Oh, The Places You'll Go

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Being the organized and prepared person I am, it is 1:37am on Thursday, May 17, the day I leave for New Jersey and eventually to Europe, and I am still packing my bags. The concept of "backpacking" didn't really hit me till I attempted to cram 10 shirts, 5 pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, 12 pairs of boxers and socks into the backpack I had purchased to carry around on my back all across Europe. I got the shirts and a pair of shorts in before I had no room left. I suddenly realized that "backpacking" meant wearing the same 2 shirts, the same shorts everyday, and rotating underwear and socks every 3 days. In about 2 weeks, I will be a smelly, stained man roaming the streets of Venice. I won't really mind, it'll be those around me who might.

I can't believe my voyage across the world will begin in about 6 hours when Continental flight 1034 leaves Phoenix Sky Harbor and lands at Newark Liberty 5 hours later. From there I will be taking a shuttle to Bradley Beach, where my grandma lives and where I will soak up the Jersey Shore for 3 days. On Sunday night, I take the train back up to Newark to rendezvous with my room mate and partner in my invasion of Europe, Richard, who will be flying out to Newark from Phoenix on Saturday with his girlfriend. They are going to experience the madness of Manhattan for 2 nights, and then on Sunday morning, Richard and I become transatlantic travelers as we hop a plane to London while his girlfriend heads back to the Grand Canyon state.

Here is our wave of destruction from there on:
London
Rome
Florence
Cinque Terre
Bologna
Venice
Interlaken
Gimmelwald
Cologne
Amsterdam
Paris

Then back to London in time to catch our flight back to Newark where we will rest our cultured and enlightened heads and wake up the next morning to fly back to Phoenix. Here is some background on the main characters in this story:

I am 23 years old and a graduate of Arizona State University as of a week ago. I will be starting a graduate program at UC-San Diego in the fall which means I will be moving to San Diego sometime around the beginning of July. I can't wait to move there, its one of my favorite cities in the world, but it'll be strange living outside of Arizona. I also have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know I want to be an interesting person with interesting stories. Crazy adventures like this one should put me on track to accomplish this goal.

Richard is 20 and we became friends after I had started a record label 3 years ago. He was a member of one of the first bands that I signed to the label. The members in the band and he were still in high school at the time. After I put their record out in December, I went on a summer tour with them that had us spending a month traveling from Phoenix to New York City and back, with some interesting shows in some interesting places in between. It is one of my favorite experiences in my life so far. Although the band broke up after that tour, we all still remain friends. Fast forward to February of 2007, Richard was kind enough to become my room mate. He was also kind enough to join me in my plans to travel to Europe in the summer.

It is strange when you plan something so far in advance and then when it finally arrives, you can't help but be surprised that its actually here. I kind of feel like "wow, what did I get myself into?" but I know its going to be a great trip.

Well, I gotta continue to try and solve this Rubik's Cube that is my backpack. I will end with a quote I recently read that has kind of inspired me: "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" - St. Augustine.

Have fun,
Matt

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Photos

On Tour
Richard (far right, white and blue shirt), members of the band, and me (in the back, brown shirt) in Times Square during a day off on tour in July 2005.

Comments

[The Brad]

miss you
oh you will be missed very much. please don't let those gross perverted european men lay their hands on you. we may never see you again here in the ol' grand canyon state.

[Cookie Monster]

Boo Hoo
You're kidding me right? You're going to Europe for a month and you're complainging about fitting all your clothes in your bag! Hey Matt- thought you'd enjoy a little sarcasm from the Chamber Weekly Queen who's doing your job while you're gone. Post again when you have something else to whine about.

[AlcaTrav]

love and flowers
When WWIII breaks out, I will know that you have safely landed on the sands of Europe! Give em Hell!