Southern Comfort

Before I took off on a three-month backpacking and farming adventure, I needed a primer trip to get the travel juices flowing. More truthfully, I needed to see my pal Kerry-Ann, who's starting her second year of business school at Emory in Atlanta, as well as a place to crash. At the end of August, I stashed all my stuff in a storage warehouse in Harlem and moved out of my teeny Washington Heights apartment. Couchsurfing is easier if you don't overstay your welcome, so, after keeping the futon warm for a week at my future roommate Laura's pad, I flew south of the Mason Dixon and met up with Kerry.

Business school is hard; business school encourages students to form tight bonds. It also encourages one to drink like a fish and offset vices like chain-smoking with the purifying benefits of Bikram yoga. To be fair, these mad-smart kids work their tails off. They also know how to let loose. Thursday afternoons they enjoy kegs in the common area, courtesy of their student social coordinator. That's kegs, plural, and yes, every Thursday. I haven't seen two kegs of beer disappear so fast since college. Bar hopping in Midtown Atlanta is relatively easy and safe, and much more fun when you can make a pit stop for food and dancing in the kitchen at someone's parents' house.

I met someone who'd actually been attacked by pirates

Kerry's friends down there are an interesting lot. I met someone who'd actually been attacked by pirates off the coast of Sumatra while working as a merchant marine. I made arrangements to accompany a group of Argentinians on a ski trip to the Andes in the summer of 2007. I was introduced to many, many married people.

Though I worked on freelance projects a good deal of the time I was down there, I had enough of a break to prepare a bit for Italy. I didn't get a chance to hunker down and cram language lessons, but I think it'll kick in once I'm there. Meanwhile, I returned to New York to attend the wedding of some good friends and to wrap things up. The wedding was a blast; the wrapping up is finished. My writing projects are done, my cable account suspended, my bills paid and mail forwarded. All I need to do now: figure out where I'm staying when I land.