September 30, 2009

From: Mary and Kurtis

We arrived back in Kansas on Monday after six months of traveling through Europe. Now,we  know that most of our faithful readers have been wondering where in the world our wrap up blog post is. Were we just going to leave you hanging with no farewell?

Impossible!!!

With so much time to think and write on our hands over the last several months, it would be completely unfair for us to just sign off with no real ending. So, after hours of thoughtful planning, months of sleeping in random beds, and plenty of stories to tell we arrive at the end of the beginning of the end… of the beginning?

The first thing that we can tell you is this: If you ever want to make something happen bad  enough, you absolutely can. There is no possible way that we could have done this without the support of our family and friends, but in the end it was a choice that we had to make and go out and do. And, it will be no surprise to all of you that it was the experience of a life time and completely worth it!

Now, there are a few parting words of wisdom or knowledge that we feel you should all know…

1. The David is eight heads high. This will be much more meaningful to those who have done any costume design or figure drawing.

2. Just because something is tasty and cheap, it is not an open invitation to gorge yourself – this applies to food as well as wine.

3. You can’t force feed culture, but “I’ll be damned if the French don’t try”.

4. When you are out on the road around people all the time, you will learn how to fart politely or hide it really well.

5. Meeting new people is not a requirement, but each place that you do will become ten times more memorable.

6. Learning to sling your pack can make you feel like you have the world in the palm of your hands.

7. Watching American college students cope with not having internet is an absolutely, ridiculously funny experience.

8. Cultural experiences take time and a local to really learn the right way of doing things.

9. All those pictures in the books do exist!

10. Rome is the most highly over-rated city in Europe, but if  you’ve never been you should go.

11. Taking a great length of time to eat a meal with friends can be the most rewarding experience that you will ever have – and you don’t have to go to Europe to make that one happen.

12. All the money in the world cannot replace a night with good friends and a bottle of cheap wine.

13. If you can make it through six months of travel with your significant other, odds are you will be able to make it a lifetime (results still pending_).

In the end, there is no real way to describe what we have experienced better than the words that you have been following all the way along. When we departed, there was hope that a brand new revelation awaited us which would give us direction and a clear path to follow in life. What we learned was that there is no clear path, but all of the people and experiences along the way make it all worth while.

Our Grand Adventure was worth its weight in gold. There is no other time in our lives that we can imagine doing what we just completed. Stories upon stories have yet to be told, but for now we are signing off of this part of the blog. Thanks for listening, tuning in, and caring so much about our lives!

*** If you ever get curious, perhaps you can sign back on in the future to see if any random life adventures pop up,

but as for our European Adventure, this is where the line ends.***