initially I'd only planned to spend six months in Oz, but I like it here, the web biz is booming and the surf's pretty good, so I'll probably stay at least a year. Four-oh, huh? How'd that happen? I turned 38 two weeks ago and I'm still trying to figure that out. Near as I can tell, we're halfway through this run and, unless you believe in the ski lift of reincarnation, the best thing to do is accelerate. Faster, further, -- Rob

Hey Matt, Hope all is well in Uni and that all those little coeds are behaving badly. Job hunt is going along, although this visa thang is an impediment, so I decided to fly over to NZ this weekend to get a temporary working visa. (Turns out RT flights to Auckland were much cheaper than one-way tickets from Bali.) Don't think I'll get down to the South Island on this trip, but any tips on where to go or what to do while I'm in Auckland would be appreciated. The guidebooks paint it as a kind of dull town. Can't be that bad ... can it? The steamer suit finally arrived from home so I've been surfing more here in Cronulla, however, I'm still used to warm, troppo water so this austral winter is a bit of an ordeal. Still, it's pretty cool living right by the beach -- I think I can get used to this. What about you? Are you back in the water yet, or are you waiting till summer? Ciao, Rob

Mir, Thanks for the warm letter and all the New York news. It cheered me up in an otherwise grim week of joblessness. It's not that grim -- I've been surfing for three of the past five days -- but I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever be employed again. The City sounds strange yet familiar. Last week I was watching TV and there were five back-to-back shows set in NYC -- Seinfeld, Friends, Spin City and a couple of gritty police dramas. Not one of them depicts a New York that I remember. Maybe if I stay away long enough, I'll start to believe the myths. In a few years it may seem plausible that postmen and struggling comedians live in cavernous Upper-west Side apartments, that twentysomething kids have time to hang out with their pals for hours on end, day after day, while hard-nosed police chiefs assign four detectives to bring down a female paedophile high school teacher for boinking a 15-year-old Puerto Rican boy when there are no cameras in sight. Not that herds of cows, plagues of mosquitos or mammoth topiary puppies conform to reality as I knew it, but it has the ring of truth. I guess that's all it takes: if you believe it could happen in New York; it might. And that's fortunate for The City because to a degree not found in other cities, New York is a construction of the imagination. Your New York seems very real, however. Life with H.& Co. is completely real, as is the city v. country dilemma. Maybe that's the problem with the suburbs: they're filled with pragmatists. I always liked 'the pied a terre in town and cabin in the country' model myself. It's emminently impractical and allows plenty of space to dream. I'm sure you'll sort it out. One of the sad facts of marriage is that it's an exclusive contract. New couples are busy building their own world, one that doesn't always have room for single friends. Jane Austen would know what to say. Best I can do is, 'Sorry, Kid, that's the way it is.' This morning I threw on a coat and took a cup of coffee up to the beach to check the surf. There were small waves, Saturday crowds and favorable (offshore) winds. It was also overcast and chilly, so I walked back to the apartment for another cup of coffee and some breakfast. Now I see the sun's come out. I'll do some more work on the website this morning and walk to town in the afternoon. This evening the neighbors are throwing a costume party. I'll probably go as an American tourist for want of a better idea. If anything develops on the romantic front I'll keep you posted, but right now there just isn't that much to write home about. Love, rbc

August 2000

Hey Manish, I wonder if you're logging in from the same cybercafe I found down in the Colaba district of Bombay. Of the Indian cities I saw, I liked Bombay the best. Funky, free and in some ways a bit like NYC. If you can make time for it, the stone-cut temple out on Elephanta Island is remarkable. I'm in Sydney now and it looks like I may stay awhile. Last week I signed a 6-month contract with Telstra to work as an information architect on their burgeoning Telstra/Bigpond sites. It's awfully corporate, but I think it's a good next step for my nascent new media career. Plus the pay's pretty good. So I'm locked in here until Feb 2001 at least. Hope the Jaipur startup goes as planned. As you must know, business in India doesn't proceed as it does in the rest of the world, but I'm sure you'll sort it out. Keep me posted on the project. Best of luck, Rob

KA: finally dragged my ass out of bed before the sun was up to catch a surf before work. there's a monster LPS that just tracked east of Tasmania and i thought there might be the beginnings of a swell this morning. no luck. it was only waist-high over the few banks that were working down wanda way. on the other hand, it was a beautiful, end-of-winter day and before the sun cleared the headlands that guard the southern edge of botany bay, the clouds overhead were lit with the most outrageous hues of red. later a pod of about five dolphins showed up. i thought they were going to cruise right by, but they pulled in and started taking waves. i paddled for one clean set wave, looked inside and saw one surfer and two dolphins coming down the line at me. i backed off. best not to drop in on these locals.

September 2000

Mi Mom, Dad & Em, Busy day today. Glad I got in a surf before work. The waves this morning were the best we've had in weeks. Went to the Olympics with Trevor, my roommate, last Saturday. We saw preliminary rounds in Men's 800, Women's Heptathalon, and Men's Hammer Throw. The seats were way up in the stratosphere of the stadium, but the view was fine and the crowd was great. Generally, you get a better view from TV, although you can only get a sense of what the athletes experience by being there. Trev had his digital camera along with him and I've attached a few of those pics. This weekend I'll likely go surfing with a Yank friend from NJ who's in town for the Games. Maybe I'll go see the fireworks over the harbor Sunday night that mark the closing ceremonies. Monday I fly down to Melbourne for a training seminar and come back the same evening. Oh, yea, and we bought a barbecue, which is a pretty good reason to stay home. Otherwise not much news. Hope all's well with you. Love, Rob

Mirth, Good surf this morning. Got an hour of head-high glass before work. Just back from lunch at Darling harbor. Sun shining, pretty girls strolling, boats to and fro-ing and me, being. Caught the the monorail back to the office. Could have walked, just got taken with the futurity of it all, I guess. Regards to Jo. Eat your wheaties. -- rbc

Hi Manuela, I thought this was your brother's e-mail address. Glad you got my note. I'm writing this on my laptop computer as I ride the train home from work. The sun's setting and the clouds and the trees outside Sydney are beautiful. At this time of the day all the birds sing. You can hear them gathered in some trees making a loud, happy noise. My apartment is in a suburb about one hour south of Sydney by train. The apartment itself isn't much, but it's only a five-minute walk from a beautiful surfing beach. The weather here is starting to get warm. It's the beginning of the Australian spring. Even during the winter here, it is not very cold, perhaps 16C on a cool day. Most days are sunny and the sun is very strong. Anyone who is outdoors for a long time must wear hats and lots of sunscreen. Your English is fine. Much better than my German, anyway. Your wine-party sounds like fun. The Australian wines are quite good and cheaper than Guinness, so mostly I drink wine. And, yes, I do think of you from time to time. Soon my train will arrive at the station. I look forward to getting your letter. Until then enjoy the northern summer. --- rbc

Sarah, The surf's flat again today. Has been for about a week now. I still get a kick out of being able to walk to the beach in five minutes, so most mornings I'm out there checking the waves, coffee cup in hand. Yesterday I borrowed my roommate's bike and rode up to the edge of Botany Bay. There's a monument there, marking the spot where Capt. Cook & Co first set foot on the Australian continent. Engraved on a weathered plaque is one crewman's account of their official welcoming party: two Aboriginals with spears. The locals chucked a few spears at the white guys and didn't back off until the sailors peppered them with birdshot. You got to give the Aboriginals points for their perceptive assessment of the situation -- our American Indians greeted the Europeans with open arms. Near the monument was an encampment of hippies with caravans and tents. They had strung up some flags and banners, but when I rode by it looked more like a barbie than a protest. It's good to know there are nomadic tribes here as well. In six months I should be ready to rejoin their ranks. It's also good to be working again at challenging job with smart people. I've fallen into a routine and have accumulated a few domestic things. I've even learned to speak some of the corporate jargon, but the notion that it's just a temporary stop in a longer journey is what keeps it interesting. Kind of like you in London. School is better the second time around. My first couple of years at university were wasted on me; it wasn't until the latter two years and grad school that I actually started to pay attention. Sounds like you've got a pretty good work/study combination. What kind of computer did you get? It's silly how attached people get to these things. My crew at work would absolutely stop functioning if you took away their Palm Pilots. It must be the intellectual investment. A computer is an odd sort of tool that requires a considerable chunk of thoughtspace to become useful. By the time utility is achieved (after a couple hundred hours of configuration; reconfiguration and archiving) a symbiotic bond is forged between human and machine; it becomes an adjunct to consciousness. Which is a good reason to back up your most important data on floppy and configure a boot disk -- if it didn't already come with the op system software -- or risk losing consciousness. Anyway, if you have any sticky computer questions I'll do my best to answer them. Regards to Aaron and the London crew. As ever, Rob

Hi Manu, The Olympics started in Sydney last night. Town went crazy: it was like carnival. It's spring here. The weather is warm and the days are sunny. Today (Saturday) my roommate Trevor and I drove to a beach about an hour south of here. Lovely beach -- waves weren't so good, but it was great to be in the water at such a beautiful place. Tomorrow I'll go see the games. Rowing and Archery are the two events that I have tickets for. Next weekend it's track - running and jumping, etc. I'll write soon. Work has been busy, but I have time when I'm riding the train back and forth to the city. Auf weidersein, (see you later? what is the translation?) Rob

December 2000

Hi Julie, On the train now. End of another long day. It started well -- I went surfing. Most mornings I take a cup of coffee up to the dunes at dawn to see what the waves are doing. Same this morning, except the waves had improved. I went back to the apartment, put on my wetsuit, grabbed the board and got out there. It was fun. Head high waves under an overcast sky, smooth and glassy with a bit of push. Had a few fast rides, one brief tube and one snappy off-the-top. On the train to work this morning, I started to write you this note. I was nearly done when this old codger sat down next to me and I accidentally rebooted the computer when I shifted the box out of his way. The letter was lost. I love this technology. It started out to be a productive day, but it got hijacked by meetings. It's cool having a chance to manage processes and write a lot of conceptual stuff, but I really miss the tangible accomplishments of building things, even if that stuff is just a pile of bits and bytes. Oh well, in a few months I can pack up and go on another long trip. Sounds like things are going well with you. New guy, good job etc.Are you planning a long weekend ski trip? Usually the snow in December sucks. One year I caught it good at Sugarloaf in December, but that was an exceptional year for snow. The Alps maybe? I dunno; I haven't been skiing since 1997. Not much other news here. No GF yet; still looking. Meanwhile I try not to worry about it and put my energy into work and surfing. Post soon. Regards to NYC crew. Love, Rob

Hiya Keitha, How are you? Still in St. Lucia? It's another early morning here in Australia. No surf this morning, so I'm drinking coffee in front of the telly and catching up on my e-mail. My routine doesn't vary much and the weeks fly by. I've got my two-year working visa now, although I doubt I'll stay that long. This contract is up in February; I'll start shopping for a new one next month. Ideally, I'll wrap up the second contract in May and go traveling again. Until ten it's work, surf, eat and sleep. What's new with you? Will you stay in the islands? Have you met any cute local boys? What's your latest project? Anyway, I hope it's going well. As ever, RBC

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year,
It seems like more than a year since we rang in the new millenium sitting around that campfire in Maroc. A lot has happened in that year: Grant and Amanda got married (congrats!), Pat escaped from France more or less intact, Matt graduated from uni to a life of indolence and surf, Sarah and Aaron fled London for sunnier climes, Beefy worked his way across the US and landed in the (Canadian?) Rockies, Smitty's probably burned down a couple more chip shops by now, I got a job (!), and Simon's ..... Simon? This was another good Chrissy. I celebrated in true pagan fashion by driving down the coast to camp in the bush near Jervis Bay. There's a break down there called Summercloud, AKA the Aussie Pipe, on some Aboriginal land in the national park. While all the Whos in Whoville were unwrapping their presents, I was getting barrelled on that classic left. Plans for Oz Tour 2001 are shaping up nicely. Bought an old Holden Jackeroo (how Aussie is that?) a few weeks ago and I'm currently outfitting it for the bush. When this contract wraps in February I'll line up another gig, work until May or August and then do the grand tour of the Island Continent. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road, but until then sybaritic Sydney's not a bad place to be. If any of you characters wash up Sydneyside, meet me in town for a pub crawl. All the best for the New Year. -- Rob

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