November 15, 2008: Charles is in San Francisco with his family for the entire Fall season (remember, he has 3 small children). During this time, the Veleys have toured 13 kindergartens on behalf of oldest child Catherine, who just turned 5 years old.

Noted travel writer Rolf Potts has penned an article in the New York Times about traveling with Charles in Africa this summer. The online version has several more photos than the print version, and can be read HERE.

Charles spent the last 2 weeks of the summer with his family in Tofino, British Columbia, which is fast becoming a favorite annual getaway for the Veleys. He arrived in Tofino via Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Nadi, where he had dinner with old friend Isei Tudreau. Charles met Isei's parents on his first trip to Fiji in 1986, and has visited their family at least 10 times since then.

On August 25, Charles arrived in Funafuti, Tuvalu, on the R/V Bounty Bay, one of the slowest and most unstable vessels in the Pacific. Charles, 3 crew, 3 other tourists, and 3 scientists working for the US Fish and Wildlife Agency spent 3 hot, uncomfortable weeks traveling roughly 2,500 miles across the central Pacific, departing Apia, Samoa, and landing at Swains Island, Nukunonu (Tokelau), Orona, Birnie, and Canton (Phoenix Islands), and Baker and Howland Islands, before disembarking in Tuvalu. One passenger was hospitalized on arrival, due to severe dehydration.

Charles was able to dive with the scientists on several occasions. On one such occasion, near Baker Island, nearly the entire dive was spent fending off several sharks who were trying to investigate one scientist's fish samples. At the completion of the dive, the group surfaced, with sharks still circling their feet, to find the Bounty Bay crew had let the ship drift over 1/2 mile away (the divers had remained above a particular coral formation). Moreover, the ship had drifted away from the sun, so could not see the divers in distress, and took approximately 20 minutes to reach them in heavy seas.

On Orona Island in the Phoenix Group, Charles saw the remnants of a little-known repopulation program which moved as many as 50 Gilbertese to the island between 1996-2004. Although there is very little public information available about this program, the abandoned beachside settlement was in good condition, and showed ample signs of recent habitation, including rotting copra stores still in the bags. As part of a group trying to hack its way through from the settlement to the lagoon, Charles was clumsy enough to hack open his own leg with a very rusty machete. No signs of tetanus have as yet appeared.

More positive highlights of the remote expedition included interacting with the 31 residents of Canton Island, some of the most isolated people on Earth. Even though they are living on a former US airbase which used to house over 1000 people, no flights have landed here since the 1970s. The abandoned passenger terminal is strewn with old ON (Air Nauru) baggage tags showing former direct destinations from Canton, including HNL, CXI, TRW, NAN, and MEL! The current residents are lucky to see a supply vessel from Tarawa once every 4-5 months.

At Swains Island, another vessel arrived from Apia at 4 times the speed of the Bounty Bay, and removed all population on the island due to one person's medical emergency. Before they left, the Swainsians offered Charles and friends the use of their pickup truck for as long as they intended to remain on the island!

Charles arrived in Apia from Africa, taking 6 flights covering about 12,000 miles over 66 hours (AMH-ADD-DXB-SIN-BNE-NAN-APW). This may have been Charles's most complex air transit ever. Unusually, all flights were on time! Prior to departure, Charles spent several days with the primitive and colorful tribes of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, including drinking homemade rotgut araki with Mursi warriors.

He arrived in the Omo Valley via 7 hours in a small boat from Lake Turkana, Kenya, where he befriended several Turkana people, and was invited to their village. Sunset on the Omo Delta was especially spectacular, as Charles's boat was surrounded by hundreds of large birds, crocodiles, and naked Dasenech tribespeople lining the riverbanks in greeting.

Charles entered Kenya from Juba, South Sudan. No credit cards are accepted in Juba, and there is no access to cash of any kind, except to change what you carry in (and due to a history of counterfeiting in the area, USD bills printed prior to 2003 are not accepted). Additionally, Juba's costs are wildly out of proportion to its neighbors, with quality of goods and services much lower, creating a challenging travel environment. All "hotel rooms" in Juba are prefabricated spaces within shipping containers. Charles spent much of his two days in Juba riding on "boda-boda" mopeds, and on the flightline and in the control tower of the Juba airport, trying to discover ways to leave. Because the road to Kenya was advised to be too dangerous, due to banditry, Charles negotiated a space on an aid group's charter to Lokichoggio.

Charles traveled to Juba by local bus from Yei, South Sudan, over severely pot-holed roads, which were heavily mined until less than 2 years ago. The Land Cruiser (holding 13 passengers), with a new Eritrean driver, covered the 100 miles in 7 hours. Charles's bag, on the roof, was improperly covered, resulting in a thorough rain-soaking of his clothes.

Prior to South Sudan, Charles traveled by land around Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. In the far northwest of Uganda, where Uganda, DRC, and Sudan come together, Charles visited Idi Amin's hometown. In Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri), Rwanda, he spent the day tracking the 'Susa' Group of gorillas. The Susa group is not only the largest group of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, it is the most remote. In order to reach them, Charles and 7 much younger people, following a rugged 45 minute drive from Parc National de Volcans Headquarters, hiked 2.5 hours uphill, through dense rainforest, at over 3000m in altitude. The reward was a full hour spent with 4 silverbacks, and multiple females and children, including 2 new baby gorillas. Charles was charged 3 times by gorillas (within 5 feet), but was never touched.

Prior to gorilla tracking, Charles was in Bujumbura, Burundi, where he was royally treated by the family of a Burundian-American friend, including a driving tour of Burundi, complete with hiking to the Southernmost Source of the Nile. Charles advises any independent traveler seeking African authenticity to consider Burundi.

Charles first arrived in Kigali from Kampala via Rwandan bus company "Onamotrac," which took 11 hours over potholed roads (Surprisingly, the main roads in both Rwanda and Burundi were better than Ugandan National Highway 1). As usual in these cases, Charles was the only white person around. One humorous moment en route involved 2 butchers, lots of meat hanging out on hooks uncovered, a pineapple saleslady, and a stork.

Charles arrived in Kampala, Uganda from Amsterdam and Paris, where he spent 36 hours of pleasure in the City of Lights, including productive stops at longtime favorites Hemingway Bar in the Hotel Ritz, Relais de L'Entrecote, and Cafe Marly.

Charles transferred to Paris through Amsterdam and San Francisco from Paradise on Earth (AKA Hanalei, Kauai), where he spent 3 weeks with his family in a rental house on the beach, during which time he celebrated his 43rd birthday and 9th wedding anniversary.

On June 19 in Pittsburgh, Charles delivered a keynote speech to a conference of travel professionals, where, among other interesting people, he met like-minded enthusiast Johnny Jet (http://johnnyjet.com), and learned that he and Johnny attended neighboring high schools!

On June 17, Charles and friends watched the Boston Celtics dominate the Los Angeles Lakers to win their 17th NBA championship. The viewing venue, just across from the actual basketball arena, was legendary sports bar "The Four's," which was recently named "Top Sports Bar in America" by US magazine Sports Illustrated. Charles was compelled to begin ordering food and drink 4 hours before gametime in order to reserve a table. The last time the Celtics had played for the NBA championship was 1987, Charles's final year in university (in the Boston area).

Prior to Boston, Charles and his wife Kimberly spent the weekend in East Hampton, New York. The prior week, Charles and a friend stayed in Louisville, Kentucky, while visiting 6 of the 7 distilleries on Kentucky's "Bourbon Trail" (They drove past the Jim Beam distillery without stopping, because his friend judged it unworthy). Prior to Louisville, Charles beach-hopped on the Lower New Jersey Shore, where he saw the hospital in which he was born, and the site of his first home, then arrived in Philadelphia for dinner at the White Dog Tavern, one of his favorite restaurants in the world. Prior to New Jersey, Charles was visiting friends in Washington DC and Raleigh, NC.

In May, returning from Europe, Charles stopped in New York, and visited his new cousin in western New Jersey, where he learned that the Lehigh Valley Airport (ABE) is infinitely more user-friendly (and less expensive) than JFK, LGA, or EWR. Caveat emptor; Charles was surprised to see the stated aircraft type on his initial booking from ABE-EWR-SFO on CO (a throughfare which cost $300 less than the nonstop EWR-SFO itself): "This is bus service." In Philadelphia, Charles made the strategic error of eating an entire "Chickie & Pete's" cheesesteak in about 15 minutes. This resulted in approximately 5 hours of food coma.

Prior to New York, Charles made a whirlwind visit to his favorite haunts in London and Paris. The new Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras Station in London is stunning, and the service is more convenient than ever. And for those travelers fearful of LHR, the new Terminal 5 glitches seem to have been sorted out. Charles transited Heathrow 4 times in May, and the only problems he encountered were outside of T5. Charles wishes BA Godspeed in their relocation of all remaining flights to T5.

On May 18, Charles returned to Leverburgh, Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, from a successful expedition to Rockall. Six out of the eleven people aboard the Elinca (including Charles) landed on Rockall, but only under their own swimming power. Each of them had to leap individually into the frigid, swirling seas of the North Atlantic, and ride the 15-20 foot swells, to be bashed against the sheer rock sides of Rockall, in hopes of clinging to kelp strands, and eventually finding a crack upon which to stand. Because it was previously thought that landing would be possible directly from a zodiac (it was not), only one of the guests had brought a wetsuit, and that was a coincidence based on the fact that he is a surf instructor! So each person wishing to attempt this feat had to transfer into the same wetsuit sequentially. Three of the six who landed were able to scramble to the top of Rockall.

A local article about the Rockall expedition can be seen here.

Both to and from Rockall, the expedition called at St. Kilda, where Charles and friends hiked over the entirety of the island, but were denied access to the pub and showers which Charles had enjoyed three years before. The local defense authorities claimed a water shortage, due to the excessive shower usage of a group of visiting schoolchildren earlier that week! After a week without washing onboard (there is at present no watermaker aboard the Elinca), the shower privileges were missed.

Charles and Kimberly spent Kimberly's birthday weekend April 25/26 in the beautiful town of Inverness, California. The brief respite from their 3 children under the age of 5 was welcome. Charles and Kimberly returned to San Francisco in time to attend the San Francisco Beer Festival (www.sfbeerfest.com). Unfortunately, walking home from the birthday party, the couple was robbed at gunpoint less than 100m from their home! Charles has never otherwise been robbed at gunpoint in any country on Earth.

Charles and fellow MTP Jorge Sanchez were recently featured in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The link to the article is here.

Charles was recently featured on NBC's Today Show. The video can be seen here.

Peter Greenberg has also posted a more detailed article on his website including more of the actual interview dialog. The link to that article is here.

Charles can also be seen on the show "25 Mind-Blowing Escapes," currently airing on the Travel Channel. On March 7, he will appear on the sister show: "25 Sexiest Beaches."

Charles spent Christmas in New Orleans, Louisiana, steadily gaining weight under the tutelage of Cajun restauranteur Kerry Boutte, owner of Mulate's, who hosted Charles and his family through a series of high-calorie meals and parties. Charles spent the prior week navigating two small children through a bewildering array of attractions at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The internet connection in Orlando was worse than anything he found in South America over the previous month.

Charles spent the first part of December crossing the top of South America from Atlantic to Pacific. He found Old Town Cartagena, Colombia, to be a Caribbean colonial jewel of a city - what San Juan wants to be, and what Havana would be if it had the money. Medellin, draped in Christmas lights for the holidays, was representative of Colombia in general: a turnaround success story filled with friendly ambitious people.

In contrast to Venezuela, Colombia is one of the most vibrant, well-running countries in South America. In Bogota, throngs of happy people crowd the streets day and night, under the watchful eyes of omnipresent police and security guards. Those with whom Charles interacted were competent, trustworthy, and kind. There is a joie de vivre and natural beauty in most parts of Colombia which, combined with its tragic recent history, make it one of the most underrated travel destinations in the world.

Charles arrived in Venezuela to find a country run off the rails. Problems were evident immediately on arrival at the remote Brazilian border, where the Venezuelan border police are running the local black market, exchanging money for 2x the official rate. They then sell whatever hard currency they can collect for the actual black market rate of 2.5x, a 25% profit. This economic imbalance is crippling productivity, forcing even good people to behave dishonestly just to get by. In a land where nothing is straight, all time is spent looking for an angle.

The bus from Brazil, passing through the spectacular Gran Sabana landscape (which inspired Arthur Conan Doyle's novel "The Lost World"), endured no less than 7 military checkpoints with full passenger inspection, even though there is only one road which passes through only 3 towns in that span. The focus on incoming traffic seemed misplaced, as the bus was nearly empty. No one wants to arrive in a world lost to corruption, barely one step above the worst African countries.

By contrast, the airport in Caracas was in chaos, with every flight out of the country booked to capacity until the end of December. Charles stood by for 10 hours before securing a seat to Bogota late at night. he key to success seemed to lie in complimenting the ticket agent on her elaborate fingernails, and promising to buy her a Coke; however, none of the 8 Coke machines in the airport worked. Four of them swallowed money and did nothing; one dropped the Coke into a tray, then jammed, preventing access; the other three machines were simply powerless. Together, these machines seemed sadly representative of Venezuela today.

Final departure from the country was no less of a chore. After training an immigration agent on her own computer system (following 10 minutes of failed data entry and restarting), Charles was stopped by anti-drug police. Their inquiries had nothing to do with drugs, but rather whether Charles would consider buying a television for them at the Duty Free store, where the official dollar rate is maintained. He politely declined.

Adding to the sadness of the Venezuelan situation is the natural beauty and first-world infrastructure which is going to waste. A scenic overflight of Angel Falls from the remote indigenous community of Canaima is truly one of the world's great experiences. However, Charles's day there, as everywhere in Venzuela, was punctuated by an ongoing fluid negotiation of price, timing, and exchange rates. The bush pilots spent much of their time standing in a circle, exchanging money and reassigning passengers. At the end of the day, after all others had long departed, Charles remained alone with the local policeman and his indigenous girlfriend, awaiting a 5-seat airplane rumored to be coming from elsewhere in the jungle (although since Charles was to be the only passenger, speculation was that the pilot would not bother arriving). The plane did arrive just before dusk, already carrying 3 adults and 4 children. Charles squeezed in, and they somehow landed safely in Ciudad Bolivar.

The 15-hour bus from Georgetown, Guyana, to the Brazilian border town of Lethem was a rough affair, navigating a single-track dirt road through the jungle at night. The incessant jolting prevented many in the crowd of migrant Brazilian mine workers and prostitutes from sleeping. Charles befriended the Director and FIFA representative for Guyanese football (soccer), whose overnight ensemble included a gun tucked into his waistband.

Local Georgetown driver Mikaiah experienced his first airplane ride, as Charles chartered a small plane to visit Kaiteur Falls, a beautiful horseshoe with a single drop of 741', 4 times as high as Niagara. Upon arrival in the remote area, with dusk approaching, Charles found a group stranded there with airplane trouble, and brought 8 of them back to civilization. Following a brief dinner, Mikaiah waived all charges for the day tour of the city.

Unfortunately, Charles was for a day or so in Guyana "illegally" (he has visited legally before). The Guyanas are all separated by rivers, and each border crossing is by infrequent government vehicle ferry or by constantly operating entrepreneurial small boat. The vast majority of local travelers have no vehicle, and utilize the small boats. Upon arrival at the Surinamese border town of Niew Nickerie, Charles was informed by the military police (at about 1PM) that they were closed for the day, since the once-daily ferry had left at 11AM. He could wait until tomorrow and have his passport stamped prior to the next ferry. That sounded unattractively stagnant, so Charles decided to proceed by small boat with his local taxi-mates (none of whom had the slightest inclination to bother with police and passport stamps). After about an hour wait for the boat to fill with passengers, Charles proceeded across the river, where all aboard were herded into a waiting minibus, filling it and enabling it to set out towards Georgetown, the capital city.

Again holding up the group, to check in with Guyanese authorities, Charles was told that he could not be stamped into Guyana, since he had not been stamped out of Surinam. He was told that the small boats were illegal, yet advised to take one back to Surinam in order to find someone to stamp him out. "Then, you can zip back here, and we'll be waiting for you." Given that there was at least an hour wait for boats to fill on both sides, and that the MPs back in Niew Nickerie had already told Charles there would be no stamping today, Charles strongly believed that neither would there be any zipping.

Always averse to bribes and bureaucratic nonsense, and not keen to go backwards, Charles heeded the advice of his now-restless fellow minibus passengers, and reboarded in order to continue the 4 hours or so on to Georgetown. Along the way, Guyanese military searched the entire car and its contents, checked all passports and bags, and shook down 3 of the passengers for bribes. But despite closely examining all of Charles's passport stamps, they let him go. Charles was the only white person in the group. In fact he saw no other white people the entire day in between Paramaribo and Georgetown.

The next day, the Duty Officer at the US Embassy in Georgetown told Charles by cellphone not to worry too much - that he didn't think Charles would experience excessive trouble departing Guyana into Brazil. The bus driver to the Brazilian border disagreed, and sent Charles and Mikaiah to a Georgetown immigration office, where Charles was scolded, then offered an entry stamp for roughly US$30. At the Brazilian border, Charles was detained for questioning,, and that stamp highly scrutinized, but he mentioned that he had "already given" at the capital, and they let him through.

In Cayenne, French Guiana, 2 expatriate doctors (French and Belgian) took Charles on an astonishing nightspot crawl, which included local private homes. While Charles had the privilege to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic from his hotel room before retiring, the doctors were committed to working at 8AM! The glacial visa queue at the cramped, oppressively hot Surinamese Consulate later that morning was especially taxing.

In remote Oiapoque, Amapa, Brazil, Charles was besieged by literally dozens of prostitutes who mistook him for a French Gendarme, who apparently are the only white visitors across the Oiapoque river. The distinctly Brazilian town of 10,000 or so may have the highest vice ratio of any place in Charles's experience. The rough frontier men in town did not smile as sweetly as the women did when passing Charles in the muddy streets.

On November 29, Rodney Russ of Heritage Expeditions came to visit Charles in San Francisco. He and Charles primarily discussed driving across Russia, which Rodney plans to do this year or next. Rodney also committed to customizing a future McMurdo voyage to attempt landings on Scott Island and the Ballenys - two of the most difficult and untouched places in the world! Rodney has made one of only two recorded landings on Scott Island in history! This voyage could take place as early as 2010 or 2011. Rodney has brought Charles to such exotic destinations as Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, St. Paul, Kermadecs, MacQuarie, and all of the NZ sub-Antarctic islands.

Charles spent the last part of November driving around "new" provinces of northern and western Argentina, and has now been to all but one of Argentina's 24 provinces. While enjoying the Arizona-like dirt roads and open vistas of Neuquen province, Charles suddenly realized that he was quite far from Buenos Aires, and would have to drive well past midnight in order to arrive within striking distance of his flight the next evening.

On 4 hours of sleep, Charles rolled into the Murillo Leather District of Buenos Aires at about 4:30 pm. Somehow, he completed clothes shopping for 8 family and friends (at least 2 shops stayed open for him), then found his way out of the city in the dark to Ezeiza, assisted by Buenos Aires Traffic Police, who had pulled Charles over for an illegal turn (and who solicited a fine on the spot). Charles was last to board his flight home, and had to hand his rental car key to the airline gate agent (the car was damaged, and parked in front of the departure terminal doors). Thank goodness, only the insurance deductable was added to the rental car bill.

In sunny Mendoza, wine country and spectacular Andean scenery have combined with relatively low pricing to produce a tourism mini-boom. Get there while the getting is good! Charles spent a "Mountain Day" there, driving to the Chilean border to view Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. Two highway policemen (hitchikers only!) rode back with him. Charles often has a local hitchiker in the passenger seat, which helps with language skills, insider knowledge, and directions, not to mention staying awake. Plus, the ones in uniform have guns, in case of trouble! Charles overnighted in Santa Fe, Corrientes, Salta, Tucuman, Cordoba, Mendoza, and an estancia outside of General Acha, La Pampa.

Charles had the good fortune (or misfortune) to spend a Saturday night in the student-populated city of Cordoba, where dinner doesn't start until midnight, and hardly anyone wanders home before sunrise. This made the stunning and tortuous drive across the Sierra de Cordoba all the more challenging on Sunday!

In beautiful Salta, Charles enjoyed a particularly atmospheric regional dinner with a direct view of the uplit 'San Francisco' Church. This somewhat offset the discomfort of the drive over, where the temperature hit 42C (108F) on the road across the 'Impenetrable Chaco Central' (tourist board description). This semi-tropical hardwood forest is being increasingly penetrated by loggers, both legal and illegal. Charles watched scores of trucks driving away with at least 15 trees each.

Sadly, Argentina lost to Colombia in World Cup football qualifying last Tuesday, adding to Charles's unlucky history regarding national football squads of countries he is visiting. For example, he was in France for the 2006 final, when France lost to Italy, and was in Italy for the 2002 quarterfinals, watching Italy lose to South Korea. When Turkey reached the semi-finals that summer, Charles watched them lose the match in Istanbul. And the list goes on.

Prior to Argentina, Charles spent the weekend in Amsterdam, attending the launch of the new megayacht "Harle." The event organizers provided such a plethora of food, drink, and entertainment, that few of the participants slept more than 6 hours out of the 72 hours they were together. Charles bookended the weekend with day visits to Washington DC and Boston. In Boston, he was excited to see the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and other surface areas of the Big Dig nearing completion.

At the end of September, Charles crossed the Andes by bus from Cochabamba, Bolivia to Arica, Chile. Following a long, dusty climb across the altiplano, the spectacular highway descended over 15,000 feet in roughly 50 miles towards a picture-perfect Pacific sunset, while a full moon rose behind in a cloudless sky. The atmosphere would have been flawless had the man seated next to Charles not smelled so strongly of llamas! Two days prior, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, Charles celebrated the current festival day with locals into the wee hours.

Charles reached Santa Cruz via the celebrated Train of Death, which proved less than deadly (death by Sloth, perhaps?), and might be better named "Train of Musical Chairs." In the dustly and forlorn frontier town of Quijarro, Charles was told at the ticket window that the train was full, and he would have to remain overnight in Quijarro. A helpful porter looking to make a buck said he "would see what he could do" talking to the Conductor. So Charles was placed in a seat without a ticket, and then displaced every 4 hours or so by others who had tickets: primarily massive waves of tongue-clucking schoolgirls returning from fieldtrips. Finding new unoccupied seats meant lugging bags through a fully crowded Bolivian train, in the dark. Sleep was elusive in such circumstances.

Prior to the Train of Death, Charles drove himself from Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, to Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, where he just had time to devour a chicken burger and 2 beers at a street stand before calling it a night. At least 3 weddings were happening at his hotel, but Charles had a 5:30 wakeup call to start his Patanal run.

From Palmas, Tocantins, Charles drove a 4WD vehicle to Piaui and back across the wilderness of the Jalapao. The conditions reminded Charles of game drives in many parts of Africa, except for a few things: He was alone; he doesn't speak the local language; he had roughly 800 kms to cover; and because of car trouble, part of the crossing occurred after dark! The Nissan 4x4 which was previously white was returned dark brown, having endured several maneuvers which could technically be classified as "car crashes."

In the remote village of "Lizarda," Charles overnighted in a fine room with shower and enjoyed an enormous dinner, all for roughly US$11. Near Alto Parnaiba, he picked up a ranch hand with very few teeth (but with a wife, 3 kids and several bags) and transported him and his family into town. Rico, the ranch hand, directed Charles to Luizinho, the town mechanic, who spent over two hours attempting to repair a faulty engine connection in Charles's truck. The price of labor: a 2-liter bottle of Coke for Luizinho and his gang.

On August 22, Charles and his family returned from Whistler, BC, Canada, future site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. In advance of the Olympics, the BC Provincial Government is widening the world-famous "Sea to Sky" Highway from 2 lanes to 4. For those of us (Charles included) who are extremely impressed that even a 2-lane road (and railroad) was able to be engineered through this dramatic landscape, this road-widening project is fascinating. Charles enjoyed comparing the progress on this project (due for completion in 2009) to that of the treacherous "Amur Highway" in Siberia (due in 2008). Let's just say that the Canadian project will be done first.

Prior to Whistler, Charles and his family spent the weekend visiting friends in Vancouver, and the week before beachcombing and relaxing in Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. His family reunited in the Vancouver Airport on August 11, Charles arriving from Seoul and the others from San Francisco. Charles's 24 hours in Seoul were mostly spent trying to locate a working notary public. At about 11PM on August 10, upon arrival from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Charles was informed by his wife that their daughter's passport had gone missing in San Francisco. Morever, an emergency replacement could not be provided by the US State Department without both parents' consent. And, in the case of an absent parent, a notarized written statement would be required. In the end, Charles was able to obtain this document through the US Consulate, where a few staff came in to work on Saturday. Meanwhile, an officer at the San Francisco Passport Agency arranged to meet Kimberly with the new passport on her way to the San Francisco Airport. A big "Thank You" to the US State Department on both sides!

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was cold and drizzly, with the same weather forecast indefinitely. Charles felt no regret at moving on after spending the day wandering the streets and spending 1200 Rubles on a shower (actually, on a "sauna" entertaiment suite intended for discreet nocturnal activities, but with perfectly adequate shower - as well as billiard table, sauna, swimming pool, bedroom, bar...). Charles's need to shower came from riding the train all night from Vladivostok to Khabarovsk, then flying to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It also had to do with being at the bottom of his laundry barrel following 3 weeks on Russian roads, driving a Land Rover over 14,000 kms from Moscow to the North Korean border, with lots of zig-zags in between.

Most Russian west-east transcontinental travelers set their finish line at Vladivostok, unaware of or perhaps ignoring the fact that Russian roads and rail extend another 3-4 hours further south. The end of the road (literally) is in the tiny town of Khasan, where Russia, China, and North Korea all converge. The tiny (4km) river border shared by Russia and North Korea is particularly interesting, serving two strategic purposes: 1) it allows Russia and DPRK a direct rail link (although no link is indicated on most Russian maps, the railroad bridge is definitely there!); 2) It prevents China from having sea access on both sides, and thus militarily surrounding the Korean peninsula.

In the past, foreigners were not welcome here, but Charles and his Russian friend Misha explored this "final frontier" before doubling back to Vladivostok. They proceeded all the way through the town of Khasan (now largely a ghost town, due to the drop in Russia-DPRK relations) to the end of the dirt road at a military post, where Russian border patrolmen spend their time leading German Shepherds to sniff out swimming North Koreans, whom they find "regularly." At the gate, they posed with the Kalashnikov-toting guard, and committed to sharing photos by email. Miserable weather conditions and a strategically placed KGB post obscured their view of the DPRK across the river, but they were lucky enough to witness the single daily train at Khasan station boarding a handful of Russians for the crossing.

Days before, Charles and Misha emerged from the 3-day purgatory of the dreaded Chita-Khabarovsk "Amur" highway. Battered and bruised, their Land Rover continued to run, although the cracks in the windshield were numerous and growing. This road, 2165 kms long, has a famously promised pavement completion date of 2008. In fact, the Russian Prime Minister stood up in Parliament this year during the Road Minister's address and told him he would personally "kick him in the ass" if the road was not done on time, since the project directly relates to Russian unity, as well as Russia's economic integration into Asia. Bear in mind that this is the ONLY east-west road in Russia. However, roughly 2000 kms of the road (over 90%) remain unpaved, and vast stretches lack any completed roadbed at all. Upon their arrival in the relative sophistication of Khabarovsk, Charles and Misha stood farther east than all of China and Korea, as well as part of Japan.

Prior to the crossing, Charles and Misha braved raging forest fires between Ulan Ude and Chita, where much of the countryside was burning, making the air difficult to breathe, with no end in sight. In Ulan Ude, they and two Buryatian colleagues ate Buryatian cuisine in a yurt, then went bowling! They clawed their way through about 400 kilometers of very bad road east of Krasnoyarsk, which delayed them substantially. At one point dozens of trucks were lined up awaiting a bulldozer, which was pulling them up a muddy incline one by one. Charles and Misha slogged their way around the mess.

Charles and Misha literally ran out of gas at the border of The Republic of Tuva. Thankfully, a berry-picker by the roadside allowed the siphoning of 6 liters of his (much lesser octane) gas to cover the distance to the next petrol station.

Once in Kyzyl, Charles's fortune was read by a shaman, and next thing they knew, they were walking into the Tuva National Theater to find tonght's entertainment was the Miss Kyzyl competition 2007! A nice glass of Khoitpak (fermented sour mare's milk) went down pretty well after that.

On a Friday in Tomsk, following a jaunt to the hilly Altai Republic, Charles sampled grilled bear with cowberries for dinner at top dining spot "Vechniy Zov." Earlier in the day, a small rock sent shards of glass flying from their windshield. The hole was subsequently patched with chewing gum. In Novosibirsk at the "New York Times Bar," they rocked the house with the band "Captain Dick" (local classic rock cover band). One of the more motivational numbers of the evening was the AC/DC standard "Highway to Hell." During the trip, Charles and Misha overnighted in Vladivostok, Slavyanka, Khabarovsk, Belogorsk, Tynda, Magocha, Chita, Ulan Ude, Sayansk, Krasnoyarsk, Kyzyl, Abakan, Bijsk, Novosibirsk, Ishim, Yekaterinburg, Ufa (Baskortostan), Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow.

Prior to Russia, Charles was in Wainscott, East Hampton, New York, attending a friend's 50th birthday party, and in Tarrytown, New York, at the wedding of his cousin. He and his wife Kimberly flew direct from Honolulu to Newark on July 12, following a day spent in Volcano National Park, near Hilo, Hawaii. The Veley family spent the first two weeks of July in Hanalei, Kauai, where Charles surfed alongside Matt Damon, who was also vacationing there (Charles and Matt shared the same surf instructor)!

On July 9, Charles and his family visited "The Forbidden Island" of Ni'ihau by helicopter. In a lucky break, the "mayor" and spiritual head of Ni'ihau, Mr. Kunia, was on Kauai, and needed a ride to the island. So, not only did Charles get to meet the leading Ni'ihauan, and to land with the helicopter near the village (to drop Kunia off), but the helicopter company discounted the price! Normally, outsider interaction with Ni'ihauans is strictly prohibited.

Charles celebrated his 42nd birthday on June 25th at his mother's farm in Chloe, West Virginia. Following Charles's 20th (!) college reunion in Boston, and a week in Katama, Martha's Vineyard, the Veley traveling circus made its way to New York City through family stops in Hartford, CT, Princeton, NJ, and Spring Lake, NJ. The beach day on the Jersey Shore was especially welcome, since the weather in Martha's Vineyard was unseasonably cold. Despite staying in the most remarkable secluded location (friend's house) throughout the week, with pondfront, private beachfront, and unobstructed views, the Veleys were housebound with full cloudcover, temperatures hovering around 10C, and winds regularly over 20kts. In New York, the construction in Lower Manhattan around the former WTC site was particularly impressive.

In late April, Charles spent 2 days in Dubai on his way home from Turkey. It had been more than 4 years since he had explored the city (although he had transited through numerous times in the interim), and the amount of construction in progress is truly breathtaking. The scope of construction reminded Charles of his software days; grand ideas being converted to reality with tons of money floating behind and a heady sense of "why not?"

The prior week, Charles drove through as many "new" areas of Turkey as was feasible. As usual, he underestimated the distances and the fun to be had upon arrival, so didn't sleep much. Highlights included driving through rain and snowstorms in spectacular mountain areas of Kurdish Southeastern Turkey, where he "discovered" the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The coastal road from Antalya to Mersin is also especially scenic and tortuous, and puts California's Pacific Coast Highway to shame. Also notable were the Cappadocia region of Central Turkey, the bustling Waterfront in Izmir, and the ruins at Epheseus ('Efes' in modern Turkish - for which the ubiquitous national beer is named).

Charles took advantage of Central Europe's unusually warm spring weather the week prior to drive comprehensively through Hungary and Slovenia. There is hardly a road or town in all of Slovenia which is not postcard perfect, so no matter what direction you turn, you can't go wrong. A friend of Charles owns a string of bars and clubs in Budapest. On Saturday, April 14, he invited Charles to his hip club "Studio" on the island of Obudai beginning Sunday at 1AM. Fatigued, Charles awoke in his hotel room at 5AM and thought he had missed the party. But imagine his surprise on his arrival at 6AM to find over 3000 people still dancing frenetically in the club, and a line several hundred long waiting to get in. At least a dozen members of the Budapest Police were managing traffic around the venue. Charles joined the throngs inside until 10AM, when he excused himself to continue his driving tour. The party was scheduled to continue until 5PM Sunday, and certainly showed no signs of abating.

Charles and fellow MTP Jorge Sanchez spent the first week of April in the Sahara Desert with the Ali Talib family in the Sahrawi encampment village of "27 de Febrero." The Sahrawi encampment villages are within Algerian territory, but Jorge and Charles managed to hire a car and driver to take them within Sahrawi territory, where they encountered several landless African refugees and were admitted to a UN base.

Prior to the Sahara, Charles spent 2 weeks in Brazil driving though several "new" areas. Driving was nearly as fast as flying; due to a controllers strike, and general Brazilian custom, Charles's flights were delayed an average of 3 hours each. Of course, this was somewhat compensated for by the Brazilian people's adaptable and positive spirit. In Brazil, Charles rented 6 cars (in different places), and was able to fill every tank with gasoline or alcohol, or any combination of the two. They have 'flex' tanks. Gasoline costs about half as much per liter, but also burns more quickly.

Particular highlights in Brazil included the beachfront areas of Paraty and Ilha Santa Caterina, and the colonial World Heritage Site towns of Goias, Olinda, and Ouro Preto. Also memorable was the hospitality of Christoph and Simoe Druffner, other MTPs, in Vitoria, Espirito Santo. During the 2 weeks, Charles was pulled over by the Brazilian Highway Police only once for speeding, bringing the number of countries where that has happened to 20.

In January, Charles completed an intense driving tour of Thailand and Vietnam, covering over 7000 kms in 2 weeks. In reverse order, he overnighted in Bangkok, Can Tho, Hat Yai, Phuket, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Mae Sot, Chiang Mai, Mae Sai, Sukhothai, Nong Khai, and Ubon Ratchathani. He also crossed over into Myanmar twice and Laos once on the way. There are several ways to make legal day trips into those countries without visas. Although Charles was in Bangkok on New Years Eve Day, he was never near the site of the bombings, and was well away in the car by that time. Your many concerned emails are appreciated, though.

Highlights of Charles's Thailand roadtrip were many, including the roller coaster roads and tribal peoples of the Golden Triangle hill towns, the enormous Karen refugee population along the Burma border, and the incredible karst formations in the south. Charles enjoyed the constant friendliness of the Thai people as he passed through many less touristed areas. "Farang" such as Charles are rarely seen in some Northern and Eastern Thai villages, let alone one driving his own car!

In an incident which speaks volumes about the Thai people, Charles's car keys slipped from his pocket at the mini-mart of a busy gas station. By the time Charles realized this, several minutes had passed. Thinking his pocket had been picked, he raced outside, and was relieved to find the car still there. Not only that, but someone had placed the keys on a nearby bench in full view. Dozens of people had passed by in the interim, yet Charles's camera, ipod, and laptop bag with valuables all lay untouched in the front passenger seat area!

What goes on in tiny isolated Minami Daito (population: 3000) on a Saturday night? Charles found out in October, 2006, as he crooned karaoke with several of his new best friends (average age: 65) in a few of the small sake bars "downtown." Charles advises against the rum made from local sugarcane - the only rum made in Japan - unless you want to clean your shoes with it.

Prior to Japan, Charles visited Bangkok, Thailand, to experience the opening of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Emboldened by recent driving experiences in Russia and Mexico, he drove a rental car around Bangkok and through Thailand's southeast (first time driving in 10 visits to Thailand!), before spending the evening with his old Thai Air Force friends and their families. The Bangkok area showed no sign of unrest as a result of the recent coup d'etat.

The prior week, Charles completed a week-long "planes, trains, and automobiles" odyssey to visit all of his "remaining" Chinese provinces. His last stop was Xiamen, where, incredibly, the P'eng Hu islands of Taiwan sit within swimming distance, and are accessible by regular ferry. Highlights of Charles's China tour include the minority villages of Yunnan, the mag-lev train to Pudong Airport, and dinner atop the terrace of "M on the Bund," soaking in the Shanghai neon skyline at a special table organized by his friend the owner. Thanks go to superstar Chinese travel agent/guide Shi "Paul" Baoying, who organized Charles's trip. Charles recommends Paul (paulbys@126.com) to any travelers wishing to visit remote areas of China.

Earlier in September, Charles completed a 5500km road trip of Russia's European oblasts with the legendary Misha Rybochkin, who brought Charles into Chechnya and the other Caucasian Autonomous Republics last year. He has now visited all European Russian oblasts. Charles interruped the road trip to participate in the first half of this year's Bela Vista Ball festivities, held in Minsk and Kiev. That group went on to further outrageousness in Tbilisi and Yerevan.

During June and July, Charles traveled with his family to Kauai, Hawaii, Chloe, West Virginia, Boston, New York City, London, the Cote d'Azur, France, Vancouver, Tofino (by airplane and auto), and Southeastern Alaska (by cruise ship). The total group size was 4 adults, one 2 year-old, and one infant, with 12 checked pieces of luggage which could only fit into the largest of mini-vans. Suffice it to say that the pace was slower than on Charles's usual trips.

On April 14, Charles was preparing to depart from Port Blair by helicopter to Campbell Bay on the Nicobar Islands, when a fax arrived from the Indian Inteligence Bureau's (the Indian CIA/FBI) Chennai Office. The fax revoked Charles's permit to visit the Nicobars without explanation. This was especially frustrating, as the IB's New Delhi office was the key player who approved the permit in the first place. Normally, foreigners are not allowed near the Nicobars, due to the presence of sensitive military installations and primitive indigenous tribes, and even relief workers were barred following the tsunami. So, after more than a week of jumping through hoops in hot, crowded and ancient Indian government offices, Charles was unable to visit Campbell Bay. The prior week, Charles was invited to sit in the cockpit a few days ago for a spectacular 737 flight from Leh, Ladakh, over the Himalayas in crystal-clear weather. This may have been the most scenic ever of Charles's thousands of flights.

Before that, Charles's hired car broke down returning from Daman to Mumbai, and he and his driver were rescued from bandits by Indian highway patrol. However, it took more than 6 hours for a new car to arrive, causing much discomfort all around.

On March 23, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Charles spent the morning assisting local fishermen pulling in their nets on the beach at the epicenter of tsunami damage. Despite the backbreaking labor, and the fact that each of these men had lost loved ones little more than a year ago, the fishermen were uniformly friendly and upbeat. They rewarded Charles with a bag of fish, which his hotel chef prepared for Charles.

On the evening of March 4, Charles returned to Punta Arenas, Chile, after 34 days at sea, and 8 landings on Peter I Island. During the trip, he became a part of the helicopter team on the DAP Mares, which involved preparing, loading and unloading over 130 cargo flights to the island in support of the 3Y0X ham radio expedition. Details are on www.peterone.com. Charles's total time on the island was over 48 hours.

On February 21, Charles and 3 Chilean sailors (the other members of the helicopter team) were stranded on Peter I Island for 19-20 hours when bad weather prevented any helicopter landings. They constructed a makeshift shelter from materials in the few remaining cargo loads on the island.

In January, Charles completed a driving tour of Mexico, whereby he drove roughly 5000 miles and visited all 26 Mexican states which were "new" to him. Despite purchasing full insurance coverage, there was not a scratch on Charles's rental car at the conclusion of this odyssey. Nevertheless, Charles recommends full coverage to those asipiring to drive across Mexico. A few highlights of Charles's trip were the hills and markets of Chiapas, the beautiful city of Oaxaca, and the up-and-coming beach community south of Tulum.

Charles interrupted his Mexican trip in order to be in Antigua to greet his friend Ben Fogle, who rowed across the Atlantic with British Olympic champion James Cracknell. The pair completed the task in just under 50 days, and appeared gaunt, sporting heavy beards. They were in good spirits, despite being capsized a week before, and losing much of their equipment 700 miles from shore. It was amusing to see their unfamiliarity with land, as both assumed the posture of human question marks, and swayed and staggered as if profoundly drunk, although neither had touched alcohol since their departure.

In October, 2005, Charles visited North Korea, where he was in the first group of American tourists to enter the country since 2002. The group flew to Pyongyang from Beijing on Koryo airlines, and spent 3 days of highly organized exposure to anti-American propaganda. While in Beijing, Charles discovered that www.mosttraveledpeople.com is banned in China! The sensitivity must be because Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, etc. are listed as separate entities.

In August, 2005, Charles completed a 6000 km auto journey through Southern and Central Russia, during which he set foot in 25 Russian Oblasts, including 15 Autonomous Rebublics. The most difficult of these to enter was Chechnya. After several police stops and nearly $1000 in forced payments along the way, Charles was held for over 4 hours on the Chechen border and interrogated by the KGB. Finally they allowed him to proceed, and some border police escorted him into Chechnya (and out again, thankfully!).

Prior to that road trip, Charles reached the North Pole and Franz Josef Land aboard the nuclear icebreaker Yamal, on his second attempt. The first attempt, in 2003, was the only time that the Yamal has not reached the North Pole on a scheduled run, due to extreme ice conditions. Charles swam at the North Pole, along with several other passengers.

"New" entities Charles visited in 2006, in reverse order, include Hokkaido, Daito Islands, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Labrador, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goias, Brasilia DF, Minas Gerais, Peter I Island, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Veracruz, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Queretaro, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Hidalgo. He has traveled over 1,250,000 miles during the 6 years of this project.

"New" entities Charles visited in 2005, in reverse order, include Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Baskortstan, Udmurtia, Komi, Mari El, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Mordovia, Kalmykia, Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Adygea, Karelia, Franz Josef Land, Cocos Island, Malpelo Island, Galicia, Melilla, Gaza Strip, Pondicherry, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Yap, Southern Philippines, Kermadec Islands, Annobon and Rio Muni. Charles visited 57 countries and traveled 171,816 miles in 2005.

1. TCC list - All 315 items by age 37 years, 9 months 17 days.
   He has visited over 200 of these 315 items twice or more.
   He has visited over 50 of them 5 times or more.
2. Guinness list - 264 of 265 items (missing Paracel/Xisha).
3. DXCC list - 316 of 337 items (plus 5/9 add'l Euro DXCC list items)
4. John Todd's personal list, as written in his 1995 book "Race for the World." - 72 of 73 items not on any of the other lists. (Missing Nicobar Islands - but is skeptical that John Todd actually went to Nicobar Islands, which are off-limits to foreigners. The book explains in detail how Mr. Todd visited most other difficult places, but only mentions Nicobar Islands in passing. Someone who had actually gone to Nicobar Islands would explain how.)

Charles's goal is to go "everywhere," which means at minimum completing these 4 lists, and ultimately visiting all 673.