Today is the 18th anniversary of my “Round The World Tour”!! On this day, in the year 2000, I left Los Angeles westbound on a flight to Fiji; the first leg of my journey that would change my life.

Here is a copy from the global email I sent out to my friends:

> From: "Marc Alabanza"
> Organization: MailCity (http://www.mailcity.lycos.com:80)
> Reply-To: m.alabanza@mailcity.com
> Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 23:08:43 -0800
> To: Undisclosed recipients
> Subject: Hey! I'm going to be gone for a while...
>
> Hello all! Sorry about the mass email but, I'm really pressed for time...On
> Saturday, March 11th I will be leaving for my much anticipated 'Round The
> World Tour!! Yes, I have finally set it up and am DOING IT!!! Most of you know
> that I was planning a trip to backpack through Thailand, and on a separate
> trip to backpack through Europe. Well, through the efforts of a very good
> friend (who happens to be a travel agent) I have found out that for almost the
> same cost, I could buy a round the world ticket instead. So it was as simple
> as that! I will be leaving LA to go to Fiji for 5 days, then on to Raratonga
> (in the Cook Islands) for 4 days, then on to Auckland in New Zealand for a
> day, then to Sydney, Australia for 10 days, then to Thailand for 2 and a half
> weeks, then on to Athens for 10 days, and onward to Rome where I will traverse
> on land and make my way over the next 50 days till I reach Paris. From Paris,
> I will be off to Montreal (Canada) for a week and then be returning to LA at
> the end of June! Whew! I can't believe that I'm finally doing it but the time
> has arrived!!! Of course I will be emailing you all whenever I can. I hope to
> see most of you before I leave, but if I don't, I will see you when I get
> back!!! Take Care!
>
> --Marc

Little did I know that my 93 day trip would actually last almost 6 months!!