I Kicked the Heck out of That Bucketlist

I almost forgot about this. Also a few more things were added to the list along the way which I never updated on the original list. It's probably pretty obvious, but in case it isn't, \o/ means I successfully completed that goal, :( means I didn't.

- Have a pint in every country we visit \o/
- Have somebody hate us because they think we're American (let me clarify that I don't have anything against Americans, I've just heard that many others do) \o/
- Eat a pannenkoek \o/ (thanks Pia!)
- Watch a minor league hockey game \o/ (well I guess you can say so, if you count that outdoor hockey rink in Switzerland we saw from the top of the mountain? Screw it I'm counting it..)
- Buy at least one vinyl record \o/
- Attempt a conversation with my (our) minimalistic French speaking abilities \o/
- Eat an open face sandwich (Smørrebrød) in Copenhagen \o/
- Visit at least 7 countries \o/
- Hitchhike \o/
- Don't get kidnapped \o/
- Couchsurf \o/
- Don't lose passport \o/
- Take a train \o/
- Take a plane \o/
- Bike around the Netherlands \o/
- Convince Lucas to get on the drums at La Fontaine :(
- See two seas meet at Skagen :(
- Entice a premature mid life crisis \o/
- Ruin friendship forever, only to realize 2 months later that we are brothers until and after the grave \o/ (well we didn't ruin a friendship, however we are homies until after the grave)
- See the Cliffs of Mohor \o/
- Yell at the top of my lungs \o/
- Have my saliva travel a distance of over 10 feet \o/
- Photobomb a photo \o/\o/\o/\o/ (several times I'm sure, some intentional, others not so much)
- Take a tour \o/
- Do a pub crawl \o/
- Order a Galway Hooker \o/ (its a name of a beer. Relax)
- Almost get hit by a car \o/ (silly Irish road rules)
- Get lost \o/ (that was bound to happen though)
- Send a postcard :(
-  Get hit on, by both men and women \o/ (shoutout to muscly gay guy in Amsterdam with a shirt that was 2 sizes too small..)

Thank You! Bedankt! Tak! Merci Beaucoup! Vielen Dank! Go Raibh Maith Agat!

Just wanted to take the time to give some props where they are deserved. Some of the people mentioned here may never read this, but I think I can still give thanks. Sorry for the long entry..
First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to my travel companion and partner in crime Lucas! Even though we didn't do the whole trip together to the end, I don't think I would have ever done this trip if you hadn't accompanied me. Screw any of the past male cow manure (bullshit), we are homies until after the grave!
Thank you to my insanely cool and supportive dad/pops/papa/father/coolestmanontheblock. Not only for helping me organize and get through this trip, but for always being there when I need help, even when I don't need help. You have raised me very well and I couldn't be more thankful! Also I thought it was insanely cool to hear a bit about your history and see some photos of your past (I'll be sure to put another one up here once my phone allows it :))
Thank you to my unbelievably cool brother and best friend Ziggy! Thanks for always being able to cheer me up, even if you're not aware you're doing it. I may not say it enough, probably because you already know it but I am so lucky to have you as a brother!
Thank you to Lucas' parents Joan and Richard. You both made this trip so much easier to do by always lending a helping hand. You have no idea how much this has helped me. Thanks as well for always being such great hosts whenever I am over. Its nice to be able to feel so comfortable around you and treating me almost as one of your own (if its appropriate of me to say so?)
Thanks to all of my roommates back home for holding down the fort and keeping the house in one piece! Thanks Aly for taking care of my room whilst I was gone, hope you enjoyed your stay and aren't too sick of my roommates yet ;)
Thank you Tim Freeman for being so mindbogglingly generous! All the favours you did for both Lucas and I, even ones we were not expecting at all were fantastic. I had such a great time getting to know you a little better as well. I am SO pumped to start making some groovy tunes thanks to you! If I can ever return the favour do not hesitate to ask. Hope I didn't leave your place in too much of a mess?
Thank you Machteld! I am so happy to have had the opportunity to see you again after all these years. Some things have changed, but I am so happy to see that our friendship hasn't. You really knew how to make our time in Tilburg a lot of fun. Thank you as well to the entire Zoontjens family for not only being so nice to me, but also to my friend Lucas (a complete stranger to you all until now).
Thank you Ger for being to enthusiastic to catch up. It was great to see you again after like 14 years and my old school as well. You have hardly changed a bit, but that is the highest compliment I can probably give, because you have always been such an amazing human being. You have really influenced the way I was raised a lot more than you may think. Keep being you and doing what you do. Hope you have an incredible adventure on your hiking trip!
Thank you to Peter Huijbrecht for letting two (almost complete) strangers crash at your lovely home in Amsterdam. Lucas and I had a blast! The amount of work you put in to help us get around and find our way and contacts you gave was incredible! I absolutely loved hearing the stories you had to tell. Wish I could have written them all down to read later on, because some of them were so fantastic! If you do ever find your way back in the area of Vancouver or Victoria, do not hesitate to give us a call. I would be so pleased to return the favour! (Although unfortunately I don't own two cats as awesome as you do).
Thank you Quincella for making the trek out from Maastricht to Amsterdam to meet up with us. It was very nice to see you again and to catch up, even for the brief time it was. Wish the weather could have been a bit more lenient, but it was great seeing you none the less! Hope the university of Leiden treats you well.
Thank you Patrick my brother from another mother! I am so stoked that I was finally able to come visit you in Switzerland as opposed to you always coming to Vancouver (not that that is ever a bad thing!) I had such a nice time there, and the way you guys took care of me as such wonderful hosts was amazing! Thank you as well to the whole family, Christina your cooking abilities are much too good. I wish you guys lived closer, not just so I could eat more of the delicious food, but also to see all of you lovely people more frequently. (Also Patrick I'm still doing pushups everyday mate, I'll be catching up to you in no time now ;))
Thank you Freek, Pia and Eugene. I am so pleased I was still able to see you all during my second time in the Netherlands. The 8 hours didn't seem like enough and I couldn't believe how fast time flew whilst at your house. It really is a shame we didn't live closer together. Good luck Eugene on your bike excursion. I'm very impressed that you're doing such a thing. Also thank you Pia for the pannenkoek :) You guys should really come visit in Vancouver some time! 
Thank you Reinier for the great conversation and the delicious dinner at your home. It was such a pleasure getting to know you a little better. I can definitely see that my dad has some really cool friends. Makes me just that much prouder of him. Thanks for being so so kind!
Thank you to all of the fellow travelers I met along the way. I will attempt to get you all in here, but I met so many amazing individuals, I sincerely apologize if I miss somebody here. From first to last - Guilherme, John, Luiz and Bruna in Brussels - thanks for making the transitions of traveling in a new place that much smoother. Ben, Olivia, Dara, and the two girls from Belgium and Australia (?) (whose names escape me) in Copenhagen - it was such a pleasure hanging with you all. Ben I am stoked you were in the same room as I was, you were probably the only person I really talked to that I shared a room with there and it made the stay much better. Hope your travels went well! Leon, Naomi, Abby, Daisy, Alex, Lorenzo, Florent plus a few more in Lyon - y'all made Lyon so much more fun than I had originally expected. Those people I talked to in the kitchen (the two Scandinavians, the two Russians who had hitchhiked pretty much all of Europe, and those two Canadians I let into the kitchen, but who weren't actually staying at the hostel - anything for a fellow Canadian eh! And of course Alex in Munich - didn't really meet a whole lot of people whilst in Munich, but being able to click with a fellow Canadian so well was a pleasure. It was kickass to experience some of the German lifestyle with you homie! Hope your stay in Ireland for this next month goes smoothly (don't get too homesick! Canada will still be here when you go back). Meredith (thanks for chilling with me like every single day, I enjoyed every moment! Super glad we're still talking. Felt like I got to know somebody I had known for a long time already, even though I had just met you), Jolene, Matthew, David Strauss (my secret agent homie) Gillian, Ally, and the guy who helped eat my large portion of pasta in Dublin - you guys made Dublin one of my favorite places of my entire two month excursion. All the lovely people that offered me a ride and made my hitchhike adventure from Dublin to Galway possible. Kate (let me know when you come to Vancouver), those two Canadians (there were a lot of them everywhere), the one roommate who was instantly friendly with me (can't for the life of me remember his name) and the group of French people who invited us to play poker with them in Galway - my stay there was short (probably too short) but you guys made it very enjoyable. Louise and Fingel (sorry if I misspelled that) in Switzerland at Patrick's place - it was a pleasure to get to know you both, hope your stay there is as nice as mine was. Allen on the bus ride from Geneva to Rotterdam - good luck with your 7th year of treeplanting bud! Hope you get to go home soon to enjoy your new pad. I know I'm missing a fair amount of folks on here, but I did my best.
Thanks as well to everybody I was going to meet up with but never got the chance to. This may sound sarcastic when you read it, but thank you none the less. I wish I had the opportunity to still be there and all the time in the world to see all of your lovely faces, but unfortunately it was a tight jam. This just means I need to come back to Europe some time in the near future though to see all the people I didn't get the chance to this time round.
Big shout out to everybody who helped us plan this trip and gave me suggestions of places to go and things to do. Thank you as well to all the people who checked up on me to ask how things were going. Hearing from the people back home whilst traveling was such a great feeling!
Last but not least, I'd like to say thank YOU, yes YOU if you're still reading this. I know this blog can maybe drag on a bit and I have a tendency to be redundant. I can be redundant but if you're still reading this thank you.

Sorry if I missed anybody. But you know who you are, just call me out and ask me why I forgot to say thanks to you and make me feel bad about forgetting.

TLDR: Thank you, you guys are awesome!

I Had to Just Ask Somebody Are UK?

Well I didn't actually have to ask somebody about their well being, but I did help somebody find the right size lid for their coffee.. So close enough I guess?

Clouds and stuff

Buildings and stuff

Anyhow, I am currently sitting in the Heathrow airport in London, England and I have a bit of time to kill. 11 hours, 7 minutes and a few seconds to be precise, but I'm trying not to count down the minutes. The flight from Brussels to here went extremely smoothly though so that's nice. Probably the smoothest flight I've ever taken, but maybe that's because it was under an hour long? There's not really a whole lot I can write about, but I'm trying to keep myself entertained, so there. I will leave my afterthoughts of the whole trip and my experiences to when I am actually back in Vancouver because you never know what can still happen in this short little while. I feel like I'd be cheating if I started right now and gave myself a head start.

Transportation out of NL

Also its raining. The only time in my lifetime that I've been to England. The stereotype that it rains all the time here maybe holds some truth? Being from Vancouver though I can relate. Although now I'm here talking about the weather, and feel like one of my customers at my previous cashier job who didn't know what to talk about so spoke about the weather.

Being hipster on the airplane

Also, also, this airport is huuuuuge! There was a bus that picked us up from the airplane and brought us to the airport terminal. I was slightly confused getting on this random bus, because I wasn't really expecting it and had never seen something like this before. I just really hoped it didn't take me all the way to the city center or anything. Not that it would have mattered really though, a free ride there and some time to kill. But even so, the safety and comfort of being unadventurous is one I am holding on to dearly at the moment. I do not want to risk getting lost in London and missing my flight or anything. (I feel like I'm contradicting my previous entries by really ¨living on the edge¨ here).

So I was at an ATM and an old lady asked me to help check her balance. So I pushed her over.

Not Regretting My Decision at Holland I'm Happy I Did This

The streets of Tilburg. I love those patios they have everywhere!

Wadduuuuup?
So I've been in Tilburg for a few days maxing and relaxing, chilling like a villain, snug like a slug, etc. Do not get me wrong though, I make it sound like I've been bored, but that has NOT been the case. Yes I've been a little more static than the previous weeks of travel, but as aforementioned that is exactly what I wanted.
What have I done in the past couple of days you ask? I've been staying at Tim's apartment once again, which is fantastic! I took one full day to do nothing but laze around and watch movies and eat food. Hadn't had one of those in a while and it was much needed! Went out to Tilburg center a few times with Tim and by myself as well. One night Tim and myself met up with Reinier, a friend of my father's who I had previously met in the past but never talked to very much.

Great company, great people! :)

I can see why my father is friends with this gentleman. He is extremely friendly and a very easy person to converse with. Tonight he had invited Tim and I to dinner at his place with his wife. We had Indonesian food which Reinier cooked and I had maybe three full plates of it. When you've eaten nothing but sandwiches and salad for a few days, to have a proper home cooked meal that is something else is phenomenal! They showed me pictures of back in the day, and my father was in a few of them looking mighty cool! I'm not just saying that either, I have evidence to support my claims (sorry pops..):

So...

..Damn..

..COOL!

Then yesterday I went over to see my aunt Pia, uncle Eugene and cousin Freek in Eindhoven (well close to Eindhoven, but I'm going to say Eindhoven because that seems easier (I also can't remember the name of the place they live)). I wasn't sure if I was still going to be able to see them before I headed home, but I am very happy I had the opportunity to do so! I wish we could all live closer together and visit more frequently. Whilst there I was once more fed a delicious meal and Pia even made me a pancake because I had mentioned that it was on my bucket list, but I had not yet eaten one. I wasn't expecting them to make me one - the thought had never even crossed my mind - however Pia offered and I couldn't say no. It was delicious!

Yum yum

Look at these good looking folks, Eugene, Pia and Freek

Freek had picked me up at 4:00ish at the train station and before I knew it, it was already 11:30 and he kindly drove me back home to Tilburg. It was a pleasure to catch up with them and to look at some old photos which brought me down memory lane (I won't put any of those photos up here though, which to be honest may just be better for both yours and my sake haha).
The night before that Tim had so kindly brought me out to eat and I had a veggie burrito followed by a coffee. Then we went to this very ¨gezellig¨ (super hip Dutch term, closest translation is maybe ¨cozy¨, but this is one of those terms that is just not quite translatable) cafe and ordered a few drinks.

Roland TR-8 & TB-3, so much fun!

Thanks Pia, it was delicious!

I have been telling Tim that I am also interested in learning how to use some electronic music equipment and programs to make some tunes of my own and to just learn a program and play around a bit with it. I find it to be a lot of fun, and Tim having a lot of knowledge, was kind enough to bring over his laptop to show give me a tutorial of the program Cubase, which is the one he is familiar with. It is great to have somebody show you right there in front of me because I can ask questions, and seeing the possibilities of such a program really excites me! He also brought over a drum machine (Roland TR-8) and a bass synthesizer (Roland TB-3) and showed me how to use them and what the buttons and functions did. So whilst I'm sitting in the flat here I am often playing around on these machines seeing what kind of noise I can make. Why is this so fun!? I stayed up the other night playing on these machines until 3:00AM then realized what time it was and figured I should maybe get some sleep. Uh oh, Tim what have you done!? :)
Today (yesterday technically seeing as its 2:19AM in Tilburg as I write these words) was my last full day in Europe, for now at least. I definitely know I want to come back again even if only for a visit. Although I am looking forward to some of the things back home, it definitely does feel strange to be heading home again tomorrow. I have never traveled alone, and never for this long, so I have at this point grown rather accustomed to it. People kept warning me about this thing called ¨the travel bug¨. Pfffft I had a decently strong immune system, I don't catch no bugs..or do I?
I will write a proper conclusion, and a long thank you list (seriously thanks already to everybody that deserves thanks, you know who you are) in the next couple of entries, but figured for now I'd tell y'all what I've been up to and how much fun I'm still having!

Also my phone has decided it doesn't want to connect to my laptop once again so I am unable (for the time being) to add any pictures of the last few days. But they are coming soon, once I can figure this thing out. (EDIT: hoorah!!)

The Batcave. History went down in there

Why We Do What We Do

Sorry no pun here. Maybe I'm slacking? I'll be sure to throw in a bad joke at the end of this entry to make up for it though. I was going to call it something like ¨Not Sure if Europe to Reading this Entry¨, but figured that's not a good way to get people reading my posts.
So this entry here isn't really much about what I've been up to in the past couple of days - I will get to that eventually - it is more a contemplative/philosophical entry.
Why do we do what we do? Why do we get up in the morning? Why do we adapt to certain hobbies? Why does one person's opinion vary from the next? Can I answer these questions? Well I sure as hell can try! And that is not to say that I think my attempt at the answers to these theses is any more adequate, or universally true. I believe that we all hold our own universal truths, and this allows for some very interesting room for growth and experience/opinion sharing.. not to mention a ton of problems as well, but I'll leave that subject for another time.
Why do we get up in the morning? One may argue that we do so for the sake of survival. We set our alarms at 6:00AM (or 5:50 to allow one punch of the snooze button) just so we can go to our daily grinds. Whether it be at the office, at the track field, at the grocery store, at the hospital, or at the construction zone. (I realize this is a very first world point of view, but that is the one I grew up with so I think it is only appropriate that I write about the things I am more familiar with). We make our best attempts at staying on top of it all, all the bills, all the issues (physically and/or mentally), all the health concerns, all the family matters, all the social matters, all the news, all the social media, all the new releases, all things that are ¨hip¨. Humans can put so much effort into trying to be effortless. But why? Sure having some stability can be reassuring, however the rate at which some people are attempting to accomplish this ¨goal¨, is it really worth the sweat and tears?
I may be posing too many questions at this point, surely more than I can attempt to tackle. Yet I think questions are a flavourful way of making an individual assess things and to reach a level he/she wouldn't have reached yet without slowing down to contemplate such said questions.
Where was I? (I sure do get side-tracked at times). Why do we do the things we do? We seek stability financially, socially, physically and mentally.. yes? If we can agree on that (which is possibly a bit of a stretch) why do we vary on the things we ACTUALLY do? What do we do on our days off? Why do certain individuals get more time off than others? There are many aspects to that, however the latter is not the question I will attempt to answer here, and I'm sure some of us have a clear idea of why people tend to have more freedoms than others. Freedom? What a stupid concept really. Many think of freedom as such a linear concept. ¨Oh I don't need to work 40 hours at a minimum wage job, I'm more free than my neighbour who is hardly getting by¨. ¨Oh I've got my mortgage paid off, I sure am a more free human being now¨. ¨I've seen more of the world, I've traveled and seen remote villages I had never even previously heard of. I sure love this freedom thing¨. ¨I love the fact I speak 4 langauges, it sure gives me more freedom when traveling¨..I could go on.. Having certain privileges and being ¨free¨ are, in my opinion, two entirely separate things. How can we rate freedom? Is a butler who takes pride in his work and the people he works for any less free than a multimillionaire with too much time/money and nothing/nobody to spend it on/with? Is a multi-linguist with nobody to talk to any more free than a mute with life stories to tell? (Re-reading over this, I just want to clarify that it seems there is a common theme in my piece here and that is that it seems like I am condescending to people with money and/or an education.. don't get me wrong I am not biased, just simply trying to make a point). No. It is not the conditions/environment that an individual lives in which determines his/her ability to feel free, it is her/his ability to adapt to what's around and to make the most of it which determines his/her feeling of freedom (too bold a statement? - write your own damn blog!)
I often have thought that humans as a whole easily get accustomed to what they have and grow tired of things very rapidly. More is never enough. With that in mind, isn't freedom all relative? If humans as a whole are never satisfied with what is presented, with a strive for always wanting a little bit more, then freedom is caged in a cell with the key tossed into hell.
We are as free as we want to be. We cannot continue to let outer sources determine our rights and define who we are supposed to be. What have I learned during my travels? I am my best friend and my worst enemy. I set the boundaries of my own experience and my own life. It isn't about reaching my goal and sacrificing what's important to me along the way by giving up the freedoms I privileged with. Its about holding on to these freedoms as I continue to live the life I was given. The freedom of making choices, the freedom of learning from adaptation, the freedom of friendships, the freedom of thinking, the freedom of speech, the freedom of experience, the freedom of experimentation, the freedom of success, the freedom of failure, the freedom of love, the freedom of hate.
So why do we have different opinions and why do we have different hobbies? This seems simply obvious to me. Every single person on this planet is different. We all have different histories, different emotions, different mental and physical states of mind. How one individual will react to a certain piece of music or piece of land for example will always be different than everybody else - regardless of how similar the circumstances may be. I think the environment an individual grows up in and/or resides in will determine how he/she reacts to certain situations. Same goes for the way an individual is raised, his/her history, good/bad memories, education, friends, family, lessons, experiences and so on. That, in my uneducated opinion, answers that question.
Sure the world has problems, and fundamentally I realize that human rights in some places are in clear violation and certain people overall have it easier than others. I am simply trying to make the best of the things we can hold on to, and to focus on the positives while respecting the fact that there are negatives as well.
Sorry for the rant. Hope I don't sound too unintelligent? I may re-read this tomorrow and wonder what was in those few beers I had earlier tonight. But for the meantime there you go!
And now for the bad joke I promised:
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

I'm oPUN to Suggestions but They Might be a BUSt?

Aaaaaah I'm really starting to struggle on these titles here. I sincerely apologize!
Where am I at now? Back in my hometown of Tilburg. Home sweet home! Tim is being an awesome individual once again and allowing me to crash here until my flight back home on the 14th. Thank you Tim! In the meantime, allow me to bore you with my last couple of days.

Some homemade quinoa salad and veggie soup. Yum yum!

Switzerland was great! Thank you so so much to Patrick and his family and their homestay students who made my stay very pleasant! Didn't do a whole bunch of things in my last couple of days in Switzerland, but to be honest that is exactly what I was looking for. Hung out with Patrick and looked around a little bit. I've been sick for the past couple of days (I'm thinking that run in the rain may have done it - not that I regret doing it though) so I've been a little bit low energy and unenthusiastic. I did however get a chance to look around Lausanne in the rain for a little bit. Patrick and I did also do some one on one airsofting which was a LOT of fun! We had one pistol each and played the best of 5 - he won 3 and I won 2. Its hard to explain, but there is something oddly fun about running around in the woods trying not to be spotted or heard (or smelt if its that bad haha) and shooting at one another - all in good spirit though of course. Also Switzerland is definitely where I had the best tasting food from all of my travels. They say Lyon is the food capitol of France and most of Europe, but the people who say this clearly have not tasted the food that Christina (Patrick's mother) is capable of making. Good grief was I ever spoiled.

Rusty the Trusty

Also to note, its interesting traveling as a vegetarian - I always feel as though I'm inconveniencing people when I go to visit and they make me food or we go out to eat. I have been able to do it without any problems so far, and I feel that it is much easier in a place such as Europe? Patrick's family was very nice about it as well, and it was never an issue, so I appreciate that very much!

So!.. Much!.. Cheese!..

Just a little description and explanation of that picture on the left to insert here. On my last night in Switzerland it was Patrick's turn to cook dinner and he made some ¨proper¨ Swiss fondue. It was quite good and I actually thoroughly enjoyed it, however the entertainment value of it all was what made the meal so great. Turns out not enough wine was added to the fondue so the cheese was EXTREMELY stringy and hard to break off. It was quite the texture and we all joked about how sick we might be the next day if we finished it all. This was kind of funny at first but then concerning considering I had a long bus ride ahead of me. All in all it was very good :) So thank you Patrick! (Peep the video at the end of this post for a better idea of it all).
Whilst still in Switzerland I had messaged Tim and he mentioned that he would be in Rotterdam for a few days visiting Peter (who we had also met up with previously on this trip). He also said that I was welcome to come over for a night as well if I was up for that. I loved the idea, so I made sure it was alright then booked my bus ticket from Geneva to Rotterdam. The strange thing about this ticket, is that it gave me a departure time and date, but not a time or date for my estimated time of arrival. So for all I know it could have driven to Russia before making its way back to Western Europe - the chances of this were obviously extremely low, however it worried me none the less. I looked on good ol' trustworthy google maps to see how long it would take from Geneva to Rotterdam by car and figured I'd add on a little bit of time due to stops the bus would take, and also considered that the bus would travel a bit slower than a normal car. Google told me roughly 10 hours, so I thought that 11 would be a safe bet. Good grief am I ignorant sometimes. Let me just rewind a little bit first. Once I had taken to train to Geneva it took me about 15 minutes to find the bus station but when I got there all it was was a parking lot with 1 vacant bus in it and a small office on the side that was closed. I was a little worried at first, but slowly other travelers started showing up so this was a little re-assuring. Soon the office opened and I gave my bus ticket to the guy behind the kiosk. He told me, ¨enjoy the trip¨ (these people sure do have a sense of humour). The bus was supposed to leave at 11:00 but it didn't get there until at least 11:30. Once I was on the bus I sat next to one of the only open seats on the bus - little did I know, the man sitting next to me (who's name was Allen) was a fellow Vancouverite who recognized my Canadian-ness from the Vancouver Canucks cap I was rocking. Small world - big Canada. So I talked to Allen for a little while about Canada and our lives back home. He was taking a bus to Paris to catch a flight back home then head out the next day to go tree-planting for another season (this would be his 7th). It was nice to actually talk to somebody on this long trip because it sure made the time go by faster. I swear that each bus I get into, they keep getting progressively smaller and smaller. I couldn't even fit my legs into the section where said legs are supposed to ¨rest¨ so I had to put them into the aisle, but most passengers were asleep so it wasn't much of an issue. The guy sitting on the other side of the aisle eventually just lay down on the ground to catch a snooze because it was clear that he was fed up with the limited leg room as well. I wanted to take a picture of some of the awkward positions he was in because I thought they were amusing, however I really didn't want to get caught snapping photos of strangers whilst on a bus filled with strangers.

Graffiti in Lausanne

I did manage to get a bit of sleep on the bus ride, but would often violently wake up thinking I had overslept and potentially missed my stop - this was never the case.
So a good 17 hours later - after many stops, and many snoozes, and many sips of water, and many people snoring, and a limited amount of food (I forgot to bring Euros so I couldn't buy any) - I finally reached Rotterdam! Hoorah! So I had told Tim and Peter I might be there at 9:00. I got there at 4:00. I felt like an utter asshole. And my phone didn't work so I had no way of contacting them to let them know I would be a ¨bit¨ on the late side. But Tim was at the stop to greet me like the total champ that he is. Luckily enough he was able to ask the lady at the desk when the bus was expected to arrive and came back later to meet me.

Peter's wicked studio space! (I am slightly jealous)

Peter once again was such a gracious host. He ordered some Indian food for all of us and we hung out at his flat listening to some good music, having good conversations, eating good food, watching the Bayern Munchen vs Barcelona football match, playing around in his music studio and watching some movie about an ice hockey player (made me a little homesick haha). Tim went back to Tilburg that evening, but Peter kindly enough told me I could spend the night there if I wished and that is exactly what I did. In the morning he showed me around Rotterdam a little bit and took me to a few of his favorite record stores. In the afternoon he dropped me off at the train station and I headed to Tilburg, which is where I am now.

SOOOOO MAAAAANY

BIIIIIIIIIIKES!!!

I may just take a few slow days of not doing a whole lot to be fully honest. I know its supposedly all about going out and meeting people and doing things that are edgy, however I think I need a few slow days to get myself gathered a little bit. Was thinking of maybe still making my way out to Germany once more, however I don't think I'll have the time to do that.
So here I am, listening to some of my recently bought vinyl records (totally digging this one track Ta-Ku - Steady Goes), drinking a Kasteel Bier Tripel, and updating this blog. The Montreal vs Tampa Bay hockey game is in about an hour or two I believe and I'm contemplating staying up to see it.

I Think I've Got a Pretty Haiku

Travel can be hard
Please accept my credit card
Stupid bus website

- William Shakespeare