You would never believe what happened to me the other day. As I was craving for some bread, I stopped at this huge bakery on my way home. As I’m taking my leave with a precious loaf a sliced bread under my arm, I suddenly stop, in sheer shock.

Ten meters away stands before me a familiar figure I haven’t seen in more than a year. Is this true? Her haircut has changed. It’s shorter. Her face is not sweaty. Unusual, for a tourist in Saigon. Her long skirt and tall figure leave no doubt. This is my friend Ariane, a delightful lady whom I met during a summer internship in Paris, a year and a half ago. Good God! I thought she was supposed to be in America!

”Is that you? This is C-R-A-Z-Y! What happened to your face?!”
”I had the most wonderful one-hour face massage!”

We decided to catch up while sipping a beer. Five hours later, she was on a plane to Tokyo. Such a small world…!

* * * * * *
LE MONDE EST SI PETIT

Ce qui m’est arrivé l’autre jour est complètement incroyable. Comme j’avais un besoin insatiable de pain, je me suis arrêtée dans une énorme boulangerie. Alors que je m’apprête à partir avec la précieuse miche de pain tranché sous le bras, je m’arrête tout à coup, sous le choc.

Dix mètre plus loin me fait face une silhouette familière que je n’ai pas vu depuis plus d’un an. C’est pas possible! Sa coupe de cheveux a changé. Plus courte. Son visage ne ruisselle pas de transpiration. Inhabituel pour une touriste à Saigon. Sa jupe longue et son élégante silhouette ne laissent aucun doute. C’est Ariane, une charmante amie rencontrée lors de mon stage d’été à Paris il y a un an et demi. Ca alors! Je croyais qu’elle était en Amérique!

”C’est toi? C’est D-I-N-G-U-E! Qu’est-ce qui est arrivé à ton visage?
Je viens d’avoir le plus extraordinaire massage du visage pendant une heure!”

Nous décidons de rattraper le temps perdu autour d’une bière. Cinq heures plus tard, elle est à bord d’un avion pour Tokyo. Le monde est si petit…!

All of these losses were due to factors like burnout, injury, and financial strain– simply the accumulation of our daily lives– and though we could see some of them coming, the losses were devastating. This is the secret behind the curtain, which we’ve struggled with silently for months, the reason behind the blips, errors, bugs and lack of episodes.

It’s been this way since in our last month in Seoul, Season 3, when Brian did what Brian does best– he had an idea. We’d been proud to bring Nick out, and despite his limited appearance in the episodes, he added a great deal the footage we have through the end of our time there. We were expecting Jen, and even a sixth cast member, so Brian’s proposal was to mostly pull out the layer of production overhead we grappled with daily, and allow them to tell their own stories, take their own videos and edit them afterwards. That’s what you’ve seen on this blog, unfolding over the past few months. You’ve also been introduced to three new faces: Kris, Serene, and Laurene.

So what about Brian, Nick and I?

Well this mode of storytelling is new to us, and so we need to pull ourselves out of the chaos, insanity, and instability that comes when you pack up all your stuff and leave home every 90 days. We’re still here, and we still plan to be out on the road again, but for now, we’re going home.

For each of us, home means something different, but for me, I will be traveling from Istanbul to Paris, Paris to Normandy, and then Normandy to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I will share a few stories of the trip over the week, but you will see me less and less, as we focus on developing our new content model, and building Jet Set Zero into a global network.

Don’t forget, you can always send me a note, ask me a question, or pose a suggestion, by emailing me at rob –at– jetsetzero.tv

Thanks, and you’ll see me again soon.