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Savage - Mark Savage

Hi, my name is Mark, known simply as Savage among my friends. I'm an IT worker living in Las Vegas, NV. I'm not currently traveling, but I hope to share one or two rather bland past travels, some future local travels that for some reason I've never done (despite them being on my doorstep... take things for granted sometimes) and eventually my future trek into Central America &/or Europe.

If you're wondering how I came to post on this blog, I'll give you a little background. In 1989 I moved to the US from a sleepy little village called Holt in North Norfolk, England, which is close to a sleepy little village called Hempstead. ; ) I just recently found the Friends Reunited website that allows me to find old friends from my school days in England. So I saw Ali's name, and voila, here I am!

http://savagetravels.com

<a href="http://savagetravels.com">SavageTravels</a>

http://savagetravels.com

When we came over to the US, we moved to Hemet, California, where we lived with my Grandparents and rented a place till we eventually sold the house in England. Once I graduated High School, with no real direction or ambition, I decided to join the Air Force to make something of myself. I spent four years in the service as an Electrician, stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. I’ve been out of the service since October 1998, worked odd jobs for a while before breaking into IT, which was previously just a hobby. I’ve been in IT for about 5 years now, and the only thing I can really say is it’s ruined a good hobby. Hahah

I've read many of the blogs here from back to front and then read them again. I must say that I've been more than a little inspired, jealous, and left in awe of the travels that have taken place. To quote a fellow IT worker that lingers around this site: "I'd decided that there is more to life than the daily commute, the daily grind and life ticking away a weekend at a time." How very true. Anything could happen between now and my planned departure, so I'm not etching anything in stone, but the planning & saving has begun. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.

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Joined on: February 19th 2004
Last Login: September 28th 2007

Blog Entries: 15
Photos: 50

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Savage, order by Date newest first.

By Savage
February 20th 2005

Florence & Firenze... oh, they're the same place?

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Florence

Hercules Statue
"Excuse me, could you please remove that from my head?" The religious right would have a field day with statues like this in the States.

So, I thought I was going to get some sleep… 5am rolled around, and I was wide awake!! How was this possible? I’d been up for a day and a half, and I’m wide awake after 5 hours sleep? Hell, if I could do this back home, I’d be alright. Still dark outside, everyone else still asleep, and probably will be for hours to come. Ali doesn’t have any time differences to deal with, and since I’m not in a Hostel, I know I’ll be on my own here. Whatever… I figure it’s a good time to walk aimlessly around the [View Full Entry]

By Savage
February 19th 2005

From Vegas to Vignola

Europe » Italy » Emilia-Romagna » Bologna

White Rooftops of Bologna
Most of these pictures were taken after my first arrival day, since I was too tired to care about taking pictures. But this was a rare treat to see a blanket of white over what would normally be a se... [more]

On the road again... well, more like in the air again, then on the road, followed by the rail… whatever. This time, off to Italy. While there I was to meet up with two people I hadn't seen in many years. Samantha was my first girlfriend in High School here in the States. Over on a one-year exchange program from Italy, our paths crossed in the School Library, and before long I was her English Boy and she was my Italian Girl in the middle of the California desert. We hadn't seen each other for 12 years, recently reunited via an [View Full Entry]

By Savage
January 1st 2005

Happy New Year!

North America » United States » Nevada » Las Vegas

Vegas New Years
Fireworks in Las Vegas, with the Paris Hotel and Casino in the background.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year from Las Vegas!! For a little video clip of the fireworks, please click here: http://wvhsalumni.com/fun/video/MVI_2326.AVI (WARNING! 10 Megs, 35 second clip) Take care everyone! TESTING [View Full Entry]

By Savage
August 10th 2004

Planning Chaos... Chaotic Planning?

North America » United States » Nevada » Las Vegas

For the past few months, I've been getting antsy again. I don't get much time to travel, working two jobs and all, but sometimes you just have to get away for your own sanity. Well, sanity can sometimes be lost just figuring out where to go, at least for me. First I thought about going back to Japan. I had such a great time in April that I would love to go back. But after thinking about it, I wasn't sure I wanted such an expensive trip this time around. Staying in Tokyo, or even traveling around the countryside is a [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 25th 2004

Last night and leaving Tokyo

Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Very lazy day, well, more of a recovery day I suppose. Also my last day, and it’s making me very sad. I really don’t want to leave Japan… I’ve had such a wonderful time, and I feel that for the most part I could just hang out at the guest house all day and have a good time. In the short time I’ve been here, I’m quasi pro at telling people where to go and what to do when they arrive at the house. Strange feeling that, especially when I don’t even really know where to go and what to do [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 24th 2004

Tokyo Tower and another night out.

Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Urban Sprawl
It goes on and on and on...

After last nights entertainment, I was doubting Yoshi was going to be up for going to Ueno Park… heck, I was doubting I could do anything today. But I finally fell out of bed, hung around in the lounge for a little while, then Ryan asked if I wanted to go to view of Tokyo in Roppongi. I needed to get some good pictures, so I figured this would be the opportune time to take care of business. We find the place, wait in line, and once we get to the front find out the observation deck is closed. Aha… that [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 23rd 2004

A Night in Shibuya

Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Me, Yoshi and Ryan
At a club in Shibuya having a blast!

To tell you the truth, I can’t remember what I did during the daytime this day. But according to the pictures, I spent the night partying away in Shibuya with Yoshi and Ryan, which clues me in to the last part of the day! : ) A lazy day of sitting around the Guest House, and walking around Azabujuban. I called Yoshi up from the now trusty pay phone at the Mini Mart, and arranged to meet him at the same statue in Shibuya as I’d met him at the first time. Meeting time, roughly 5:30pm, so I left with plenty [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 19th 2004

Downtown Tokyo & Akihabara

Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Statue of Kusunoki Masashige
Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate, then under the leadership of the Hojo clan.

Today I took off with one of the guys from the Guest house, a fellow Brit by the name of Indrin. Well, he’s kinda a brit, but that’s a minor technicality. Anyhow, I had no plans for the day, so he mentioned something about having to go to Tokyo Station to buy tickets for the Shinshokin (Bullet Train) to Kyoto. Asked if I could tag along and that was that. Tokyo Station is a pretty damn big station, and after about 20 minutes of walking around, we found the place to buy tickets. Joy of joy, nothing much was to be [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 18th 2004

Japanese Culture 101

Asia » Japan » Tokyo

Small shrine in Shibuya
Walking around Shibuya with Yoshi, we found a shrine or temple that even he didn't know existed.

Sunday just didn’t start off how I anticipated. I expected to sleep in till 8 or 9 since I’d been awake for so long, but ended waking up at about 4am. There wasn’t a chance of getting back to sleep either, so after an hour of trying, I went up to the lounge to play around on the Internet. Of course, at 5am everyone was still asleep, Andrew, the Aussie from the station was asleep on the couch, he hadn’t made a reservation, so there was no room for him to sleep except on the couch. I thought I’d start getting [View Full Entry]

By Savage
April 16th 2004

Tokyo here I come

North America » United States » Nevada » Las Vegas

First View of Japan
This was the first land I saw while flying in.

This was a long and boring trip, hence the long and boring story. Enjoy my insanity. Man, what a night. Got off work at midnight, went around and did some last minute packing and laundry, and thought I’d have no problem dozing off at about 1am or so. Alas, that didn’t seem to work out. I guess I was more anxious about the trip than I thought. After tossing and turning for a while, I got out of bed and took care of a few things I was going to do in the morning. Tried to sleep again… wasn’t happening. Got [View Full Entry]

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