Shortly after midnight, I will be embarking on My Annual Odyssey to Southeast Asia. My itinerary, November 18 - December 30, includes three countries – Thailand (29 nights), Singapore (3 nights) and Malaysia (10 nights). During my grueling 42 nights on the road, I will have a whopping 15 changes of hotels. Now if you do the math, the average stay at each locale is slightly less than 3 nights.

I’m sure you have heard of the famous traveler’s adage - “If it’s Monday, it must be Paris; if it’s Tuesday, it must be Rome.” Well, I will be doing the Southeast Asian version – For me, it is “ If it’s Monday, it must be NAN (Northern Thailand); if it’s Tuesday, it must be Taiping (Northwestern Malaysia).

The maximum time that I’m staying at any one place is 5 consecutive nights - in both Bangkok and Koh Lipe. I know I will get very travel weary during this marathon trip (Been there, done that), but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to recharge my battery (so to speak) towards the tail end of my trip when I land in Koh Lipe, an offbeat island resort in Southern Thailand.

Everybody asks me “Are you excited about the trip?” My reply is not really! As a veteran traveler, while I’m really looking forward to getting “out of dodge “, I can’t say that I get really excited. I just try to concentrate on the day to day things - the trip takes care of itself!

Most people don’t understand that this is not an extended pleasure vacation but more properly a working vacation - and I do work! In addition to furthering my destination knowledge and checking out new places, I gather lots of material for my travel blog as well as take many photographs for future travel slideshows/videos.

Sorry to belabor the point - This is work, my friends. I’m not saying, I don’t have fun! I DO!!! But at the same time, I have specific professional objectives that I am trying to fulfill.

One thing for sure, it sure beats the hell of being stuck in the USA this time of year!

The Great Mormon Butterfly (Papilio memnon), a member of the Swallowtail Family (Papilionidae) is one of most spectacular and largest butterflies that I’ve encountered in Thailand. The female of the species is this week’s featured travel photo - the picture was taken just off the roadside in Northern Thailand, not far from the city of Mae Salong in Chiang Rai Province.

Unlike her cousins in North America (i.e. The Tiger and Anise Swallowtail etc), this Thai swallowtail is very clumsy and a relatively slow flyer. The male and female of the species look completely different in terms of their coloration. The female as depicted in this photograph is multicolored with black spots on creme colored hindwings, while the male is almost completely black.

Other related swallowtails in Southeast Asia, more commonly known as birdwings, look remarkably similar to the Great Mormon in terms of their physical characteristics and are also relatively slow fliers.

Isn’t this female Great Mormon a beauty? A real whopper of a name too! I bet you didn’t know that there were Mormons in a Buddhist country like Thailand? Now you know.

Coming up soon is the story of the Monarch Butterfly Annual Migration from North America to the Highlands of Central Mexico. One of nature’s greatest phenomenons.

Overlooking the rugged Atlantic Coast in the hills of Barbados is the Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill, the largest existing windmill in Barbados. This historical monument is this week’s featured travel photo.

Built in 1727, the Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill ceased grinding cane commercially in 1947 and was donated to The Barbados National Trust, an organization responsible for preserving the history, natural beauty and cultural heritage of this small island. The restoration of this antiquated windmill was completed in 1999 and it is now open to the public as a museum.

Morgan Lewis Mill is an historical remnant of Barbados’s once prominent sugar cane industry and its colonial legacy. There are some wonderful photo opportunities in this rural part of Barbados and a stop at this windmill is highly recommended.

Known primary for its magnificent beaches and gleaming resorts, I’m sure that most people do not associate Barbados with windmills, but here is an astounding fact - Behind Holland, this small Island Nation of only 166 square miles has the 2nd most windmills of any country in the world. SHOCKING!

Let’s face it – While Travel Guide Books can be a good resource or very handy reference when you’re traveling, unfortunately most of the information is not up to date. If you want current and in depth information on specific destinations including hotel and restuarant reviews, touring options etc from a traveler’s (and consumers) point of view, I suggest that you do some research online.

There are numerous online travel forums, online travel communities and travel portals available where travelers share their tips, recommendations and advice with fellow travelers.

As Traveler and a Travel professional, I utilize these travel forums when doing both research on my own personal travels or on behalf of a client. My favorite travel forums are – Thorn Tree, TripAdvisor, TravelFish and VirtualTourist.

Each of these travel forums are very unique and presented in a somewhat different format. See below

• Thorn Tree Travel Forum
  One of the most useful forums, it is geared primarily to the younger and budget oriented traveler. In their forums, travelers seek advice from other travelers on a variety of topics. If you go to Thorn Tree, you’ll find some very interesting and active conversations (threads) going on. Thorn Tree is part of Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world.
• TripAdvisor
  Probably the most popular and well known travel forum online, this is the place to go when researching hotels. On TripAdvisor, fellow travelers contribute their unbiased reviews on hotels, guesthouses, B & B and specialty lodging around the world. TripAdvisor caters to a slightly more upscale and older traveler than Lonely Planet.
• Travelfish
  Unlike other travel forums mentioned here, Travelfish does not cover the whole world. Travelfish deals exclusively with Southeast Asia and caters primarily to the budget traveler - backpackers and flashpackers - and to those travelers who are interested in an off the beaten path experience. The editors have compiled quite a list of guesthouses and budget hotels in each locale - and their reviews are usually spot on.
• VirtualTourist
  This is not really a travel forum per se like Lonely Planet or even TripAdvisor, but an Online Travel Community. On VirtualTourist, travelers from around the world share their insight and travel recommendations on various destinations. Travelers submit a destination or trip review based on their own travel experiences, often accompanied by trip photos.

Curiuously enough, TripAdvisor is owned by Expedia.com and in 2008, TripAdvisor acquired VirtualTourist. Talk about a Travel Conglomerate!