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

These Titles are Quite the Bern to my Originality

Jus some homies chillin' on a mountain

Castles and stuff

Can't really remember if I've actually been through any of Bern (in Switzerland for those that don't know) in the last couple of days or not, but I was struggling with a title so there we are. I was going to do something along the lines of, ¨This Place Sure Gets my Vaud¨ (Vaud being another Swiss canton) but yeah I think I'm starting to struggle a little bit.. So I am currently residing in Switzerland again, in Yens, which is in Vaud, with my homeboy Patrick and his family, two students who are also temporarily staying at this house and of course I can't forget Rusty the trusty dog. It has been a fun past couple of days! To be honest, it is quite nice being away from all the hustle and bustle of all the big cities once more. I arrived here on the 29th at aboot 11:00AM and for those of you that read my previous [and short] entry Pretty Fly for a Stupid Guy, you'll know that I booked my flight on the wrong month. But enough about that. On the second day that I was here Patrick drove me out to Thun where he showed me around a little bit, and pointed out all his army service related areas and which building was for what and what the different army outfits meant. It was quite different to see being from Canada where army service is not mandatory. Its interesting that such a neutral country as Switzerland still has obligatory time of service - however now I am getting into politics and I'm sure there's a million other blogs out there about all of that. We had originally planned on spending the night in Thun, however decided to keep going and find a spot nearer the alps. We (Patrick) looked at the map and decided to head to the small city, municipality, district, canton ((?) I don't even know anymore) of Brig which is located in Southern Switzerland near Italy on the other side of the alps. To get there however you need to get through the alps, but the super sophisticated GPS system we were using took us to this train station where you pay for the ticket, drive your car onto this train, then sit in your car whilst it takes you underneath the mountains through a very dark tunnel for about 8-10 minutes.

Artsy photo of the train ride

This was actually really cool, I don't think I have even been in a tunnel that long, or that dark, and especially not whilst still sitting in your car and moving at the speed that the train was. Before going on we both had no idea whether we were going in the right direction or not, or whether we were waiting in the correct area. But it all turned out alright, and luckily we were not the first in line, but just behind the first vehicle, so we just followed their lead.

Nature calling?

Making our way up the mountain

On the other side of the train we were already in such a beautiful area of Switzerland with mountains all around us. Once we reached Brig we were contemplating whether to pitch a tent somewhere outside, sleep in the car, or find a campsite somewhere. Being the spoiled individuals that we are, we decided to just find a campsite. The first one we checked out seemed nice, but the only space they had available was this one hut with 8 beds lying RIGHT next to one another, it smelled bad, there were all sorts of dead insects in the covers of the bed, the lighting was awful, and it just felt like an all round bad place to spend the night, even for the 15 franc it would have cost us. So we kept looking. The second spot we found is where we decided to crash for the night. But that is not what we did when we got there, because honestly, what would be the point in that. No, we took our dinners and several beers up the mountain and found a really nice view where we ate, and progressively got more intoxicated. Looking back at it now, it seems like a terrible idea really, however the experience and memory is totally worth all that potential risk of falling off a 50 meter cliff right next to us. Let me tell you though, the view was incredible! I wish I was able to upload some photos to this blog from the ones I took from my phone, however my phone and laptop don't seem to get along very well. Also the pictures never do it justice, especially after hyping up the spot so much. So just imagine nice mountains, a mediocre sandwich, good beers, great company, a warm breeze, lots of rocks, and a small city where from where we were everybody looked like ants. Yup, life really isn't so bad. Also something that I thought was very amusing, was the fact that in this small town, they had an outdoor ice rink, and it was being used by like 9 people at one point. Darn it, I thought I left ice hockey and its Canadian-ness back in Canada. I can't seem to get away from our stereotypes regardless where I go. But I figured since the Canucks are now out of the playoffs, this was a good alternative to watch.

Patrick in the nail polish section
(He'd kill me if he realizes I put
this up here haha)

Several beers in. Still plenty to go

The morning after we ate breakfast and drove back to Yens. There isn't really much I can say about all that, because I was asleep for the majority of the ride (sorry Patrick). It rained a lot, and we passed a few cows and sheep. That same day we got back it was still pissing cats and dogs outside, but I suggested we go for a run - more as a joke initially. Patrick however was very keen on the idea, and that is just what we did. We went for a run in the pouring rain, through some farm land and past some cows into the forest and back to the house again. Seriously people, go do stuff like this! You feel so incredibly alive when you get absolutely drenched past the point of caring and you're out of breath and all you really want to do is lie down. But if you keep pushing, THAT is where its at. Stop making excuses and go do things! I sometimes need to jog my memory (see what I did there?) about this fact, but traveling has really helped me solidify things.
Today I woke up a little bit late, but Patrick and myself did manage to get in a few games of airsoft and now I'm back in the house just chilling writing things to myself and anybody who is still taking the time of day to read these entries.
What's next? That's a good question. I am in Europe until the 14th, and am flying out of the Brussels airport. So I'm thinking I will stay in Switzerland until the 7th or 8th then either take a bus or a train or a flight or a ride (whatever's cheapest really) to the Netherlands and hang around there until the 14th. Luckily my flight is at night because to be honest I'm not so keen on spending that much time again in Brussels. We just didn't really vibe that well. As much as I hate/love to say it, there are still SO many places I would have liked to go on this trip and would still like to go to, but I just wasn't able to do it this time around. But I suppose that gives me a good excuse to potentially come back in the future?
Ciao pour maintenant.

This silly things wouldn't leave me alone and kept following me

Hitchhikers Guide to Galway

So I broke my hitchhiking virginity (for a lack of a better way of putting it) on April 27th, 2015 in good ol' Ireland. I (and hopefully not too many of my hostel roommates) woke up in the morning from my alarm clock at about 7:00 and hit up the all you can eat/drink breakfast in the hostel kitchen - soooooo much cereal and toast and coffee. I said goodbye to a few roommates and hit the road super caffeinated - first stop the bus stop to make my way to the outskirts of the city where it would (so I heard) be easier to hitch a ride. I took the 25B bus direction Adamstown 9 stops all the way to Lucan Road (The Oval) where the highway seemed to start, direction West. I asked the driver to let me know when the stop was, but he didn't seem to be all too familiar with the route, so I counted the stops on my fingers and got off when it seemed to make sense. I walked along the highway a little ways and stuck my thumb out at exactly 11:00AM. I stood there for a good 20 minutes with no real luck and started to have second thoughts about this whole idea. I figured maybe if I walk back a little bit in the direction of the gas station I would perhaps have better luck. This was exactly the case. Within about 5 minutes of having my thumb in the air, this Irish lady stopped and asked where I was headed. I told her Galway, but anywhere closer to that destination would help. I was hoping to make it to the next town/city on the way which I thought would be Kinnegad. Luckily enough she lived there but told me I would have better luck catching a ride from this one truck stop where traffic didn't travel to fast and where lots of people drove through. We got there in about 15 minutes and she let me off at the stop where a Russian gentleman named Nicholas took a lot of interest in my travels and offered me a free coffee. I spoke to Nicholas for about 15 minutes about life, travel, politics, work and food before sticking out my thumb again to try and make it further along my journey. I stood there for a little while and one car stopped - which ignorantly enough I thought was for me - but alas the guy was only stopping for one of Nick's coffees and sandwiches. A couple of minutes later another fellow stopped and again I had high hopes it was for me. Originally he had stopped for grub as well but he asked me where I was headed and told me if I was willing to wait for him to eat he would definitely take me to the next town on the way to Athlone. I gladly obliged and the kind gentleman took me to a decent spot where he thought I would have better luck catching a ride. He was an electrician of sorts and was actually on the clock, so him giving me a ride was fantastic! He even mentioned something when driving through one small town that one of the Jonas Brothers was from there, I told him I really couldn't care less about that - it just kind of came out of my mouth and I was afraid I had maybe offended him. But he chuckled and told me that he didn't either. 

My hitchhiking route

My next piece of ground I stood on with my thumb out was a slightly smaller road than all the others so far, and it seemed that it had gotten a lot colder and windier. Luckily enough, however, this was also the place where I probably got picked up the fastest from all of my spots. My next chauffeur was a Latvian woman who said she was happy to see me stand next to the road because it reminded her of her hitchhiking days and told me she totally understood what it was like. She was very friendly about it all, and told me that if it wasn't for the fact that she had children and a family as well now, she would still love to hitchhike again.She wasn't entirely sure where to drop me off and what my best bet would be, but she told me what she did know and gave me walking directions to where she thought would be a good spot. Although she was right, it was indeed a good spot, I think she underestimated how far away it really was. I had to walk along the highway with traffic zooming by me for about 40 minutes with both of my backpacks and my records I had picked up along my travels in my arm. This wasn't really so bad, but I didn't really know how much longer I would have to walk. I eventually reached Exit 13 which was the one she told me to go to. I didn't even bother trying to hitch on the main highway because traffic was going much too fast, and there were several signs I ¨blindly¨ strolled past that said that pedestrians were not allowed alongside the highway. This would be the part where if I got stopped I'd pretend to only speak Dutch and really hope the officer isn't also a Dutchman or Dutchwoman. Regardless to say I was never stopped and eventually made it to the little town that Exit 13 led into. The directions the Latvian woman gave me weren't exactly accurate but I was able to make sense of it all. I decided that just in front a gas station would be my best choice to try and catch a car ride. This was one of the points where I was really starting to wonder what the hell I was actually doing here. It took some time for my next driver to stop, I was hungry, my coffee was starting to wear off, my hands (especially my thumb) were getting numb, I was tired, my shoulders hurt from the weight of my backpacks, and I didn't really know exactly where I was. But I was not giving up! I had come too far. 

Still going in the right direction

..soon enough a very kind Irish gentleman stopped and offered me a ride to the next town I was headed which if memory serves me correctly was Ballinasloe. I'd also like to take this moment here to mention that when people driving in their cars indicate that they are continuing on and not actually giving me a ride by pointing forward, to be extremely confusing. Several times I thought somebody was stopping up ahead (hence why they were pointing), and I would turn around with a big smile on my face because it seemed like my next ride had finally arrived. However like 5 or 6 people did this and just continued on. Maybe they were just messing with me in which case that's just not very friendly at all.
Where was I? Oh yes kind Irish gentleman giving me a ride. So this man's accent was quite thick and he talked at altered volumes and speeds which made it slightly difficult to always understand what he was saying, and at one point I had him talking about country music which I don't know the first thing about. Not that I necessarily have anything against it, or that I don't respect the genre of music, I simply just don't know anything about it other than that I like a few Johnny Cash songs. Anyhow, he keeps asking me if I know any of these Canadian country singers and I felt kind of bad saying no like 4 or 5 times in a row, because he was getting quite excited simply talking about them, so I just started saying things like ¨oh yeah that name rings a bell¨, or ¨I know the name but not really his/her music¨. I figured that I could just start being super pretentious about 90's hip-hop music or 50/60s jazz musicians, but I did after all enjoy the fact that I had a free ride and didn't want to do anything to spoil it. He was also very opinionated about the Irish government and politics and once I got him going on that, all I had to do was sit back and listen to him rant, which saved me from doing any of the talking. I also think I should mention that this was without a doubt, the messiest vehicle I had ridden in, not only just in my hitchhiking day, but probably in any ride ever that I have gotten in my life. But a free ride's a free ride right?
Come to think of it, I don't think he dropped me off in Ballinasloe but it was another small town/city/area/suburb/whateveryouwanttocallit which was along the way and this would be my last location where I had to stick my thumb in the air. I was getting so close, but I still had a ways to go to Galway. I waited around for a little while but not all too long before a Polish man named Lucas picked me up in his car. I opened the passenger door and out came the sounds of Notorious BIG. I knew right away this would be a good ride. Lucas and I spoke a bit about what we were currently doing for work and school and all that good stuff. Lucas had studied music/sound engineering or something along those lines and this was exciting for me because it is something I have been glancing at as a potential future study subject. He was telling me that it was hard for him to find work in this area, and was saying that if I do go back to school when back in Vancouver that I should take courses as opposed to general studies. Say what you want about that, everybody has their own opinions, but I think it is good to hear what different people have to say, and this was one of the reasons I came on this trip in the first place. And I feel that only the individual can really know what is best for him/her. Anyhow I talked with Lucas some more, and he was telling me of his current work which was kind of being a salesman for this very good alternative energy drink called John Lemon (loving bad puns, I already liked this drink before trying it). He gave me one to try (which was very good) and told me that he would take me all the way to Galway if I was okay with him stopping at a few locations along the way to go into some cafes and restaurants to deliver some of these drinks. I told him that was fantastic and also much too generous of him, but he insisted. He later told me that he was 29 years old and just had a baby girl who is currently 3 months old. Lucas was just in general such a genuine friendly human being and a very good final chauffeur to have on this whole experience. As I was getting out of his car in Galway, he noticed that I was carrying around some vinyl. This seemed to impress him, and he told me of his collection before saying, ¨keep it real brotha¨ and giving me a firm handshake. I simply replied with, ¨heck yeah man¨.
So quick summary. 1) took bus from Dublin to Lucan Road (The Oval). 2) walked around for a bit trying to find optimal hitchhiking pickup spot then got a ride to somewhere close to Kinnegad. 3) got a ride to Kinnegad. 4) made at least halfway to Athlone. 5) made it to Athlone. 6) veered off of my planned route little and made it somewhere close to Ballinasloe. 7) got a ride which I forgot to write about beforehand to somewhere outside of Athenry. 8) got my final ride to Galway. 9) arrived at my hostel at about 6:30PM (18:30). I've already gotten the order of events and the exact locations and names mixed up a little bit, but that pretty accurately describes my day.
What did I learn from all of this? Well let me just start by saying that I was very nervous to try hitchhiking, especially in a foreign country where I did not know the bus routes at all. But this Europe trip for me is all about trying new things and pushing the limits of my comfort zone. I don't think I would have done it, but several people I know really pushed me to the idea (respectfully of course - for the most part :p) and I can't say thank you enough! It really opened up my mind a lot, and it made me realize certain things about myself and others. Not that I am a cynic per say, but I am often not very fast to trust people, or not when it comes to them driving me places where I ma not be able to get out if I need to. Thus I sometimes catch myself making very unfair judgments about people before really even giving them a chance. So if this can at times be my state of mind, how can I expect anybody to stop for a complete stranger on the road who is carrying a load that is much too heavy? How is that fair? But having hitchhiked, it really put me in check - it was a good reminder I guess you could say. The reminder that I need to be more open minded and not really care that much what other's perceptions of me are or what my perceptions are of others, because when I let go of all of that, magic happens. This may sound corny as all heck, but really though, I do mean it. It has also taught me and really solidified the idea that it is okay to get out of my comfort zone more often. It is okay to make mistakes. It is okay to look like a complete fool. It is okay if things don't happen right away. It is okay if things don't happen the right way. Things are okay. Sometimes all I need to do is just slow down and take it all in. Slow down talk to the truck stop guy selling coffee and sandwiches. Slow down and find a square foot of shade to eat lunch in because my feat are sore from walking. Slow down and look at the sights. Slow down and listen to the sounds. Slow down and smell the smells. Why are we always in such a rush? I could have taken a bus to Galway and been there in about 2.5 hours - if that. But would I have experienced the same things I did when hitchhiking? Absolutely not (or I highly doubt it). Then again, maybe I would have met a good friend on that bus ride, but hey this way I met at least 7. What I'm trying to say is, do things differently. Try things, but be responsible. I have been letting myself get stuck in cycles for a while and it is, in my opinion, more often than not, not a great thing to be in. Go do things, go life life! Even if it means inconveniencing yourself or your pride, or your honour. I guarantee you you will learn and experience something phenomenal.

Pretty Fly For a Stupid Guy

I booked my flight to Geneva on May 29th, not April 29th. I was able to change it at the airport, but it cost me 58 euro. I'm an idiot. That is all.

I Couldn't Have Liked Those Cliffs Any Mohor

CLIFFS!

Before I talk about my experience hitchhiking from Dublin to Galway, I will first share my tales of Dublin and Galway and the Cliffs of Mohor - yes I've had an exciting last couple of days. So where do I start? Dublin? Long story short Dublin was fantastic. But long story long: my time in Dublin was a lot of fun. I explored a little bit and saw some parks, streets, pubs, went on a literary pub crawl (yes that's a thing), ate some ice cream at Dun Laoghaire (already forget how to pronounce that) and of course saw some live Irish folk music (which I didn't even know I liked until I saw it live). My first two nights in Dublin were spent in a hostel called Abrahams. I wasn't supposed to even have stayed there at all to begin with because I thought I had all my nights booked at The Spire hostel (my second hostel). Buuuut as it turned out I messed up my booking (which I may have mentioned earlier? - so my apologies if I'm becoming redundant), and I was either going to be homeless in Dublin for two nights, or book another hostel. I was to be honest kind of keen of the idea of being a Dublin bum for two nights, buuuut in hindsight I am very happy I opted not to do that.

My pub crawl homies Meredith, Matteo (Matthew?) and Jolene

I met some very cool people at Abrahams including my 60 something year old secret agent homeboy David Strauss and his 13 languages, a few Canadians, some other guy who's name I forget, some French person who kindly helped me finish my pasta the first night because I made entirely too much, Matteo, Jolene, and last but definitely not least Meredith - if you are reading this, thanks so much for hanging out with me practically every day, and it was such a pleasure meeting you and getting to know you! So far so good! Then I moved to my next hostel which was right around the corner. This was a 22 bed dorm and I figured with 22 beds, surely I would have a few people to talk to and get to know. However, that was not exactly the case. Nobody really talked to each other at all, only the people they already knew. So yeah hostel #2 wasn't exactly a win for the first few nights. Only on my second to last night there did I meet two more Canadians (can't seem to get away from them) Gillian and Ally who were very friendly! Dublin overall was a total blast! I will definitely try to make my way back there at some point.

I found a Timmys in Dublin.. why!?

From Dublin on the 27th I hitchhiked to Galway, Ireland (which you'll be able to read about in the next blog entry I make - because that is an experience on its own). Galway itself is quite neat. To be fully honest I didn't really get a very good chance to look around there. because I arrived on the evening of the 27th, went out for drinks and dinner with a few of my hostel roomies, then went to the Cliffs of Mohor today (the 28th) and then had to keep travelling. I will say however, that being in a slightly smaller city was quite refreshing, because for the last little while I have been in a fair amount of larger cities, which to be fully honest, all tend to be a little bit the same (good grief, how pretentious do I sound right now?) I had heard a lot of very good things about The Cliffs of Mohor and had originally thought that they were a lot closer to Galway than they actually are. But that didn't stop me from seeing them. I set my alarm for 9:30 this morning and had the breakfast the hostel provided (toast, cereal and coffee, yum yum) and looked into how to get to the cliffs. Unfortunately there isn't really a whole lot of transport out there on a Tuesday morning, however there was a tour bus that took people there, so I opted for that choice and bit the bullet by paying 20 euro for the tourbus. Frankly I felt a little bit weird being on a tour bus by myself when pretty much everybody else on the bus was travelling with at least one other person, but oh well, screw that noise, I just wanted to see the cliffs okay?! It was a bit of a trek out there through some very small windy roads in a very large bus, and there were points where I wondered whether the bus would make it up Corkscrew Hill or past a tractor that was coming in the other direction in the same lane as we were. Clearly we did, otherwise I don't think I'd currently be writing this blog entry.

Talk aboot a cliff hanger eh

It was windy (note: no toque)

Once we got to the cliffs I was absolutely stunned! They are such a phenomenal sight. I took a few photos with my phone camera but they are almost insulting when you compare them to actually being there. We had two hours to look around before the bus left, which sounds like a long time, but at the end I didn't think it was enough. The cliffs are very tall and the pathway along them is set quite far back from the edge for the safety of dumb tourists. However the further along you go along the path, the less secure it becomes and the less the fence is any longer a thing. But I needed to see this sight away from all the hustle and bustle and camera shots and pointing fingers, so I treked out a little ways down the pathway where things started to deteriorate. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be there, but at one point along the ¨pathway¨ the wind started to REALLY pick up. It was without a doubt the strongest gust of wind I had ever experienced, it actually almost picked me up and blew me over and I was knocked to my side. At this point I start to wonder how safe it really was where I was standing and it didn't help that this was also the exact moment that I realized there were no other ¨ignorant¨ tourists around me. I kind of just lay down and let the wind blow through my clothes. Wow. Just wow! What an experience. I haven't felt that alive for a while.

Dutch (Canadian) tilt

Less wind here - hence normal[ish] expression

All of my senses were heightened and the adrenaline was pumping! Suddenly the strong winds decide that the ocean is a better place for me toque (or ¨beanie¨ for you non-Canucks), and it blew it off of my head. I hadn't lost it yet but it was rapidly making its way towards the edge of the cliffs. I wasn't sure whether I should run after it or not but it was still far enough away from the edge and I am too proud to lose my warm toque so I galloped along the rocks to go fetch it, and it was definitely playing keep away. Eventually I got back my hat, and at this point really had the blood flowing. I decided that this was a good opportunity to just yell at the top of my lungs, just 'cause. Best idea ever! Not even kidding. So there I am standing near the edge of a cliff, wind trying to blow me around, yelling as loud as I possibly can, and luckily nobody around to witness my mental episode. From here I decide it may be wiser to head closer to the other people in case something does actually happen. So I make it back to a place where the wind isn't as violent and just sit down basking in the sunshine and watching the seagulls struggle to fly over the cliffs in the wind. What an experience though! Totally worth the 20 euro and the awful humour of the tour guide.

So now I am sitting on a bus that is equiped with wifi at 3:18AM, on the way to Dublin airport to head back to Patrick in Switzerland to catch my 6:50 flight. Next entry I will write - soonish - will be my hitchhiking day. 

Also there are SO MANY SHEEP in Ireland! And for anybody who has ever played Settlers of Catan with me, knows how much this excites me. 

Until soon :)

Photo #1 (unedited)

Photo #2 (edited)

PS. Alright so a little explanation about these last two photos here. Meredith, Gillian, Ally (some of my awesome roomies) and myself went to this Irish pub to drink beer and witness some of that excellent Irish folk music I was mentioning earlier. I asked Gillian if she could take a couple of photos of us to look back on later. As you can see, they did not turn out very well. My phone camera is absolute garbage when it comes to any form of low lighting. So I thought I would attempt to make photo #1 visable a little bit by going into the photo options on my phone and playing with the settings and turning up the brightness (I really didn't think it would work, but I figured no harm in trying..) As you can also see, it only turned up the brightness on Photo #2 on one section.. my face. When I saw the outcome that resulted from playing with the settings I burst out laughing and couldn't stop for a good 3 minutes. I was in the Spire hostel kitchen when I did this, and I think the people around me thought I was having a mental breakdown. And the harder I tried not to laugh the harder I laughed. This may not be amusing to anybody else, but at the very least I will put it up here so that I can have a good laugh later on when I look back at it.

One more, 'cause why not?