BariEuph Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 a month hiking in israel and visiting old churches in israel and palestine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT-Horn Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 To this day I can't get " Land of Make Believe" from the 76 Bridgemen out of my head, so drum corps gave me the longest case of earwigs ever..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Whether or not Drum Corps "changed" my life I'll never know. But it certainly had a serious impact on it, and in that regard I have no regrets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy94 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 The only thing harder than drum corps was starting my own company. As it turns out, "Better Every Day" was a very useful philosophy to have, slowly chipping away at 1000's of lines of code for more than a year with absolutely no guarantee of success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sday88 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I dunno about 'changed my life'... but backpacking europe was a pretty awesome experience as a whole, along specific parts (especially Auschwitz/Birkenau). I would recommend it to anyone. I've always wondered about people that do this. So you just literally put a pack on your back and wonder through Europe? Where do you sleep, eat, etc.? Do you just bring a bunch of money with you to buy food or whatever? Do you work odd jobs along the way for food and shelter? Explain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferb27 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 My daughter being born on this very day, February 27th, 1989. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanAndreasen Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Oh man did you read my mind I was just thinking about starting the thread "times you choked up." Of course my marriage and my three beautiful children who amaze me every day. The sense of exhilaration when I was ten years old and went to my first scout band practice. I remember it like it was yesterday. Tuesday night , 7pm. It was so loud that I teared up; and there were only nine buglers! Getting the courage to quit work and go to college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I've always wondered about people that do this. So you just literally put a pack on your back and wonder through Europe? Where do you sleep, eat, etc.? Do you just bring a bunch of money with you to buy food or whatever? Do you work odd jobs along the way for food and shelter? Explain. Well, you can work odd jobs as you travel, but I didn't find anyone doing this, and the vast majority of backpackers do not. You purchase a hiking bag to use as your suitcase. Pack your stuff in it (4-5 days worth, or more if you wish... save room for souvenirs!). Buy a Eurail train pass. Buy a plane ticket to Europe, location of your choice. And off you go! Some people (like me) get a round trip plane ticket, so you fly to Europe, and back home from the same place. Or, you can buy a one way ticket, and then buy another one way ticket home from elsewhere (like, to London, home from Istanbul). I did travel with 1 friend from college, so it was the 2 of us. The trains connect all major (and minor) cities, and they have overnight sleeper trains, where they sleep 4/6 per car in 2nd class which is sufficiently comfortable. Some trains do require reservations in addition to the Eurail price, and all sleeper trains do. Get on your train at 10pm and get off at 6am in a new country! I went Paris/Milan, Rome/Bern, Zurich/Vienna, Vienna/Krakow, Krakow/Prague overnight... possibly one more. For sleeping, when not on a train, you stay in hostels. Hostels are basically like cheap hotels, and instead of getting your own room, you get a dorm style room, with anywhere from 6 to 40 beds. All the rooms we stayed in were between 4 and 12 beds. They generally have showers/bathrooms on the hall that are shared. Price varies. I think the cheapest I got was 7-8 euros in either Poland or the Czech Republic, and the most expensive was in the low 20s. The fewer the beds, the more expensive they are (some do have 2 person rooms). A lot of the hostels are independently run, so they can very a lot in quality, but mostly you need a bed and a shower. Many have lockers where you can store your backpack while you explore the city. Here is where I stayed in Interlaken http://www.balmers.com/ each hostel is different, and this one was basically like a frat house, with an underground bar and full of English speakers. Honestly it was like an American outpost in the middle of Europe. There are tons of hostels in big cities (smaller cities, interlaken, lauterbrunnen in my case, may only have 1-2), and even some chain hostels, like this one that I stayed at in Vienna http://www.wombats-hostels.com/vienna/the-lounge/ As you can see, they are fairly nice. Many of them are not nearly as elaborate, which is fine, b/c you don't go to another country to spend the whole day at your hotel/hostel. There are websites (www.hostelworld.com) where you can search by city, and read comments/reviews etc and book online. Eating... generally I ate from grocery stores, as that is the cheapest. Buy stuff and make your own sandwich, etc. The people who worked at the hostels could always direct us to the nearest grocery store. Oh, and you can do laundry at a laundromat, or in the hostel sink. ATMs are just as common in Europe as in the US, so that is a source for cash. And when you put your card in, it knows it is a US card (I guess) and gives all instructions in English. Better than carrying it all with you. Many places also take credit cards, but Europe is quite a bit more cash based than the US. Some hostels didn't take credit cards, and many stores had minimum purchase amounts required to use a credit card. Hope that gives you a better idea... I traveled in a circle(ish) through London, Paris, Pisa, Rome/Vatican, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Zurich, Vienna, Krakow, Prague, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris/Versailles, London. Made it on $75 dollars per day (not including round trip airfare and Eurail, but including train reservations and hostels), and the exchange rate was up at $1.6(ish) to 1 Euro. It was pretty sweet sitting in the Swiss Alps while a lot of my friends were busting their butts on a football field in 95 degree heat for 12 hours a day. I have to go back and see more places... there are too many places to see in the world. sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie85 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Made it on $75 dollars per day. And in some parts of the world you can make it on $75 a week, possibly less. I'm sure it's changing fast, but in the 90's it was pretty easy to find decent accomodations in China, India, Indonesia in the $5-$10 dollar range, often less. Our place in Kathmandu worked out to $0.80/night for the two of us. Pretty easy to make your dollar last at those rates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sday88 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 snip Cool, thanks. Very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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