The Great European Escape
There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
In response to all the inquiries and “hate” mail I’ve been receiving, I decided to write this post. The Minority Nomad has an obligation to his readers (yes THIRD PERSON baby). Produce valuable content, stories and photographs. At the same time I must step outside of myself and look at the larger picture. In this case a decision had to be made whether to stay in Europe the entire three months, as originally planned, or leave ASAP. I clearly decided to leave and here are the reasons.
- Europe in in the midst of the worse/longest winter in the last 60 years. From north to south, the entire continent is covered in snow, rain, and freezing temperatures. I visited eight countries and everyone was in full winter mode. No spring in sight. The weather issues lead me to the next point.
2.People are hibernating. I shot a few thousand images a day. I narrow these down to a few hundred of my favorite/best. I then proceed to edit them to a few dozen. I quickly realized that my images were mainly of things/places and not people. This was simply because people weren’t out. I was unable to capture the true nature of Europe and its people.
3.EVERYTHING is covered in snow. As a photographer part of my job is to find new and interesting ways to shoot locations, buildings, and scenarios that have been shoot over and over before. The snow equalizes everything. In many instances I was able to capture some stunning images but as a whole I’ve been disappointed in my work.
4. Physically my body has begun to breakdown. Finding a reasonably priced place to work out is a nightmare, food is rich and plentiful, and the weather makes people sick. The hostel life is full of germs and bacteria from all around the world. Common diseases change from region to region and you may not be able to handle it. I became sick three times in two months and had to see a doctor twice. No matter how well you take care of yourself, when you are surrounded by sick people the odds are high you will become sick yourself.
5. I realized I’m in charge. For the first time I realized that I have to power and means to remove myself from a situation I wasn’t happy in and decided to do so. Often time’s people just run away from their problems but I really struggled with this one.
So how did I come to the conclusion to leave? My last night in Budapest was fantastic. Having met up with some students on vacation from Spain and a few fellow Americans, we decided to visit Széchenyi thermal bath. It had to be one of my top 5 travel experiences so far and maybe top 10 of my life. FREEZING temperatures, hot steaming water, thousands of happy and energetic Europeans, and SNOW. In hindsight this may not have been the best idea because the very next morning I woke up feeling like crap as I had been fighting off a cold for a few days. After getting a stomach flu in Chicago, streep throat between London and Russia, and now flu like symptoms my patience had run out.
As I relaxed in my bed feeling terrible I started to think how unfair it was to Europe. I planned to absolutely destroy Europe in my posts. When I write I put how I feel at that moment in time. I soon realized that the current state of weather in Europe is in no way the norm, was the cause of the many problems I had in Europe, and wouldn’t be fair to my readers. With that in mind I adapted my itinerary. I knew several of my friends were heading to Thailand from Australia and the U.S. for holidays in April so I decided on there. I went online too see how soon I could leave. I found a ticket for $502 for the next day with AirBerlin and Etihad Airways (who I believe only hire models as flight attendants. More on that later).
What made this ticket so good was it actually saved me money. The original plan was too stay in Budapest for three more nights and then head to Prague. I was going to stay there five nights. I then needed to take a flight from Prague to Paris which would have cost me about $230. Factor in the room cost in Budapest and Prague at about $140, about $100 for lodging in Paris and you already have $470. Not mentioning food, entertainment, and transportation cost. So in regards to a budget the decision was a sound one.
In regards to content, I’ll be back soon. I’m doing the same tour in Southeast Asia that I originally planned to do. Just at a different time. Cambodia, Japan, and South Korea will be visited before I head back to Europe in May. I’ll be at a Travel Writers convention in Rotterdam on May 16th and will make my way back down through Europe to give it another shot before leaving France back to the U.S. too visit family. Ahhh the life of a travel writer.
Thanks to everyone that support my modification and everyone that voice their opinion to the contrary. I value and respect you all. This project has two purposes.
- Show people of underprivileged minority communities that travel is possible for them and you don’t need thousands of dollars to do it.
- To inspire a new generation of freethinking humans that embrace cultural differences and think before they act.
The decision I made was in the best interest of this project in my opinion and I can only work hard and hope that the change turns out to be a good one. Given the amazing experiences I have had in Thailand the last seven days I would say it was.
