Deuces UK

Leaving Scotland was bittersweet. I had such a great time and met so many amazing people that it was hard to say goodbye. Getting on the bus was great however because I knew that my trip was continuing and I still had so much more to do and see. Over the next few days I spent a lot of time on the move going from Glasgow to Manchester, Manchester to Bristol, Bristol to Salisbury, Salisbury to Stonehenge, Stonehenge back to Salisbury, then back to Bristol, then back to Manchester, and then finally back to London. And every mile was totally worth it.

My best friend back home Jeff, and I have a rivalry in just about everything that we do. From video games, golf, chess (which he’s terrible at by the way haha), eating, and I'm sure if it came down to it, we would gamble on who can hold their breath the longest. But in saying all that, one of our rivalries includes soccer. I'm a Chelsea fan, and he roots for Manchester United, so I thought I would do him a favour and visit their stadium for him while I was there. It felt like someone poked my heart being there though, but I guess that’s just what you do for the people you care about! I left Manchester to go to Bristol, a nice city with some beautiful buildings.

I had to take a train from Bristol to Salisbury and then a bus from there to go see Stonehenge. Although tourists aren't allowed to walk up next to the stones anymore, it was still really exciting being there and learning about the stones themselves while also letting my imagination roam about what they were actually used for. It was a burial ground of sorts but it just blows my mind that these MASSIVE stones were transported over long distances to be placed in this unique formation. And pictures may say a thousand words, but seeing something in person is worth a thousand memories. So cool to see famous things most people only see online. When I finished walking around Stonehenge, I looked at the time and said, “I really don’t want to wait an hour for the next bus back to Salisbury, so, using my American charm, I asked around and found someone that was willing to give me a ride. It took much less time than I expected and was offered a ride back from a local named Bob. He was a super cool guy who plays in a rock band. Totally worth taking the hitchhiking route (something I had yet to do on my trip).

Now to the important stuff, haha. The Chelsea game. I honestly don’t know where to begin. I arrived at my hostel and settled in quickly before walking around watching the massive crowds of Chelsea fans roam the streets (most of them already drunk). I then bought a Chelsea Scarf, Hat and golf divot fixer before waiting by the door of the stadium. The minutes ticked by very slowly and the anticipation grew. But when the doors were opened, I couldn't get the smile off my face. When I bought the ticket, the guy at the counter said that I was going to be on the lower tier, right next to the action. Now when I heard that I was thinking; oh yeah, I’ll be on the lower balcony with a pretty good view. But no, when I stepped into the stadium and saw where my seat was, I realized that he literally meant, right…up…next…to…the…action. I was roughly five yards from the pitch, so close I could touch the turf. Before the game started, I sparked up a conversation with a young security guard. He hadn't been working there long but he really enjoyed it. He was an extremely nice guy, along with all the other people working there.

One of the most exciting parts about being at the game was the crowd. They have so many chants and sayings and the sound of each person singing and yelling in unison is pretty remarkable. My favorite chant they had, and you’ll understand if you are a football fan, was, “If you hate Tottenham, stand up.” Although it probably doesn’t originate with the Chelsea club, it is still hilarious. We all watched, sitting at the edge of our seats until the 24^th minute for Zouma to be in the right place and put the ball in the back of the net. The crowd, and myself, went absolutely crazy! But then we were disappointed only six minutes later when Bolton score. The funny thing is that when anyone scores, a mob of security rushes out to block any fans from doing something stupid. So, I got a good kick out of seeing all the security and hearing all the fans boo and yell at the Bolton players after they scored. As the game went into the second half I had two things on my mind. Please score again and win, and José Mourinho please put Didier Drogba into the game. Thanks to Oscar in the 54^th minute, Chelsea scored again giving them the lead, and then in the 71^st minute, Drogba (My favorite footballer) was put into the game. I have to say it was one of the best nights throughout this trip, especially knowing that I probably won’t ever have a chance to do it again. I definitely went to sleep happy!!
I woke up still kind of high from the game but knew there were a couple other things I wanted to see. First stop, The Natural History Museum. The museum is ENORMOUS. It took several hours to walk through but things like that are so fascinating to me. It was extremely busy with school classes doing field-trips as well as hundreds of other tourists. Next stop, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. I thought that because I had the opportunity to cook for him while on MasterChef, why not stop by. It’s not as big as I expected, but you can tell by the look, that there are definitely dishes worth hundreds of dollars being cooked inside.

Three weeks left and I know that it is going to fly by. The UK has been a lot of fun, but over the next ten days or so I am off to Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France before I head back to Dublin to hang with my family before going back to the US. Until next time! 

UK Part Two

My week started out in the city of Glasgow in Scotland where I met Richard. He is a student at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he studies the trombone. Funny when you think about it because I played the trombone when I was in fourth grade because my brother played the trombone and I wanted to be like him. Can’t say I was ever even close to as good as Richard, but it was cool that we had something in common. He is actually from England and moved to Scotland to study, which is also where he met his girlfriend Urtė, who is from Lithuania, studying the piano at the Conservatoire. It’s crazy because every time I go to a new place, I seem to make more friends from other countries than the one I am in. But to be honest, I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Richard and I bonded right from the start, talking about sports and music and when we got back to his apartment I met an Italian couch surfer, Max, who was staying at his place as well. I also met his Scottish roommate Joe who is also a trombone player, so you could say I was surrounded by a lot of musical talent. Later that day Richard took me to the college to give me a little tour. I would have gotten lost walking through all the hallways but Richard took me from top to bottom and into some of the small auditoriums where I got the chance to play a Grand Steinway Piano. WOW!!!! What an incredible instrument. After the tour I went shopping for food, which I cooked later that evening for everyone in the apartment while they watched their first American football game. Haha, they didn’t really know what was going on but it was still fun for them. 

It had been quite a long time since I had the opportunity to play my favorite sports game, FIFA. However, it didn’t take long to find out that both Richard and Max are huge FIFA players and we spent long, long hours the next few nights playing against each other. The only downside to playing so much is that now I am desperately eager to get back to the US so I can play against my main opponent and best competition, Douchbadfresh haha<< he knows who he is.

Richard took me around the city and I did a bit of exploring on my own before leaving Wednesday for the Highlands. I took the bus and arrived in Inverness where I met my new hosts, Maris and his girlfriend Ieva, both from Latvia. Maris had to go back to work, but Ieva took me around the city on the bike and showed me all of the quiet places along the river. After we finished cycling, I went off on my own and explored Inverness. It’s a rather small city, but it is really beautiful and has a really awesome Castle in the city centre that sits atop a hill. The following morning I took the bike to Loch Ness. No I didn’t see any monsters in the water, but it was pretty awesome to see the lake and the mountains that surround it. The three days I was in the Highlands the weather wasn’t the greatest when it comes to taking pictures, but I was still able to see some amazing things while I was there.

Later that night I cooked Maris and Ieva a proper meal and we chatted about sports and life in general. The next morning I took the bike in the opposite direction, riding through the mist and trees until I came upon an amazing bridge. It looks very similar to the bridge from Harry Potter in Fort William. I also stopped at the Clava Cairn, which is an old burial/burning ground. But the monuments were built in a very interesting circular pattern with an opening facing the sunset during the winter solstice.  That night I fixed Maris a proper American Bacon Cheeseburger and then we went to his friend’s house to play NHL on the PS3- guess you could say I got my video game fix while in Scotland. I left the next day and arrived back in Glasgow to stay at Richard’s place for a few more days.

I wanted to stay in Glasgow again because last Sunday I stopped in at a local church and wanted to stay for another service. The service was really great and further helped me to understand my place as a Christian and after the service they had a church lunch where I met and made a few new friends: Colin, Ruth, Stuart and his wife Gill. They were all extremely welcoming and I was able to share my story and why I was traveling, as well as hear their stories and learn a bit more about them and Scotland as a whole. It was totally worth coming back to 

Glasgow! Later that evening, I went out to a park with, Richard, Joe, Max and Urtė. Knowing that I was a basketball coach, we all decided to play a little ball and I was able to show them what a real sport is, haha. It was a lot of fun though spending time with them and being able to get a basketball back in my hands after such a long time.

This has been such a busy and crazy trip and it continues to get crazier and busier. But I absolutely love it. God has truly blessed me along the way. Tomorrow morning I leave for England where I’ll hit some of the major cities before I go back to London on Wednesday for the CHELSEA GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

UK Part One

I left for the UK on an overnight bus/ferry/bus. When we arrived in Holyhead, Whales, we had to stop for immigration and then we were on our way to London. For some reason, most of the busses I have been on have a serious problem with temperature, and the little fans that are above the seats…NEVER WORK. So I didn’t get much sleep, but when I arrived at the Victoria Coach Station in London, I was extremely excited to get things rolling. It has been truly amazing to end up in new places and then constantly be in aww and say, “Holy Crap, this is awesome; I can’t believe I’m here!”

My original plan was to rent a car for two weeks and use that as my transportation/housing. That would have given me the freedom to go wherever I wanted; whenever I wanted and not really worry about anything except making sure I was on the left side of the road. But, plans changed because it would have cost way too much to get the car and then gas on top of that; so I ended up getting a two week bus pass that allows me to pretty much hop on and hop off wherever I would like. The coach busses don’t go to some of the smaller places so local transportation is needed, but in the long run it is a much better deal; and if I want, I can take an overnight bus that way I don’t have to spend money on housing.

After getting the bus ticket, I walked around. Haha, let’s just say that from the start of day one in London to the end of day two I was in a walking motion for at least seventeen hours. I have never felt that kind of pain in my hips before, but London is a pretty big city. I was able to see Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park (where I took a short break to lay on the grass and rest for few minutes), and had a rather tasty chicken and asparagus risotto for dinner (sorry, I’m an idiot and didn’t take a picture, must have been how tired I was). The second day I was determined that even through my tired legs, I would make it to Stamford Bridge where my favorite football club, Chelsea F.C., plays. I didn’t have my hopes up for getting a ticket to a game while I was here because most tickets sell out within hours of being posted, but I said, “What the heck, it won’t hurt to try.” After standing in line, I was then told there is a Capital One Cup game on the 24^th against Bolton Wanderers and they still had tickets. Let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to say “Yes please, I’ll take one!” So, if you can watch the game somehow, let me know if you saw me.  And I will be honest; there will probably be an extremely long post about the game that week because I am STOKED!!!!!!

Once I had my ticket, I walked around a little more, but decided it was best to wait at the bus station until I was to leave for Edinburgh, Scotland. Just before getting on the bus, a conversation was sparked between me and Jaden, a girl from Canada doing a bit of traveling herself before she heads to Australia for eight months.  We talked for a while on the bus before falling asleep and then ended up spending the entire day together in Edinburgh. We saw, Edinburgh Castle, walked through museums, cathedrals, churches, the tallest hill in Edinburgh where you can see the entire city and later that evening went on a “Ghost Tour.” Now, I put that in parentheses because it ended up being more of a history tour and not so much about ghosts, but it was still extremely interesting. I did learn that Edinburgh, when it was built, was built up instead of out. Many cities build outwards to expand the land, but the people who built the city wanted to seem dominant with high buildings. This honestly makes for some incredible architecture and probably one of the more beautiful cities that I have seen on my trip. Jade and I ended the night out… yup you guessed it, dancing, as well as meeting other people that were traveling.  

She left in the morning and I spent the day doing a bit of city exploring myself. My third day in Edinburgh actually took me to Motherwell. I’m sure many of you have never heard of the place, but my mother told me that her side of the family was from there before immigrating to the US, as well as the home of the football club that my best friend Jeff plays with against me on FIFA and for some reason, I CANNOT BEAT HIM. So I thought it best to visit the city. Even though I wasn’t able to find out anything specific about my family because I didn’t know enough information; it was still really great to be somewhere that past generations would have lived and worked. Of course there wouldn’t have been a McDonalds, or a shopping mall, but I have a good enough imagination to look around and see where farms, old school houses and taverns would have been. I was also able to convince one of the staff at the stadium to take a picture of the field for me. I was up early this morning headed to Glasgow to spend a couple nights there before exploring some of the highlands where I hear the scenery is absolutely amazing. 

Thanks for reading!!

Let the Journey Continue

Sorry, just a short post this time. I have exactly six weeks left which is mind-blowing to think that my trip is over halfway done. I don’t have much to say except that I was able to get some much wanted time to read, write and reflect over the last week. I spent a lot of time learning more and sharing more with the Brazilians that I am staying with, and did some research and planning for the next portion of my trip. I leave for London tomorrow evening and from there I will…umm…figure things out lol.

Stay tuned for updates.

Time to Think

During my short stay in Galway, I met some really amazing people from all over the world (one really big upside to staying at a hostel). Two of which were a pair of German guys, Jonas and Fabien. They were on a short holiday from their studies and we immediately clicked. We have a lot of the same interests and we are similar in the fact that we can talk about random things for hours, but also communicate on a much deeper and intellectual level; and even though some of our views don’t always add up, we are mature enough to keep a high level of respect for one another. To put it short, they are pretty freakin awesome and I hope to see them again in Germany! I also met a group of Italian girls on a weekend trip and was able to meet up with then again back in Dublin for a fun night of dancing. It’s crazy to think how much dancing I've done on this trip, and the fact that I haven’t managed to injure myself in the process.

Other than that, I haven’t done much in the sense of travel. This past week and the following will be spent here in Dublin with the group of South American’s I met when I first arrived. I’ll be spending time with them, recovering from weeks of cycling, slowing my mind down so I can do some writing, and preparing for my three weeks in the UK which starts September 8^th. I will be renting a car and driving…everywhere. I hope to see as much as I can, continue to build inspiration for the book and meet people, because that’s what travelling is all about.

The reason for the title of this post is because the rest of it will be a little; I guess you could say, deeper and more personal. An attempt to strip away my pride and become honest and vulnerable. 

The first thing I would like to do is say that I'm sorry. I can’t be sure if any of the friends that I grew up with read this blog but if you do, that apology is for you. I was a hypocrite for the majority of my life growing up. I said I was a Christian, but I represented myself as something completely different and I can’t blame you for being confused or seeing religion and Christianity as something weirdly unnecessary. I realized and now have the confidence (although I still make plenty of mistakes) to represent myself as someone truly appreciative of the life God has given me. I am unashamed of my faith and one of the biggest things I've learned during my trip so far is that I wasn't put on this earth to make more Christians. My purpose is to be an image of who Christ truly is. My only hope is that each day people see that I am different, that my life is filled with purpose and a desire to further the Kingdom of God even if  it is as simple as giving someone a smile.

I bring this up to transition into the second biggest thing I have learned during this trip so far. I have been reading through a book written by a former NFL player, Derwin Gray, called HERO. He had a career ending injury but through it all became a pastor and speaks all over the world. The book teaches young men and women ways to live a heroic life. One of the inserts talked about living in the moment and trusting that God will supply your every need. Let me tell you first hand that I have had plenty of days where I wanted to throw this trip away, go back home, get a job and move on. Travelling alone can be extremely difficult, but after reading that I realized that each day has been a reminder of how amazing God has been to me. Cycling 80 kilometres in one day, the sun going down and worried because I'm not sure where I'm going to sleep turned into meeting family I will remember for the rest of my life. It is moments like that, that have kept me going, and knowing that faith (which is something extremely difficult) is what brought me through.

I want to encourage you to live in the moment. You've heard the phrase so many times that “life is short,” well…it actually really is. Don’t just live a comfortable life. If there is someone that you need to say I'm sorry to, tell them you’re sorry; if there is someone you need to say I love you to, tell them you love them; if you need to quit your job because you feel like you’re wasting away, then quit your job and find something that allows you to live a heroic life; if there is a family member or friend that you haven’t spoken to in a while, call them, it’s not a difficult thing to do; if your closet is filled with clothes and shoes you haven’t worn in months, give them away. The difficult thing is letting down our walls and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. Vulnerability to me is the gateway to true friendship, true companionship and true love.

Without going into detail, my family life growing up was rough and I know a lot of people in this world can relate. But, tomorrow my parents will celebrate 30 years together. It honestly brings tears to my eyes thinking about how much my family has grown to love one another. I can only thank God for putting back the pieces, for mending wounds that stretched over years and showering our family with his grace. It wasn't long before I left for Ireland that I went for a ride with my parents and I sat in the back seat with the dog just listening to my parents talk. I had to turn my head away because I didn't want my dad to see me in the rear-view mirror with this odd grin on my face. I couldn't help but be filled with joy because after almost 30 years, it was if they were still in their honeymoon phase, enjoying the simplicity of each other’s company and smiling about plans for the near future. That is the kind of marriage I hope one day to be a part of. Amongst the trials my parents have shown me what true love is because of their willingness to be vulnerable.

I hope that this entry brings about a moment of thought and allows you to reconsider living a comfortable life in exchange for something HEROIC.

Non-Stop Moving

I…am…EggsHowsted <<exhausted, for the 99% of you that don’t speak Jalapeño. I tell you what, after four weeks of on and off cycling I am beginning to have some outrageously strong legs; maybe not as much as my boy back home Hotty Piatti, but I reckon I could leg press a SmartCar. It’s hard to believe that four weeks have gone by, but with the number of things I’ve done, the time has flown. The first leg of The Ring of Kerry journey started with Brian at my side encouraging me because from Killarney to Kenmare are some of the most difficult mountains to climb; but once you reach the top, the view is breathtaking. After a short break and a cup of tea (something that has become common for me since being here), I enjoyed the relaxing nine kilometer downhill to Kenmare. With plenty of daylight and a burst of energy, I decided to cycle another twenty kilometers just past the town of Sneem to a pier where I found a pretty amazing place to pitch my tent.

Knowing I wanted to take the trip slow, I “slept in,” which means waking up and falling back to sleep ever hour till ten because the seagulls squawk like crazy! But I left in the early afternoon in hopes of making it to Valentia Island. Brian told me there were some pretty amazing places to camp there so I took his idea and ran with it. I wanted to be as far away from the small village on the island as I could, so I cycled to the opposite side, found some rocks to use as protection and stepped off my bike. Now I want to slow down for just one moment and give a shout out to JFizzle aka Joel aka my favorite brother. If there is someone in this world that LOVES, and I mean LOVES fishing, it’s him. Before I left for Ireland I starting spending as much time as I could with him and I told him that I would fish for him while I was in Ireland. Little did I know, I would meet a pair of German brothers not far from where I was camping who were fishing from a cliff with blazing winds and crashing waves. Even though I was only able to cast the line a few times, they were great about letting me get out there and give it a try. That one’s for you bro!

My original plan was to spend two nights on the island; but, long story short, the wind nearly blew my tent away and I ended up realizing later on the follow day that my front tire was completely flat and didn’t have a puncture repair kit with me. So I walked the bike 25 kilometers to the closest gas station, filled the tire with air and pedaled as fast as I could around the rest of the Ring, back to Brian’s house, stopping at as many stations as I could to make sure I kept air in the tire. Even though the trip was cut short, each moment was still amazing because of the people I met, things I was able to see and the constant communication God along the way. I spent another two days resting at Brian’s, drinking a lot of tea, cooking and talking for hours before I was back on a bus to my next destination.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER—Ohhh Myyyy Butternut Squash! I honestly cannot, cannot, cannot<<<a lot more of those>>explain how speechless these cliffs made me. I probably walked four or five kilometers of the cliffs and literally couldn’t make it fifty steps without stopping, looking back, and having a ridiculously giggly smile on my face. I probably looked crazy to some of the other tourists but there was no stopping my lips from curling. You can look up the specs but reading a number can’t honestly explain how high it truly is. I could have spent days there just sitting. I actually did spend a little too much time there in relation to my next plan, which was to hop on a boat to the first and smallest Aran Island, Inis Oirr. 

But God directed my path and led me an amazing B&B where I met the Egan family. If you are going to travel, do yourself a favor and splurge a little for a B&B because they are amazing! Olwyn and her three sons Dylan, John and Flynn were extremely kind and welcoming, and after I went down to a local pub to try their seafood chowder (AMAZING!!) and a smooth glass of Irish Whiskey, I raced back up to the B&B to play StoryTime Legos with the boys before they had to go to bed. I was the evil robot monster while John and Flynn came up with a plan to save there lost Lego friend. Such a fun night!

The next two days were spent cycling and exploring Inis Oirr and the largest island Inisheer. Really cool history about the islands and I found a new respect for those who do manual labor. I always tell people that I would love to just sit in front of a fire, sipping tea and reading a book; but as I cycling around the islands I was blown away by the fences that separated different plots of land. Most people think of a fence as posts maybe fifty yards apart with wire going from one to the next. OHHHH NO. These islands are covered, and I mean covered, in stone walls/fences. Just look at the picture I took and imagine walls like that, some even higher, across hundreds of acres of land. Absolutely outrageous!

After taking the 8:15 boat from the big island to the mainland, I cycled another forty kilometers to Galway City where I will be staying at a Hostel for a few nights before I get on another bus and head back to Dublin. Thanks for reading and staying with along this amazing journey!

Killarney

This is an early and short update on my trip and you will learn why in a quick minute.

After saying goodbye to Cork and all the amazing people I met and that housed me while I was there, I took a bus to Killarney. I arrived in Killarney slightly fearful that I wouldn’t have a place to stay because I hadn’t heard anything from my host in a few days. So I spent roughly four hours waiting at the bus station for an email; but, when it finally came and I made my way to Murphy’s Icecream to meet my host, I was eager for my journey through the west of Ireland to start. I had heard it was the most beautiful and has the potential to suck you in and keep you there, and let me tell you, it certainly has that effect.

I met my host Brian and we immediately connected. He is a twenty-something with a lot of energy and a free spirit. He shared a little bit about the town and how he came to be there, and then we made our way to his home. His house is at the top of a rather large hill, but the view is absolutely breathtaking and later on had the opportunity to take a pretty cool shot of a double rainbow.

My plan was to simply spend a few days at his house preparing for the next part of my trip, but because we hit it off so well, I ended up staying for a third night. Each day we cycled different parts of Killarney, he showed me cool places around the park, a weird circular ritual like shrine in some artistic guy’s back yard and the third day was spent cycling and hiking up some massive mountains so I could see some one of a kind views of the lakes below. Each night was spent cooking, chatting about everything from books to faith and sharing each other’s life stories. I kid you not; Brian is probably one of the most intelligent and coolest people I have ever met. God has truly blessed me along the way.

I am posting this blog a little early because I will be out of reach for at least six days and possibly a few days more. I will be cycling through what is called The Ring of Kerry. It is roughly 200 kilometers and goes along one of the many peninsulas of Ireland. If you are interested, you can go to this website, www.discoverireland.ie or just go to google and type in The Ring of Kerry. It will give a breakdown of what I’ll be doing and what is involved. I plan to take it slow and spend a lot of time continuing to reflect on life. When I’m finished I’ll get back to Killarney and spend another day with Brian and his friends before I make my way to the Cliffs of Moher (one of my most anticipated trips), and hopefully by then I’ll have a full update and details about my trip around the Ring. 

My thoughts and prayers are with you!