The End?

After the chance meeting with Tobi and the week long adventure that followed I really felt like I had done all that I had set out to do. This trip started months earlier in Korea but went through Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the west coast of the United States. My main focus was to get to the Grand Canyon, and I did that and then some. The feeling of complete freedom is something I will always remember about this trip. It was the feeling I was looking for when I decided to move to Korea, but when you have a job you can never feel completely free. A vacation from work is nothing compared to a vacation from life as you know it, but still life goes on and for the first time in months I felt I was ready to return home.

After dropping off the new pimped out rental car I had to return to the Las Vegas hostel that I had stayed at for almost a full week before I finally met Tobi. I left all of my belongings in a black garbage back in a storage room there. Yes, it was very high class and continuing with my luxurious ways I bought a Greyhound ticket out of Vegas all the way to Knoxville Tennessee. This wasn't the initial plan of how I was going to get to Tennessee but I just felt like it was time to make an exact date of completion, so buying the ticket did that...almost.

The bus ride from Vegas to Tennessee is almost 2 days on a bus, so I decided to stop at a friends place in Denver, Colorado. It kind of brought the whole trip full circle since the friend I was visiting was one that I made in Seoul. Rachel's best friend Mindy was willing to show me around Denver for a few days. It's a really nice city, but I was just happy to see her. I also got to see some old high school friends as well, and that's always fun. Caitlin and Dan also showed me some of the city's finer points, or better places to get a drink at least. But this was the final stop, the rest of the trip was a long, long, long bus ride. I thank G-d to this day for giving me the superpower of being able to fall asleep at anytime, anywhere. There were times in my life where I felt this superpower wasn't a great honor but then you take a bus across the country and you realize that everything happens for a reason.

So I made it home, but home wasn't my home anymore. Since my parents retired to Tennessee the home I knew growing up is long gone. I got to my new home and had to adjust to my new room, new people, a new area, and a new life. But hey, adjusting to new areas is nothing new to me, and at least they speak English here...kinda.

The Death Valley Experience

So there we were, sitting on the side of the road in 110 degree heat with a dashboard that was blinking like we just won the jackpot on a slot machine. The car wasn't running, our phones weren't working, and the sun was going down in the desert. Tobi and I sat silently in the car for minutes that seemed like really long minutes. Just moments earlier we were racing the sunset in Death Valley, pushing a rental car to its extremes, and loving life. Now we were stranded, uncertain about how we were going to get the car back to Vegas on time, where we were going to sleep tonight, who was going to help us, why had this happened to us, we thought we were untouchable. We tried to turn the car over once every fifteen minutes, but there was nothing. We were stuck, and we didn't know what to do.

When it looked like we would have to wait for the next mornings tourists, and camp overnight on the concrete, one last car came from Badwater returning towards the middle of town. We decided they were our only chance of salvation and we flagged them down. It was a nice retired couple and they were extremely friendly. They cleared out their back seat and Tobi and I filled our backpacks with food and hopped in. They were kind enough to drive us down to the center of town. Now when I say "town" I mean a hotel, a tourist information building and a gas station. The gas station would have been the most likely place for us to go since we needed a mechanic but it was closed. Second would be the tourist information building because we were tourists and we needed a lot of information on what to do at this moment. But it was closed too. So instead we found ourselves talking to the midnight shift bell boy at the Death Valley hotel.

First things first, we needed to call the rental car company and figure things out. Easy enough, right? Nope, we left the rental car phone number back in the car. Nice move on our part. The nice retired couple drove Tobi back to get it, and then they left us to deal for ourselves after we showered them with thanks (Thanks again if you're out there, thank you so much!). So now that we had the rental car phone number calling should be easy right? Wrong... We had to use a payphone. A payphone. Did you know these things were even still around? Luckily Tobi and I had a decent amount of change but if the phone ate a few quarters we might be totally out of luck. But I made the call and it actually worked, thank you AT&T. As soon as I got through to the rental car company I was sure that our worries were over.

Boy was I wrong about thinking our worries were over. The night shift at the rental car company was even more clueless than the bell boy. Here is an almost word for word account of our conversation:
Me - Hey, our car broke down in Death Valley. What should we do?
The rental car guy -You shouldn't be driving in Death Valley. It's hot our there. Probably like 105 degrees.
Me - Thanks it is actually 110, but we're out here and our car has died. We bought insurance and we want to know how we can figure things out.
The rental car guy - Insurance don't cover that. Were you running the AC?
Me - Did I mention how hot is was today?
The rental car guy - Aww damn, you can't run AC in a car in that heat. That's crazy.
Me - Interesting, they didn't mention not using the AC when we rented the car in 100 degree heat in Vegas. Thanks for you information, now how are we getting out of here?
The Rental car guy - You gotta get back to Vegas.
Me - Did I mention the car was broken down?
The Rental car guy - Just get that thing back here.
Me - Tow it?
The Rental car guy - I don't care.
Me - Will you pay for towing?
The Rental car guy - We don't pay for that.
Me - Will you come get us?
The Rental car guy - Out there in Death Valley? We don't do that.
Me - What do you do?
The Rental car guy - Hold on. (He then proceeded to put the phone down and tell our story to a friend while I can hear him. They were laughing and making jokes and I honestly was laughing my ass off while describing it to Tobi.) Hey man, it's late we can't do anything for ya. Good luck getting it back here.
Me - Thanks for all of your help, you've been a life saver. Enjoy the rest of your night.

As I told Tobi about this phone call we realized that we might have been better off spending a little bit more money for a rental car company that we had actually heard of before. That being said, we could not stop laughing. Even the bell boy got a kick out of over hearing my phone conversation with the rental car company. The sun might have been down but our spirits were still up. We tried to swing a deal with the hotel for a free overnight stay, but they weren't having it. We were now without a place to sleep.

We had our tent, but the ground in Death Valley is about as comfortable as sleeping on a barbed wire fence. But we remembered that the Tourist Information building had a nice green lawn, if we could only get there, we might be able to actually sleep tonight. We asked a French man who was driving a convertible if he would give us a ride. Talk about a strange situation (An American man who is traveling with a Swiss man asked a French man for a ride in his convertible in Death Valley). After explaining our situation to him he said he would want someone to do the same for him, so he took us a mile down the road and dropped us off at the Tourist Information building.

Once we were there we felt like we had struck a gold mine because they didn't lock the bathrooms at night. So we were able to have running water, light, and we were able to brush our teeth. That stuff alone already makes it better than some of the other places we camped. We set our tent up near the side of the building and climbed inside. Then it REALLY hit us. We were not lucky. We were planning on camping in the "coolest" part of Death Valley, and not on the lawn of the Tourist Information building for a reason...it's unbearably hot.

We laid there in our tent together recounting the days events. I still remember this conversation as one of the funniest conversations I've ever had. In retrospect we were both a little delirious. We thought everything bad that happened would just be a great story someday. Until we tried to get some sleep and we had to silently think to ourselves about all that could still go wrong. This is when Tobi sat up and asked me, "Do you think, if you were to die in your sleep, would you wake up first? Or just die?" I laughed out loud until my stomach hurt when he said this in his German accent. I told him I don't know, but I hope we don't die. But in this dry heat, death was definitely a possibility.

Then when you didn't think things could get any worse and we were dieing of heat when the unthinkable happened. The sprinkler system came on. It as if we were in the middle of a bad sitcom and no one told us. We ran out of the tent in our boxers and got a freezing cold shower at around 2 in the morning in 110 degree heat. This sign that someone was watching out for us from above was all we needed to get some rest. We didn't even move when the sprinklers came on for their second session at 4.

We woke up and had the car towed out of Death valley to a town about an hour away. A town that we later learned is famous for its prostitution (just a side note), but when we got there we talked with the owner of a car dealership that told us we should be fine. We called the rental car company again and this time the morning crew was much more helpful. They sent us a beautiful car to bring us back to Vegas, payed us for the towing and in the end they only charged us for 3 days because of all the hassle they caused. Tobi and I walked out of "Giddy UP Car Rental" with the biggest smiles on our faces. We really were invincible...and I think it really did make a great story.

Near Death (Valley) Experience

It's been a while but recently I've been trying to find a job here in Tennessee and I've gotten away from my blog, but one of the reasons I wanted to spend time her in the dirty south was to have more time writing, so I'm focused on getting back on it. This chapter of my trip picks up after visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and after seeing much of the west coast of the United States. The Climax was the Grand Canyon, but little did I know then, that after the finale there would be a crazy twist ending...

We left Joshua tree really pumped. It was exciting because we didn't have to return the rental car yet. While we had planned on getting a rental car for only 5 days, the friendly, fast talking, teenager behind the counter at the airport rental car dealer told us that 5 days is the same price as a week so we'd get two additional days if we wanted them for no additional charge. So instead of rushing back to Vegas in a hurry we had 2 more days to leisurely head to the pleasantly named "Death Valley" and take in all the sights there as if it was an unexpected cherry on top of the Grand Canyon cake that already had Joshua Tree icing on it. Looking back it should have seemed obvious that getting "extra time" to see a place called "Death Valley" is not so much of a cherry on top, but more like a death sentence. But in the moment we took our worry free traveling smiles to the road and put the petal down in the direction of the hottest place in the United States.

Driving to Death Valley was an experience in itself. Growing up in New Jersey it's not uncommon to share the road (and I use the term "share" lightly) with about 10,000 other cars all going in the same direction. Yet here, on these open roads in the west it was the norm to be the only car in sight. Heck, we were the only man made object in sight for hours on end. It was just road, dirt, cactus's and us. Without too much to look at our attention become fixed upon the car dashboard. Why you might ask? Well in the high heat even the littlest things can become entertaining. Our entertainment was watching the temperature gauge go up degree by degree, each time getting a little cheer out of us. Again, our ignorance in hind sight seems obvious, but in a new rental car with the AC going full blast we weren't feeling the ill effects of the rising temperature, well, not yet.

Our map showed a little town called "Shoshone" a ways outside of the Death Valley entrance but we thought we'd stop anyway because we were hungry. The Famous Crowbar Cafe and Saloon, seemed to be the only restaurant in town. It was next to a museum that looked like an old barn, and across the street from the post office that doubled as the towns reminder that they might actually be connected to other people, even if only by mail. We stopped at the Crowbar. It was Thursday so I went in an asked for 5 beers for 25 cents, but sadly this Crowbar did not have the same "Thirsty Thursdays" drink specials that my Crowbar back at Penn State had. Oh the good old days of drinks for a nickel, I guess it was a bit of wishful thinking, but it was worth a try.

After lunch at the Crowbar we figured we'd hit plenty of tourist places before and after the Death Valley entrance but we could not have been more wrong. While I know I pictured a large overhanging sign across the road, maybe even with large doors like Jurassic Park, the entrance to National Park was much less theatrical. It was a small booth on the side of the road. One that even a one hour Kodak booth might spit on. No people, not Ranger to tell us good information and give us a map, just a slot to take our money, give us a receipt, and we had to begrudgingly take our own map from a stack of maps.

But we were there! Death Valley was real, we were in it, and it was HOT! We stopped all over the place. Trying to take in everything we could. It was interesting seeing the names they gave to the different parts of this deserted area of land. Death Valley is just strange area after strange area, but they are all strange because they are completely deserted and under some of the most extreme temperatures on the planet. One area looks like a desert, one like a dried up ocean, one like a waste land, another like a desert, some like hills of different color sands, but they all had one thing in common...HEAT!

We took plenty of pictures during the day we were there. Please check them out. But one picture we never got to take was one of the sand dunes during the sunset. You see, we were at the lowest point in North America, a spot called "Badwater", one of the furthest spots in Death Valley that you have to drive to. And when did we go there? Of course right before the sunset when the number one thing we wanted to see were the sand dunes during the sunset. As we realized the sun was going down faster than we had expected we jumped in the rental and pealed out of there. Tobi was being a bit aggressive as the car started to reach the fastest speeds that we had seen all week. We both sat silent as the speedometer raised, and the sun fell. The bright yellow ball in the sky was coming closer to the horizon every second and we were racing it to the sand dunes.

It may have been that "invincible" feeling that we had as travelers to think we could beat the sunset, but it was invigorating. As the car hit ninety-five not a word was spoken but we both thought we were going to make it. We were certain that we would be sitting relaxed in the desert as the sun set beautifully on the horizon, there was no doubt. Then, doubt didn't just creep into our thoughts, it smacked us in the face. The cars dashboard began to light up as if we had won a jackpot on a slot machine in Vegas. Only the car didn't spit out money, instead it started coughing and seizing, and we had to pull it over. The five or six cars that we recently flew by all slowly drove by us pulled over on the side of the road with a new appreciation for the childrens book "The Tortoise and the Hair". We were stranded. Not stranded like you think about being stranded today. Today if you pull over on the side of the road hundreds if not thousands of people will see you, you have a cell phone to call help, and if you really needed to you could walk to a gas station. No this was not our definition of stranded, we were in a whole different situation.

We are now on the side of one of the longest roads in Death Valley that only leads to a lookout spot called "Badwater". A lookout stop that is worthless during the night, so during a sunset we are pretty certain that no more cars will be coming this way until the next day. We are miles away from anything, it is 119 degrees out, and our cell phones ceased having service back in Shoshone. The sunset was no longer a race but a ticking clock for our survival.

Icing on the Grand Canyon Cake

After seeing the waterfalls 12 miles deep in the Grand Canyon everything else was just icing on the cake. When we left the south rim we headed in the general direction of Joshua Tree National Park. Yup, just the general direction, no plans, the sun was going down, no reservations, just an idea. We knew we had a tent, and by find a way to camp the Grand Canyon when we were firmly told it was impossible we actually felt like we couldn't really do anything wrong. We were more right than we realized. As night fell we watched a beautiful sunset on the highway in Arizona. After following the Atlas for hours it showed us there were camping sites on Lake Havasu that wasn't too far out of our path. We thought that since our stop at Havasupi Falls went so well it'd be stupid to pass up a chance to go to the Lake Havasu (completely unrelated places).

We went and camped but because we came so late and left so early the night was FREE!!! That's always good price for travelers. We did wake up and take a dip in the water, were able to get showered up, and took in some of the beautiful scenery. It's too bad we didn't hang around long enough to meet some of the locals, I've since heard that Lake Havasu can be a pretty crazy place to party. Eh, well maybe next time.

We were only a short drive from Joshua Tree from there and we were able to get to get there and spend the whole day hiking. This place is strait out of the Flintstones. The rock formations make you feel like your back in the day of the dinosaurs. We went everywhere we could, and that purchase of 80 bottles of water (for $3.50 a 20 pack, thank you Walmart) way back in Vegas was still paying dividends.

I was amazed that I felt the beauty of this area was comparable to that of the south rim of the Grand Canyon, but there was no comparison in the amount of tourists. Joshua Tree seemed empty, while the south rim was like a crowded super market. I liked the openness of Joshua Tree. We ended up camping there beside some huge boulders strategically to be in the shad when the sun rose the next morning. Thanks to Cousin Billy I was able to teach Tobi how to find the North Star and even though I never thought it would come in handy, then next morning waking up in the shade felt so good temperature wise, but even better as an accomplishment for the both of us.

Joshua Tree is a hot place, but it's amazing to see all the different types of plants that can survive in that environment. It was also a place for mining many years ago and you can take a short break from the heat inside some mine shafts if your lucky.
One of the coolest experiences at Joshua Tree was when we met a couple riding there motorcycle through the area. They were very friendly (as most travelers tend to be) but they were just completely taken by the situation of Tobi and I. They were many years older than us and had been to some amazing places but they couldn't believe that a guy from Switzerland met a guy from Jersey, in Vegas, and that we were having such an amazing time traveling around together. It kind of made us feel even better about an already good situation. Like I said, everything was just icing on the cake from here on out.

The Grand Canyon That I Saw

We hiked the 10 miles down to the Indian Reservation and slowly entered the visitors office. I was sweating profusely after the desert hike, but now I began to sweat out of nervousness. We were supposed to have a reservation but we didn't and we didn't know what would happen to us. As we entered I heard the man behind the counter having a similar phone conversation to the one I had with them the day before, "Sorry, we're booked solid, try again next year...early." Tobi and I looked at each other and took a deep breath. I was thinking about telling them that Tobi had a terminal disease and his last wish was to see these waterfalls before he died. I was also considering going through with the "We don't speak English" plan. There were a few options for us, but one I would not except was getting turned around now.

So what happened? Nothing. The woman behind the counter just assumed we had a reservation, took our names, our money, and gave us the camping permit. It was great. The only bad part was that there were 2 more miles of hiking left. The rest of the story will be told through the pictures we took. The pictures don't do this place justice, but my writing wouldn't either. I loved this place. Take a gander:

First Step Towards the Unknown

I had nearly stepped off the edge of no return. Nearly succumb to the powers that be. I had Nearly given in, resided to the outcome that seeing the Grand Canyon by tour bus just like everyone else would somehow be the anticlimax to my partial-world-tour. Until at the last moment I was saved. Saved by the Swiss. Tobi and I hit it off from minute one, and by minute two we had already rented a car for a week together. This was a meeting that was destined. Be it by God or what, I do think that him sitting near me, with his over sized Atlas, as I walked up to the desk to sign away my dream of hiking and camping the Grand Canyon was just too big of a coincidence to see it as one. I went from calling my parents and telling them I'd be home in two days, to the possibility of doing anything my heart desires for the next week. It was an overwhelming swing of emotion.

After renting the car with Tobi we drove it to the Bellagio and watched the worlds largest fountain show. As I stood there, with a new feeling of adventure, watching the fountains burst into the air in amazing unison at astounding heights all to the sounds of "God Bless America" I had a moment of clarity. I moment I realized I was lucky. No matter what happened after that, I felt like I had it all at that moment. Anything was possible, and I was set to take advantage of all the possibilities that laid before me. Thanks to Tobi, this semi-world-tour was destined to have nothing short of the rightful climax it deserved.

Vegas Baby Vegas

As we all do, I love to travel. If you have been reading this blog at all, you already know that about me, but one thing you might not know is that visiting cities can get a little repetitive when you travel extensively. Take my advice, it never gets bad, each city brings its own tastes, smells, sights, and people that make it special and stand out from the rest, however, after you've been to so many cities you don't "look forward" to them as much. It's just natural because they all offer "similar" sights. Before heading to China it had been maybe 8 years since I had gone to a zoo, so I jumped at the chance to go to a zoo in China. Now I've been to 4 zoos in less than 3 months. It's because you hear the same thing when you get to a city: "We have nice places to eat, great museums, beautiful parks, and did I mention the zoo?" Now like I said before, if you are there, you must do these things because even though they sound similar to what you've done recently, something will make it stand out. Every zoo, restaurant, museum, and park are not the same, and I can't stress to you enough, that in the moment it does all seems new and exciting, but before you are in the moment it sounds old, like you've already done it, and uninteresting.

When you travel outside of cities to natural wonders you are naturally excited because you know you've never seen this mountain, or that waterfall before, this desert, or that crater, skied here, hiked there, swam here or snorkeled there. Those things always sound interesting and exciting because you already envision them as singular events that can "only" happen in those particular places and nowhere else. But when I tell you about a museum, park or zoo after a while you think you can see them anywhere.

This is how I felt about cities after Seoul, Shenghi, Beging, Sydney, Hong Kong, Despensar, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and LA in just a few months. But there are always exceptions to the rule, and to that I give you...Las Vegas. I don't remember another city I looked forward to visiting as much as Vegas. Foreigners I met seem to look forward to visiting San Francisco like it is some beacon of American idealism and utopia. I however, looked forward to Las Vegas. I'm not sure why exactly. Of course it could be my propensity for gambling, but I really thought about Vegas as a big city unlike any other city in America, and I wanted to see what it was like.

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas...Where do I start? The stretch limo ride? The Hawaiian Tropics Swimsuit competition? The clubs? The cool people I met? The staying up all night in the hot tub? The thousand dollars I won? The hooker that was killed? Okay so not all of those things really happened, I was a HUGE loser when it came to gambling this visit, and the hooker wasn't "killed" she was...well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Ha.

Vegas was so much grander than I even thought it would be. I mean how do you explain the picture of me with a huge green bird on my shoulder? Vegas... It is amazing what money can do. Everywhere there is music, fountains, lights, wedding chapels, cars, buildings, and they all seemed to be tricked out by some crazy visionary who a long time ago had the belief that "if we make everything Extremely Tacky but Huge and Overdone, someday when it gets big enough the city will all come together and work" he was right.

The casinos are ridiculous. I'm not sure you can really describe them, there are too many and they have too many things in them. I took a water slide through a shark tank at one, and watched a lion feeding at another. These places are larger than life. They are confusing, five steps after walking in you can't find your way out. There are so many lights, and bells you think people have to be winning, you're wrong. The buffets are really good. However, unlike in Sydney, luck was not on my side during this trip to Vegas. I think I lost everything I played actually. But I still played everything I wanted. Since I had no "wining" highlights I would have to say that my losing highlight was when I played hold'em at the meca of hold'em, Binion's. Some obese woman sitting behind a stack of chips that nearly blocked out her gut called me with 9 high. I had 8 high. She said something was telling her to call. I said it was too bad something didn't tell her to go on a diet, honestly it looked like she only sat at that table for the year, with her only breaks being to the hotel buffet. Either way, it was a small thrill to be all in and called on a bluff.

What next? I stayed out almost every night until early in the morning. I have now seen the sun rise in Las Vegas and that is a good feeling. While seeing the sun rise on a normal night out might make you think maybe you've been out too long, in Vegas you feel like you're doing something right. I met a ton of cool people from all around the world; Swiss, German, Irish, French, English, Spanish, Canadian (should that make the list?), and probably more but I don't remember now. My favorite was when I met 2 girls from Jersey! Not "Dirty Jersey" that's "New" Jersey. They were from the real "Jersey", old Jersey which floats in the English Channel between France and England. Who would have thunk it? They were cool too, but I told them they had to work on their accents if they were going around telling people they were from Jersey. They didn't get the joke either.

I tried to see as much as I could in Vegas, on a budget that is, but I think I did alright. When you walk around everything seems so cheap; a steak dinner for 5 dollars, glasses for 2 dollars, a shirt for a dollar, drinks for 50 cents, a quarter for a dime, I don't know how they get away with it. Well, that's not true, it's the gambling, I know, but damn, everything else seems to cost nothing. I've been to China, and a number of Asian markets where things are supposed to be really cheap, but I think Vegas might have them all beat. Vegas had everything, and for almost nothing.

I spent almost a full week in Vegas, that's about half a week longer than I was expecting to stay, but I couldn't find anyone who wanted to hike and camp the Grand Canyon with me. So I waited...gambled and waited, drank and waited, laid in the sun and waited until I finally thought I could wait no longer. If I kept waiting in Vegas I would run out of money in no time. I was about to bite the bullet and just take the standard bus tour of the Grand Canyon that everyone else takes. I even began to tell myself that this would be good. 15 hours for $115 only about 4 hours that are actually at the Canyon, but I was gonna do it because I had to get there. The Grand Canyon was my number one destination on this trip. I couldn't get to Vegas and then not get there, I had to go while I still had money. I wanted to find someone to rent a car with, hike with, camp with, but after 6 days of asking everyone I ran into it didn't look like that was going to happen.

Again, I was saved at the last moment. I was sitting in the sun waiting for the guy at the counter to come back so I could sign up for the bus tour. I was ready to give in. Then I saw a guy looking at an Atlas. I thought about it, wondered my chances, then asked him, "where ya headed?" His response was, "I'm looking to hike and camp the Grand Canyon." Toby from Switzerland became my new best friend :)

Check out the pictures:

Greyhound Graveyard

The next stop was supposed to be LA, but I didn't know how I was going to get there. My new friends were going back to San Francisco because they have normal lives and jobs to return to, but I was hoping to find new friends at Big Sur that were headed further south. However, Sykes Hot Springs had about 10 people at it and all of them were from San Francisco, none even thinking about going to LA. So what to do?

I've always thought the idea of hitchhiking sounded crazy, but in the past few weeks of meeting people randomly or on the internet and driving with them, the idea now seemed almost ordinary. So far what I've done has worked out so well that even if this doesn't work out as well, it could still be a lot worse and not that bad at all. I also started getting the feeling that somehow hitchhiking would connect me more closely with the roots of my travel ancestry. The ones who came before me, before the internet, craigslist, hostels, and the like. Those who only had a bag and a thumb. Somehow if I did it maybe I would understand a little bit more about what they went through, maybe I'd find out a little bit more about myself, and maybe, just maybe I'd be better off for having done it. Well I'm here to tell you that I did learn something about myself and something about the hitchhikers that came before me. They didn't just have a bag and a thumb, they had guts too. I instead used my "brains" and decided that going back to San Francisco and taking the Greayhound would be the safest, and best decision for me to not end up dead on the side of the road.

What I learned is that any choice that isn't Grayhound is a good choice. An hour and a half after leaving San Fran on the "express" bus to LA the bus started to shake. We pulled over in the middle of Nowheresville, CA to realize the 9 of the 10 lug nuts on the bus's front right tire had popped off. Yup, we were one lug nut, or seconds away from losing a tire going 65 miles per hour on highway 5. I appreciated the irony that I chose this mode of transportation for its safety and reliability as I sun tanned on the side of the highway in my Greyhound Graveyard.

After three quick hours in the mild 100 degree heat in the middle of the pleasant wasteland we were pleasantly surprised with a second bus that would drive us the rest of the way to LA only 5 hours later than we were expected. We got into the bus and drove NO FURTHER than 10 minutes down the road and took our regularly scheduled "Burger King" 45 minute lunch break. Greyhound...you are the class of the travel business. The next time I want to be stranded in the middle of no where on a defective machine for hours only to be saved to eat at Burger King, you better believe I'll think once more about putting my damn thumb up on the side of the road.Thank you Greyhound...

Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur, CA

Before nearly every single leg of my trip there reached a point where it looked like it wasn't going to turn out. There was a point while I was sick in Seattle I thought about calling the whole trip off, then I got better. In Portland I had all but given in to cut out Redwood National Park and Napa Valley, then I met Elizabeth, and it was the same thing all over again leaving Berkeley. I thought it would be a travesty if I traveled from northern California to Southern California without traveling on supposedly, the most beautiful road in the country, Highway 1, but that was just what I was going to do since I couldn't find a ride going that way. I was almost out the door in Berkeley to head directly down to LA taking the ugly Highway 5 on a bus most likely, until a girl named Mimi emailed me at the last minute. Mimi became my savior for this leg of the trip.

Mimi and two of her close friends were going to hike Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur California, and they were willing to give me a ride. Little did they know that after hearing their plans I wanted to hike and camp with them as well, and after some extensive conversation with Mimi she decided it would be fine for me to come along. She broke it to her friends nice and easy, "So like, this hitchhiker guy is going to come camping with us."

I didn't know until Mimi and I were picking her friends up that they weren't in on the decision to let me come, Mimi made it on her own, and then just dropped that bomb on them. So as we pulled up basically next to the "Full House" houses in downtown San Francisco to pick up Sarah and John I was really nervous about getting the cold shoulder. I don't know what I would have acted like if I was John, and I had to share a tent with some stranger that my friend just decided could come with. The nervousness grew as they came out the front door and approached the steps. The handshakes and hellos were understandably forced, and rigid, but I gave up the front seat as a sign of good faith. Soon after, all my worries were forgotten because not only was John from Jersey, he's a staunch Jersey supporter and defender like I am, so we got along great. And now with another person to make fun of easily because I was from Jersey, Mimi and Sarah enjoyed having double the impact on their old Jersey jokes. It worked out well for all parties, but none more than me.

We even stopped over in Santa Cruz for a night which worked out UNBELIEVABLY perfect for me because I got to spend the night at a high school friends place, who I wanted to see in San Fran, but she was busy moving to Santa Cruz the whole week I was in the area. So again at the last moment I called her and things fell into place. Not only did I see her and meet her friends and roommates, but I got to attend her housewarming party! A Santa Cruz party is something I will not soon forget. Nor will I forget being introduced to "the Box Game", a drinking game that was undoubtedly created by a heavily intoxicated human being who's only possessions were alcohol and a cardboard box. I had to say goodbye to Sally within 24 hours, but I felt so lucky to be able to see her at all.

Then we were off to Big Sur, and more specifically, Sykes Hot Springs. I got to see the northern part of the Pacific Coast Highway on the way though, and it did not disappoint. This strip of pavement is truly an amazing thing. It is basically untouched beauty for miles and miles. Blue oceans with cliffs, rocks coming right out of the water, empty beaches, and white waves crashing relentlessly creating a beautiful surf on the right side. Then on the other side of the road there are beautiful green hills, huge Redwoods, and an entirely different but still breathtaking beauty. Highway 1 was even better than I expected, and the fact that it led to Big Sur was just another bonus.

We ended up hiking the 10 miles through Big Sur to get to Sykes Hot Springs, and it wasn't what any of us expected. Although I don't think we knew what to expect. These "hippie" getaways can be pretty secretive, Sykes was no exception. The 10 mile hike in may have been a bit much for these 4 small hot tubs, but it was still quite the experience. Out of the 10 people there I ran into an old Penn State friend (lucky), and was able to see a few nudists (not lucky).

We camped around a fire, took dips in the hot springs that hugged the edge of a beautiful river, and relaxed. I really liked it but if I had to do it again I would pack more than 12 peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for food, and I'd stay longer than one night. Twenty miles in two days for only a few hours in a hot spring isn't worth it. I had a great time though. Meeting Mimi, Sarah, and John made this part of the trip awesome. They have done a lot of traveling together and it was great hanging out with them, getting to know them, and hearing some of their stories.

Ok, check out the pictures if you're interested, otherwise, next stop is LA.

Berkeley & San Fran Sandwich

If you would have asked me anytime before this trip if I had relatives living in Berkeley California I would have answered no. But that answer would have been wrong. As it turns out I have two cousins living in Berkeley with their families. Cousins Jon and Billy Witort and they were most accommodating to my travel plans.

It's funny how things turn out really. I planned on traveling alone on this trip and planned to see amazing natural wonders, special things I thought I should stop and take notice of on this planet before it's too late. But one thing I learned in Berkeley is that family is a special thing, and one you can experience in much the same way as many of the worlds natural wonders.

Seeing the beauty that this world has to offer makes you feel like you're doing something right. It makes you feel like you belong in that place for that moment that you discover it. Well my cousins (along with their parents while I was in Portland) made me feel as if I belonged when I came to see them. Even more so it seemed as if there was an instant connection. As if there was no judgment, no predispositions, just a discovery of not something wonderful, but someone wonderful. I feel so blessed to have a family that I love, and who loves me, but I've come to realize that the circle of family that I thought I had is actually much bigger than I first thought.

Berkeley was a great stop though, even more so than just being able to spend sometime with some wonderful people. I was able to visit UC Berkeley and walk around a beautiful college campus which always puts me in a good mood. Anything that can bring memories of 4 years at Penn State to my mind always makes me feel great. I was also in town for another birthday party, Jon's, which was fun, but what I will remember most about it was the group of hippies that we shared the park with. Classic...

Berkeley really seemed like a different place than anywhere I'd ever been before though. On the surface it was just like any other nice, well to do area where people have money, and live what appears to be carefree lives, but if you look a little closer it's has something different about it. My first hint was when I got in Billy's car and he said it ran on vegetable oil, and my second was when Jon's car didn't make a sound. Not only did these people have money, but they were eco-friendly too! There were recycling bins for every type of material you can imagine, solar panels, hybrid cars, community cars, and some people even rode bikes! Honestly, I used to think that America can change with time, that someday in the future we can be more conscious of our effects on the environment, but I was wrong. It doesn't need to happen "someday" it really can happen now. It already is, in Berkeley.

Berkeley was also my jumping off point for San Francisco. Billy lent me his bike and I rode around the busy streets of San Francisco for a whole day like I was Kevin Bacon from "Quicksilver". I usually love walking around big cities but this bike experience was great. I went all over from the Pier 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge, beach front parks to AT&T Park to catch a free baseball game. This was the best city experience I had on my trip.

All that and they had a dog I could play with too. What more could I ask for, right? Well Billy ended up trumping all of that by giving me the best advice for where I should go when I get to the Grand Canyon. I will always be indebted to him for that. "If you wanna just look at the Canyon, yeah, go where everyone else goes, but if you want to hike it, go here." Man was he right. But you'll have to wait to hear about that place later because I wasn't off to the grand canyon yet.
Next stop Santa Cruz!

A Backpacker Goes Where No Others of His Kind Have Gone Before

That's right, I went to Napa Valley. Of course during my budget travels I've slept on couches, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for three meals a day, and gone days without showering, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the finer things in life too. Wine and cheese is taste I picked up in France, and I've enjoyed it ever since. Granted it's a rare treat for me, but a spectacular treat none-the-less. So I wasn't going to just pass through America's wine region because I didn't have nice enough clothes to wear, I was going to treat myself just like everyone else...well, kinda like everyone else.

The region is really pretty, that goes without saying. It is one of those places that looks exactly like how you picture it in your mind. Vast fields of grapes growing on their vines dispersed amongst a landscape of green rolling hills under a blue sky. Just driving around there you feel like you should be drinking wine, probably not the most ethical feeling, but still a good feeling when your body senses what it's purpose is in a place. Drink wine. It's that simple. Drink, taste, swirl, smell or spit. It doesn't really matter what you do as long as you are connecting with the spirit of the valley.

Wine is life there, socially and spiritually. I would never have believed how many different adjectives they can use to describe some wines, but still give you no clue as to how it's going to taste; mellow but still complex, a bit chewy, astringent, balanced, big, closed, connected, dry, fat, firm, flabby, hollow, lean, round, and toasty...what the hell does that mean?

I didn't know, but didn't care. I wasn't putting up a front. They saw my Penn State hoodie and new that I was there to taste the wine and describe them in my own terms of drinkable, too girlie, out of my price range, or perfect (under $5 a bottle). I still give them credit for trying to express the importance of the aging process, the temperature of the vines, and precious soil needed to create such a tasty beverage, but my mouth lacks the skill to notice those minute factors. Some might say that's too bad, but I also think sometimes...ignorance is bliss.

Thanks for the wine Napa! Next stop...Yosemite National Park, where I'll fit in a little better.

See more pictures here.

Redwood National Forest

Back on the road again! This time headed to multiple destinations with one other traveler, who has a car and is willing to drive me! I was lucky enough to meet Elizabeth who also wanted to see Redwood National Park, Napa Valley and Yosemite. She was a blessing from above and even picked me up at my Aunt and Uncles house...an hour EARLY! I'm not sure if it was her kind smile, jovial demeanor, or her friendly dog, Willow, that she brought along, but my family and I were pretty confident right off the bat that this was going to work out well.

Elizabeth enjoyed talking just as much as I do, if not more, so we got along well, and had very little moments of silence. But when there was silence I would just turn around and pet Willow who was an extra special bonus traveler for me because, as we all know, I love dogs.

Our drive down to Redwood National Forrest went as well as I could have hoped for. Being the navigator, the fact that I didn't get us lost made it a success, but we made it down there without any unnecessary excitement, well, that was until we got close. We were just one turn away from the Youth Hostel we looking for when something unexpected happened. Being from New Jersey it's nothing special to see an animal run across the street right in front of your car, but it's usually a deer or a squirrel. But from the size of the paws on this cat that swiftly bolted across the street directly in front of our car, I was instantly cognizant that I was not in New Jersey anymore...and I liked it.

After discussing with some locals, what we saw was either a young mountain lion or bobcat, but we had an instant conversation starter for when we got to the hostel.

The frail, rail thin, dread locked, white, 20 something behind the hostel check in counter was exactly what I expected to see and worked with the slow pace you can only chalk up to a hippie in his absolute prime. While checking us in, after minutes of long silences that he didn't seem to notice, he mentioned that the hostel, with a whopping 8 people staying at it, was going to be performing a "concert" soon after we checked in. I chuckled at the idea of what might pass as a "concert" to a hippie living at a youth hostel, and completely disregarded his invitation right then and there. I was VERY HUNGRY though, and I had a Subway "5 dollar footlong" (great buy) that needed to be eaten quickly so I could get a short hike in before the sun went down. I hurried to put my bags down in my room that could fit 10 people, but I only shared it with one middle aged man who resembled a hippie Santa Clause.

I initially entered the kitchen to eat my sub, but was alone at a table that could have seated 30, so I decided to take it into the more cozy family room where some other people were sitting around. Little did I know, I had just unwittingly upped the attendance at tonights "concert" I had only minutes earlier swore off. Only 5 people were sitting around. I'm happy I took the open seat on the couch because it would have been really awkward if I sat in the open seat that was now obviously set for the performer. But once he did sit down I was almost trapped into staying and listening. Yet, I'm a fan of music, and who turns down live entertainment while eating unless you're alone at a Mexican restaurant with a large Mariachi band walking around? So I sat, and ate, and listened...

Wow! The performers name was Jim Page and I was hooked as soon as he started strumming his guitar. Honestly, it was like I was in a trance, hanging on every word, every chorus, listening for the rhymes, trying to predict the next word, but being pleasantly surprised when the lyrics were better than my own. This was a true American experience, sitting around in a small group listening to an old man sing about the problems of the government, the religious extremists, the struggles of day to day life, and the hidden beauty behind it all. He might as well have been singing around a campfire.

Living outside of America for a year really made this a much fuller experience for me. Instead of being a tourist who couldn't understand a word of what what monks, native, or local people were singing about while I was on my travels, this was something completely different. I was part of the experience, not watching from the outside, staring at something so alien to me it's entertaining, but actually connecting with the performers words, sounds, and spirit. There was something great about hearing his thoughts, dreams, fears, and desires. There was something uniquely American about it all.

After living in Korea, making friends there, being accepted into families there, and enjoying their culture I felt an unusual connection to the place. Like I've said before, I now, as oddly as it sounds, see Seoul as a second home. Much the way I looked at college while I was attending Penn State. It's a place where I've proved that I can live a great life. But while I was in Korea my admiration of and connection to America weakened. I was hoping, but not too confident that this trip might rekindle the strong connection I had once felt for my own country. This wonderful concert was a big step forward in doing that. I would have never expected it, but there are little, seemingly insignificant experiences that can have a great impact on our lives, and how we live them. This concert was something I could have easily walked away from without giving it a chance, but instead I sat, listened, and ate it all up...every last word.

Of course then the next few days I went out and hiked through amazing forests with enormous trees older than dirt. My new mindset just made it all that much more enjoyable.

Next stop, the wine regions of Sonoma and Napa Valley! Ready or not, here I come with a new CD in hand, haha, I had to support a musician who stays at hostels.

A Smooth Portlanding

So with no license and no car how was I supposed to start this great American tour? How do you get around when all you have is your two legs...and a computer? The internet is a wonderful thing. I turned to Craigslist "Rideshare" postings and scavenged it daily. I found people that were looking for someone to share gas with and were headed to where I was going. I emailed them, talked with them over the phone, and tried to figure out if they were crazy. If I didn't think they'd kill me, and if I didn't think I'd want to kill myself after riding with them, I took it. My first shot at "cyber-hitchhiking" was a short trip from Seattle to Portland. I was a little nervous, and made sure my brother Kevin had my cell phone number and a recent picture of me just in case anything happened, but it all turned out fine. I even shared the back seat with another Penn State graduate. The driver was a nice girl with 4 jobs...4 jobs!!! And they were all "green" jobs. Yes, she was into saving the earth and sharing her car means cutting down on carbon emissions, so that's why she does it. She wasn't looking for people to torture or kill, just looking to help the environment.

When I got to Portland I couldn't believe I was really there. "That's it?" I said. It's a very small looking city, cozy almost. I road the MAX train to my Uncle Paul's house and was happy that the first leg of the American tour went well. I spent the next few days playing with their dog "Rags", walking around the city of Portland, attending a family members birthday party, meeting new people, hiking, boating, fishing, and planning my trip from Portland down towards San Francisco. Luckily my cousin Jenna had friends in from out of town who where from San Francisco and had plenty of good advice to give me.

Portland was a really nice stop. It was nice to be in a house again after living in an apartment for a year in Korea, and then having a blow up mattress in my brothers living room for two weeks. Just seeing my Aunt and Uncle was a special treat. Since they lived most of their lives in Illinois or on the west coast I don't get to see them much, but they are really great people. I loved staying at their place, showing them pictures, telling my travel stories and hearing their thoughts about everything I've been doing. They thought what I was doing was great and wished me all the best. But most of all they just hoped that my next driver wouldn't kill me.

Back in the States, Start in Seattle

I'm back! I can't believe it's been over a year since I stepped on American soil. I've seen so many things while away, and lived such a different lifestyle that things that seem so normal over here now seem foreign to me. Do you notice how many over weight people are walking around this country? I do! Do you stare at people with blond, and red hair? I've been staring at those people like they've got two heads lately. Is it me or are there homeless people asking you for money on every corner? That's what it feels like to me, and they're not even trying to sell you souvenirs. What about young Asian American kids who speak perfect English? Boy does that one throw me for a loop. After traveling Asia I espet ebery persum of Ashan decent to have a wittle dipperent speaking style, but then a 10 year old tells me "I am pleased to meet you, and I'd love to chat but I have to work on my calculus homework." I feel like a kid again. All things look new, and all things taste new. noo one ever told me that the food tastes better when you get back home. All the things I'd been craving early in my trip to Korea, but then forgot about after I settled in, all taste like I'm eating them for the first time in my life all over again. I've announced to others that "these are the best oranges ever!", "the chicken sandwich at that bar was amazing!", "I haven't had a bowl of cereal this good in my life!" and the list goes on: Strawberries, pasta, burgers, fries, etc... they all taste amazing. It's as if my taste buds were let out of prison and are enjoying the freedoms they once took for granted. But the food is just our regular, ordinary, run of the mill American food. Usually drenched in grease, salt, or butter, and you know what I realized? I love it. But it's not just that. American food has tons of "extras". You don't eat a ham sandwich. You eat a ham sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cheese, salt, pepper, mustard, and mayonnaise. Those little add ons are the things I didn't realize I had been missing, but now I can't help but recognize them and thank god for them every time I bight into my sweet sweet American food. I've heard some people say that when returning back to the states they felt the food tasted "artificial" and didn't like it after a year of eating natural and healthy food in Korea, but I'm here to tell you that there is nothing artificial tasting about a flame grilled burger, and when you deprive yourself of them for 13 months, your sensory system starts doing cartwheels when you reintroduce them. I've basically been on a high every breakfast, lunch and dinner since getting back, who needs drugs when you have a fat juicy steak?

Where was I? Oh yeah, Seattle. I had been wanting to visit Seattle for a while because my brother Kevin moved there a few years ago. So I figured why not now while I'm not tied down. I can fly into Seattle and then make my way back across the states stopping wherever and seeing whatever I want. I'd never traveled America and once you get to KOREA and people ask you about famous American sights, in my own country, and I have to say "I don't know, I haven't been there" they kind of look at you like your crazy. I mean who travels around the world to KOREA without seeing their own country first? I guess I do, but I think I appreciated America's beauty and differences a little more this way. So, anyway, that was the plan. Fly into Seattle, and travel across the country. Sounds pretty well thought out huh? Yeah it wasn't. Where do I start?

My flight from Hong Kong was basically one of the worst experiences of my life. Somewhere in between my snorkeling, volcano hiking, and villa living in Bali I was bitten by a super powered Indonesian spider. Not unlike the spider of the famous Marvel comic book "Spiderman" but instead of giving me super powers it gave me a super swollen, itchy forehead. I was so uncomfortable, I wanted to scratch my face off, but I had to sit in an airplane seat for 10 hours and try and look normal even though I looked like Hasim Rahman after his fight with Evander Holyfield. I did actually make it without going insane, and when I stepped out of the Seattle airport I realized my first mistake. I had packed my backpack for over a month of travel in Sunny Australia, warm Hong Kong, and tropical Bali. The cold misty breeze of Seattle rain was not something my short, t-shirt, and sandal wearing self was prepared for. After all of my brothers stories about hiking, boats, and other outdoor activities in Seattle I just kind of figured it was warm...I am an idiot.

So as if that wasn't enough, the icing on the cake would be that the first full day I spent in America in over a year was spent in the Seattle Washington Emergency Room. A real welcome spending that special day with some of America's finest in an over crowded waiting room while I was still in a case of extreme discomfort. The doctors didn't have a clue, and I couldn't help them much. Before the bump got all on steroids I just thought it was a mosquito bight. They gave me strong antibiotics and medicine for the itch and told me to pray. I was bed ridden in my brothers apartment for the next week. I considered buying a plane ticket to my parents home in Tennessee and canceling the whole trip. I don't know why I didn't do it, but I'm so thankful I decided against it.

I did come out of my funk, with only a few scars. I have less eye lashes today than before my trip, and a small section of the top of my head is missing, but overall I think having a permanant reminder of not giving up on something you want to do isn't such a terrible thing.

Seattle turned out to be a blast. My brother has a bunch of awesome friends out there, who I'm lucky to feel like they are kind of my friends now too. The city is pretty, has lots of things to do, yet also keeps a sort of homey feel. I walked around the city, went hiking, saw some sights, spent some time with some cool people, watched the NCAA Tournament Finals (Oh glorious March Madness), and saw a tulip festival. This was the first stop on a long American journey and it had it's road bumps but overall I'm so glad I persevered through it. I loved seeing my brother and his wife out there. They really love Seattle, and I loved being there with them. Also, the food wasn't bad either :)

Check it out...you know the drill.

Bali Blow Out!!!

Walking off of the plane in Bali a man met us at the gate. At the plane's gate, not the standard "International Entrance" area that everyone else walks through and gets surrounded by drivers or signs. I found this a bit strange but it set the tone for how we were going to be treated real fast. This same man streamlined our visa process and got us and our bags out of the airport as fast as possible.

Then we reached the parking lot, and the second clue to how things were going to go down popped up... there were two vans waiting for us. Yup, six people, two vans. One was for us and the other for our luggage. As we entered them the AC was pumped high and was at least 50 degrees cooler than the humid outside weather. As the driver began to take us to our Villa I started feeling uncomfortable about the whole process. Did I need to be treated so specially? Could I not have waited in line at the airport like everyone else? Could I not ride with my own bag? Shouldn't I have? It began to dawn on me that I may have become a "backpacker". Someone who doesn't enjoy spending money on travel, but the excitement comes from finding the best deals while traveling. Not having things taken car of for you, but you find a way to take care of yourself. This was sinking in as the air conditioning gave me the chills, during a day of 90 degree humidity, and those chills made me start regretting my idea to travel with my brother and some of our other friends. It was a bad feeling, I actually started thinking that the vacation was going to be a failure, and in essence felt as if it already was. I had made the wrong decision, I saw it now, but had two weeks still to live through it. What had I done!?

Then the van turned in front of a huge gate, the gate opened, we drove down a beautiful entryway, got out, had our luggage carried inside to our rooms for us, and only steps after entering the doorway there were three servants holding trays of fresh squeezed juices, orderves, and fruit. Behind them was the pool and the rest of the Villa that looked like as one person put it, "a house on the show Real World". In just about 15 steps from the van to the entryway I realized I was an idiot, and that I loved having the best of things. Who doesn't? Granted I know it won't last but Bali was the perfect opportunity to live it up and that's what we did.

Meals that could feed small nations were prepared for us by our own cooking staff. Our laundry dissapeared from our hampers and returned folded on our beds daily. We lounged by the pool, walked the beach, and got hour massages in the city for $5 dollars. We were treated like Kings and Queens and if I could do it again I'd jump at it in a second. The week at the Villa was such a high style of living I've never experienced anything like it, but I'm glad I have now.

One week was spent at the villa and another one was spent traveling around Bali. Both were great in there own ways. Check out the pictures if you want to see more.

Ladies and Gentelmen, I Give You... KONG!!!

So no, I didn't travel to a mysterious far off island with a giant ape on it in the efforts to bring it back so you could pay to see with your own eyes. But I did bring you pictures from my travels to another far off island, Hong Kong, and you don't have to spend a dime to see them on your computer screen. King Kong may have been the either wonder of the world and while Hong Kong can't claim that, it did have its up sides.

My most memorable moments in Hong Kong were mostly surrounding great meals with awesome people that I had only met once before at Kevin and Susie's wedding in France. During my visit I had great company, and great meals, sometimes with great views (sorry no pictures of that night skyline dinner) and it was a nice place to visit. It seemed to remind me a lot of Beijing and Shanghai and possibly even a little like Seoul (on drugs). Yet there was one thing that stood out, and made it seem different from those other cities. In Beijing and Shanghai you have Chinese people everywhere yelling at you to buy a shirt, a hat, a picture, or something or other. However, in Hong Kong, it's not the same at all. There it's Indian people who are pushing you to buy a watch, a cheap suit, or a souvenir. I don't know quite how the good people from India moved onto Chinese turf and started peddling cheaper goods, but it all seems ironically funny to me.

I did get to see some cool stuff though, check out the pictures.

The Land of Oz

What better to take the sting out of leaving Korea than a trip down to Australia to see some old friends? I didn't think there was anything, so I left Korea to visit Jimmy, who moved to Australia about 8 months earlier. He lives in Sydney and two other great friends, Chris and Joe, also decided to take this perfect opportunity to visit Sydney at the same time. You never expect schedules to work out like this, but as we found out, luck was on our side.

Sydney was a beautiful city. Just flying in on the plane I started becoming jealous of Jimmy and his location choice for ex-patriot living. I did love Korea, but I'm not about to tell anyone that it has great weather. I became so used to the grey ski, so used to cloud cover, and by the time I left I didn't even really notice China's "yellow dust" that blows over anymore. Well the crystal clear sky, warm sun, cool breeze, and white puffy clouds of Sydney quickly made me remember all the things I've been missing. It made me realize that there is some innate connection between people and the condition of the weather. I can have a good time on a rainy day, but seeing the sun shining already makes it a great day, and it was shining the entire time I was Australia.

As soon as I walked off of the plane I realized I was in a different world than the one I had become accustomed to in Asia. Just feet from the plane's gate there was a man on a microphone announcing the duty free deals of the day. That alone was something I've never seen or heard before, but there were other parts of it that made it stand out even more to me because I'd been living in Korea for a year, like he was announcing in ENGLISH! There were also lots of women with bright blond hair walking around. People looked taller than me. It seemed like there were obese people everywhere, and while all those things reminded me of America, everyone sounded like Crocodile Dundee, just to remind me I wasn't home yet. All the little differences seemed to stand out so brightly to me. The things I had gone a year without seeing were normal everyday things to you, but nice little surprises to me.

After arriving a few minutes before Joe at the airport we both took a taxi ride to Jimmy's apartment, in Woolloomooloo, to meet up with Jim and Chris. *Note to other travelers: There is no tipping in Australia, so don't listen to the taxi driver if he tells you there is, he's just being an Ass* Seeing Jim, Chris, and Jimmy's girlfriend Erin was really nice. I always thought that being apart from friends would somehow make it seem different when you met up again, but it's not. As soon as we saw each other it was like we were never apart. We still looked the same, acted the same, told the same jokes, and referenced Seinfeld episodes as much as ever. Even though I've been missing Seinfeld reruns for a year, I can still remember them pretty well.

We spent the first few days of the trip hanging out, catching up, barbecuing, seeing Jimmy's office, Sydney's streets and sights, and yelling lines from Gladiator at Russel Crow's mansion. It was everything I'd hoped for. But we did have one big trip planned, the 3 day excursion to Fraser Island. It's off the east coast of Australia and it's the largest all sand island in the world. Now what does that mean, "all sand island"? I wondered the same thing when I read it, but it means there is no rock formations, no roads, and that the ground beneath you will always be some type of sand while you're there. That is a little more understandable to imagine, but there are areas of the island that look like beach front (obviously), desert oasis, and rain forest. A rain forest growing out of the desert is something I had to see to believe.

Fraser Island was exactly what the type of thing I was looking for. It is a vacation spot, but you don't just sit around. There are no hotels, no spa's, or resorts, it forces you to have an adventure, and in a place that at times looks like it could be another planet. There are only sand roads that and they go up and down like crazy. Driving is part of the adventure because it's dangerous. You have to be worried not to crash the car as you're going over humpty-doodles (sand mounds), and crossing washouts, or just getting the car stuck in deep sand (like we did 4 times). I have no hesitation saying that the four guys from Jersey highly underestimated the seriousness of journey we had embarked on.

We planned out our route as we went along, bought food at the last minute for rock bottom prices, didn't realize we had no way to light the grill until almost nigh fall, thought we didn't have poles to set up the tent, couldn't find a campsite that we were legally able to camp in, found out we couldn't make a fire outside of the campsites that didn't allow us in, couldn't stomach the food we did buy, didn't bring Pepto-Bismol, didn't know how to dig a truck out of the sand, didn't bring enough lights, and I'm sure the list goes on but I'm starting to feel like I'm making us out to be a bunch of idiots. The thing is, none of this really effected the entirety of the trip at all. We were able to see more spots on that island than anyone else I've talked to that has visited there. Getting stuck was part of the adventure, running into a Dingo or two made things more exciting, the bad food made us feel like we were roughin' it, we found matches, and the tent poles, and made due without a fire. We were a bunch of idiots, but luck was just on our side.









On Fraser Island we went to a white sand, clear water lake that was empty. Yup, easily one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever been on, and it was deserted. Not a single person showed up in the entire afternoon we were there. Of course we played football in the white sand, if you know us you could have guessed that, but it was perfect. We walked in areas that felt like the desert. Saw lakes that seemed to be coming right out of the desert. Bathed in areas of water along the shores that bubbled up when the waves hit the rocks segregating them, earning them the name of the "Champagne Pools". We also climbed to beautiful lookout points, hiked cool trails, saw strange animals, drove on the beach, camped in the wild, and all around had an experience that none of us could have imagined.







After the trip to Fraser Island we thought the best of the trip was behind us. How could it get any better than beaches, fresh water lakes as blue as the sky, white sand, Champagne pools? Well no one saw this one coming but a night at the Sydney Casino turned out to be the one night of this trip none of us would ever forget.