I had such confusing feelings about arriving in Warsaw. As with every new destination I’ve landed in, I felt a level of excitement. Grandpa visited Poland in 1999. He is the only person in my family to have visited his hometown since the beginning of World War II. Knowing I would be visiting these towns as well, I felt nervous. My grandparents fled Poland to survive. They left everything behind…
Read MoreCroatia and Montenegro
Backpacking for me has been an incredible journey of peeling off layers of stress, confused identity, reclaiming confidence, and creating a vision of my long term future. Before backpacking, I had not felt free enough to create a vision of what a future home might be for me. As an example, when my lease was ending in November 2018, before I lost my job, I experienced a rare complete mental block when coming to a decision about where to move next…
Read MoreBratislava
I took a quick day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia from Vienna, Austria with my Viennese buddy Gilbert. We met up with a local friend of his too. We did not do an in depth historical tour of Bratislava but, instead, we kept it simple. We walked through the lovely market, went for a hike up the hill to the castle, fortress and gardens…
Read MoreVienna
Vienna was the destination for my first European holiday in 2001. I was so excited to go back, but mostly to see Steffi. To my surprise, Vienna was way more interesting and exciting than I remember. The city has definitely changed and has a bit of an edge to it now. It was also wintertime when I was last there…
Read MoreBangkok
I had first visited Bangkok in 2008 during my first visit to Asia. I really wanted to go back and see what I could remember. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong time of year. It was so uncomfortably hot. I did my best to make the most of the experience. I took a day trip to the Ayuthaya historical temple complex and I got to ride the third class train coach. Mostly, however, I spent my time in airconditioned malls trying the street food stands…
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