Meandering Briefly

A lot has happened since my last post! I've been all over the place, but still have only seen a fraction of whats out here in Europe. Almost all of my traveling has been by hitch hiking and walking, with the occasional city bus.

I had a beautiful walk through the woods north west of Frankfurt. Emerging two days later on the autobahn I promptly got a ride right to Halle where I got to reconnect with a former camper from about 6 years ago. I had a great time with him and then rode with him to his home in Brussels. There I spent 3 nights, one with him and his father, and then two nights with a couchsurfer.

A long and crazy day hitch hiking later I found myself sleeping under my tarp behind a shrub next to a dike near a canal running by the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands! Three days walking and camping along the river, canals, wetlands, and forests along the border of the Netherlands and Germany and I was in the city of Doetinchem.

Three weeks as part of my friend's family. Lots of great time spent with good company. A quick side trip to Amsterdam. Easily could have spent the rest of my trip in Doetinchem and loved it. Time flies.

Two attempts later, one long and silent car ride with a nice Polish man who spoke no english, rudely interrupted briefly by German border police looking for drugs, I ended up in Berlin. Two nights and one day spent exploring Berlin and getting to know another couchsurfer. Only four couch surfing experiences in my 5 months traveling so far. All great experiences, but probably not too much more in the near future either. Too much planning required.

Turning south for the winter I got a ride with a business man in a nice Audi. 200 km/hr on the Autobahn makes for a quick trip to Nuremburg. Then I got my first ride with a woman who was alone in a car. Just a short one to a petrol station on the Autobahn, but still a first. A friendly Russian couple on a business trip took me the rest of the way into Prague. Two nights in the old beautiful city. One in a hostel, one with some people from New Zealand.

Two days of seemingly going in circles before I made it to Bratislava, Slovakia. Got to see Jihlava in the Cech Republic while hanging out with a Cech hitchhiker on his way to Brno. Interesting side trip. Lots of time spent at a gas station, sundays are slow. Bratislava is very nice. Not much time for Slovakia, moving on tomorrow. Either Vienna or Budapest.

Brief post, I'll fill in the details later!