Welcome back, peoples…get ready because this trip is a big one.

First of all, fellowship is done! After eight years of taking care of many thousands of patients, doing thousands of procedures, and sleeping hundreds of nights in the hospital, I’m finally done with my medical training. And not only did I convince a hospital into hiring me, they were generous enough to give me two months of vacation before starting my new job.

Taking full advantage of this significant time off, I’m taking a page from Jules Verne’s book and going around the world – maybe not in 80 days, but 30.

Itinerary

Our trip begins in Cuba. The recent relaxing of travel restrictions allows people to visit – not for tourism, however, but for education-based trips. My brother and I will thus be participating in one of these.

We then continue to Italy, where we join up with our parents to explore several beautiful cities in the Tuscany region.

Finally, they return home as I continue on to Vietnam, a country I have been eager to visit since I first visited Southeast Asia years ago.

Of course, no trip is complete without me chewing off your ears about the local food. These countries all share in common great cuisine, and I can’t wait to stuff myself with red beans and rice, as well as slow-cooked pasta and wine, and then pho and other street foods. As always, food will be a major theme of the trip.

Oh, and communism too! Cuba and Vietnam are two of the five remaining communist countries in the world (the others being China, Laos, and North Korea), while Italy is a former communist country. Perhaps I should rename this trip to “Communism: Here’s Why it Doesn’t Work”.

Finally, as I am certain many of you will (again) ask me what I pack, this should satisfy you. Yes, that’s a cardiology book.

I embark upon this month-long journey tomorrow, so sit tight and see you on the other side.