9-20-11

On September 17, Simon, Alison and I left for our grand adventure.  I have been granted a one year sabbatical from my job at Global Gifts, during which time we have rented out our house and moved to Lima, Peru.  After a month of Spanish language classes we will begin volunteer work with a fair trade organization named Manos Amigas.  In addition to our volunteer work, the year will involve travel through South America and eventually to Mexico.

This will be a year of new experiences.  Writing a blog is one of them.  As I went online to set up my blog, I hit a stumbling point when I was required to give my blog a name.  What will this blog be about?  Will it be about me and my family’s experiences traveling, about the people we meet, or about my perspectives on fair trade? Most likely it will be some combination of the above.  My title of Thoughtful Transactions is a reflection, somewhat biased by my work in fair trade, that so many of our daily interactions are transactions.  In my thinking I’m taking a liberal view of transactions and thinking transactions include many interactions between people, not just those involving money or commerce.  At any rate I needed to come up with a name for this blog!