I’ve been back in Canada for almost two weeks now. It’s been difficult for me to put this past year into words. Kat and I took a huge risk leaving our lives behind for a year, especially since when we left neither of us had full-time jobs. I think it really paid off in the end, though. We met a lot of people that I now consider to be good friends, and we got to experience so many things in less than a year that a lot of people might never get to do in a lifetime. Rather than get all sentimental and long-winded, I thought I’d just post a list (in no particular order) of some of the cool things we’ve done this year.
- Saw a joust.
- Had a pint in the oldest pub in England.
- Got on stage for a group sing at the end of Hair in the West End.
- Saw an 11-day-old rhino at the Berlin Zoo.
- Had some coffee in Amsterdam.
- Went to a bar made of ice in Stockholm.
- Saw England’s Crown Jewels.
- Walked across the France/Switzerland border.
- Drank a bottle of cheap wine in a park in France.
- Drove a motorboat on a lake at the base of the Alps.
- Took some chalk from the Cliffs of Dover.
- Had some cherry and chocolate beer in Brussels.
- Got drunk in the Red Light District in Amsterdam
- Drank whiskey on a boat on Loch Ness during a snowstorm.
- Went skating on an outdoor rink in Stockholm.
- Puked into a garbage can at a bus stop in Wales.
- Saw Kevin Smith do a Q&A in London.
- Saw Canterbury Cathedral.
- Bought a bowler hat in Camden Market.
- Met Patrick Stewart and got him to sign a copy of Hamlet.
- Saw authentic bellydancing.
- Went to Asia.
- Swam in the Mediterranean.
- Haggled in a Turkish bazaar.
- Spent our first Christmas together.
- Stood above the former site of Hitler’s bunker in Berlin.
- Visited several castles.
- Saw where Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written.
- Stood underneath the Jet d’Eau in Geneva.
- Saw Third Eye Blind and Metric live.
- Played football (soccer) in Hyde Park.
- Watched a World Cup match in a British pub.
- Saw Stonehenge.
- Saw the ancient Roman Baths in Bath.
- Took a train through the Channel Tunnel.
- Saw real World War II damage.
- Ate a hot dog with sauerkraut outside a Berlin nightclub.
- Bodychecked a German prostitute.
- Won free drinks on a plane.
- Did our first beer bong.
- Saw some Guy Fawkes Day fireworks.
- Ate a crêpe in France.
- Had glühwein and Jagermeister in Germany.
- Ate kangaroo, ostrich, and bison.
- Ate haggis in Edinburgh.
- Saw various historical documents like the Magna Carta and the First Folio.
- Met a ton of brilliant people who we already miss quite dearly.
So yeah, it’s been a good year. Now comes the hard part: Getting real, permanent, full-time jobs. I don’t think I’ll be posting on this blog anymore. It was mainly to write about our travels, and now that our travels are over, I think I’ll move on. I will post sporadically on my Tumblr (philliphowell.tumblr.com) if you’re interested.
