Vagabonding begins!

OK, this time In serious.

What else is there to do after drinking a liter of Redbull when you are sitting in a hostel? Aside from making random noises from my pod to horrify my sleeping roommates…the best thing to do at 01:00am is to blog of course! Other than breakfast resembling something you would get in a Mexican prison (2 pieces of white bread and some orange water), this is a very cool hostel loaded with interesting people that are going places and doing things. Luckily, I am not the oldest guy here, but almost. The average age seems to be about 21, so when people ask what I am doing, I just say that I am a student. Hey…according to Lao Tzu, we are all students until we die, right?

I spent the day doing some last minute souvey shopping, and from 18:00 until now, dancing and spending my remaining pounds like I was a rock star or something. Its not my style to leave a continent in good physical or mental condition, so I indulged on hot Indian food (the best outside of India) and Red Bull. I met up with my Polish friend and we had a great evening of partying before the Tube, which shuts at midnight, dictated our goodbye time. I picked up a copy of Aldous Huxley’s “Doors of Perception” for the plane ride home to keep my mind engaged so that I will not be depressed speeding thousands of miles back to reality.

Reality….hmmm.

I sold my soul to the Devil in January this year when I quit my job, sold my house, and started this vagabond lifestyle. Is it time to pay up when I get home? Only if he can catch me. People have been asking me, whats next? Thats a good question, but there is no doubt that I will be standing at a crossroads. After sampling this lifestyle, is it possible for me to get a house, white fence, dog, job, and yard full of kids? I must either commit to living abroad or take a job at home, both are big leaps in opposite directions. No matter what comes of it, I will always be a vagabond at heart and my mind will always be on a beach somewhere with white sand, scuba diving, fire shows, and probably plastic buckets full of God knows what.

This is probably my last post from Europe before heading home.

It sounds strange, but when I am here, I feel like I am much closer to so many friends that I have built amazing bonds with this year. It doesn’t really make me sad to leave the city behind, but when I leave I am also eliminating the possibilities of seeing people that I have made amazing connections with during my travels. Right now, I can jump on a quick and cheap RyanAir flight and be with people I love dearly in Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, and all over. Once I am back in the US, I am literally a world away.

On a happier note, my finger is still attached and seems to be healing nicely. 1000MG of antibiotics a day will probably make me sprout a couple more fingers for redundancy. I am also nearly over my sinus infection….now where is the diving?! Speaking of diving, I am pretty much deaf in one ear again. The last time this happened, it went on for months before my ear “popped” at the pub and I jumped around dancing and telling people that I could hear again. We shall see. I feel 110% though and have been floating a few inches off the ground I am so happy.

The weather here in London has been spectacular, some sun and low 50s F. Last night I met my Swedish friend Gustav and then went inside one of the many casinos here in Piccadilly where I basically fed some machine a couple of pounds, it flashed some pretty lights at me, and then took my money. Hmmm…not exactly my idea of entertainment. Cards are analog, I can do that, but a computer deciding what cards it gets and which ones I get, not fair. (unless I can have a crack at the software)

I have had so much fun on this adventure that the thoughts of standing in America in a couple of days both horrifies and excites me.

Whats next…..?

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