Innocents Abroad 2.0

new trip

2012-01-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

a new trip has begun........ click on link to check out the new site and follow the upcoming adventures!!!

http://driftingontheroad.blogspot.com/

high tide or low tide

2011-03-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

Well, after a quick kick in the ass, I realized I owe it to the people who actually took the time to read this a little bit better of an ending. More than 2 sentences anyway.
On January 13th Christy and I began a trip that was meant to tour all over Europe and grow in ways that we could have not imagined. We wanted to expand ourselves beyond the borders of the cultural and mental perspectives we had come to know for the better part of our lives. We wanted to be open to the places and people we would see and meet, and in turn have them be open to us as well. When we arrived in Paris, the world was at our feet, and our bags were weighing us down to about that level as well. I could not imagine on that day knowing what I know now about myself or the world. I wish I had one of those moments in ‘Back to the Future’ where Marty warns doc about the Libyans shooting him when he first goes back, but unfortunately I don’t have an 85’ Delorian, or a nuclear reactor so I will just have to live with it. There isn’t too much I would tell myself besides don’t take any of this for granted because you might never get this chance again, this might be it so make the most of it, but I think somewhere all of us have those moments when important things in our lives happen to us, and inevitably we always have regrets because that is the human mind, always searching for more.

Looking back Paris was a great way to start the trip. It is a perfect city for a tourist. I mean every place you want to go is within a block of a metro, their tourist pass covers everything you need to do in the city outside of eating, and everything is maintained so well you cant help but think of yourself in a Disneyland type of atmosphere. And that’s how this trip was, and it truly just hit me, it was a slow process into the realities of the world. We started with magical almost unreal places and ended in a reality like I have not seen before. Italy I wouldn’t say fell somewhere in between but was its own place that cant really be boxed into one thing and I am sure anyone who has been there would agree. Italy just is what it is and they make no apologies for it, good or bad. People are so real there, and express themselves like no one I have ever met before, men are not afraid to love, or hate or not know. Everything is so old and in your face that you cant help but know your reality, embrace it and love yourself and your friends for who they are, good or bad. The places we visited for me were a long second to the people we met. My brothers that I now have there are priceless to me, and without them I could not even be close to someone I wish to be in the future, I left part of my heart with all of those great people as well as a bill for the chairs that I seem to break all over that country. I came into Italy thinking it would be nice if they restored all of their classics that way people can use them and appreciate the trueness of what the empire once was, and I left there realizing that is they key, it once was, and now it just is what it is and that seems to fit just right.

Thailand was the true knowledge of the trip for me. Besides being on my deathbed for the first week of my trip, I actually got to see what life is like for most of the world. Thailand has its monuments but it is a second world country, people are poor, they struggle, there currency is majorly devalued and the people struggle every day for things that we take so much advantage of. Even the tiniest things as toilet paper do not exists in the same ways, but most things we take advantage of do not exists in most of the world.

For better or worse this trip has forever changed ways I look at myself, my country, other countries, people close to me, and any possible perception I have had before. Looking back I do have regrets on aspects of the trip, but regrets are apart of life and if you don’t have those then it really isn’t life. Sure there are pictures that I wish I would of taken, places maybe I wish I would of seen a little more, or places I would of rather skipped and done something else, but if you know me, then disappointments have been littered through my life just like I am sure everyone of you somewhere along the line have them as well. So I want to thank everyone who was apart of making this trip so special. To my friends who always gave great advice to the people who helped us plan it and the people who were there in the places we were that made it so great. I want to give a special thanks to my travel partner, without her I wouldn’t have had the courage to do half of the things that we did. You truly bring out the best in me and make me a better person. Thank you so much for being you.

Cheer s to all of you around the world, especially those in Aisa right now, I was very lucky to leave when I did, but there are millions there right now who are not so lucky and anything you can do wheter it be money, prayers or just keeping them in your thoughts are important. We are all people of one world. Cultures, governments and walls are just perceptions

comes to an end

2011-03-08T01:05:00.000-08:00

well the trip has come to an end. Thank you everyone who followed and I hope your travel bugs have bitten you and you go off and explore yourself

Bangkok

2011-02-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

So we are here in Bangkok for our first day of travel outside of Europe, and it has been nothing less than spectacular. We arrived around noon and sat through what seemed like a whole day in the customs area, and then hit the heat, and do I mean heat! I love my California weather, but this is something else, I mean humid doesnt express the thickness of the heat we had. I was sweating within the first few minutes of being off the plane. We took our taxi straight to the hostel, and right there we knew how much we loved this country, when a taxi ride from Malpensa airport in Milan cost 20 euro for a mile ride, and the taxi fair for 3 miles here was $5. Ahhhhhh, that was a sigh of saving money. After taking a quick shower from being on a plane for a full day, we walked over to the corner store and bought two huge waters for a total of .71 cents.. After chugging them in about 2 seconds we then got a local spicey chicken meal, with fantastic rice for a combined $1.30 total. Ahhhhh I love this country.So after practically saving a small fortune we decided to go get Thai massages and once again it was a total of $10 for both of us for an hour.. Do I need to even explain my happiness right now? So anyone who wants to hang out for next to nothing, come to Thailand, and definatly up to Chiang Mai, becasue starting tomorrow we booked a month long stay in a beautiful area for $160 for the month..Yep that is one really nice dinner in the city, for a months rent...

So back to Italy, Stefano, Giampaolo, Roberto 1, Roberto 2, Davide, Jockey, Dom Grace, Vincensa, and the rest of the gang, we miss you so much and wish we could have you all with us here right now on the patio overlooking Bangkok, with wine and all the laughs you bring to us. If you have not gone to Italy, you just havent lived. Roma is beautiful, Florence is another world, Milan is similar to S.F, but what makes it all is the small towns like Viterbo, Soriano, Chellano, Bomzaro, and all the Fantastic people who reside in these areas. Clay had it right when he told me, it is all within the small towns, that is true Italy, and you couldnt of been more correct. We were made to feel like family with all of these wonderful souls and we honestly do consider them our family, and will be for as long as we live. Every one of you brought so much warmth to our hearts and lives that I cant even describe it with my ture emotion unless we start drinking wine, or I eat another pig face.. :) So we will explain more in detail tomorrow and we hope you all love the stories becasue these are some of the most real and energetic people we have ever met.

T-T-T-Thailand

2011-02-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

So we are forgoing the rest of Europe and the damn Euro, and heading for Thailand. Bangkok, and Chiang Mai to be exact. Europe has been probably the best experience I have ever had and amplify that by having the best travel partner anyone can have, but Asia is a new conquest and we are taking it. So we are passing up Amsterdam, Germany, and Prague to go to Buddhist Monestaries, ride bikes and get $3 massages (normal ones). Basically go somewhere where the dollar is actually worth something. I do need to write a lot about our experience in Italy, so that will be coming soon, because all those crazy pictures need to be explained and all the fantastic people in them need to be acknowledged because they are the ones who made it so special.

We are very sorry to the people we will be missing in those Europe countries we will be skipping, but dont fret there will be more world tours and those areas will be the first on our list. We are not just saying that either, the travel bug has bitten us like, inevitably a mosquito with malaria will when we are in Chiang Mai. Traveling is defiantly a state of mind, and its the doors of possible perception that need to be opened, and they defiantly have been, so we will be looking forward to the Cafes of Amsterdam, the Carnival and Birkenstock store of Germany, and the castles and Bohemian lifestyle that only Prague can hold. So tomorrow offically begins our trip to Bangkok via a short stop in Cairo, and then we are going straight up to Chiang Mai. So it will be awhile before you hear form us (a few days) but after that we will catch all of you up on the absolutely amazing time we shared with some of the most genuine people we have ever met. And a quick note to my Italian brothers, I miss you and think about you almost every second, you have made me a better man, and I will always hold you with a special place in my heart.

florence p6

2011-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

florence p5

2011-02-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

florence p4

2011-02-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

florence p3

2011-02-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

florence p 2

2011-02-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

florence day 1

2011-02-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

lunch with grace

2011-02-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

more costume party

2011-02-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

costume party

2011-02-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

tuscana

2011-02-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

more viterbo, tuscana, and our car

2011-02-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

more of italy- viterbo

2011-02-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

new pics

2011-02-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

italian hair cut day ( holiday)

2011-02-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

day on the farm part 3

2011-02-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

day on the farm part 2

2011-02-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

day on the farm

2011-02-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

Bomzaro - Monster Park part 3

2011-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

Bomzaro - Monster Park part 2

2011-02-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Bomzaro - Monster Park

2011-02-08T10:21:00.000-08:00