# "I can go to Europe, travel with my friends... I can blow a thousand deutsche marks to get drunk in a pub with some Australians... Buy a giant backpack... Sew a flag on the back..." - Barenaked Ladies
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| A first date to remember... seeing a highly recommended film! |
12 years ago to the day I went on a nervous first date with someone who I could little imagine I'd be sharing many adventures with over the oncoming decades of my younger adult life. One such joint-adventure was a 2-month epic journey into mainland Europe that around 10 years ago we were just a few short weeks away from embarking on....
I've decided, since I think it's worth remembering such huge milestones in your life, to recount those travels here on the blog, so here it begins - "these are the voyages..." of two green but enthusiastic travellers... It was a life-changing trip for both of us and just like a certain Mr. Wise of the Shire, it was a journey where I more often than not had moments of epiphany when I'd pause and realise: "This is the furthest I've ever been from home..." (but always with a big grin on my face!)
That epic trek a decade ago this summer was also where I began work a-proper on the "Zip book" (a sort of backstory "Bible" guide to the universe of my first adventure novel - to read more about this, go back to my Official Writing Homepage and click on an object which looks as if I've scribbled lots of space-style story notes on it...) As I travelled around on the coaches that carried us from country to country, crossing borders and checkpoints, that first novel took form in some shiny notebooks... and the book as a whole, I believe, was shaped by my experiences on the continent...