Who's driving this bus?

I'm Tom. For most of three decades I worked in international education — mostly with USAID, mostly far from home — trying to help classrooms in Nairobi, Manila, Amman and a few places in between. These days the only deadlines I keep are tide tables and show dates.

Retirement, it turns out, is just a different kind of trip: more scuba, more meditation cushions, more Grateful Dead on the speakers, and the same old urge to write long letters about all of it. So that's this website — a newsletter dressed up as a blog, addressed to you.

Why “Tom's Long Strange Trip”?

Because the song got it right. What a long, strange trip it's been — and it isn't over yet.

How this site works

Each update starts as a letter — typed at a little writing desk on this very site, or in a plain old Word document — and a small script turns it into this page and drops a pin on the map. No apps, no logins for you, and nothing for sale. If you'd like an email instead someday, ring my kids.

— Tom