If you know me at all, you probably know I recently returned from a phenomenal trip to Indonesia. What I want to do with this post is go backwards in time and tell about the few days leading up to that trip.

The Friday I was to fly out, I had a sick feeling all day. I was genuinely worried. I made sure my will was in order. I was facing four flights, most to unknown places and traveling alone, something that is still relatively new to me. Plus I could not miss any of the flights or risk missing the boat. I was to be on a 12-day trip with an unknown roommate, which meant if I didn’t like her or anyone else on board it would be a long and miserable journey. Worried a lot that Friday, I did. It also happened to be my mom’s birthday, so we talked on the phone at the airport before I headed out on the first of four flights, the long way over the planet to Indonesia. Arriving at the boarding gate helped reduce some of the anxiety — I felt much better once I arrived to SeaTac with all my bags and got them checked.

The night before, that Thursday after work, I braved insanely bad traffic to go north to Edmonds where my two photos were showing at the gallery. My friend Sheri also made the trip. The weekend prior, I was in attendance at a life celebration for Sheri’s mother, and events took an unexpected turn when Sheri proposed to her partner Alison. Everyone was laughing and crying and riding all sorts of emotional waves. Earlier, that morning I had gone diving at Mukilteo with John to test my fisheye lens and port for the second time prior to leaving for Indonesia. My first dive with it the preceding Wednesday I discovered a flaw in the port design and so was testing my fix at Mukilteo. I was moderately but not fully successful.

The next morning, Sunday, I drove to Tacoma for a two-tank boat dive — my last chance to learn more about the fisheye before the big trip. I dived with a brand new buddy and incredible animal spotter. Jonathan found every single cool thing we saw on the first dive.

Our dives were at Tacoma Narrows and Sunrise, both of which were incredibly colorful sites. Amazing enough in Puget Sound, but even more so for being in the south sound. Afterwards I sped home, showered, and headed back out straightaway to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert with my friend Jo. It turned out to be the very last night of the North American tour. And afterwards there were a few speeches and some fun on stage, and it was topped off by one of the main stars proposing to the choreographer, who had flown into town from New York for the show’s closing. I didn’t even know these guys but was so swept up in all of it I was crying for them.

Witnessing two marriage proposals in one weekend! Not to mention the most outstanding, amazing, mind-blowing Broadway production I have ever seen, period. And three excellent dives.

My trip to Indonesia was perfect. I cannot say enough good things about it. Plus, none of my planes crashed. And the days leading up to that trip were pretty fantastic too.

I did not get a chance to peek at my Tacoma dive photos until I was already underway and splashing on the WAOW. Now I am back home and it looks like once I get the backscatter under control, I might have some real fun with this lens.