In eight days, my eight month-long journey will come to end and I'll be back in the comfort, serenity and familiarity of home. In many ways this trip seems to be closing in way too quickly, knowing I have much more of the world to see, but in other ways I feel fulfilled, grateful and ready to return. I have learned so much in the time I have been away, and have met many wonderful people along the way and have seen many beautiful, challenging, and curious things, ...

Where shall I begin? Although I last wrote to you toward the end of our journey in Wildhaus, I feel as though I need to say something more about our time in that little-known Swiss gem; however, know that despite my best efforts I am at a loss to find words to truly describe such a place. I last wrote about the day of our hike along the Alpstein mountain, but due to time restraints I negected to mention a couple of unexpected events that took place on our climb....

On October 18 I made my way from Madrid to meet Lauren in Alicante, Spain. What was meant to be a three day trip quickly turned into a six night stay because I loved it that much. On my way in, I passed mountain ranges and wind farms, coastlines and palmtree-lined boulevards into this cool and quiet oasis, high with expectations and excitement to reunite with Lauren. On my first night there, we of course indulged in freshly made paella and sangria and in the days...

A few weeks ago, after a lovely and relaxing stay in Cork, I flew from Dublin to Brussels to commence my European backpacking adventure. There I made friends with several French Canadians at my hostel, one in particular named Colette. Together, Colette and I set about exploring (and getting lost, really, more than I'd like to admit) in the circular city, enjoying the thirty degree weather and indulging in trying everything Belgian - chocolate, waffles, and of cou...

It's hard to believe that four weeks ago I was preparing to set out on this journey, filled with wonder, expectations, and frustration at how difficult it was to pack for such a lengthy and cross-climate excursion. I left home feeling pretty content and looking forward to my adventures, though I was struck with some awful virus in the days leading up to my departure and was, overall, pretty darn miserable. But my thoughts focussed on getting better and wer...