We're in the Plumeria Lounge of Hawaiian Airlines. Next stop, Haneda Airport.   It's alway so exciting to anticipate the coming of a global adventure.   Now, I want these trips to be as secure and comfortable as possible.  Thus, we are traveling business class, except for the Bangkok to Dubai to Munich leg being on Emirates first class.   I never asked, but I assume they don't practice Ramadan on their flights and airport lounge. In  2022 we caught an Emirates first class from Bangkok to Duba i.  Unlimited caviar, with showers on the plane.  Fabulous experience.   So we thought we'd double the pleasure.  It is 3000 miles from Bangkok to Dubai, but 3700 miles from Dubai to Munich. And a big plus.   Washington D.C. is reaching peak cherry blossom blooms now.   They said it's due to climate change.  Tokyo and D.C. are very similar in terms of weather.  Certainly, too, our first few days then will feature a surprisingly early Sakura season. So here is our entire around

                     From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):     DAY     USA    WORLD      Brazil      India      South Africa June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85 Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118 Dec     30       3880    14748       1224       299      465 Jan      14       4142      15512        1151        189      712 Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398 Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194 April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37 May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59   June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95  July    7         251      8440        1595        81

               From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):            DAY    USA    WORLD      Brazil      India      South Africa June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85 Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118 Dec     30       3880    14748       1224       299      465 Jan      14        4142    15512        1151         189      712 Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398 Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194 April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37 May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59   June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95  July    7         251      8440        1595        81

  As of today : I don't see the USA, but the  CDC reports  that 208,564,894 have been fully vaccinated, or 63%.  Vermont leads with 78% and Hawaii is #6 with 76%. Comparing regions , note that Asia had the highest Delta wave, but Europe is suffering more from the Omicron variant ( seven day moving average of new cases per day ): Don't tell Republicans ( states like Alabama and Texas have banned such a thing ), but a national digital vaccine card has emerged.  It's known as the SMART Health Card, is voluntary, with minimal personal information--name date of birth plus dates and brands of vaccination doses--but using a QR code, can get you into venues requiring proof of vaccination.  It is available from more than 400 sources.  How to get yours?   Click here . For  further details : Only thirteen states so far, including Hawaii. Canada. CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Walmart. 427 issuers. A couple of days ago, when the USA had more than 400,000 new cases and about a thousand new d