Around the world in 120 days. Cool. Let's go.
In and around World
Alright. My parents are a little crazy. Growing up the mantra has been the same: we don't need a bigger house, we don't need faster cars, we need to travel. So that's what we do every year. All over, usually more than once. We've been to a lot of neat places together--from Thailand to Madagascar to Chile. When I turned 21 my parents went one further and gave me a ticket around the world. I tried to pick places I've never been before. I'm meeting my parents for the first part, and sometimes friends, and sometimes I'm going to be alone. I'm gone from June 19--a day after graduating from college--until October 13. When I get back I'm starting a bar with my buddy Colin, in San Francisco. We hope you come and buy lots of drinks. But until then, it's time to discover the world and...dare I be cliche...myself.
Well, here's the plan: Stanford to Japan to Korea to Mongolia back to Japan to Vietnam to London to Israel to Jordan to Germany to the Czech Republic to Hungary to Croatia to Greece to Italy to France to Spain to Kenya. Phew! It's going to be great.
Route taken and entries written by jsmadsen
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1
Oh God you know I can't do maps, even in English
Finishing up at school was hectic. Lots of family, lots of parties, lots of packing, lots of nerves, lots of emotions. It's hard to say bye to t... Continue reading »
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2
On North Korea...and Dogs, Yum
Sorry for leaving everyone for so long without updates. We:ve done a great deal of travel with limited internet access, and so I am recounting w... Continue reading »
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3
Soviet Style, eh.
UB as the cool people call it is the capital of Mongolia...we saw a big plane (737?) with the Stars and Stripes on the tail and nothing else (except t... Continue reading »
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4
Bones, Camels, Dinosaurs, Dunes
This is where we rode camels, met nomadic families, saw dino bones, hiked ice flows, climbed dunes, and broke two cameras. [Stories in a screen or two... Continue reading »
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5
Attempted Murder
This is where a lot of the juicy stuff happened--fights and crazy drivers, eagle hunting, Kazakhs (don:t know how to spell it...I keep writing it diff... Continue reading »
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6
Trip not Vacation
Oh Mongolia. Where to start? We came because Mongolia's in a period of transition--the end of Soviet rule (remembered somewhat nostalgical... Continue reading »
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7
Boxes of Light
Kyoto is a set of beautiful boxes made from glass and wood and light, floating four or five high in neat streets , with tiny pines perfectly pruned pe... Continue reading »
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8
Tough Stuff
We then traveled to Hiroshima to visit the atomic bomb museum. It was a sobering afternoon--seeing the wreckage that one bomb wrecked on million... Continue reading »
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9
I really hate taking trains alone
We then traveled to Osaka because we had flights from Kansai the next day. We spent the afternoon at a big aquarium--they had a whale shark that... Continue reading »
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10
Phriends and Pho
I arrived in Vietnam at last, after a long night in the airport. It's immediately obvious that Vietnam isn't as wealthy as Japan, but it's also... Continue reading »
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11
Betrayal and the Tate
I had a day in London so I ventured over to Old Bailey to see a court case in action. It's one of London's oldest criminal courts and I watched... Continue reading »
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12
Shabbat and the Secular State
I came to Israel to meet the people and see the land, believing that both were essential to understanding the Middle East better. Having sp... Continue reading »
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13
Hash Dealers, Casinos, and Mosques
I was once and Arab in a past life; the culture fits like some familiar t-shirt--the hospitality and smiles, the unspoken expectations behind them, th... Continue reading »
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14
Pyramids by Bribe
We got a late start the next morning--the late night didn't help--and it was well into the afternoon when we decided to see the pyramids of Giza. ... Continue reading »
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15
Another Wonder of the Ancient World
Yawn--another morning on little sleep, but we had to be up early to catch a train to fabled Alexandria. The second class was like first--wide se... Continue reading »
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16
I Turn 22 with King Tut
Our last day together in Cairo and we began at the Egyptian museum. It was my 22nd birthday and I got to spend it with King Tut. This is o... Continue reading »
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17
Dive! A lot!
Oh Dahab! Okay, some things to know about Dahab. It's a little coastal diving community on the Sinai on the shore of the Red Sea where you can s... Continue reading »
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18
Mmmhmm, the 3 pm Ferry, eh?
I have been sorely remiss in writing. Sorry. I too regret it--because I forget what I've done and because I've never been a steady journal... Continue reading »
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19
Camping with Bedouins*
The next morning we took a cab to Wadi Rum. A wadi is a valley carved by flood waters; Wadi Rum is one of the most famous. Lawrence of Ara... Continue reading »
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20
Petra is Overrated
Then we went to Petra. We took a "bus"--normal in this part of the world, it's a minibus sort of deal that holds ten people, and which stops at... Continue reading »
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21
Splurging, Floating
I left Petra with a bad taste for Jordan--out of money, tired, and ready to go to Jerusalem. I said so long to Mary Ann, walked down to the bus... Continue reading »
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22
Holy, Holy, Holy
Jerusalem! Famed city of three religions. Four quarters here: Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, and the Armenian quarter.... Continue reading »
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