Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you all know that I am back in the states safe and sound. I'm currently working on typing out all of the blogs from Africa, so blogs and pics should be posted shortly... oh yeah... I made the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!!!!! Just for those who were curious... Anyway, blogs coming soon... K [View Full Entry]

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What an experience! Sorry for the ridiculously long blog... I promise it gets more exciting toward the end. As mentioned previously, the four of us (myself, Doug, Sarah and Jared) had decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We had talked about it in November of 2008, and had been training (lots of hiking!) since then. Coming into the climb, I felt like we were prepared and that we would succeed in our endeavor. Our family and friends had confidence in us and we had all our necessary gear. Day One Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa (19,341 ft) and the [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone, I really do have more thorough blogs to post about Africa, as I've been journaling about the experience, but I have limited internet time, so unfortunately, it may be a bit still before I can get anything solid up. To update: We went on a safari on the Serengeti, and it was fantastic. We saw all of "the big 5" and could not have been happier with our tour company! We camped out under the stars of the Serengeti, we visited a Masai village and saw tons of animals! Our volunteer placement went really well. Our group got divided [View Full Entry]

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After two flights on Qatar Airways (which had awesome service) and a 9-hour layover in Doha, I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya. I had about 5 hours to kill while waiting for my brother, Sarah and Jared to arrive, so I made friends with some of the airport employees who were extremely welcoming and taught me some Swahili while I hung out in their office. In Kenya, the two official languages are English and Swahili, and a lot of the citizens speak a mix of the two languages. I learned that in Tanzania, people are more strict about speaking pure Swahili, versus [View Full Entry]

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Here are just a few of the many pictures I took on my weekend trip to Belgium. I wanted to get some sent out before I head off to Africa, because otherwise, I won't be able to post them until August. Belgium was wonderful. The entire family took me in and treated me as if I was a part of their family. They showed me around all of the sights in Vodelee and Saint Gerard, including the cave, a water source, the sight of the plane crash, the mill, and a memorial to the airmen. I'll post a more thorough blog [View Full Entry]

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Alright, now that you've seen the ridiculously long blog about the bike touring, I'll try not to bore you too much longer with the second part of my Paris trip. Although, you will again see that I walked many times in the wrong direction. The next two days in Paris, I decided to do some sightseeing by foot. I had booked my Moulin Rouge ticket the previous day, and noticed that the ticket had said "formal attire"... no wonder the booking agent gave me a weird look when I came by in with my backpack and tennis shoes. I used this [View Full Entry]

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Hey all! I decided to split my Paris blog up into two parts, because otherwise it would be suuuuper long. Also, I apologize in advance, but you will see the phrase "I walked several miles in the wrong direction" many times. So many, that I almost felt like just denoting them all with an asterisk, but anyway, on to the blog.... Oddly enough, Paris was the reason that Brittany and I decided to go to Europe about a year ago. She then decided that she might just stay over in Europe for a year and live/work abroad. Her mom was gracious [View Full Entry]

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A long, long time ago, 3 years to be exact, Brittany used to live in the storybook town of Tubingen, Germany. She had a fabulous friend, named Kristy, who also came to visit her in the lovely town all those years ago. This weekend they set out on a journey to revisit the town that looked like it was straight out of a fairytale. This is their story..... We set out for Tubingen via the mitfahr (carpool) and got a different perspective of Germany. By carpooling, it is a cheaper way to travel and you get to meet people from all [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, after a few disastrous visa-attempts (Brittany has been trying to get her work visa for the past week but has encountered many roadblocks), Brittany and I decided it would be a good idea to get out of Karlsruhe for the day and spend some time in Heidelberg (about 45 minutes away by train). It was time to put the thoughts aside about logistics and go have fun and be carefree in another town. We arrived by train and were greeted by the sights of a big city with a small-town feel to it. Overlooking Heidelberg is a castle that had [View Full Entry]

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Living in Germany has been fun so far. As many of you know, my friend Brittany has now moved to Germany and will be teaching English to German business-people who wish to conduct business abroad. The process of getting through all of the "red tape" has been a little frustrating for her (you need a phone to get a work visa, you need a bank account to get a phone, you need a visa to get a bank account, etc...) and so we've been trying to dedicate a bit of time to being out in the wilderness of Karlsruhe and not [View Full Entry]

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