Pathetic Declarations Card

When I arrived at customs in O'hare Airport I had to fill out a Declarations card. it asked me to list all the countries I had visited on my trip and all items I had purchased that I'll be bringing into the United States.

List of countries read: Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, France

List of items read: Spanish scarf, hip European speedo, Dry-fit sleeveless t-shirt, black ankle socks (3 pair).

Not exactly a stellar list of souvenirs there. I had accumulated quite a few good souvenirs along the way, but everything was lost when my duffel/backpack was sent to Kathmandu. As it was, all I had to declare was the few items that I purchased in Barcelona to get me through the week of site-seeing.

Everyday I'd walk around the city in the same patagonia board shorts, hanes boxer briefs, blue t-shirt, black ankle socks, and tennis shoes. then I'd shower at the hostel with said clothes and hang them out to dry while I hung out in my dorm room in my dry-fit sleeveless t-shirt and hip European speedo. When my regular clothes were dry, I'd change back into them and head out to a bar or restaurant for the evening. By the end of the week the process stopped working and I began to smell pretty bad.

The blue t-shirt was the worst. and luckily I had my navy blue long sleeve patagonia capilene shirt as my emergency shirt. I wore that shirt on my last day and my trip home and I don't think I smelled too bad. The picture above was taken at the Barcelona train station men's room just before I boarded the train and started my journey home. It was the last picture I took on my trip. It was picture # 900.

47 Days. 4 days in Istanbul. 7 days on a sailboat in the Aegean Sea. 10 days in town of Yalikavak in Bodrum Peninsula. 2 days in town of Bodrum. 2 days in Kos Island. 6 days in Santorini. 2 days in Mykonos. 2 days in Athens. From there, my travel companions and I separated. And my luggage and I also decided to separate. 6 days in Barcelona. 5-6 days of just traveling in between cities. And roughly 2 more days to travel home to Denver by way of Paris and Chicago.

I learned quite a few things about myself along the way. I also learned a few things about European culture and Muslim culture. It would be too difficult and tedious to list everything out here, so hopefully everything has been illuminated in the blog entries I've posted along the way.

Looking back now after I've been home for almost 2 months, there is one thing that stands out in my mind when I think about my travels. And it is how wonderfully heterogeneous and unique each city was that I traveled through. It is something that is hard to find in the United States. Every city here is un-remarkably the same. The architecture is the same, the people are same, and the culture is the same.

It seems that we could use a little infusion of character into our cities here in America. And since I am about to receive my masters degree in urban planning, I have an opportunity to try to help accomplish this. I suppose my next blog should detail that pursuit. Although, that doesn't sound to exciting. Got any ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Until then, I say...Serefe!