No more ice and snow. No whales. No scarry boat rides. No more volcanoes. We’re off to India and Nepal this time. And yes, I know, both boarder the Himalayas, and yes, there’s ice and snow to be found there. But we’ll be seeing all that from a distance. Where going where the monsoon season is coming to an end, going on a jungle safari and hitting the hot spots of Kathmandu at night. As close to ice as we’ll get will be whatever’s cooling our drinks at the Kathmandu Marriott.

Actually, the reason for this trip is to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Matri, the company that our son Jeff and his two partners Julie and Rob founded last September. The company is off to a great start with more than 10 customers and more than 70 employees in Kathmandu. They provide software solutions to clients in the US using software developers in Nepal. Jeff, Julie and Rob provide the brain power to figure out what software each client requires and manage the development and delivery process in Nepal.

This trip is something of a family affair. In addition to Jeff, Judy and myself, our daughter Rebecca, her boyfriend Sammy and Jeff’s daughter Reagan are coming along. Reagan is starting her senior year at University of California San Diego, but her classes start later than most so she can join us for this trip. Julie’s husband Dino, son Zach and Zach’s girlfriend Peyton are coming along too.

But while we’re in the neighborhood, Judy and I (OK, mostly I) decided on a brief 8-day stop in India. We’ll visit Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and the village of Pacewar. It’s a region in north-central India full of history, interesting architecture (think Taj Mahal), a vastly different culture form home and, I’m betting, some interesting food.

And why not? Reagan is going to tag along with us on the India trip. It will be a reprise of our trip with Reagan back in 2014 when we toured in France and she was 12.

The Nepal portion of the trip will include time sightseeing in Kathmandu, a safari in the Chitwan National Park (elephants, etc.) and a tour of Matri office facilities and a celebratory party. Saris for ladies and a Dahaki Topi (hat) for men are required. We’re especially looking forward to meeting the Matri employees.

As usual, Internet connectivity permitting, I’ll be blogging and posting pictures daily. If you would like an email notice whenever I do post, send me your email address and I’ll add you to the list. If you get a notice of this posting, you’re on the list and need not reapply. And as always you can simply go to jonandjudy.com to see the latest and past postings.