iWeb is for Dummies.

And thank goodness for that, because I am really, really rusty.

Despite my HTML skills of swiss cheese, I still managed to turn a new homepage for sarahlane.com live today! It's not much more than a skeleton at this point, but you get the idea. I have quite a bit of fussing left to do. Which is great, because I love to fuss.

New domains that point to sarahlane.com:
brendanandsarah.com (the overall name for now)
brendanmoran.tv

My blog will remain on Typepad for the time being. I have no pressing reason to leave what I consider to be a reliable and intuitive blogging engine, though I wasn't kidding about giving it a new look. That's my next project.

Unemployment? Bah! I've never been so busy!

:)
s

Donning a New Skin

I've spent the better part of the last few days reading other folks' travel blogs, trying to get some inspiration for our own site redesign. sarah.word. has always been my personal outlet, but as it will soon serve as a base for the Amazing Adventures of the Traveling Morans, it deserves a facelift and restructure to reflect our new direction. Hardy har.

What's comforting is the number of really well-done travel blogs upon which I've already stumbled. I have little doubt we'll be able to update regularly, no matter where we are. What's daunting are the countless choices I have in regards to organizing our own journey. I'm leaning toward something like what Mark Yiin has done (his link was posted in my comments section, thanks!!). Not only is his blog easy to navigate, but he takes swell photos and tells good stories about his follies in a lot of the same places we'll be enjoying. Hey Mark, I want my Sunday back!

Anyway, I'm all ears if you have advice and suggestions for how this blog should look going forward. Be honest! Have your say! Brendan has already banished my present (and adorable) pink/gray/green color theme. I'm going to go ahead and blame it on his colorblindness. Besides, it's time for a change.

:)
s

The Road Less Traveled

As promised, here's a look inside the first six months of married life with Brendan and Sarah! The actual dates may vary by a day or two, but that's the beauty of travel.

Late May- Do that whole vow thing

May 30- Fly to Greece's most romantic island (can you guess which one?)

June 8- Take a ferry into Marmaris, along the Mediterranean shores of Turkey. Spend some time exploring the "Turquoise Coast."

June 19- Head into central Turkey via bus to explore Cappodoccia's fairy chimneys.

June 26- Continue busing it north to Istanbul for a couple weeks exploring churches, mosques, bars and bazaars.

July 10- Fly into St. Petersburg, Russia at the tail end of "White Nights". Get used to the sun never setting.

July 17- Splurge on a 1st class train to Moscow. Observe very tall women who can hold their vodka better than Sarah.

July 25- Board the famous Trans-Siberian Express railway on a week-long journey through Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, and China.. finally deboarding in Beijing.

August 8- Fly south to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Spend the next couple weeks enjoying pho up and down the coast of Vietnam.

August 28- White-knuckle it on a bumpy bus over the border into Laos. Hop on water taxis along the Mekong River to access various cities. Eventually settle in Vientiane.

September 19- Fly from Vientiane into Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Try to avoid landmines, but fail miserably. Just kidding. Glad you're paying attention.

October 3rd- Make our way into Siem Reap, Cambodia, to visit the wonder of the world known as Angkor Wat.

October 10- Fly into Thailand for one night in Bangkok.

October 11- Fly out of Bangkok and into Denpasar, Bali. Spend the next month happily among rice paddy fields. Hop over to neighboring Lombok for a night or two.

November 6- Make an appearance back in the States for a wedding in Wisconsin. Suffer from acute culture shock. Gain back the 10 lbs we each lost.

November 20- INDIA.

I'm going to stop here and continue the second itinerary leg next time so I don't drone on too long in a single post. But here's the deal- neither of us have been anywhere we're about to go, and even though we're dutiful researchers, we're still totally clueless. So if you possess knowledge on any locale I've mentioned above, share the wealth! Email me or comment below.

Our favorite resources thus far:
Airtreks.com - Reliable round-the-world plane ticket agents
Rough Guides - Amazing book series, better info than Lonely Planet
Adventure 16 - Best outdoor/adventure store in SoCal, if not ever

More deets coming soon!

:)
s

New Chapter Musings

Well, this is it.. my last day at Attack of the Show! Even my desk is all packed up (except for all the crap I didn't want to pack up which is still sitting in a dusty pile for the next victim to inherit).

I've been getting a ton of questions about my depature from G4, my marriage, my world tour, stuff like that. So I thought I'd address a few of your FAQs here.

Q: I understand you're getting married, but why leave the show too? Why can't you have both?

A: Now that Brendan and I are officially growing up and beginning the rest of our lives together, our priorities are changing, too. Going on a world trip is an opportunity most people never have, so we consider ourselves part of a small, very lucky tribe. Obviously, when you go away for over a year, TV goes on without you. And that's ok. I'm proud to be choosing personal enrichment over a paycheck for a little while. Life's for livin!

Q: Where will you go?

A: We're going to be trekking through over 20 different countries. The first six months are already set in stone. We're planning out the second six as I type! When that's finalized, I'll post the details here.

Q: How will you keep in touch with your fans?

A: It starts here at "sarah. word." Which will be going through a facelift very soon, btw. I'm really stoked to experiment with a variety of media as a way to keep in touch with you, whether it be travel tales, photos, video, even podcasting. Some of this stuff will be completely new to me (I believe I've been quoted as saying I'd never start a podcast.. whoopsie), and some techniques will undoubtedly prove more successful than others. It'll be an ongoing project and learning experiment, and a challenge I'm thrilled to take on!

Q: Will you miss Kevin Pereira?

A: Yeah. Kevin is a good friend of mine. I really love that guy, and I thank him for being the best damn co-host ever. I also have no doubt he and I will keep in touch, so I refuse to say goodbye to him. :)

A special shout-out to the folks at AOTS and X-Play (gotta represent the OGs), and everyone in makeup, wardrobe, in the control room, and on the studio floor. These are the people who worked hard every day to make my job look easy. Thanks for the memories, amigos.

Anyway, Brendan's my last AOTS is just a couple hours away, so I better go eat some cake. I'm pretty sure the studio crew members have bets riding on whether or not I'm gonna cry. Tune in for all the fun!

Peace!
-sarah

Countdown to Armageddon

Hey friends,

It's official.. Thursday is my last day on Attack of the Show! So you better get your fill of me the next three days before I ride off into the sunset...

Thanks for all the incredibly supportive feedback. Don't worry peeps, I'm not really going anywhere. Well actually, yes I am. But! I'll be sharing my world trip with all of you through video, photograph, and print. It's going to be sooooo much fun!

Itinerary details coming soon.

:)
s