1980 world tour story

1. A HANDSTAND, A SMILE, AND A DREAM COME TRUE
All it takes is all you’ve got!
On a scale of one-to-ten,where wouldyourate a tripthat took you 66,000 miles,aroundthe World,toover
30 Major placesin 20 differentcountries;all in30 days?This isan enterprise thatisaseducational,
exhilarating,andchallengingasitisforeboding,exhausting,andimprobable.Well, Icompletedsucha
journeyinMay, 1980; meetingandlivingwithreal people all overthisworld,andIrate it a “10”. This
adventure wasundoubtedlyone of the mostincredible experiencesIeverexpectedtohave inmylife. I’m
rememberingitnow 40 yearslaterwhile readingmytravel journal. Isubmittedastoryaboutthis
adventure toPanAm, backthen,but itwas to longto publishintheirairlinemagazine.Itwouldtake a
novel toreviewthe detailsof the 37 flightszigzaggingacrossthe equatorandthe international dateline to
six continents. Solittletime wasactuallyspentinthe air(120 hours) and sleeping(4hoursa dayaverage),
however,thatmostof the twenty-nine25-hourdayswere actuallyfilledwithstoriestotell.Thisshort
synopsisisonlyatribute to the mainingredientthatmade thisadventure somemorable.It’sawayof
saying,“Thanks”,to manyfriendlypeopleeverywhere,whobroke throughthe barriersof language,culture,
environment,andpoliticstoshowme theirworld. Thischallengingadventure jumpstartedme ona path
that includedsome 200 expeditionsand excursions tothe Northand SouthGeographicPolesandevery
countryin between (exceptSyria).
As a traveler,Ifeltadesire toleave acallingcard as well asto collecta souvenirfromeveryinteresting
place I visited. Beingaformergymnastincollege,mythinghasbecome “ahandstand”.Thisnoveltyis
prettydifficulttodo,butitis a memorable wayof sayinghello.Youlookalittle sillyIguess,butpeople who
notice become interested,farlessdefensive,quitefriendly,andtheyrememberyou.Iwouldhandmy
simple cameratoa passerbyand ask,“Excuse me,wouldyouplease take aphotoof me?”. To their
surprise,I’dpopintoa handstandandholdit until theyrecoveredandgotthe picture.AlthoughIonly
spoke Englishwell,mysignlanguage wasuniversal andthe handstandalwaysbroughtonsmiles.
Thisis a replayof my first around-the-worldadventure 40yearsago. I was usinga brand new travel option
fromPan Am airline theycalled“Passport30”: Unlimitedflightsfor30days anywhere youcouldbooka
reservation,forone price,$2222.00 US dollars.ItwasClipperClasswithbusinessseatingtoboot,and20 of
my flightswere onthe relativelynewBoeing747. The trek embarkedfrom Washington,DC,USA,where I
was born.From there,Icrossedthe USA viaMiami to SanFrancisco andthenon to Hawaii. One of my
handstandswasinthe FirstClasscabin of a 747, where the Captain I met, tookthat photo.
I laid-overinHonolulu 24hours,where I rentedacar justbefore midnight anddrove 260 miles, all overthe
island. Fastfoodinthe car; handstandsatsunrise onDiamondHead Beach; surfingatWaikiki; a 2-hour
Gliderflight;handstandsinthe pineapple fields; Pearl HarborMemorial; all withoutabreak. Thenafter
dark an authentic,Germaine Luau withHulaandSwordDancers, Fire Eaters, representingmanyPacific
Islanders;alongwithaPigRoast feast– HawaiianStyle. WhenIturnedinmy rental car, I wasreadyto sleep
on the nextflight,toAustralia, forsure. Still Ihadtowake up whenwe crossedthe Equatorand thenthe
International Dateline–bothFirstsfor me – and alsofora few handstandswhilewe stoppedinFiji.
In Sydney,IreconnectedwithtwoAustralianwomen,Faye andhermom, Monica,whoI had metin 1976 in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,while Iwas workinginGermany forNASA.Theyletme staywiththemfor two
days,while andtheirson,Carl, andhis girlfriend,Penny showedme the sights.Igota rental car and
togetherwe all drove about120 milesaround the areato Tiranga Zoo,the beaches andcountryside, a
walkingtourof SydneyOldTown/KingsCross, andtookaboat ride inSydneyHarbor.That firstnightFaye
and I wenttothe SydneyOperaHouse tosee a stage play. Faye workedwithPan Amas it happened,and
she enabledme tomake some adjustmentstomyItinerary.Amazingly,afteronly32 hoursI was back on
another747 headingtoJapan. Somuch had happened;butitwasonlypossible due tothe local folks,who
reallyknewtheirwayaround andwere able totime everythingsowell.

2. With“Passport30” myflighttoOsaka, Japanhad to be viaAuckland,New Zealand andHonoluluagain.
Another10,000-mile setof flights takingaround24 hours and crossingthe Dateline twice andthe Equator;
confusingmytimekeepingmore thanabit.Sleeping onboard wassporadic,butI was a youngguy in1980.
The business-classmealsweregreat;andtheyhadbathroomsand moviesaswell.
Japanwas the cleanest,friendliest,mostefficientandindustriouscountryIencounteredonthisvoyage. I
setmy watch byShinkansahighspeed trainsandsuccessfullyavoidedthe necessityof translatingthe
Japanese hieroglyphicsigns.Withasmile,ahandstand,andsome signlanguage,the Japaneseopenedtheir
hearsto the wearytravelerfromthe USA. Inthree days, I covered hundredsof milesby superfasttrains
across Japan from Osakato Kyototo Tokyo.In KyotoI stayedin a real hotel witha roomthe size of a
bathroom,butthe walkingtourwasmagnificent.Itwasrainingwhenthe train endeditsdayand deposited
me in Fuji City.Iwas nappingona seat inthe desertedstation forafew hours,whena voice woke me up
sayinginEnglish,“CanI helpyou?”That was Hoshinoandhe was deliveringnewspapersforhisbusiness.I
stayedwithhimandhisyoungwife intheirtraditional house inFuji until late morning.We reviewed his
plansfor buildinghisnewhouse.Curiously,Iwasinthe midstof doingthe same whenItook off a month
for thisadventure. Whenthe rainstopped,Hoshinosetme up withhisuncle,Nozawa,whotaughtEnglish;
and I rode withhimand hisson on a firstclass tour of Mt Fuji andFuji City.He drove a ToyotaCelicajust
like mine,butwithsteeringwheel on rightside.Itwaslike beingpartof theirfamily. A special thanksto
HoshinoandNozawa,whotransformedarainyday in a lonelytrainstationintomymostmemorable dayin
Japan.But, there wasmore to come. I was back onthe trains and touredHiroshimaona veryquietday
before endingupoutside TokyoinGakuGei Dai Gaku. Ramblingaroundthe subwayduringRushHour,
Darrell McKnightfoundme and ledme throughthe mazesof a thousandbodiespressedtogether.He wasa
draft dodgerfromthe Vietnamdaysnowanentrepreneurlivingbothin thissuburbof Tokyoand inBali.
Boy didhe knowhisway around.We had lunchon me at McDonald’s andI stayed overnightathis
apartment.A true Childof the Universe, he stayedupmostof the nighttalking withme.He got me on the
rightsubwayto the airport the nextmorningandI flew off again.
NextStopwasHong Kong – a differentkindof story. Itwas1980, butHong Kong wasalready a city-sized
shoppingcenter. Youmaynot knowwhere youare,butit doesn’tmatter.Whateveryouneed,itisjust
aroundthe corner. I stayedinthe YMCA and couldleave myclothesthere tobe washed. Thistime itwas
goodold,RobinWong,who walkedme all overthe towneithershowingme the sightsortryingto sell me
something.Itwaswild!I’dsuggestsomethingandhe’dwalkme righttoit. He setme upfor several local
tours and evenfinagledatripintoRedChinaforme only47 hoursafterarriving.Forthisprize I purchaseda
hand-tailoredsafari jacket,some jewelry,tee shirtsandotherparaphernalia fromhimand hisfriends.All
thishad to be shippedhome byboatas I was travelingwithoutanycheckedbagged –justtwo shoulder
bags.Still the 2 days withRobin,8 hoursof busand boat tours,rickshaw ride, and10 milesof walkingonly
cost about$200.00 on mycreditcard.
The 1-day excursionintoRedChina (ShamChunCity, acrossthe ShenzhenRiver)wasbytrain. It cost $10
and tookabout 4 hours crossingthe borderintoChina.Itouredthe ShenzhenReservoirArtGallery anda
kindergartenwhereIdidhandstandsforthe kids andtheydidsome traditional dancesforme.Ihad a
Cantonese lunch,mailedpostcards,bicycledaroundthe townandwalkedonmyhandsin a crowdfor
laughs,swappinghatswithsome guysinsoldiersuniforms. Itwasnot at all whatI expected.Everywhere,
the friendlinessof the people disavowed the forecastsof doomandgloom. Perhapsthose handstandswere
the spark,for the localswere crazy friendlytome everywhere. Amidstanatmosphere of quietdiscipline
and order,I wouldbreakthe ice witha handstandandsome gymnasticswithsome interestedyoungfolks.
Quickly,the atmosphere becamedynamic.Fiftylittle kidswere surroundingme withhandsoutstretched
and voicescryingoutto be tossedupin the air or spunaround myarm like theirbuddieshadbeen. Whata
blast!Finally,Ihadto returnto Hong Kongwithmy Chinapassportstampand all those wonderful
memories;andtoadjustplans and reservations againforthe nextphase.

3. Unfortunately, the airline timingsonlyallowedaquickstopin New Dehli,India,howeverthe 22 hoursin
Bahrain,whichfollowed,wereworthit. ArrivinginBahrainatsunrise,Iwalkedarounduntil Ifoundand
boardedthe local bus.The driver,Narendran,woulddropme off ata stopand pickme upagain an hour
later,onhis nextroundbetweenManamaandanothercity.Atnoon hisshiftwasoverand we had lunchat
hisplace,a compoundwhere IndianworkerslivedinBahrain.We freshenedupandthenwenttoan Indian
movie attheirtheaterandmet some of hisfriends. Luckily,hisEnglishwasgoodenoughtooffsetmysign
language andwe spentabout6 hoursmixingitupwiththe local folks.Itwas here that mylipmysteriously
swelledupandtheytookme to a nearbyclinic.Later,I foundoutthat I am allergictothe quinine tabletsI
was takingweeklyasaprecautionagainstmalaria. Itclearedupenoughto flyoff again.
The nextopportunitywastovisitthe turbulentcountriesof EgyptandIsrael withashort hopfrom Bahrain
to Cairo.There wouldhave beennoexcuse once inCairo,tomissthe fabulousPyramids.So,naturally,Ihad
to climbthe Great Pyramidof Cheopsanddo some handstandsonthe top.Aftersome 4700 hundredyears
or more,somebodyhadtodo it.I gave a guy ona camel $10 and he toldme to climb upthe corner
opposite the Sphinx.There wasnoone else climbing,soIwasall alone atthe top sittingthere for2 hours
admiringthe view.Ihadto setup my SLR camera andtimerto pointto the top and thenin10 seconds
climbupon the last rowof blocksand pressa handstanduntil Ithoughtthe timerhadgone off.I didthat 13
timeshopingtogetsome goodphotoswhenI finallydevelopedthe filmamonthlater.Ihad signedupwith
GreenValleyfor5 toursand 2 SleeperTrainridestoLuxorandback. Too manystoriesfromthe Valleyof
KingsandKarnak to elaborate onhere.Gasoline was$.025/gallon,butwaterwas$9/gallon.Spentmylast
day inCairowalkingthe bazaars,and at sunsetthe SoundandLight Show at the Pyramids.Dinner withan
exoticdance show inSahara City cappedoff anotherlongday.
At 5 AM I wasflyingtoTel Avivinan oldBoeing707. The plane and the crew were “rented”byEgypt incase
theywouldbe lostinIsrael. Notsurprisingconsideringthe bodyorificessearchrequiredat the Israeli
border. I metSheilaSimpson, aNewZealander, atthe airportandwe rentedacar togetherthere.We
pickeduptwosoldiersonour wayto Jerusalem.We walkedthe oldCityandthe Church of the Holy
Sepulcher;andfollowedaprocessiontothe Tomb. We drove on toBethlehem, butwe were toolate forthe
Church of the Nativitytour.Nevertheless,ayoungguy,whoworkedthere,gave usa private tourand sold
us some souvenirs.We passedbythe DeadSeawhere army maneuverswere ongoingaftersunset,but
Sheiladidn’tfeel comfortable checkingthatout.We justdrove back to TLV at 3 AMand she leftforEurope.
I was unable tocontact the shipfromHaifa to Istanbul soI pickedupan Israeli gal,whowasalsoheadedfor
the Tel Aviv.My nextbestoptionwasto take an Al ItaliaflighttoRoma,not coveredbymy PanAm pass. I
had to rushback to the airport and turnin the rental car (after380km) in time tocatch that flight.
The most reliable wayforme toget to Istanbul,TurkeywasviathisshortlayoverinRoma,Italy. I met
Ibrahamat the Roma airport,afterhe had saidgood-bye tohisgirlfriend.IbrahamwasborninKuwaitbut
finishinghisseventhandlastyearof medical studiesinRoma.He spoke fluentEnglish,Italian,andArabic
and knewhiswayaroundthiscity like anative.We walkedthe streetsforfourhoursexchangingstories.
Alongthe wayhe boughtusa terrificItaliandinnerathisfavorite “hole-in-the-wall”restaurant. He gotme
ontothe rightbusand eventuallyIwasflyingtoIstanbul.TenyearslaterIgota call fromIbraham, whenhe
was inNorthCarolinaescapingfromSaddamHusseininthat Gulf War.
Several folksImetonthisadventure have correspondedwithme since then,butI’ll rememberIstanbul
most,thanksto Ali Merigand hisfamily.WhenIstoppedmyrental car by a beachalongthe Seaof
Marmara to watch some fishermen,Alihelpedme convince themtotake usfor a little boatride tour.Ali
was betweenHighSchool andthe Navy andhopingtomake a secondcutfor college.Americaseemedlikea
far-off dreamthathe mightsee asa sailorsomeday.Russia,however,wasmerelyacrossthe Straits.His
mixedfeelingsaboutthese two superpowerswasreallyeducational.We alternateddrivingmyrental car
and walkingaroundIstanbul.Mycar was towedwhile we wereonatour boat ride throughthe Bosporus
Straits,butAli founditat the Police stationandgotit outfor us.We thendrove all the way to Kilosonthe

4. shores of the Black Seaand stayedwithhisextendedfamilythere foranight inthe apartmentcomplex
theymanaged.Several timeswe all piledintomycar and Ali drove usto visittheirlocal friends.Language
was a problem, butagainsmilesprevailed.Someof theirrelatives livedinChicago,sotheywantedme to
sendcopiesof the photosI tookto themas well. The personal touchmade these 2daysin Turkeyjustfly.
By the way It seemedthatmanyof the 1950 USA cars still operating were inIstanbul andgoingstrong.
Nowfor the lastmajor legof thisvoyage – Africa. It may seemhysterical,butthe flightfromIstanbulto
Nairobi,KenyaonPanAmwas onlyfree if Ifollowedtheirroute viaNew YorkCity.Iwas alreadyimmune to
fatigue fromlongflightsatthispoint,soanother13,000 mile jauntwasa goodchance to catch up on my
logbook,get some goodairplane foodandmovies,abitof sleep,andtomeetflightattendantsfromall
overthe world.Twogood lookingyounggalscame to visitme inHighlandlaterthatyearand we touredDC.
In 1980 itwas possible tojumpoff aplane duringa 45-minute stop,geta passportstamp,change some
money,mail postcards,get a small souvenir,dohandstands,andgetback onthe plane again.Iactuallydid
that as my flightspassedthroughSenegal,Liberia,IvoryCoast,andNigeriabeforelandinginKenya.In
Nairobi,ImetJuliusSucchi,the Directorof PanAm for East Africa.He encouragedme to write thisstory
and setme up witha 4-day/3-nightSafari startingabout8 hours aftermy arrival.
For about$225, thissafari was everythingIcouldhave imaginedandmore – muchmore.Our guide wasa
youngnative,whodrove ourVW minibusslowlyinstepsuntilwe were rightalongside apride of Lions
feastingona Wildebeesttheyhadcaught.If we still hadfilmbythattime,we neededawide-anglelens.It
was like thisfor3 days.Each nightwe stayedina different,modernlodge.Maywas off-season,sothe
lodgeswere anxioustoaccommodate us.The Treetoplodge wasmostmemorable. A parade of animals
visitedthe SaltLickbeneathourbalconiesinsuccessionafterdark.Inspite of mytryingto rough it,this
weekwasa real vacation.It wouldmake aromantic honeymoon.Still therewasmore tocome.
I’ve had to skiptons of storiesalready,butthere are twoveryspecial memoriesImustmake roomfor. The
safari fare was paidup to Mombasa onthe IndianOcean.Still,50milesnorthof there I electedtoleave the
tour and to searchfor a satellite launchfacilitynearMalindi onmyown.The whole busgroupwouldhave
gone too,but twopassengerswere againstthe detour. There Iwas,givingmylast100 shillingscashtothe
driver, sohe wouldpurchase a trainticketback to Nairobi forme whentheygotto Mombasa. Now I was
reallyalone inastrange town witha mixture of modernandprimitivepeople andfacilities.The banks had
beenclosedsince 5PM, and I neededsome cash.Ihad 26 hoursto findthe Italianbase andfinda way to
getto Mombasa.
A travel agencywasopen,andthe gal there founda phone numberforme to call the Italians, whoran the
San Marco station.Luckily,theygotmycall and senta minibustopickme up and take me back to their
stationby9 PM. These guys had workedwithmyNASA colleaguesbackatthe GoddardSpace FlightCenter
inMaryland, USA,whentheylaunchedone of ourspacecraftfrom here a few yearsearlier.We all knew
some of the same NASA folksandmyhostsspoke EnglishandItalian. Justlike that,theygave me the grand
tour. I gotall the foodandshowersandrest and conversationIcouldhope for.Theysetme up to call my
NASA colleaguesviatheirtwo-satellite linktothe USA.That reallyshockedmybuddiesbackhome,who
thoughtI mighthave beenkidnappedinIranor eatenalive inAfrica.Whata stroke of luck,yetagain.NASA
was aboutto launchthe NOAA-Bsatellite,whichwouldpassoverEastAfrica,andthe Italianswere setting
up to track it forNASA.Inthe earlymorningaftera great breakfastwe tooka small boatout to the launch
pad 4 milesoff shore.ThiswasaconvertedTexasOil Rig,whichhadbeencriticallylocatedonly2degrees
off the Equator. A tour and a fewhandstandsonthe launchpad and thenI returnedtothe base.Two of the
guyswere readyto drive the 50 milestoMombasato set uptheirrelaystationthere andtrack that NASA
launch.I had to catch that train,so theytookme along.However,before Icouldleave theyforcedme to
take 300 shillingstobuythemall NASA souvenirsbackhome.Thiswasincrediblebecause Iwaspenniless
withno wayto getto a bank, and ittook 295 shillingstogetoutof the country.

5. Finally, I’mgoingtotell thislaststoryaboutthe final 4 days justthe way ithappened –in a blitz.There were
14 flights:fromthe IndianOcean,acrossAfricaand the AtlanticOceantoNew York city.There I founda
phone numberfora cousinof mine,Mike Desimone,whoIhadnevermet.He pickedme upat JFK.We had
breakfastwiththe familyandthenwenttothe top of the South Towerof the World Trade towersfor a
bunchof handstandsthere.Thenbackto JFKand mylast tripto Argentina, soI could getto SouthAmerica.
I had the reservationsforatransitthroughBuenosAires, However,atthe airporttheysaidI neededavisa
and itwas too late forthat. My “Passport30” hadone dayleftonit, sothe farthestIcouldgo was to Los
Angeles.Onthe flighttoLAXIusedthe printedairline schedule booktocalculate a wayto getto South
America,fromLos Angeles toHouston,toMiami,andthento Caracus, Venezuela. IcalledPanAminLAX
and confirmedall those flights;butthe flightfromHoustontoMiami wasstand byonly.Magically,Imade it
to Miami.But then,I almostgottrappedinCaracus because of an Air Strike andbecause mybrandnew
“Passport30” pass wasunknowninVenezuelaandabouttoexpire toboot.I stayedupall nightaround the
airport,but wentwithsome Airportworkersto eatand see the towna bit.ThenI stayedinthe airport
sittingatthe ticketcounterall night,soI’dbe firstinline whenitopened.Atfirst,theytoldme tocome
back later, butthe line wasalreadywrappingaroundthe building.Irefusedtoleave withoutaticketof
some kind.Finally,PanAmcame throughinspite of a myriadof outlandishyetunavoidable mishaps.They
got me out of South AmericatoMiami after onlya 1-daydelayat no extracost. While waitingforthe flightI
metEhjan Hemnat,whowasan Iraniancitizenwithapassportfrom the deposedShah.He wantedtovisit
hisbrother,whowas a contractor for NASA atGoddard Space FlightCenter. Yikes! That’swhere Iwork.
In Miami Immigration,the officercalledmypassporttothe attentionof everyonenearby.He hadnever
seena newpassportwithsomany stampsfromall overthe world! IarrivedinAtlantanextandwas waiting
for mylast flighttoBWI (Baltimore),whenEhjancame runninguptome screamingthat theywouldnot
take hisbig redbag off the plane we arrivedinand itwas aboutto depart!I was still inastupor,I guess,so I
ran out ontothe tarmac and flaggeddownthe Easternairline flightEA 452. I toldthemwe had to geta red
bag withan Iranianname on itoff that plane immediately!Theystoppedthe plane frombackingout of the
gate and helpedme getintothe cargo hold.I foundthe bagand pulleditoff the plane.Theyclosedupthe
plane andleft.Noproblems.Itwas1980.
Afterall thisI foundthat my passport, whichhadbeen suchan integral partof my personforthe past
month,wasno longerwith me whenIarrivedto meetmydad at BWI. I calledthe airlines,buttheycould
not finditinthe cargo holdof EA 452; so perhapsIwas pick-pocketedinMiami orAtlanta,Georgia?
Bummer!YetI had dozensof rolesof filmtoprocess,my diaryof namesand places,mytickets,andenough
memoriestolastthese 40 yearsand more.Thisadventure wasa testimonialtowhatittakesand what you
can get with:unshakable enthusiasm, lotsof energy,few expectations,asmile,anopenmind;anda
handstandgimmickwithuniversal appeal.
ThisWorld Tour inMay 1980 wasone of myfirstventuresaroundthisplanet,butcertainlynotthe last.
Since thenI’ve done handstandsineverysovereignstate exceptSyria;walkedaroundthe worldonmy
handsat the exactNorthPole andat the exactSouthPole;andnumerousotherunusual andinteresting
placesall overthe planet. My website, www.nasamikescoolspace.com isanarchive of manyof those
handstandsandof the facesand placesI’ve visitedincludingover200 expeditionsof varioussortsthatI’ve
ledor participate in. All ittakesisall you’ve got.