Flash forward two years, May 17, 2009, I graduate with a BS in Civil Engineering from U of I, and my girlfriend at the time and I plan a trip to Eastern Europe prior to starting our respective lives in the 'real world.' The following week, we book a flight for (you're never going to believe this price) - $505 Round Trip Flight from Chicago to Munich returning Berlin to Chicago from June 7 to July 7, 2009. Slovenia and Turkey (Turkey checks off the continent of Asia!) were the highlights of the trip, two places that we knew absolutely NOTHING about prior to the trip. Such are the joys of backpacking - we had a semi-planned itinerary, but we winged the trip day by day, planning two to three days in advance at the most. Each location you visit, you meet someone new who recommends something new, you google it, simply because you've never heard of it, and you decide, "Hell yes I'm going there," and all of a sudden your 'planned' itinerary has changed. I call these locations "hidden gems" - places you'll never read about, but you learn via word of mouth. They are some of the most rewarding / best sites to see and to explore.
Six new countries toured, a missed flight home, with a 24 hour detour to Paris because of it, later, we arrived back home to my mom welcoming us home at O'Hare. Eventually, she hands me me my cell phone (my glorious good ole red flipadelphia phone - RIP). Ugh, I didn't want it, I didn't want to see it, I didn't want to touch it, I wanted to be back in Europe, anywhere in the world traveling, disconnected from everything, not a care in the world, but "what am I going to do tomorrow." I didn't want to take my backpack off. It contained everything I needed for a month, it was my home, my everything.
Next thing I know, reality hits, I start my job a month after I return, and from day one, I look forward to my next international adventure....in January, my friends Tim, Mike, and I decide to book a flight to Costa Rica....
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