Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

Europe? Isn't that near Asia or something?

Hey there peoples,

In case you were wondering, I was abducted by aliens and subjected to some very uncomfortable "tests" before being whisked away to their home planet. It's not such a bad place, but you have no idea how hard it is to get a decent Internet connection from there.

Actually, I only wish I had an excuse this good for not posting to the website in so long. In reality I've been working at my co-op job in London (Ontario... ) and the first thing I decided to do at this new job of mine is promptly forget about the website ever existing. You would think that hearing Brian talk about updates on the weekends would have re-ignited my interest to check out the website, but if there's one thing I learned from Europe it's that igniting anything is not a good idea while Brian is giving me the Nth drink of the evening. Those of us who have seen us since our trip know that we've brought back some great European traditions with us (wine=France, Beer=Germany, Ouzo=... Let's just forget about Ouzo).

Seriously, though, there's not a whole lot I can contribute to this site except some ranting and raving and general disclosure of opinion. Brian has the real goods (aka: camera, pictures, fully stocked bar) whereas I can do little more than point at the pictures he posts and say, "Hey, I remember that! You promised you wouldn't show anyone that picture!" I guess I did promise to sum up my feelings for the trip, and since I'm not very creative I'll quote some famous dead guy by saying, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." That's exactly how I feel about this trip, and if reading this website has in any way sparked that adventurer within you, if reading these postings has left you wishing and wanting, then I have only these words for you. Do you have any idea how much a trip like this costs! No, no wait! I meant just throw caution to the wind and do it. Yeah, that's it.

In the end life is what we make and if you really want something then the time to do it is tomorrow, because right now you should be saving every spare dime you have. Yes the trip is costly, yes living out of a backpack gets annoying, yes you'll end up in some frustrating situations, but if you asked me whether I have any regrets whatsoever about this trip, then there's only one answer and by now I'm sure you all know what it is.

Markus

Posted by Markus at November 19, 2003 02:08 PM