This week has been a greatly enriching and learning experience at the 49th US-Japan Conference on Cholera. This conference integrates both basic science and field work, bringing a broad range of communities together to impact world health. I was deeply inspired by the stories from the teams coming back from Africa. Their commitment to interdict during a cholera outbreak is unwavering despite the logistic and security challenges in the field. Also a significant number of developments in vaccines and how they can be cost effectively targeted to vulnerable populations was encouraging. Each evening after the conference we were able to continue the networking over great central Florida fare, such as these at the Harries Seafood in downtown Gainsville.