Graham’s Notes

I am taking a two month trip to Europe with my friend Matt.  This adventure is a long time coming.  I am stoked and a little scared - we leave tomorrow!  Here’s the history behind this trip:

When I was 12 I visited Australia.  We stayed in tropical resorts and dingy motels while riding on a giant bus down the Eastern coast.  I learned that travelling is just plain awesome - the world has much more to offer than the Portland Metro area.  I decided my next best opportunity would be to take a semester abroad in New Zealand.  I got everything ready to go - I was going to go right after field training for the AFROTC.

About two months before field training, my knee got bungled. I already had my FT camp assigned and was in massive prep mode.  Eventually, I had to have surgery and delay field training for a year.  After a year of surprisingly difficult rehab I did finally attend FT, but my travel plans were totally thrown off.  My friend I was going to go with had already gone to New Zealand and by now the prospect of studying abroad was complicated by classes I could no longer put off.
So I’m not going to study.  I’m going to backpack!  I would’ve hated studying anyway.  My friend Matt wanted a to take a backpack trip as well, so we merged our powers of adventure.
We’re leaving tomorrow.
This travel blog site has a sweet map on the right that will track our progress.  The internet is awesome.