I want to start off by saying I feel truly blessed to have been able to take this adventure. From the sights, to the sounds, to the food, to the personal reasons that I went. Everything turned out great.

Now I know normally when someone takes an extended life break to go somewhere else in the world they often come back with a horror story of some kind. Their camera gets stolen, they miss flights, they lose luggage; Things we all hear about and dread experiencing.

I don’t really have one of those crazy stories of hardship on the road. Part of me is thankful for that, and part of me is sad about it. I don’t have an insane one of a kind tale to tell, but what I do have are stories of personal growth, making changes, fulfilling promises and enjoying life.

I got to go to places that I’ve dreamed of for so long, I got to take my Oma home one last time. I got Cecile to drink far too much really shitty Italian liquor and walk the streets (sorry again for the day after, heh), I got to spend thirty days with my birth mother, as mentioned above, which I think brought us closer together than we were before. I experienced so many things, saw so much, and reveled in it the entire time. It taught me a lot about myself and a lot about others; Their cultures, dynamics, history, views, the list of items could go on, so I’ll stop there. I learned, through trial by fire, how to use my camera more efficiently and properly. I took something like five thousand pictures and still have ye to go through a lot of them.

If I had to have one drawback of the experience, it was that I learned that seeing ten countries in thirty days is a bit too fast for me. I would have liked to cut the country list by about two or three places. The flip-side of this statement is that after going to these places I now know the countries to cut, where I really didn’t before. So perhaps that makes my slow down point moot? Maybe, but I still think if I ever have the chance to do it again, it would be be at a slower rate.

On that point, if I ever do Europe again, it would likely contain mainly countries in the east. Not only are they easier on the wallet but also the people seems much more available. By that I mean eastern Europeans seemed way more laid back, far easier to approach and speak with about a veritable gambit of topics. The next European adventure would likely contain Croatia, Hungary and Romania. Those would be my big three.

Those that have been following me know that I was fired from my job the Friday before we were to get on the plane. They had agreed to the time off, even had me work extra days to make up for it, then let me go due to “restructuring”, whatever that means. Essentially it was the only way my boss could legally get rid of me (him and I did not see eye to eye on the way he treated people and my drivers, which I brought up on numerous occasions, guess he didn’t like that). So rather than let it get me down, well, I just didn’t. Once we got back, reality kinda set in that I have a mortgage to pay, bills, responsibilities. Even so, I kinda just said screw it the other day and have decided to go to Thailand in two to four weeks. I figure I can still do it right now, without much of a consequence, so why not? Then when I get back the intense job hunt can begin.

So going forward, should Thailand become a reality, you will hear from me while I travel the Land of Smiles! I hope you can join me on that adventure as well.

As always, keep your eyes on the horizon!