I've been having an absolute blast the last couple of days. Are you kicking yourself for not coming with me? Because you totally should be. So, first time in Asia, first time in a communist country (which I suppose isn't that unheard of as there's only 5 and I'm not heading to North Korea any time soon), and first time traveling by myself for this long. No work! No school! Just fun! The flight over was really, really long but uneventful. Japan Airlines is the nicest airline I've ever been on. I was totally counting on making a whole bunch of [View Full Entry]

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Woohoo! Tomorrow I leave OKC bright and early, connect in Chicago and a couple of dazed hours in the Tokyo airport before I land in Hanoi late on the 16th. My plan for these four and a half months is: *4 weeks Vietnam from Hanoi-Saigon *3 weeks Cambodia *3 weeks in Thailand *10 days in Burma March 17-29th *4 weeks Laos *2 weeks in Beijing and Xi'an, China *2 weeks back through Vietnam *Fly home out of Ho Chi Minh on May 28th *30 hour layover in Tokyo *Back home late on May 30th This is just an idea, the only [View Full Entry]

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My two weeks in Serbia went by so fast! It was an awesome experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity to live like a local in former Yugoslavia and see my friend at the same time, one of the best decisions of my life I would say. Here's some anti-climatic pics. [View Full Entry]

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Budapest is really growing on me. At first I was pretty intimidated but now I am able to really appreciate it, Budapest is a beautiful city with a great atmosphere that's been through a lot. And by a lot I mean world war bombings and 50 years of communism. Today we're going to drive down to Serbia so over and out comrades. [View Full Entry]

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Belgium! Quite a shock to the system after Barcelona, the people speak English, they don’t try to run you over as you attempt to use the crosswalk, and instead of leers and whistles from 70 year-old men with canes you hear “Bojour” or “Hallo”. So refreshing. Friday as previously stated was rainy and miserable and Britt and I were exhausted so we stayed in Ghent and nothing too exciting happened. I met our wonderful hosts Emily from Kenya and Wim the Belgian and baby Bran. Saturday was better weather and the trains in Belgium are buy one-way get return f [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while TravelBlog! The internet has been quite sporadic lately and well I've been keeping busy and all. Only 3 more weeks here! Monday I painted the entry hall boy oh boy does it ever look good. Last Tuesday I had some time off so I went to the Barcelona Aquarium, the largest aquarium in Europe. It was okay. It was expensive and after the Monterrey Aquarium everything else is just anticlimatic. Nice shark tunnel and it's a lovely walk from La Rambla. I stopped by the big market called La Boqueria and I found some nori for 4.50 [View Full Entry]

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Another week gone! I'm almost halfway through here in Spain, then off to Budapest and Serbia! Today I went to Parc Güell, another Gaudí endeavor. The guide book said it was a bit of a hassle to get there but when I got off the metro stop it said Parc Güell 500m. No problem right? Well it turns out its like 500 meters vertically! Not too bad but I wasn't expecting so many stairs. From the top of the hill you can see all of Barcelona and the ocean and the Sagrada Familia off in the distance, very impressive. Gaudi's assistant [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday I had some free time so I took off to La Sagrada Familia, the main attraction of Barcelona. Here's what my Lonely Planet guide has to say on the subject: If you have time to see only one sight in Barcelona, this emblem of the city, and the work to which Gaudí dedicated most of his working life, should probably be it. It takes up a whole block of l'Eixample, has its own metro station and is the most talked about and visited unfinished building site in the world. After more than 120 years, the church is still only half [View Full Entry]

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