back in North America

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Hello.

Yes, I'm still alive. This will be the end of this edition of the travelblog. As it turns out, my pictures from my first few days on the Croatia coast cannot be salvaged so this is officially the last time I will be updating both the writing and the pics. Don't cry.

Travel update

It's been a wild ride, that's for damn sure. After returning to Vancouver, I got a chance to briefly catch up there for 8 days, with both friends and work. I remembered instantly why I want to stay there forever. But after those brief 8 days, I moved to Chicago a week ago. After a week of work, the weekend has arrived so I've finally dumped my final pics before I mail the camera back to my friend in Montreal. I'll be in Ohio Aug 18 - 20 and in Van Sept 30th and I'm sick of traveling (for now).

The Final Tales

I made it to the Frankfurt airport fine and flew on to Heathrow. Our flight to Van there pulled out on time, so we taxied towards the runway. At the start of the runway, the engines accellerated and finally we began our path down the runway and towards the sky. However, about halfway down, we suddenly started to decelerate and at some point came to a complete halt. Before any voices came on to maybe tell us what was happening, we were surrounded by dozens of emergency vehicles, each with a different color of flashing lights. We learned that our wing was leaking something so they wanted to take a look at it. We pulled to the side and were not exagerating, on the plane while repairs were done for 3.5 hours. So after the first movie was over, it was funny to look out the window and remember we actually hadn't gone anywhere. But eventually we did just we were about 3 hours late to Vancouver, making rendezvous difficult.

Nonetheless, that first night I made my way to my friends' place, deciding to take a taxi because I had been on public transportation for about 24 hours straight (I "woke" in Minden on Thursday at 9PM the previous night Vancouver time). They weren't home so I let myself in and fell asleep on the couch. A little bit later, they walked in just back from their ultimate frisbee game. So instantly it was Reza, Amy, Bonner, Cici, and a new girl whose name I forget. Later, Gao joined and it was party central all over again, like nothing changed. What did change was the day prior I was in the German 1 Euro shop and made multiple silly purchases. Various wristbands, soccer yo-yo's and "Fussball Party" signs soon decorated the room. This was Thursday night and I had 8 days in Vancouver before I moved to Chicago, and I was going to try to squeeze a Vancouver summer into that. I tried.

The week itself was awesome. I got to see loads of friends and play lots of sports. In the days, I actually had a lot of work to do. This is because my job here in Chicago is to integrate our work done at UBC with their product. This meant I had to relearn our project after 2.5 months away but also I needed to learn the new changes as well. So the weekdays were filled with whiteboards and compilers and programming while the rest of the time was typically spent with multiple friends and a frisbee. And once again it was allowed to eat Asian food; I have rules, I only eat Asian food in Vancouver and I only eat Mexican food in the US and I try to avoid both in Europe because, no offense, but it's horrible there, haha. So I survived multiple all-you-can-eat sushi buffets and even a Cambie night (thanks for the pics, Kav!).

The days in Vancouver were a teaser for me. It was like seeing exactly what I want and dangling it before my face before I leave again for another 2.5 months. But things aren't so bad in Chicago; I just feel like Vancouver is home. Here, things are going well. I'm hanging out with my brother a lot and I got a chance to see my parents already too. I'm actually still couch-surfing here as the roommate is just about to move out at the end of the month but still it is nice to have a place to call home. It will be even cooler when I have a room.

The job itself is working at Argonne National Lab again. I was there last summer and had a great experience so I decided to do it again. I learned a lot and made some great connections so this summer's goal is to do the same. It's pretty nice being in the Midwest again; prior to last summer I had lifed away for about 4.5 years. Last summer I left in early Aug but this time I'll leave in late Sept. This just means that I'll be in the US for the start of college sports which is something I really look forward to. There are several bars around town that are devoted to Ohio State athletics, so I want to check them out. Also, I will be here for the start of the Premiership; there are a few soccer bars down the street that I'm told play multiple games at once and getting up to watch is not as much of a chore as on the west coast because the 3pm England games start at 9am rather than 7. Yay.

Signing off

This is officially the last entry on this thing, and I won't be making any other updates. I thought I had some pictures left from my dead camera but apparently one of the geniuses at the photoshop that tried to copy the photos while in Europe formated the disk instead. So a few days of Zagreb pics and essentially all of Dubrovnik and Mljet were lost. Boo.

Overall, this trip was amazing. I definitely couldn't have done it if it weren't for the amazing people along the way that helped me and made the journey truly unique. I don't really know where to begin, but off the top of my head, I will attempt to try.

Thanks to (in chronological order roughly):

* Mike at the hostel in Rhodes for sharing your life and music with me
* The Columbian Andre's in Rhodes for being so fun and for letting me share your room
* Sarah in Rhodes for all the awesome advice about Turkey
* Matt and Meghan in Turkey for traveling with me and being so hilarious
* Zoran and Andraz in Turkey for meeting me in 3 different places and telling me about the boattrip that had naked British women on it
* Theo and Diana for sharing rooms with me in Pamukale and Olympos
* Muslem for helping me in Egirdir find a place in Goreme (and arrange for a pickup from the bus station)
* NoJoke, Ben and Erika for hanging out and rockin Olympos with me
* Arda for walking me around Antalya
* Aynur for making my time in the airport a blast
* Allie for picking me up in Stuttgart and showing me an awesome time in my day there
* Jamie for letting me and Allie crash at your pad in Stuttgart after just meeting you
* Zeljka for picking me up at the airport and devoting entire days of your life to show me around
* Neven and Christina for hosting me in Zagreb and helping make my time there unique meeting your friends and sleeping on your benches, haha
* Elena for touring me about Zagreb in the various gardens and parks and everything else. Also for introducing me to your friends in Rostock and hosting me there.
* Nick and June for CROATIA 2006!!!! And for the camera. I don't know what the hell I would've done without it!
* Massimo for showing me all about Trieste and Slovenia and for introducing me to your life and friends. It was amazing. I want a motorcycle when I grow up.
* Laura for everything. Thanks for introducing me to your family and your town and showing me Venice and taking me to Bologna to get arrested by camera-shy policemen.
* The MEN of the manvan for helping the tour go fun and smoothly
* Ruben for meeting up with us and sharing the first WC game in Amsterdam
* NoJoke for hosting all 4 of us and showing us Berlin! Also for hosting me at the final!
* Veronika for meeting us in Prague and showing us around in-between French lessons
* Michael for meeting me in Munich and having fun running around amidst all the hyper crazy fans
* Simon for hosting Elena and I and showing us all around Hamburg; it was awesome!
* Lucienne for introducing me to Simon; thanks, that was awesome!
* Zvon for picking us up at the airport and for putting up with me in your 3 homes throughout Croatia! Looking forward to seeing you in the fall back in Van
* My parents for acting like me on the phone for various tasks while I was away
* the Maarup family of Nivaa for hosting me in Denmark and making me feel at home (and letting me act like I speak Danish)
* Ute for a wonderful time in Minden and for showing me German culture and introducing me to your family
* Jan and Ute's parents for the plum pie, the various liquors, the bike tour, and the great Greek restaurant
* ....and probably a million other people who I forgot NOW but will never forget in general!!



So ya, thank you to all of you for helping make this trip the most memorable time of my life. Thanks for keeping me updated on your own lives as well and also for your encouragement and support while I was on the road. Once I'm back in Vancouver and have a house to call my own, I will officially be opening my doors to any and all travelers; I was treated so well on this trip that I have some serious generousity to make up for! So expect some vacancy at b-rad's youth hostel in Vancouver opening in October!

Definitely keep in touch. I hope all is well on your end. Greetings from Chicago.

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Photos

Reza tosses a disc
whaddup

cookin up a storm!
getting the grill going naer Jericho Beach

washed away
i'm a poet of the sea simply looking for answers in a vast, confusing world

chillin on the beach
Reza, Ed, Amy, and Ingrid enjoying the sunset

why I miss Vancouver
oh ya, and friends too

the gang is all here!
Cambie night and we had 2.5 tables!

Comments

[Bent Maarup]

Thanks
Hi Brad I really enjoyed your words and pictures. Hope they will still be open for us. Best regards from Egon´s brother Bent. We met at Egon´s 75 years´birthday Holstebro 2001 (?)

[Tim McCarthy]

Thank you
Brad, I could not have done what you have accomplished. My sincere respect is yours. While you endured the hardships and uncertainties of travels afar, your postings brought pleasure and wonder to those of us who live in more restricted settings. Thanks for sharing what likely will be your most memorable summer. Take care. Tim McCarthy