Experiencing the world

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

Berlin photos

I went to Berlin this last weekend with Matthew and our friend Woody and it was an excellent weekend away.

On Sunday we went out to visit the Sachsenhausen concentration camp with Mosaic tours. Mosaic Tours is a 100% non-profit registered charity and our tour guide Colin was amazing. 

The emotions that I felt while visiting that concentration camp were like none I had ever experienced before in my life. It's hard for me to write about it and the experience has changed me as a person.

On my way back to London I thought about how important it is to travel and see the world and experience places and cultures outside of your own. It's one thing to read about history, it's another to go and experience it. 

I sometimes think about what my life would be like if I hadn't come to study in England. Would I be traveling to half of the places that I've been to since I've moved abroad?

I had a passport before I came to study abroad and had been to Europe a few times, but it's a strange feeling to know that I might not have ever been to the places that I have if I was still living back in the States.

I have friends who have never left the state of Minnesota let alone the country. Which just seems really strange to me now. To just spend your entire life in one small geographical location. 

While I have friends here in London who think nothing of taking 3 to 4 weeks or even longer to go traveling. I don't know many American people who just decide to go traveling for a while. It usually happens before you go to college for a couple months and then you get to say that you've done Europe.

Every time I visit a new place my understanding of life and how the world works expands. I think there's no better way to learn about the life and I look forward to many trips all over the world.

We have a visitor

Matthew and I have a house guest and I am very happy about it. Vance McDermott is a friend of a friend who is traveling the world for the next six months. How cool is that? Like a good lad he's keeping a blog of his travels. He's from a suburb outside of San Francisco. Vance is a nice guy and a very good house guest. If anyone out there is interested in hosting him for a night or two on their couch let me know.

We picked him on Friday night from the Marble Arch bus station and then took him for a night drive around London. Driving around London at two in the morning is wonderful. We went by Big Ben and Buckingham palace and over to Camden, just a nice drive around. On Saturday we took him with us to Stratford upon Avon for the day. I had always wanted to go there and have a look where Shakespeare used to kick around. We went to the Holy Trinity Church to see where Shakespeare was buried, it was a beautiful church with a nice old graveyard. After our sightseeing walk we found a couple of good pubs to stop and have some pints. When we got back to London we took Vance to a few pubs in our neighborhood including the infamous Walkabout, which is an Aussie bar. Vance is an Aussie/American so we thought he should check it out and see the mayhem for himself. We saw a fight break out and a girl who got a drink poured over her.

It's really nice to be able to help another person out. I am happy to have him stay with us and make him feel comfortable. It's good karma. I would have liked it when I was traveling around so I am more than happy to do it for others. I think it's pretty inspiring that this 21 year old has decided to go and travel for six months and see the world.