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The first day of our journey, and we're supposed to be in Quebec, Canada, enjoying the fancy amenities at the Fairmont Chateau Marmoset (or as it's really known as Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, but instead of a massage, and those tasty goodies they put out on silver trays in the concierge lounge, here we are, enjoying lovely downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Why Portsmouth? Well,...

Well, tomorrow is the beginning of our three month journey around the world. We've spent months planning and packing and have just a couple bags to toss in tomorrow morning and we'll be full. Despite the size of the PC-12, when we have a full load of fuel onboard, we will be flying the airplane at its gross weight (the heaviest the airplane is allowed to fly at).

OK, the clock is ticking down to our departure one week from today. Strange as it may seem, but for a flight of this magnitude and the amount of time we will be gone, I'm remarkably at peace with the whole deal. I guess that comes from months of planning and thinking but nevertheless, I'm calmer before this trip than before any other we've taken to foreign destinations. I don't think...

Well, less than three weeks to go before departure and one of the issues left to decide is 'paper versus plastic'. No really, it's paper charts versus electronic charts. Thierry and JP received the full complement of worldwide charts from Jeppesen today and it filled an entire table top. Their estimation is that is would take 24 standard Jeppesen binders to hold all the goodies...

Despite the fact that we've yet to leave our home state of Florida, it feels as if our great journey has already begun. Over the weekend Art and I attended our second and final meeting leading up to our May launch date for our flight round the world. There are so many things that have to be done in order to be prepared for a flight of this magnitude; it can easily seem overwhelming....

Preparation for this trip is getting to the frenzy stage" as we are now "t-one month" until lift off and there seems to be an inordinate amount of work left to do. It's probably my anal, type triple "A" personality working against me here but I can't shake the feeling that I've forgotten something important. We've been working through issues on the right survival equipment to bring...

Art and I have traveled extensively over the past several years, many of our trips have lasted a month or more but I've never faced a packing challenge remotely as difficult as this! Even an airplane as cavernous as the Pilatus has its limits. I'm relying on many of my old standbys like my lightweight travel shirts that wash out in the sink and dry overnight- they're made of high-tech...