The Europe Trip

Here's how it all started: In September of 2003, I was living at my brother's house in Atlanta. He was off covering the war in Iraq as a reporter for CNN, and, in his absense, I was crashing in his room. At the same time, I was working through the interviewing process with Turner Broadcasting to become a CNN production assistant. By the end of the month, it was becoming painfully obvious that I wasn't going to get the CNN job - they weren't returning my phone calls or emails. So, having finally given up on them, as they seemingly had done to me, I drove down to STA Travel on the campus of Emory University and purchased a plane ticket to London and a Eurorail pass. I figured that my inability to secure a job was God's way of telling me to get my ass out of town and see the world. I had the time, and I had the money - sort of. Two weeks later, I was on an American Airlines flight to Hethrow.

Armed only with a backpack, my passport, and a credit card, I set off to explore as much of Europe as I could handle. From October into late December, I managed to avoid the hustle and bustle that comes with summer travel, yet still enjoyed some fine weather all over the continent. In retrospect, though I managed to see a great many countries, I have to say that I moved rather quickly with my limited time. It would have been nice to have settled down a bit more, but I was anxious to see it all.

Here, you will find the highlights from my whistle-stop tour of Europe. While I managed to keep a fairly decent journal, I lost track somewhere near the end of the trip. Because of this, and due to the fact that it was a long journey, I've decided not to give a day-by-day account of my travels, but, rather, a country-by-country rundown of events.

As you will see, this trip took place prior to the boom in digital camera popularity, so my scanned photos aren't the best quality. In fact, even the composition of most of my shots is not what I would consider my best work. Telling a story with words and images is just something that gets better with practice - and, in this case, a little help from the internet.

By the way... the day after I got back from my trip, CNN called and offered me the job. Not bad, eh?

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