East Bay Dinner

"Around the World in Seven Months: One Part: The Journey from Beijing to Moscow"

Thursday, October 25, no-host cocktails/social hour - 6:00 pm, dinner - 7:00, program - 8:00, Berkeley Yacht Club on the Berkeley Marina, one block north of the west end of University Avenue. (Ample free parking is available in the Marina parking lots.)

Our speakers, Bryan and Audrey Gillette, took seven months off work and away from their careers to make their dream come true - to go around the world - and to do it their way. Their way was not the usual way. They took no guided tour. They will explain to you that it does not have to cost an arm and a leg to go on such a trip, and you don't have to eat nothing but noodles and sleep on benches in a park.

They spent a full year planning the logistics of their trip, and they spent a great deal of time agreeing on what they wanted to see and do. They ended up carrying 30-pound packs and found that to be the best arrangement for jumping onto airplanes and into taxis, being crammed into China's subways, and also climbing onto elephants' backs. They will share their tips on planning, clothing, and equipment for such a trip.

A trip around the world cannot be compressed into an hour's presentation, and Bryan and Audrey have chosen to show us the segment that includes Southeast Asia, China, and a spectacular 10-day train ride from Beijing to Moscow.

Bryan has extensive work experience in the corporate world, but more importantly he is a traveler. In 1990 he completed a solo bicycle trip of 4,000 miles across and around the United States and has done many other long-distance bicycle trips. He has been to 28 countries on four continents, as well as 26 of the 50 United States.

Audrey has spent her professional career as a corporate-events project manager and also as a manager of food and music festivals. She, too, has traveled extensively, visiting two more countries than Bryan, but three fewer states.

Cost of dinner and program is $23, including tax and tip. For a reservation, please send your check, payable to "Sierra Club", with your name, your telephone number, and the names of your guests, to:

Jane Barrett
170 Vicente Road
Berkeley, CA 94705
(510)845-8055.

Attendance is limited to the first 115 reservations received. Reserve early, as these programs do fill up. Reservation deadline is Mon., Oct. 15. There is no admittance for program only.

The Thu., Sep. 27, dinner (same time and location) is sold out.