Wednesday, January 5, 2011
No Updates in a while
Been real busy with being back in the States, but might update soon with some mini adventures and some more europe photos once I stop being lazy and finally throw the rest of them up on the web. Ciao for now!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Photos from Italy
This huge batch of photos was all taken on my excursion through Italy. My favorite country I visited in Europe. It's taken me a while to get them up here because a) there are a LOT of photos and b) I'm just a little lazy.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Photos and Videos from Suise-land
Switzerland was one of my favorite places to visit in Europe and one I definitely want to return to. Enjoy the photos and videos if you dare. I'm going to be putting the rest of my photos and videos up today or tomorrow, now that I'm finally over being sick, which I will also post about.
Bern
Interlaken and Brienz
I think this was taken on my way to Interlaken from Bern.
The great paragliding adventure! So yeah, if you didn't read before, I went paragliding in the Swiss alps and it was awesome. Here's some video from that and some very special photos with my pilot, Richi. Switzerland is beautiful.
Actual paragliding video with my actual real life camera that is real. Fun!
Richi taking video of us flying!
Landing, no that's no me, that would be magic if that was me and I was filming me from the ground. Magic has no place in Switzerland.
Bern
Interlaken and Brienz
I think this was taken on my way to Interlaken from Bern.
The great paragliding adventure! So yeah, if you didn't read before, I went paragliding in the Swiss alps and it was awesome. Here's some video from that and some very special photos with my pilot, Richi. Switzerland is beautiful.
Actual paragliding video with my actual real life camera that is real. Fun!
Richi taking video of us flying!
Landing, no that's no me, that would be magic if that was me and I was filming me from the ground. Magic has no place in Switzerland.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Apparently my traveling equals pretty good!
Christina is an explorer that:
likes popular destinations
likes a bug-free bed and hot showers
likes a little risk
Travel cred: pretty good
I rank in the top...
1% most cities visited - Luxembourg
8% most cities visited - Switzerland
13% most cities visited - Netherlands
Awesome! I'll eventually get around to updating with more photos, I've just been so busy with other things, then I found this, because Facebook is crazy addictive.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Europe Post Mortum - Part 2
After almost two weeks of being back in the States I feel that part of me has truly changed. A lot of stuff has suddenly upturned in my life and it's been hard to deal with all of the change coming in one big rush.
When I moved back to Oregon I didn't really have a lot of time to adjust to being here, although I definitely felt and feel happier now that I'm here. I acquired a relationship, reconnected with old friends, had some time to sit, think and relax while I waited to leave for a long trip that I needed to take.
The say the least I felt really stuck in Minneapolis.
Upon coming back to the States it became painfully evident that my job was over, and I dreaded the idea of going back to being unemployed. As I think about this point my confidence melts away and it's been a constant self struggle to keep it pumping me forward. Yesterday was not a good day for that, but the day before was better, it is an up and down struggle.
I have no illusions that I don't have the worst of the world's problems in my lap, in fact I'm doing pretty good. It's just been interesting seeing the low hit me as I remember my trip and look forward to an uncertain future in employment. I feel beaten down by the months of unemployment I had, and right now would be game for just about any job I can take. I know millions are in the same boat as me, and that is a bit of a comfort, although sad fact to think about.
My biggest frustration is not seeing the self confidence I now have for traveling bleed over a bit into job hunting. Positive self talk does a lot, but I think it'll just take patience and time and optimism to get me there. Recessions certainly don't last forever, and I think the one we're going through now world wide is a wake up call to how the financial markets we have in the US are not in a balanced state and need some fixing.
I encountered a lot of Europeans who think that American's are greedy, and self focused to the point of ridiculousness. And I think it is a problem that we're not more community focused here, I think it's one of the reasons Americans are pretty unhappy, unhealthy people. We don't get enough time with our families and we're obsessed with work. Striking the balance between that and keeping out budget balanced is hard. Doing good for others makes you feel good, and it's something that we don't focus on here enough, and I frankly think it's ridiculous to find someone, somewhere who would think I am somehow advocating communism, or that socialism is communism in disguise, etc etc.
One of the reasons that we have so much violence here is theorized to be from two factors, one is economic stratification, and the other is our lack of a homogeneous communities. These are again only theories, but there is evidence that the fear of the stranger and living side by side with people that do not look "black", "brown", "green", "white", "fuchsia" can have an affect on us. We're hard wired to fear the stranger and it's a struggle to untangle that and get rid of our xenophobia, because deep down we're all human, despite what's on the surface, and we all have the same needs.
I am optimistic that this will change, it will be painful and slow, and is already changing, but it takes constant love and attention to get it going.
America is truly great because here our xenophobia has melted somewhat, in Europe it is much more evident that you don't see people that look different everyday, even other white people that look different, thus the staring by children and adults alike at the strange American mutt who's strolling through your Swiss town to her Hostel.
In conclusion, my trip was wonderful and transforming, and coming back to reality has been a bit hard, but also a welcome relief from the intensity of constant travel. I am a healthier, happier person. My eyes are more open and so is my mind. I hope to travel again soon, I'm planning a trip to Japan that I can hopefully take next year.
When I moved back to Oregon I didn't really have a lot of time to adjust to being here, although I definitely felt and feel happier now that I'm here. I acquired a relationship, reconnected with old friends, had some time to sit, think and relax while I waited to leave for a long trip that I needed to take.
The say the least I felt really stuck in Minneapolis.
Upon coming back to the States it became painfully evident that my job was over, and I dreaded the idea of going back to being unemployed. As I think about this point my confidence melts away and it's been a constant self struggle to keep it pumping me forward. Yesterday was not a good day for that, but the day before was better, it is an up and down struggle.
I have no illusions that I don't have the worst of the world's problems in my lap, in fact I'm doing pretty good. It's just been interesting seeing the low hit me as I remember my trip and look forward to an uncertain future in employment. I feel beaten down by the months of unemployment I had, and right now would be game for just about any job I can take. I know millions are in the same boat as me, and that is a bit of a comfort, although sad fact to think about.
My biggest frustration is not seeing the self confidence I now have for traveling bleed over a bit into job hunting. Positive self talk does a lot, but I think it'll just take patience and time and optimism to get me there. Recessions certainly don't last forever, and I think the one we're going through now world wide is a wake up call to how the financial markets we have in the US are not in a balanced state and need some fixing.
I encountered a lot of Europeans who think that American's are greedy, and self focused to the point of ridiculousness. And I think it is a problem that we're not more community focused here, I think it's one of the reasons Americans are pretty unhappy, unhealthy people. We don't get enough time with our families and we're obsessed with work. Striking the balance between that and keeping out budget balanced is hard. Doing good for others makes you feel good, and it's something that we don't focus on here enough, and I frankly think it's ridiculous to find someone, somewhere who would think I am somehow advocating communism, or that socialism is communism in disguise, etc etc.
One of the reasons that we have so much violence here is theorized to be from two factors, one is economic stratification, and the other is our lack of a homogeneous communities. These are again only theories, but there is evidence that the fear of the stranger and living side by side with people that do not look "black", "brown", "green", "white", "fuchsia" can have an affect on us. We're hard wired to fear the stranger and it's a struggle to untangle that and get rid of our xenophobia, because deep down we're all human, despite what's on the surface, and we all have the same needs.
I am optimistic that this will change, it will be painful and slow, and is already changing, but it takes constant love and attention to get it going.
America is truly great because here our xenophobia has melted somewhat, in Europe it is much more evident that you don't see people that look different everyday, even other white people that look different, thus the staring by children and adults alike at the strange American mutt who's strolling through your Swiss town to her Hostel.
In conclusion, my trip was wonderful and transforming, and coming back to reality has been a bit hard, but also a welcome relief from the intensity of constant travel. I am a healthier, happier person. My eyes are more open and so is my mind. I hope to travel again soon, I'm planning a trip to Japan that I can hopefully take next year.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Paris Photos and Videos
All the photos I took in Paris are now up and available here. Paris is definitely not my favorite city, but it is quite beautiful, especially at night. Look and enjoy at your leisure!
This video is of me taking the train to Gare de Nord in Paris from London. This thing was really moving fast. It was kind of scary and awesome at the same time, check it out:
Coming into Gare de Nord. There was a lot of graffiti everywhere in European train stations and also often in cathedrals and other monuments. You can see some on the walls here as I rolled into the Gare.
Up the Eiffel Tower parts 1 through 4!
This video is of me taking the train to Gare de Nord in Paris from London. This thing was really moving fast. It was kind of scary and awesome at the same time, check it out:
Coming into Gare de Nord. There was a lot of graffiti everywhere in European train stations and also often in cathedrals and other monuments. You can see some on the walls here as I rolled into the Gare.
Up the Eiffel Tower parts 1 through 4!
Friday, August 20, 2010
London Photos and Videos
Here are the set of photos I took whilst in London England on my trip, more flickr updates to come soon.
Also a video of some street performers who I saw along the river Thames my last day in London. I think they were from Jamaica, and they were basically amazing. Check this out.
Changing of the Royal Cavalry in Westminster
Also a video of some street performers who I saw along the river Thames my last day in London. I think they were from Jamaica, and they were basically amazing. Check this out.
Changing of the Royal Cavalry in Westminster
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