Going into my fourth year of Travels With Myself and Others, I will be anchoring my travels in Germany as the base with a month-long language study program in Dusseldorf.

Heading East to New York from San Francisco, my husband Gee Kin and I will deviate from Midtown Manhattan to try out the new and emerging lower East Side. As part of my decadent indulgence, we plan to see three operas: Aida, Der Rosenkavalier with Renee Fleming and Elena Garanca, and Eugene Onegin with Anna Netrebko. Washington, DC is a side trip from NYC to see the newly acclaimed National Museum of African American History and Culture ( I wrote about it on Sept. 24, 2016).

This year, we’ll make a special visit to the U.K. London is my favorite city (along with Dresden, Berlin, and.. and..), where I spent five months studying the London Chinese community development as part of a graduate fellowship research award from UC Berkeley. I hung around Gerrard Street, where I also worked for a few weeks on my very first trip to Europe. We’ll spend most of the time visiting friends in Bath and Oxford.

Dusseldorf will be a base for visiting nearby cities Koln, Duisburg and Aachen, where there are also good venues for opera. If time permits, I’d like to take a quick side trip to Belgium, France, or the Netherlands. The apartment I’ve booked is over a Chinese restaurant! I am hoping to make friends with the owners and get some tips on Chinese cooking in what is purported to be an international, foreign-friendly city.

Next, I’ll be taking another side excursion from Frankfurt to spend a week in Morocco. After a couple of days in Marrakech, I will join a dozen other artists in a drawing workshop on the coast of Morocco. We will be drawing in the morning, and taking in the sights and sounds  in the afternoon.

After repositioning in Frankfurt, I’ll fly to join Gee Kin in Hong Kong. This city is second home to us. I spent seven years there as an adult after graduate school working as an architect and planner. The Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway was under construction, and I was hired as an ex-patriate to develop stations and new lines. Gee Kin and I met there, so for us it has special meaning and fond memories.

Above: The Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway–Hong Kong Station

Please join me as I embark on my fourth world journey! You can follow along as I share a real-time account of my wanderings with you as they unfold. Those of you who have followed me on previous trips know how much I appreciate hearing from you.  So don’t forget to stay in touch! The more the merrier! See you soon!