My return to Europe 10 years after my first backpacking trip there was a blast. No Visas, no currency exchanges, no need to show evidence of onward travel. The hospitality of my friends and couchsurfing hosts was amazing. I have definitely learned how to treat my future guests in the right way. [...]

The prior morning, Steve had been ejected from his bed and room at 10am, for housecleaning, so I got myself into gear thinking the same policy would be in place on Christmas. I later found out it wasn’t, and while Steve lay nestled in bed until 2pm as I would normally do, I [...]

The Van Gogh hostel is about 15-20 minutes from the city center, but I took my time walking there. Lots of people were out and about, shopping for last minute gifts as they do in the United States. I ducked into a glitzy mall for warmth and exploration. Of course everything seemed too expensive, with [...]

At the Cairo airport, I learned Jetairways was a Belgian discount airline. The 737 was fully booked with Europeans returning home for the holidays. I was completely surrounded by children who screamed incessantly for takeoff and landing, and most of the time in between, except when they were running up and down [...]