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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
the end of my summer travels
How is everyone out there? I hope all went well for your summers and things. I hope no one had to work all summer without a break. I know how that is and it is just so unfulfilling when you start the fall semester with all of these other people who look so well rested and relaxed about everything. If you read my last entry you will know that I obviously had a lot of fun.
I finished off my little mini tour of Europe with a bang. I made it up to Amsterdam with a hitch and everything there was a lot of fun. I met plenty of chill people and of course went to as many clubs as I possibly could within the time allowed. The trip to Berlin was fun because I took the train and seeing the countryside of Germany is amazing. We went right by the Alps before our first stop and then up to Berlin. Berlin was lot more chill for me because I was out of funding at that point. I just kept it simple and did the usual tourist type of stuff. I got my exercise in as well since I thing I need to lose some weight. I felt like I put on some drinking pounds from the first week and half so I rented a bike. Fitness isn’t typically on my mind but I decided that this would be a fun way to get two things done at once. I also started eating right and not just snacking and drinking a lot. So that last little bit of the trip was sort of cleansing in a way. Thank goodness I did that because the plane ride home I got really sick and I think it probably would have been worse had I already felt sick before I ever got on the flight.
Now we’re all back and we’re together once again. Hopefully you’re all ready for another year of school and another year of keeping ourselves out of trouble. I know that I am and I think that after my trip I am just full of energy and now I think I may have started a bit of a biking habit in myself. When I got back I went out and bought a new road bike, it was actually recycled, and I have been riding to class and work every day now. If you see me zipping around town this week just give me a shout and we can chat for a while.
Monday, August 18, 2008
First week in Europe
Hey all! John here again and I am writing to you from an internet café in Paris. Today marks the end of my first week here in Europe and I have been having a blast. Riding on the hopes and dollar signs of my credits cards, my vacation has turned out to be amazing. The people over here have been so much fun and I have been making the best of every day. This morning I am really tired because I was out last night at a dance club here in Paris and so I needed some time to decompress and drink some espresso. The food in this city has been my favorite so far even though I have been to London and Paris. Tomorrow I am off to Amsterdam though so I may end up having to change my mind about that.
As I said last time I wanted to try and get to some skiing spots during this trip but I have not really found the room financially and it looks like that option has passed. Since I am heading north tomorrow I think that my opportunity to go to the slopes was here over the past three days. After a few days in Amsterdam I want to see Berlin and then I will be leaving from there to go home. My plan had been to try my best to fit it in but I wanted to see how financially everything was going to work out when I got over here. OF course I have been living off the support of my credit cards and so it has been just a constant accumulation of debt. I did get a loan but that was only for living expenses so everything else has gone on my visa card. Luckily for me I have a good credit score and as a result, a few credit cards. When I get all of the bills from this trip paid off I should have a pretty good credit score because there certainly have been a lot of bills. My big goal right now is to just cut down all spending since I have become a little bit too lacks with my extraneous purchases.
Tomorrow morning I will continue this trip on to its final leg and then I will be back in town with the rest of ya’ll. I think I’ve gotten my energy back for now so I think I’ll leave it at that and just say salute for the day. Hope everyone is getting ready for the fall or on a journey like mine.
Monday, August 11, 2008
comparing airfare
I think I caught some kind of bug this summer because ever since the first session began I have been wanting to just get out of town. No matter how much I have been telling myself that this is normal and that it is all part of being a student, I am really just hitting my breaking-point every single day. That is why I have decided to do something totally compulsive and go on a vacation. I took some time this month when I wasn’t working or studying to compare hotels and compare airfare. That is right folks I am getting out of this place, and fast!
I spun my globe and put my finger down on a little place called Europe. This magical land of wonder is where I will be spending the next two weeks of my life. I will be living the lavish lifestyle of a poor student from Baltimore staying in cheap hotels, motels, and villas, all across the lands of the old world. I have never been to this part of the world so I am really excited to see if it is all I thought it would be. I definitely know that I want to hit up plenty of pubs and wineries, to see what Europe is really all about. You don’t really know a country, at least I think, until you meet the people who populate its bars. I also want to try to make my way to some of the ski lodges over there because I have always wanted to try and snowboard the alps but so far it has been just a dream. That will be a little bonus if I can find some time and money in the mix of it all. I won’t be bringing much money or provisions. It will be mostly me and my pack with very little spending money and a lot of energy for new experiences.
Hopefully in two weeks when I come back you will be hearing from a totally new person. I hope that above all of the little petty details of a vacation that I really learn something. I don’t care if I came back without any of my stuff and totally broke, if I learned something then it was all worth it. But I hope that I do come back with all my stuff anyway. Wish me luck out there and I’ll try to drop a line from the south of France where I should be in just about a week from now.
