Europe by Rail

Matt's been using our time in Sweden to make videos of our trip so far. This video he made at Christmas time of our three month backpacking trip around Europe. I love watching it and just remembering all the amazing places we've been. Sometimes I can't believe how much of the globe I've now covered. I hope you like it!


Travel Around Europe from Matt on Vimeo.

Un Hermoso Dia Wandering around Sevilla

It's always nice when the sun comes out after being cold for a while. Last fall, as Matt and I travelled around Europe we jumped around between warm places and cold places so it was nice when we were in Spain in October and we had a warm, sunny day in Sevilla. It was especially nice because we had been desperate for clean clothes and I put pretty much everything I had in the wash and only had a summer dress to wear.

It's been a while but I like to relive the memories with our photos, and we have A LOT of photos. So I'll probably keep editing them and posting them on here occasionally. And who knows maybe someday I'll go back there. If you go to Spain, Sevilla is a great city and this park was beautiful but watch out for the gypsy women selling ridiculously priced 'herbs' that basically look like twigs. You may suddenly find one in your hand and before you know it five euros will be gone from your pocket. It's best to just walk by quickly.

Dots on Maps

I'm listening to Dots on Maps by Say Hi right now. It was on a free iTunes sampler and it's a pretty good song.

Now that we're back in Sweden staying with friends (we were also here at Christmas) all the places we've been seem a bit surreal. I can't believe all the places on the map I've been. I'm not a huge fan of plane travel because you don't really get a sense of where you've been or how far you've travelled.  You just sit in an air conditioned box for a while and suddenly you're some where else. But some of the time it's the only way to get around safely in a decent amount of time.  It's still hard to believe I've been so far and seen so many amazing things so it's nice to have my laptop back and be able to look through all our photos on a bigger screen and be reminded of the memories. And also get creative with editing them. Apparently I've been out of the photo editing loop for a while because I only just discovered Photoshop actions yesterday. It's completely made my day and taken up all time over the last 24 hours. Although it did contribute to my lack of sleep last night, I also have to blame the strong Swedish coffee I was dumb enough to drink last night at about 9:30pm.

Here are some of the photos I made this morning for my new header. Capturing some of the places I've been roaming around the last ten months.

My Travelin' Shoes

At the end of 2009, just before Christmas, I bought myself a pair of Ecco Lite boots. I loved the look of the brown boots but I was easily persuaded by the sales girl to get the black pair as I didn't normally wear a lot of brown and I wasn't yet comfortable with the idea of mixing brown and black, something I now love to do. The boots were light-weight, flexible and comfy and they were going to be my perfect traveling shoes. Unfortunately the price tag wasn't lovable. With 30 days to return them I kept them unworn in the box for three weeks before I realized it was a little impulsive of me to buy shoes for a trip I wasn't taking for another eight months. I returned them and spent the money on what I was shopping for in the first place, Christmas presents for my friends and family. I am horrible at Christmas shopping, I always find things I want for myself!

I hope someday I can replace this picture with one of me wearing my boots! Until then I'll just have to dream...

When July rolled around and I was getting ready to leave I thought again about my boots, unfortunately they wouldn't be out in Ecco stores in Canada until the end of the summer. The sales girl's foreshadowing remark that European stores carry different stock didn't phase me until I got to Europe in the fall. In fashionable Prague I was desperate for my traveling boots. There were two Ecco stores in the area of downtown Prague and within walking distance of my hostel. I went to both. They all carried the same unfortunate-looking platform heeled boots. I spent the next two months casually dragging my boyfriend to Ecco stores in almost all major cities just in case they might have my boots, but alas, they just weren't carried in European stores.

It wasn't until after it started snowing and I'd decided that I needed a more sturdy pair of winter boots for spending Christmas in Northern Sweden that I finally found a pair of my boots. They weren't even my size, or the right brown, and now that I'm going to Africa I definitely don't need them. But maybe I can get them for my next trip? For now I'll just have to settle for being bootless. But it's the traveling that's important right? - not the shoes.

As Matt Mays says,

"Good-bye girl gone to see the world,
Out to see every thing you choose
Now it's becoming so clear
That your feet are planted deep
In your travellin' shoes"