06/21 Northern Ireland

It was raining a bit and we had a couple of open containers.  The roads were narrow with no extra space to speak about.   I knew if we got stuck behind another logging truck we could be here for weeks.  Once we managed to pass a couple of these trucks we began to make up for some lost time.  Jim began complaining that his bladder couldn’t take much more of this abuse but before I was willing to pull over, I wanted to put enough distance between ourselves and the logging trucks.  …

08/26 Sagres, Portugal

I awoke from a dream that I could not remember and found it difficult to head back into that sleep.  My mind was overtaken with a feeling that I should not have left Ann.  I felt that she had reached out to me and I in some way had abandoned her.  At that moment I decided I needed to return to her.  That thought combined with a lot of other ingredients lead me to the decision to leave then, not later but that moment.  …

05/30 Stonehenge, England

Like a string of pearls, one complaint began to lead into another.  One minute it’s the weather, next minute it’s the price of food, carrying too much shit and then it was his feet.  “I’m not walking any further, maybe I’ll just fly home”, confronted Jim.  I reminded him that I was not his mother and if he thought I wanted to hear this shit, he had bigger problems than just his feet.  “Nobody’s putting a gun to your head and you don’t need my permission to make choices”.  I explained that I was not budgeted for repeating every other step and had a plan of what I wanted to see and experience and sometimes those things aren’t at the end of a train line.  “I’m committed to go forward and if you find it in your best interest to detour, I’m more than willing to meet you anywhere else on the map”.  “There’s no rule that says we have to do everything together”.  I provided an example of picking up women.  “I expect this to happen along the way and when we reach that fork in the road I’m sure you’re not going to be wanting me hanging around as a third wheel or vice versa.  We’ll just meet up someplace down the road”.  I tried to be a good person and attempt to avoid confrontations but traveling together has a tendency to bring these things to the surface.  Conflicts start and end with words.

Surely I dreamt today, or did I see. I wandered in this forest thoughtlessly
the clever boy that I once knew; with pebbles white and bread crumbs too
left no trail and lost my way, where all my pictures were thrown away

Through the forest, in the middle of a glade, forever nagging to persuade
no plank or bridge was placed in sight, only fists clinched as if to fight
the wind, the wind has caused me harm; you pulled too many false alarms.

11/07 Tel Aviv, Isreal

The clouds parted when we reached Haifa’s harbor.  It was impressive passing right up next to aircraft carriers and battleships.  That time they passed me right through customs but not Jenni.  They couldn’t pin point why somebody would travel from New Zealand to Moscow, to Cyprus, to Israel and detained her for about forty-five minutes while the rest of us waited outside.  We read travel paraphernalia for ideas and to pass the time.  Once she got released we all wandered the waterfront in search of the train station and discovered that if we wanted to exchange currency we would need to find ourselves a bank.   …

08/17 Madrid, Spain

I woke up in the middle of a desert of reddish clay painted orange by the rising sun.  As the ride wore on the sun converted our compartment from a cozy bed into practically an oven.  Each hill looked the same as the one before it rolling one after another past my window.  If one didn’t know any better it could be assumed that my window was the backdrop to a movie set.  …

06/15 Dublin, Ireland

The clouds were telling no lies, this time they opened up and delivered rain.  Bicycles were now out of the question, so we planned on thumbing our way south.  We were hardly out of town when Jim started whining again.  He’s like one of those thimble banging monkeys.  Once his key gets turned there’s no way to turn him off, until his springs loosen.  …

11/28 Pamukkale, Turkey

Walked up one of the local hills and watched the sun rise over the valley.  Then I took a trek back to the pools to get a few pictures without people climbing all over in them.  They were so beautiful and unique.  Shallow petal shaped pools with large expanses that had the texture and the look of snow.  I expected the crunch of snow but was met with the resistance of rock.  I sat alongside them for rest of the morning, just day dreamed and enjoyed the view. …

10/04 Flornance, Italy

I was out at first light and headed toward Bologna.  While standing in the train station in front of an electronic schedule I noticed three young ladies behind me looking over my shoulder.  They were three young Americans also looking for the train to Florence, so I introduced myself.  Since the four of us had three hours to burn until our train departed, I accompanied one of the young ladies through the streets in search of a sweater.  Her mother had purchased her father a sweater from Bologna years ago that he had always enjoyed.   …

12/10 Amsterdam, Netherlands

I knew we had reached the Netherlands when the standard blue or green trains turned multi-colored.  Two guys had hit us up in the train station soliciting us to take a room on their boat.  I preferred being in the heart of the city where access was easier and I could be closer to the coffee shop I decide to write in, but Jenni kind of liked the idea of being on a boat.  I was leaving in a few days and felt that getting her acquainted with another group of people was also a priority.  …

06/11 Island of Skye, Scotland

The West Coast of Scotland was absolutely gorgeous and we still hadn’t seen any bad weather.  Trekking along the coastal cliffs and the Island of Skye can only be described as a religious experience.  This is God’s country.  Gardens touched by the finger of God.  A clouded island littered with crofts and memories of the day before Culloden.  …

09/01 Valencia, Spain

I woke early to the jingling and jangling of the vendors setting up the local market and was up and out in minutes following the caravan of wagons and carts down through the streets to the market.  The strategy was the same, I looked for food and if I could obtain it for free, all the better.  As long as we both got what we wanted out of the conversation, I could play the game.  “You picked them all by hand did ya? Your fingers are too big.  I think this one has been bruised.  …

05/21 London, England

We proceeded down this path through a country side park, colored and shaded by many trees and leading into one of the many veins of London’s underground.  When we resurfaced we were in the heart of London.  It arose more from the haze of my memory than from the morning fog, my childhood memories of nursery rhymes and children songs accompanied every step.  …

10/12 Napes Italy

When I woke up I notice that my knife was unchaperoned, sitting all by itself.  Most likely it was pushed away by me while I slept.  There were two elderly gentlemen sitting alongside the same bench staring at me and the knife.  I had gotten less than an hour of sleep and was still very tired and in need of a shower.  I followed those two gentlemen back into the heart of Naples.   …

06/06 Edinburgh, Scotland

We headed north into Scotland.  Initially we didn’t wander too far from the train stations but eventually we stretched our arms and headed into the countryside.  The weather had been wonderful.  I truly believe the sun had been following us for weeks.  The primroses were in bloom and the fields were scattered with frolicking rabbits.  …