jrive - Josh Rivenbark

According to a recent google search, there are 195 countries in the world. I want to see them all.

Unfortunately that pretty much epitomizes the phrase "easier done than said." So, in order to accomplish this goal (or at least as much as practically possible), I'm breaking it down into steps. I am currently on:

Step 1: Leave the Country

Yes it's true, I have yet to leave the United States.
BUT I am taking action to correct this. This semester (fall 2008) I will be studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland. I'll also be taking about a month-long whirlwind tour of Europe before my semester starts. A proper way to start my epic quest!

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Joined on: July 13th 2008
Last Login: November 16th 2008

Blog Entries: 17
Photos: 281

TB Code: [blogger=81558]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by jrive, order by Date newest first.

By jrive
October 10th 2008

I love this city

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle
View of the north side, from the Princes' Street Gardens.

Welcome back! It's been quite a while since I last wrote, so I'm guessing it's been quite a while since anyone bothered to look at my blog. I know I've done a bad job of putting up something about Edinburgh in a timely fashion, but I've just been completely engrossed in exploring this city and love wandering around and getting to know it. Luckily, I've had my camera a couple of the times I've gone walking and have a few pictures. I don't know that I could have picked a better city for myself to live in for a semester, considering [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 25th 2008

Paris at Last

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Edinburgh

Notre Dame
Front face of Notre Dame

And now, after some delay and much anticipation, I present the final chapter in my epic tour around Europe: Paris. That's not entirely true, as I'll still write a few more times while I'm abroad I'm sure, but they will probably all have to do with Edinburgh instead, so in that way it is the last entry regarding my traveling. Also, I want to point out that with this entry I now have posted pictures for all of my travels, except for Edinburgh, which I'm still in the process of getting pictures of. So go look at them! All you have [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 20th 2008

Pictures!

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Edinburgh

This isn't actually a blog entry I guess but I figured it was the easiest way to let everyone know that I now have some pictures up on my blog. I'm starting at the beginning and will gradually work my way forward in time. So far I put up photos only from part 1 of my trip, traveling Germany/Prague with Liz. I should be able to get all of them up before too long. Anyway, just go to my first two entries from Europe, those are where the photos are now. Each one has more than one page, so don't forget [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 18th 2008

No, I'm not actually dead

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Edinburgh

Near Arromanches
View of the place where the Allies constructed artificial harbors after they landed.

I'm just extremely busy. Sorry for the long break in blogs, but a combination of having a packed schedule and not having internet in my flat have prevented me from writing for a while now. I've moved in to Edinburgh now and am starting to be settled, but am ridiculously busy right now with what's called Freshers' Week here. It's like a week long orientation that's packed with events to help you get accustomed to University here and meet new people from about 9am to 3am each day. I'm definitely not going to be able to catch up everything in one [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 9th 2008

Where can we find a night train?

Europe » France » Languedoc-Roussillon » Carcassonne

Brussels
Some buildings in the Grote Markt, or Grand Place.

Well, a day can definitely make a difference in my opinion of a place. If you would have asked me on Sunday what I thought of Brussels I would have said it was an interesting city that was kind of cool. Now I'd say the best word to describe it is goofy and that it's an awesome place to visit. Sunday was a pretty uneventful day for us, since pretty much everything was closed and the city felt very dead. Our hostel was also really far away from the city center so that made it hard to go see all the [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 7th 2008

Where did all this grease come from?

Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region » Brussels

Somewhere Between Pisa and Munich
Our beds for the night. Josh has already settled in.

Ahh, once again I am stuck with a foreign keyboard that I can't switch to English, so I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors and lack of detail, I may not be very patient with it. As I mentioned in my last entry, Josh and I went to Pisa from Rome. Pisa was not my favorite - the town was very touristy, mostly uninteresting to us besides from the tower and nearby churches, and for the first time in Europe I thought the town seemed dirty. I was told that a lot of big cities were dirty, but never really had that [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 5th 2008

Taste of Italy Continued... and finished?

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Pisa

Cinque Terre
Riomaggiore - village #1

Well, as it turns out I didn't have too long to wait to (hopefully) catch up in my blog. Josh and I are currently in Pisa after Kristin left early this morning to meet up with her school group for their tours. Pisa, it turns out, isn't really too exciting of a town, which is why I'm once again on the internet (plus it's siesta time here). If you happen to remember from my plan of destinations, you would probably be wondering why I'm in Pisa when that definitely wasn't on the list. Weeell Josh and I have decided that we [View Full Entry]

By jrive
September 4th 2008

A taste of Italy

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Chamonix
Our first sighting of snow-capped peaks.

So I'm a little behind in the blogging... lack of computer access makes it hard to write. I don't think I can catch everything up in one blog either, so I'll just see how far I can make it. (In case I don't make it all the way, I'm currently in Rome and just had the most ridiculous day of sightseeing imaginable). I left off in Annecy, about to head to Chamonix. We got to Chamonix, and (as usual, it seems) instantly fell in love. The town is basically a ski resort, but European style. Everything felt so laid back and [View Full Entry]

By jrive
August 31st 2008

List of things that don't disappoint

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Annecy

Paris
The Eiffel Tower, with the Peace Monument in front of it.

To start... yes, Mt. St. Michel is as fantastic as I was promised. Just to get that out of the way. So... when I last left off I was about to head back to Paris for a night. This time we got into Paris a little earlier than our first time. It was still pretty much nighttime, so we decided we might as well head over to the Eiffel Tower again. This time we did a little better though, and climbed the 400ft. up to the second floor (yes, that's right, we took the stairs). This would be one of the [View Full Entry]

By jrive
August 28th 2008

Chateau Hopping in the Loire

Europe » France » Centre » Tours

La Tour Eiffel
A good "Welcome to Paris"

Bonjour! So my location is listed as Tours, but I'm actually sitting in an internet cafe in Amboise, which is just a little ways away from Tours, down the Loire River. I've been having a fantastic time here in France so far, and it's only been 2 days, so I still have plenty to go! I met Josh and Kristin in London, and was very happy to see them. While I'm certainly able to entertain myself, especially in a place as busy as London, it's still infinitely better to enjoy with others - if only to have someone to constantly tell [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » jrive

jrive | Josh Rivenbark | Travel Blog

jrive - Josh Rivenbark

Step 1: Leave the Country

Blogs & Travel Journals

I love this city

Paris at Last

Pictures!

No, I'm not actually dead

Where can we find a night train?

Where did all this grease come from?

Taste of Italy Continued... and finished?

A taste of Italy

List of things that don't disappoint

Chateau Hopping in the Loire