Home

I think it is safe to say we are ready to go home. Maybe there is a twinge of sadness at having this thing we spent so long planning come to an end and a little resignation over, once again, being beholden to schedules and alarm clocks; but we are excited to see our friends, our cat, and have a place all to ourselves again. Besides, we are already scheming the next trip across the U.S. in a couple of years. We left ourselves open to the possibility that some new, enchanting land would call to us but in the end it just affirmed that we have everything we need in Portland. Still, we are gratified and pleased that we did something so life affirming. Aside from the places we went, the concentrated time we spent together changed all of us for the better. We took a leap of faith and landed on our feet.

I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the people who made the trip what it was for us. Most of these people were total strangers to us and they treated us like family, giving us their time, homes, food and companionship. I hope that reading about some of our encounters demonstrated that there are more good people than bad out there and wonderful things can happen if you allow yourself to trust and believe this. In order of appearance:

* Todd and Reinhold (Amsterdam)
* Monique and Rembrand (Woerden)
* Chloe and Oliver (Paris)
* Gregory and Isabella (Grenoble)
* Gerard (Barcelona)
* Laura (Montserrat)
* Menna and Jem (Viam)
* Claudia (Nyon)
* Beat (Bern)
* Marina and Marco (Zagreb)
* Rita (Budapest)
* Brian and Elke (Stuttgart)

I also like to thank our parents for sharing in a brief leg of this journey with us.

And lastly, I'm humbled that so many of you read this and listened to our stories. I hope that if taking off and doing longer term travel is a dream of yours that you make it happen (I highly recommend Rolf Pott's book, Vagabonding, as a great "how to" guide). Homeward bound.

So often times it happens
that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key
- The Eagles, Already Gone