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- category: "road tripping" -
October 04, 2008
September 25, 2008
Anchorage to California... again
Tomorrow I fly to Alaska... again. From there I'll drive down to California (where I am right now)... again. Why? Because I'm either a) crazy, b) a good friend, or c) both. I'll gladly own up to option C.
 My lovely friend Casey and I will be driving her car down the 3,200 miles of the familiar stretch of road that I just rolled down a month ago. She's getting out of Alaska for a while and I'm glad to help bring her down to hang out with me in Berkeley.
The only concern of mine is that we have a schedule.  We can't leave until Sunday morning because I don't fly in until late Friday night and she's actually in Germany right now at Oktoberfest (if envy really did turn you green i'd look like the Jolly Green Giant right now) and won't return to our fair continent until Saturday. But we have to be in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon to begin a weekend of wedding festivities for her friend which is 2,665 miles to cover in four road warrior-like days. Picture Cannonball Run but with geocaching pit stops and no wisecracking banter from Burt Reynolds.
So in the meantime I'm working on doing things like figuring out a realistic route, lining up potential overnight CouchSurfing stopovers in places like Whitehorse and Williams Lake, installing light fixtures in my room, programming a new tool for CouchSurfing's volunteer translation team, and cleaning the house for our first housewarming party that goes down tonight.
By the way, if you happen to be in the Berkeley area tonight you should definitely come by. It's a "3P" party, which means you should bring three things that start with a P. We're hoping for plants and pillows but we've already received yummy Passion fruit, a cool framed Picture, and a bag of condoms (Protection). Some come over and get creative!
Wish me luck on my upcoming adventure. It should be fun!
August 18, 2008
1am roadside
 It's 1am. My friend and marathon driving companion Ben and I have been on the road for 15 hours when we pull into Whitehorse, BC, Canada - the smallest big town in these here parts - when suddenly we start to smell a burning smell from my hood. We're 946 miles into our 3,300 mad dash to San Francisco from Homer, AK, and weren't exactly excited about stopping for an emergency roadside oil change.
 Earlier this week I realized that my current reservoir of oil has been sliding around my engine since my truck was in Chico, CA - in late April. Since then it's bounced around over 17,000 miles of roadside. For some reason it just didn't occur to me that my lovely friends who drove my lil' truck 10k miles from Cali to Alaska wouldn't bother to change the oil, and I really should have done it when I took repossession of it upon arrival, but it just didn't happen. Ben bought the stuff to do it before we left but that didn't happen either. It obviously was meant to do it in a hurry on the roadside in Canada late at night.
So why am I typing right now and how is this even possible? Both good questions, of course, and I wouldn't think of glossing over them for several reasons. First, I have to wait. The oil is hot and changing it now will just make a hot, sticky, and incomplete mess before it has a chance to settle into the bottom of the truck. Next, we're parked conveniently outside of a hotel that surprisingly has free wireless internet access and owing to my junky-like web addiction I would of course know that within minutes of realizing I have time to kill that doesn't involve me getting sleepier.
So what's the plan? It's simple: drive until we can't drive anymore. We left Anchorage at 9:45am (really, we consider that a fairly early start) with the mission of hitting Vancouver, BC, as soon as possible, each driving in 6 hour shifts. So far we've listened to three lectures from the Harvard Business Review (it's 'energy' management, not 'time' management!), an episode of This American Life (trained monkeys did not make that tissue box holder, kid), 2.5 comedy albums (Ben loves my taste in Lewis Black and Mitch Hedberg but, even with so many references to his hometown Atlanta, he surprisingly isn't into the almighty David Cross?!?), and an assortment of music largely made on our destination of the US west coast. 15 hours have somehow both flown by and barely piddled away.
Why the hurry? It's simple. Burning Man awaits us next week and stopping for a few days in San Francisco is absolutely imperative. Would you not fill up on gas before going on a road trip? Of course not. Would you not stop at the grocery store before going on a picnic? Hell no! So SF here we come!
Ok, it's been 20 minutes. Time to jump under my truck and make the (somewhat environmentally unfriendly/irresponsible) magic happen....
May 06, 2008
100,000
I'm happy to report that my lovely lil' truck just crossed over it's 100,000th mile. It happened yesterday in British Columbia, Canada and it happened more than 1,000 miles away from me.
 
Even though I wasn't around for the momentous occasion it was kind enough to send me a note detailing the occasion:
Hey! Although I'm pretty happy to be turned into a pink car for a couple of days and to experience the soft touch of a female hand... (you know what I mean ;-) , I miss my owner! Come back to me! It's cold here in Alaska...
The lovely pink driver...
And the note goes on...
PS: I got caught in a rain/snow storm on the way and got a littlebit wet. My pink driver was so kind to rent a hotel room with an extra bed to dry your stuff. So sorry about that...
Thanks for the update, Pink and truck!
April 23, 2008
Nope, not dead
So here's the funny thing...
I lugged this couch all the way to Thailand, practically in its own heavy, mostly separate bag, and didn't come back with one single picture of it. Yep, lame. But have I been to Wisconsin? Nope, but my couch has.
 Above is a pic from my couch's recent voyage without me. At the rate she's going she'll probably visit all 50 states before I will. We have at least 35 together but on her way to the midwest she picked up a handful of others. I'm jealous, but at least I'm in the city that I love the most: my "adopted" new home of San Francisco.
Quick update: I went to Thailand for three months, workedworkedworked for almost all of it (working on one website so often leaves me very little motivation to keep on the computer and work on this one, sorry), had some fun even though I was sick with stomach viruses for most of it and/or limping around on a knee injury from a motorcycle spill (I did get an interesting tour through Thai hospitals, including my second ever MRI), met a lot of great people, but mostly worked.
And now I'm back in the Golden Gate City and seeing a lot more of my wonderful friends here than I thought I would. My original plan was to fly back here, say hello for a few days, and then steer my motorcycle north to Alaska. But my motorcycle obviously had other plans since it didn't want to start... at all. So one tow truck, seven phone calls, 10 days, and staggering dollar amount much higher than that bike is surely worth in even the best condition and I'm finally able to get back on the road. It's still far from perfect (a small oil leak isn't THAT big of a deal, right?) but she'll certainly ride. Now if it'll only stop snowing up north...
So that's my quick update. I'll try to do better during these next several months (oh yeah, I'm spending the summer in Homer, AK) but I might need a gentle reminder from time to time :)
June 07, 2007
Where am I?
Ok, so where am I today?
Here's a hint: This is on the door of the apartment I'm currently living in...
Foto clue #1:
Not good enough? Ok, ok, you don't have to yell and curse. What would your mother think if she heard you use those words?
Foto clue #2:
View from the apartment
Still not good enough? What's wrong with you? Oh, ok - you need to see my roomates...
Foto clue #3:
 
Tiina, The Dukebox and Sleeping Walter
Still stumped? Even after Sleeping Walter? I guess I have to spell it out for you, don't I?
Here's a fuzzy picture of a map of the region that I took from the window of a train yesterday...
Foto clue #4:
If you can't figure it out by now then check back tomorrow (or whenever I post next... :) and I'll give you another clue or two.
Hello from wherever I am!
September 13, 2006
4 nights, 4 beds
Four nights, for different beds. For those of you that are curious, the beds are located in (clockwise starting from the upper left) Montreal (thanks Nath!), Toronto (thanks Jenny!), Toronto again (thanks Julienne!), and Columbus, Ohio (thanks Theresa!).
So today I'm in Columbus, tomorrow I set out for Kansas City. After that it's Colorado and beyond, all the way to to Californ-i-a. In total I'll drive about 3,000 miles in about a week. Wish me luck!
May 24, 2006
That couch gets around
this is an updated version of an early entry
March 12, 2006
In the homeland
 I've been tripping over my bags for almost a week now but only tonight did I start to unpack. I absolutely hate unpacking. My post-trip organizational reluctancy is, I'll freely admit, largely due to my sometimes extreme laziness but I know that's not the whole truth. I realize now that a loaded bag of dirty socks and travel-sized toiletries sitting by my door is my one last unconscious resistance to the reintegration back into the "real" world.
Oddly enough, one of my bags actually came back packed better than I checked it in. Before I departed Raleigh-Durham International last week I hurredly crammed my lil' red couch into a bag along with an air pump and several hoses. It was so crammed full I could barely zip it up. I can only imagine what the x-ray technician must have thought when my bag went through.
 This isn't the first notice I've received from the Department of Homeland Security. On the way to Australia I made the honest mistake of locking my bags. Apparently this is a no-no. After the cut my locks off they were at least courtious enough to give me back the busted pieces neatly wrapped in duct tape. It's been a year now and I still have them. :)
April 17, 2005
Howdy from Texas
Well, I'm back in Texas. Who would have thought? Actually, given my history, it should have been fairly obvious. Gone for a little over 4 months, time to refuel. I would have loved to stay in Hawai'i for so much longer but it didn't work out this time around. Traveling, especially in HI, costs money. Money is something I have a hard time finding in my pockets lately.
But my traveling days are far from behind me. I have a LOT more stranger's couches to sleep on in the coming months. My Grand Plan is to earn and save as much cash throughout the month of May and then hit the road again in June. I know what you're asking. "What exotic, far-away country is the destination of the next great adventure?" There's an easy answer to that but I prefer one of the long-winded variety.
While traveling extensively through any particular country I frequently hear about how I've seen more of, for example, Germany than most of the people who live there. On the same token I'm often amazed at how many people from Australia have visited more of the USA than I have myself.
In all honesty I've seen so relatively little of my own country. I've been east of the Mississippi River, the unofficial dividing line between the East and the West, a less than 5 times, never once by way of the road. I don't really know if lobster tastes different in Maine or what the music scene is in Nashville. Is Branson, Missouri really, as "The Simpsons" say, like Las Vegas if it was run by Ned Flanders (sorry for the cartoon reference for those who don't know it but I just love the quote). I've never even been to Las Vegas. San Francisco is a complete mystery to me yet one I want to experience. I've never set foot in Oregon, even though I've almost moved there a few years ago on a whim.
After experiencing so much of the sites and cultures other nations have to offer I'm incredibly anxious to dive into my own. While having three of four weeks to kill last August I took a hurried one month motorcycle trip from Texas through five other states to Idaho. While my adventure was entirely too quick it gave me a taste to see much more. This I intend to do.
So the planning begins on the Big 'Un. My plan is to either a) see all 50 states, b) circle the mainland US visiting each of the states (33?) that border the US, or c) blaze 4,000 miles up to Alaska in time for the summer solstice and make a scattered, less organized return to wherever the road takes me. Oh, and of course I'll do it all with my love: my 1981 Honda Silverwing motorcycle.
So rest assured: my bag is unpacked but it won't be for long. Just before it starts to gather dust it'll be on my back again heading off into the new unknown. That's what it likes best anyway.
October 19, 2004
Here I am! -an overdue recap
Yep, I'm still here. I've just been lazy lately.
I've been back in the US for a week now. Where did the last seven days go? I still feel jetlagged. This is the first time I've had jetlag and it (or something is still kicking my butt. I'm tired all day lately.
I made it back to the grand 'ol town of Crane, TX yesterday. I ended up driving a U-haul truck full of 1,500 law books 400 miles across the state from Dallas for my dad. Why he felt compelled to buy a truck load of these books is anyone's guess. Blame it on seemingly too good to pass up deals on various internet auction sites.
Today I wasted no time in advancing my scuba diving education. I enrolled with Family Scuba Center in Midland in the necessary classes to gain my Advanced Open Water certification. After I complete courses in navigation, deep water, equipment, and boat diving as well as the 24 necessary dives I will be even closer to Divemaster. Then I'll just need the search and rescue course, which sounds like fun. By the way, does anyone in west Texas have some gear I could borrow to use in my course? The price of the first four classes totals only $150 but if I have to rent the gear too it'll add up quick. Anyone?
Coming back from my travels wasn't as strange this time as the first time. The entire last week before I left Paris in July was depressing in a lot of ways. I wasn't ready for my trip to end at all. When I got back in Dallas things seemed so very foreign and out of place. I didn't feel apart of that world anymore and I couldn't figure out why. Things just felt weird and strange much more than they were familiar and comfortable. The whole time I was home I couldn't wait to leave again.
This time was completely different. I wasn't necessarily ready to come home at the end of my trip but I wasn't dreading it either. Things were a lot more mellow. I was ready to get started with my scuba courses and prepare for the next trip. Emotionally I was in a much better place.
I was also prepared to leave immediately for a hitchhiking race from Minnesota to California. At the last minute I even found a partner to do it with me. My friend Karyn from Ohio was all set to meet me in Minneapolis when I heard just THREE days before the event that it was cancelled. Apparently they didn't organize or promote it all that well and *surprise* they didn't have enough participants. I was crushed since I had really wanted to take part in this - ESPECIALLY since I had found someone to do it with me. Too bad.
So here I am in west Texas. Tomorrow I'm going with my aunt Debbie to see a couple of movies. I don't even know what's out now. I look at the list of movies and almost all of them are unfamiliar to me. I saw Team America: World Police on Friday night and loved it. Go see it!
I'm not sure when I'm heading out next. I'm hoping to be gone at the end of November but who's to say for sure. It looks like I can fly to Australia or Thailand for $700-800. I couldn't believe it was so cheap! I'm ready to go!
October 14, 2004
Back in the Lone Star State
So I made it back to Texas yesterday. Three weeks went by VERY fast. I had planned to stay out in Europe longer but my plans never stay how I think they will. There's a joke that comes to mind: How do you make God laugh? -- Make a plan.
Liking the thought of a giggling god I've made more plans. I don't know if they actually qualify as plans just yet - more like "intentions as of now". I want to go to Australia or Asia. And I want to work as a scuba diver.
Where did this come from? Who knows, really. I rarely have considerable reasons behind my reasoning. It just sounds like a good idea and, of course, a lot of fun.
Over the next couple of days I'll be updating this site a little. I have a lot of stories to tell. I want to go into more detail of my last six hosts and some of the places I've been. Plus there are loads of random stories I could tell about everything from hitchhiking across Switzerland to lunching with random Parisians to being mugged at 4am in the airport.
Stay tuned. I promise I'll write something interesting eventually:)
October 03, 2004
Favorite Travel Blogs
I just added a box on my site of my favorite fellow travelbloggers' sites out there that I love to look at. Check some out! Amy's RTW Adventure
Jenny's Travels
The Savage Files
Never Be Complete
Joe and Johanna in Europe Let me know if I missed yours!
Rules of the road
While traveling like I do there are certain things you learn to expect. After six months on the go here are a few of the things I have come to live with:
- Chronic foot pain is a rite of passage - get used to it and you start to forget about it.
- Any given time every item of clothes you're wearing are clean is a treat.
- Losing things from your bag becomes more freeing than painful.
- One good night's sleep can carry you for several days - take them as they come.
- Earplugs are invaluable - especially in crouded hostels or with strange sleep habits of any other person in the room (just ask Olivia :)
- As tired as you get of traveling you miss it immediately as soon as you get on the plane to head home
September 08, 2004
Finally, pictures of my Europe trip
Ok, I finally finished organizing all of my pictures. I have almost 1,400 of them organized by city with captions on most of them. You can see them here. Enjoy!
July 25, 2004
Euro Pictures
I finally put some pics up from my trip. These are a sampling from the cities Aarhus, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bolzano, and Brussels. I was going to put a lot more up but I only got through the A's and B's. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and I'll put up the ones from C-D before I take off on my Canadian motorcycle trip.
July 19, 2004
Back in the USA
It looks like my trip has taken a detour. For lots of reasons (including many that at least seemed to make sense a month ago but don't so much now) I find myself back in Texas. I wanted to get back for a family event in early September and for a few other things and flying back on 14 July worked out the best. I think.
Getting back into the US was reverse culture shock to the extreme. It was strange hearing so much english being spoken all around me and being able to read all the signs. Even the Texas and American accents were more defined in my ears than ever before. It was surreal to say the least.
And I immediately missed my traveling. I wasn't ready to go "home" at all. It's nice to see family but I miss the road behind me as well as the many roads I have not yet traveled. Instead of being "homesick" I find myself "roadsick".
But my journey isn't finished. Before my trip I half expected (and somewhat hoped) that this adventure would afford the opportunity to excersise the travel demons and "sow some wild oats" or something to the effect where I could move on to a different phase in my life. Wrong. If anything, traveling for 16 weeks throughout Europe like I did has just hightened my sense of adventure and severely lessened my hesitation or fear of going "farther down the rabbit hole."
So what next? I'm working on that. Because I returned to Texas short of my 13 October plan my new plane ticket has a return flight scheduled to take me back to Paris on 20 September. From there, who knows. Before then, I'm working on that too. The idea is to take a motorcycle trip to Vancouver, Canada throughout August. Hopefully that will work out.
Time to go check out the motorcycle.
May 25, 2004
2 Months
Today marks exactly two months since I arrived in Europe. It´s amazing to think back on what all has happened in two months. In a way it feels like I just got here yesterday but mostly the feeling is that it must be more than two months. Somehow I´ve managed to cram at least two years of experience in that short amount of time.
So far it´s been an amazing adventure with plenty of stories I´ll be able to tell for the rest of my life. I´ve hitchhiked (so far) 1500 kms and stayed in the homes of 20 wondefully gracious strangers with the help of various hospitality websites. I´ve watched the sun set not knowing where I would sleep. I´ve stuck out my thumb hoping for a ride and not caring too much which destination it was driving to. I´ve put complete trust in the hands of strangers who have opened their doors to a traveler, but, of course, a complete stranger with a friendly smile. I´ve seen amazing sites in great cities across the continent, including a number of UNESCO world heritage sites. Quite often I´ve awoken in the morning unsure of what city or even country I´m in today. I´ve done all of this and loved it.
Traveling like this is, obviously, quite full of adventure but at times it takes it´s toll. After a stressful couple of days last week I was about ready to pack it in and end my trip. I was feeling especially lonely and completely exhausted. I had enough fun for a while and I was looking at airfare prices. But I decided to put those thoughts on hold for a few days and see what happened. I´m glad I did.
This last week has brought with it a wealth of personal understanding. I´m not going to go into it all (at least not now) but I´m happier than I´ve been in a while. Where before I had a hard time enjoying being alone, now I feel a quiet calm before me. I don´t remember the last time I spoke to a native english speaker and I don´t care anymore. Last night I spent over an hour with a guy from a mentally handicapped group staying in my hostel where he was asking me "Do you know Metallica?", the only english he knew. I would nod my head, smile and say "ja" and he would do the same. "Do you know Linkin Park?" Smile, nod, ja. He was one of the only people I talked to all day yesterday. Only now is that even occuring to me.
I´m having a wonderful time out here traveling like I am. I´m starting to feel again like I´m going to run out of money well before I´m ready to stop traveling. I like having that feeling again.
Pictures!!
Ok, I finally put a few pictures up. There aren´t a whole lot just yet but this will have to do. I have well over 1,000 of them but not all of them are easy to see just yet.
I also added a few new ones to the "random picture" box on the left column. You´ll just have to hit "refresh" or come back more often to see those.
May 22, 2004
Fellow travelers
I´m not the only one with a travel website. I´ve met a lot of people who have their own great sites. Here are a few of them:
Amy from Texas´s walkingabout through Europe
Kurt Milam´s Man on the Ground - a expat from Texas in Vienna, Austria
Nigel in Europe - one guy driving a van around painting anything and everything
Kinga and Chopin - two from Poland who hitched around the world for five years
I know I´m missing a bunch more but that´s all I can think of right now. Send me yours and I´ll put it up!
Hitching tally
I was curious to calculate how much I´ve hitched so far here in Europe. Here are the major destinations/distances I´ve traveled so far:
120,01 miles (193,14 km) - dresden - berlin
180,62 miles (290,68 km) - berlin - hamburg
94,95 miles (152,81 km) - hamburg - puttgarden
112,6 miles (181,22 km) - puttgarden - copenhagen
144,33 miles (232,27 km) - copenhagen - kolding
76,76 miles (123,53 km) - kolding - schleswig
64,66 miles (104,05 km) - hamburg - heide
64,66 miles (104,05 km) - heide - hamburg
74,51 miles (119,92 km) - hamburg - bremen
15 rides (one of them by the police), 1500 kms. Fun!!
May 17, 2004
Slept with Beautiful Girl, woke with Suicide Blonde
It´s been nice staying in a place with good music. Søren has plenty of good music to listen to. I fell asleep last night listening to INXS´s greatest hits. I forgot how much I love that band. I´ve also been getting my fill of Van Morrison (mmm, Sweet Thing) and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Ah, I love music.
I´ve also found a (very) new-found (somewhat) respect for the US tv shows "Frasier" and "Will and Grace". They apparently love them in Denmark. I´ve watched a bit of television because Denmark is one of the only countries not to dub over the sound on TV (give it a try, Germany) and just subtitle the shows in their own language. These are two shows I´ve overwhelmingly loathed while in the States but here they´re not only a tolerable source of my TV fix but actually...entertaining. Let´s just say I can see what people like about them. But this is not to say I´ll be watching them if/when I get back to teh States. Bleh - I will have options then. Oh, they also love Cheers here. The word "Cheers" must not translate correctly, though, because they call it "Sam´s Bar". Go figure.
May 10, 2004
People I´ve met
I was thinking about the different kinds of people I´ve met during my trip so far. This was one of the biggest reasons for me to travel by hitching and staying with people I´ve met through the internet, ect. I love to meet people. Here is a list of some of the different people I´ve stayed with or spent at least some time with on my trip, organized mostly by the order which I met or stayed with them:
- writer
- actor
- subway musician
- student, or actually LOTS of students :)
- city jail officer
- fuel station manager
- nurse
- telecommunication engineer
- "boot monkey" at a ski resort
- website designer
- musician
- language instructor
- waitress
- graphic designer
- language interpreter
- salespeople
- HospitalityClub creator
- world travelers
- cartographer
- world record holder
- church choir leader
- forrest assessor
- more students!
Go Dollar!
I just checked the conversion rate of the Dollar to the Euro and it looks like it´s trickling upwards. Finally. Currently $0.845250 = ?1.00, which is near it´s high of 0.851499 that it hit in November. The farther up it goes the longer I get to keep traveling. Go Dollar!!
May 07, 2004
Songs in my head
I constantly have a song in my head. Someone in the next room of the home I´m staying with is listening to Son of a Preacher man off the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. I love that song.
Here are some others that I´ve had roaming through my head lately:
- Incubus - Are You In? and then that song at the end of that CD that I don´t know the title to
- Pearl Jam - You Are
- U2 - Trying To Throw Your Arms Around the World, Numb, So Cruel, and Lemon
- (some band whose name I can´t think of - possibly Third Eye Blind but that sounds wrong) - California
- John Mayer - Georgia
- Van Morrison - Moonlight Mile
- Semisonic - D&D
- Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
- Outkast - Miss Jackson
- Stroke9 - City Life
- Pearl Jam - Low Light
- Life in Mono - Mono
- another song on the Great Expectations soundtrack - Never Met A Girl Like You (or something like that)
- White Stripes - Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground
- REM - It´s The End Of The World As We Know It (and i feel fine)
- Elcodrive - Black Flowers
- Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
I´m in desperate need of an iPod. Anyone want to donate one to me? :)
May 05, 2004
8 Questions
I got these questions from a friend of mine (thanks Hat!) If you have any questions for me let me know and I´ll do what I can to answer them.
1. What is the best thing about traveling?
There´s not one best thing for me so I´ll name a few at the top of the list.
-Not knowing what day of the week it is without looking at my watch.
-Going to far away places that I´ve read about in history books like Berlin, Prague, Paris, London, ect and living the satisfaction of saying I did this on my own.
-Meeting interesting people from all over the world and sharing amazing times with them hours or even minutes of getting their names (some of their names I never even know).
-Pushing myself to limits I didn´t know I had.
2. What is the worst thing about traveling?
Being exhausted and/or discouraged and feeling like there´s nowhere to just "go home" to for awhile.
3. What is best expereince you've had so far?
This is another hard one to answer. My trip itself is the best thing I´ve ever done. Just putting myself on the plane, or meeting up with the first stranger whom I´m trusting not to kill me in my sleep, or hitching the first ride on the Autobahn. These have all been exciting (often somewhat terrifying) but incredibly rewarding.
Another answer: I love meeting the people. I´ve had some amazing hosts and met some wonderful travelers. If there weren´t other people out here I´d have gotten bored and went back to the States by now.
4. What is the worst expereince you've had so far?
Getting the worst exchange rate ever at a little place in Cesky Krumlov. Use the ATMs!! Don´t change money unless you absolutely have to!
5. What is the most unusual experience you've had so far.
Today it was finding out how truely easy it is to hitchhike in Germany. I love it! I´ve also found that I love it when the guys in the street come up to you asking you for money. I always peek in their cup and tell them they have more Euros than I do and then ask them for a handout. They don´t seem to find the humor in this as much as I do, though.
6. What is one thing you wished you would have packed?
Most ziplock bags and rubberbands.
7. What is one thing you wished you would have left?
LOTS of stuff. I wish I had removed the detachable daypack that came with my pack and put a smaller one inside of it. I should also have left behind most of the junk I packed "for emergencies" in my thrown together first aid kit. I shouldn´t have brought my Let´s Go guidebook because I haven´t used it much at all (but, ironically, came convince myself to ditch it, yet). I have the advantage of making a trip like this before as well as reading up a lot of advice on what to pack and what to not pack so I did alright. But I´d love to do a trip with just clothes and a toothbrush, or something like that. Maybe next time.
8. What is the best advice you can give to a person wanting to travel?
Do your research before your trip. Read up on the guidebooks and travel books. Go to the bookstore and read through the "how to pack" books (but don´t buy them because that would just be stupid) and get the Rough Guides book "First Time Around The World". It has wonderful, practical info on trip preparation.
Also, get out there! Step out of your shell and do things you might normally be afraid of. Push your limits and find out the scope of who you are. Don´t be afraid of what you might find. It´s a big world out there with loads of possibilities. You can find and explore them if you just let yourself be open it. Most of all, have fun!!
April 16, 2004
More pictures
Here are a few more pictures to peek at. Enjoy!
My hosts
I'm finally able to get some good pictures on my site. Here are a few that I'm able to swing right now. Hopefully more will be to come.
My hosts in Bolzano, Italy after our candlelit dinner. They have been together for two years and every night they have dinner by candlelight. I love it.
Kurt from Houston was nice enough to share his home in Vienna with me. I'll be lucky to travel as much in my lifetime as Kurt already has. Check out some of his tales and pics at his website: http://blog.manontheground.net
His brother Craig who also lives with Kurt in Vienna is in two bands that I got to see last night. I think the name of one is Suneral but that may be wrong.
Danie from Hollabrunn put me up last night. She's a cool girl with great taste in music and movies.
As always, I'm always looking for new people to meet. If you'd like to meet up while I'm out here let me know. If you happen to live here and would offer to let me sleep on your floor I'd be very appreciative!
March 09, 2004
Ski time
This weekend was way too short. Sure it included Friday and Monday but four days just isn't enough when you're in the mountains. Bonny (aka Hat) and I had a great time skiing this weekend at Ski Apache in Ruidoso. The snow was great and it was good to see my grandparents again. Although it was only Bonny's second time to ski she did very well, for the most part.
[click to enlarge]
Here's a cool panoramic shot I took when we stopped at a scenic overview on the way down. It's really big so it might take a minute to load and be hard to view but it's a beautiful picture.
December 24, 2003
I...can't...drive...95
Why does the speedometer in my truck appear to allow the engine to reach 120 mph but has a governor that kicks in and momentarily cuts the gas off as soon as you hit 96? Isn't that just a little bit misleading? That's 25 mph worth of dash space completely wasted, not to mention a blatent tease. What happens when the car your following (aka allowing to sweep the road ahead for cops) decides to go faster than 95? What then??
December 21, 2003
Meet me!
Just 85 days or so until I'm taking off to Europe. Now is your chance to invite me to meet you! I'm looking for people who are interested in meeting a fun traveling soul who's crazy enough to pack up all his stuff, move out of his apartment, and be homeless for who knows how long. I'll be on the road in a foreign land with nothing but a small backpack hoping to find nice people to let me hitch rides with them and possibly sleep on their couch a night or two. Are you one of those people? If so "comment" on this post below and let me know who you are! I want to meet YOU!
December 20, 2003
1,000 places to see
 I just bought this book at Half Priced Books in Lewisville. While it has lots of interesting things to see and do it's hard not to notice this book was made for people with more money than time. I, on the other hand, am quite the opposite. While barbequeing on the North Pole via an icebreaker cruise sounds like a lot of fun I just can't seem to find enough change in my couch to cover the $15,950 price tag. The book does give great information about other things I might not have found on my own that I could actually see and do, like experiencing the "raucous and rowdy Czech beer experience" at U Fleku in Prague or even see the castle in Romania where Vlad the Impaler (aka the real-life influence of Bram Stoker's Dracula) supposedly lived. But I'm wanting to know more about festivals and local events like the Tomatina in Spain or Oktoberfest in Munich.
If you know of any good festivals or even books or website that I can find more let me know. I'm going to be out for a while and I want to see and do lots of great things. Let me know what's out there.
December 17, 2003
Realizing the impossible
"i left new jersey with $200 and made it, on bicycle to california, where i am now, in process of getting a job to finance the rest of my north america trip."
THIS is the kind of stuff I love to read about. I want to do things like this! I'm GOING to do things like this. I've been thinking a lot about why it is I have this travel itch that needs to be scratched. I plan on writing soon about some of the reasons why I'm compelled to go go go. Keep checking back.
Movin' on up
Well, it's more official now. I turned in my notice to move out of my apartment yesterday. I have to be out by midnight on February 29, 2004. It's nice to do something pro-active towards my trip, or my hejira, even though it's just setting the date.
As anxious as I am to depart I didn't want to set it too early. There are a number of reasons why I'm waiting until March to hit the road. My brother's wedding in Jan was the biggest reason keeping me State-side through this fall/winter. But it's nice because it forces me to save some more money and to just go ahead and wait out some of the colder weather. It'll be nice to get over there just before spring hits and see some places and do some things without the clutter of the tourists. Plus I don't really know how long I'm going to be able to stay. Ideally I'd like to have enough cruising cash to get by long enough to wind up in some kind of temporary work. I'm looking at a few options that may or may not pan out but I'm not too worried. At the least I'm wanting to be able to not wind up poor and stranded somewhere until October or so. I'm wanting to at least make it long enough to hit Oktoberfest in Munich (which, strangely enough, is in September) and consider the trip a success. And every day I'm adding to a list of other things I'm wanting to see and do.
- run with the bulls in Pamplona
- ride a bike across Holland
- hike through the Cinque Terre again
- visit Cesky Krumlov, Czech Repulic
- lie on a beach in Spain, Italy, and a Greek Isle or two
- Oktoberfest, of course
- meet at least 100 strangers and make them friends
- see Berlin and lots of Spain since I missed them last time
- if I end up staying until next Feb I'm DEFINITELY hitting Carnivale in Venice
- the Pez factory in Vienna or wherever it is (oh, I'll find it)
What else should I do? Any suggestions?
December 16, 2003
My hero!
The Savage Files
You've got to see this guy's website. I hope to have at least a fraction of the kind of trip he's having.
December 13, 2003
It's getting closer
It's just about three months away from my planned departure for Europe. It's getting closer every day and I'm excited. I wrote something today and you can read it by clicking on the link at the top of this column or here. Thanks for reading my webpage. It's fun to write now and will be great to keep up while I'm on the road. Cheers.
September 06, 2003
What??
I saw this sign on the way to Paint Rock last week. It's one of historical markers that I probably wouldn't ever stop at if Bonny wasn't with me. This one was very strange. The sign is about John S. Chisum, a confederate beef contractor during the Civil War. The part I have highlighted is what intrigues me. Here's what it says, if you can't read it from the pic (it's talking about crossing the Brazos River):
"Here cowboys would prod a heavy, wild bull till he was angry, then he would turn on men and horses, or the Brazos itself killed men and horses. Still the beef went through to the Confederates."
What does this mean? Why exactly do they make this big bull mad? I just don't get it.
August 30, 2003
Off Again!
Taking off for Paint Rock, TX tonight. Never heard of it? Neither have I. Dad has a new place out there so we're going to see it and probably work on it. Hopefully I'll be able to find some trails to bike on. THIS time I'll post some pictures when I get back.
August 24, 2003
Home Sweet Home?
Made it back home tonight. The trip covered 1,729 miles in all. We went across Texas to several parts of NM and some of west Texas. I'm pretty tired tonight but I'll have something about it tomorrow. G'night!
August 15, 2003
Going To The Mountains!
Heading out today! I'm taking off to Ruidoso, NM to get out of the heat and see some trees. I love to ride my mountain bike and Ruidoso is a great place for it. There are a few trails there I love and I've been looking around on the internet and have found one or two more in the area I want to try. I might also take a side trip through some other parts of NM to see some other sights. There seems to be a good trail called the Rim Trail near Cloudcroft. If you know of any other ones let me know!
August 05, 2003
My Travel Journal Starts Here!
Here begins the journey!
For those of you that don't know I plan on leaving for my next big adventure mid February of 2004. I'm heading overseas for another tour of Europe. Actually, I just plan on starting in Paris and have no idea where I'll go from there. I also have a growing desire to visit different parts of Asia so who knows where I'll end up. Unlike last time I plan on going for much longer than six weeks. This time I plan on going until I don't feel like going anymore, if that ever happens.
I started using this type of webpage so I can post updates while I'm on the road to let those who are interested keep up with what I'm doing. The reason I'm starting it now is because planning is a big part of the journey. I've spent countless hours reading and researching different parts of my intended trip. I think it would be beneficial to other travelers like me to learn from what I did. So I want to use this webpage as a dialogue for everyone to post their opinions. If you have a suggestion for me or know of a good place to see let me know! I want to hear about it.
It's going to be a great journey! Thanks for coming along!
Jim
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