In 1970 I moved to Washington, DC, to make my way in the world. I worked for the FBI, a story in itself, and shared an apartment in Alexandria with home-town friend Ginger Allen and a rotating group of other Vicksburg friends looking for a cheap place to crash.
One day my parents called. They were planning a trip to Hong Kong and Japan to attend the International Bar Association (IBA) convention in Tokyo; was I interested in coming along? They would pay my travel expenses. Oh yes, I was definitely interested!
First I had to negotiate the time off with my rigid employer -- this was in the J. Edgar Hoover era. I was prepared to quit the job if necessary, but we worked out a deal whereby I would work Saturdays for months in order to accrue enough "comp time." A whole 'nother story there.
In the meantime I contacted Peco, my roommate from my German study abroad, and arranged to stay with her family for the week we were in Tokyo.
Since I was to meet my parents in St. Louis, where they were attending the American Bar Association (ABA) meeting, I also arranged a brief visit with my then-boyfriend stationed in Oklahoma at Ft. Sill. (Isn't Oklahoma on the way between Washington and St. Louis?!)
All the years I was growing up my family traveled only to visit relatives or to attend ABA meetings! The meetings made it possible for my father to deduct part of the cost as a business expense. When it became possible for individual lawyers to join the IBA, international trips were added to the mix.
There are a couple of ways to follow this trip. I've tried to make the narrative a complete summary, but I've used many links to other web sites to provide additional details and sometimes pictures. You can either stick with the basic narrative or explore the various links. At the time this album was created the links were all valid, but the WWW is in constant flux and that will change. If you encounter broken links, please send some email.
Click your "back" button to return.