So, im back from the states, what a trip that was. Now im wasted and im sitting on my couch watching some crazy show that joey bought while we are in the states, its called ‘Its always funny in Philadelphia’. HA!

Oh Yea i saw this awesome photo on wired.com.  sooo cool.
 
its a dude blowing milk out of his mouth underwater… looks like smoke doesnt it?

Well damn folks, its been a while aint it? Seven months or something since my last post here. Where to start…. Well i went home to Wenatchee last summer, as per my last post, it was a TON of fun. Strangely i get on a plane to go back there again in just 3 days. For as much flying as i do, i never look forward to long flights. Seattle is 12 hours from Vienna ;(. Since we last spoke not a whole lot has changed in my life, im still just hanging out and trying to survive this journey and all its twists and turns. I went to the Philippines and Curacao again this year, both were at least as much fun as last year.

In September I finally took some time to see more of Austria and Bavaria. So some friends(Joey and Sandra) and I rented a BMW and drove there. Münich, Salzburg, Linz, Innsbruck and Neuschwanstein are a few of the places we went. Coming from Washington state (where we got big mountains) i was never overly impressed with the Alps, but having really been up in them on this trip, i have a lot more respect for them. Bavaria and Western Austria rank very high in the most beautiful places i have ever been. Crystal blue skies, monsterous mountains, lots of little lakes and farms. This was probably both the single most expensive weekend vacation of my life(after $1000 in traffic fines) and the most unexpectedly awesome weekend trip of my life. A good long car ride with fun company and incredible things to see. Not just cool stuff to see, it was a fun adventure in general.

In October i took a trip to Barcelona with Sandra, she is a really cool Austrian chick i know. I also got to see another good friend of mine, named Kate, while i was there, sadly she was on her way out of Europe, as her tour here had ended. It was a really fun trip, albeit short, i got to see a few things and cant wait to go back to Barcelona, what an amazing city. Sagrada La Familia and Park Guell are both very interesting things to see, specially if you are into architecture like me. Barcelona is a bit expensive but not terrible and contrary to what i was told prior to going there, no espanol skills is NOT a problem at all. Met a few cool Canadians when i was out at a bar one night. I got really drunk in Barcelona, without a hangover even, it was good times.

Curacao this year was a lot of fun, got some snorkeling in, boating, ATVs, Dune Buggies, drinking, all kinds of stuff.  I had my little dune bugging going 95Kmph. Afterwards the guide stopped me and asked me if the buggy was pulling, of course it was, but i just thought it had bad alignment, come to find out, i was doin’ 95 in a 3 wheeled buggy, hell yea! Our last hour on the island we tried to gamble away the last of our local currency and doubled it instead, which is good for me, cause im usually walking out short from Casino’s.

The second half of November and Thanksgiving, was spent in the Philippines. This year we didn’t have a tour guide, just hung out and did our own thing and it was really F’in cool. We got to see more of the islands and this time a bit more through a natives eyes, we went way into the jungle and went camping one night. I even got to give swim lessons, it was probably the coolest trip of my entire life, it was truly an adventure and an eye opening experience.

I also had a chance to go to Bucharest Romania since my last post. In addition to London, Budapest and Prague. Bucharest was one of the most eye-opening trips of my life, communism under their old kook of a dictator was a very bad existence, its very cool to see a country like that turning around. London was a work trip and included lots of drinking. Prague… it was my first time to Prague, I went with Sandra. it was a really fun trip, Czech food isnt very good though, from my experience. Budapest I went to with Joey and Kate, we got good and drunk and wondered around, saw the sights and ate some really good food.

Whats next?
Well, I go home to America for 2 weeks in a couple days, so that should be interesting, I’m really hoping to get some snowboarding in, see some old friends and of course the family. A lot of cool punk rock bands will be performing in Vienna during March and April, so thats something else to look forward to… No Use For A Name, Millencolin, Dinosaur Jr., Strung Out, The Sub-Humans. So thats something to look forward to. In May i will go to the Maldives Islands to do some scuba diving, iv never actually dove before, i hope it works for me. The trip should be a lot of fun, we are going to spend the entire week on a Safari boat, aka a ‘Live Aboard’.