So before we end and then begin ...

I have waived extradition and am returning voluntarily to face justice. These final hours of freedom will be spent much like the first: as a non-paying poseur among the privileged and pampered at the front of the plane. Bagging up the free jammies and gear kits, sucking down the Glenlivet and good wine, living la dolce vita one last time until who knows when.

Was it worth it? I can say only this: I traveled a long, roundabout path halfway around the planet -- six weeks shambling back and forth across five tropical countries – to find at the very end a moment of clarity that can guide me through the raging shitstorm that awaits back in Oregon. And that moment surely would have eluded me had I done the “prudent thing” and stayed home.

So maybe 7,926 miles was just enough. Cheers, and see you soon.