Final Sabbatical Thoughts
Authored By Brian
Today is June 19th, 2005. One year ago I was about to witness my good friends Matt and Jenny marry each other and then set off for Europe. After being back in the States for 7 months, I finally got around to putting together a travelogue. I’m hoping I continue exploring the globe and use this site to share my thoughts and photos.
It was a real treat this weekend to read through all of my thoughts and look at all of my pictures again. The only thing unfortunate about this trip is how early it ended but I know I can always go back. This year I’m racing cars in SCCA Spec Miata and it’s been incredibly fun but I am torn: do I stay or do I go?
The fifty-something posts spanning my four-plus month trip started out as a rough sketch. I came across a Word file “eurotrip.doc” on my computer containing the following outline:
Europe Trip
July 5-8 to July 24-25
- Frankfurt/Berlin – point of entry
- Nurenberg
- Drive the ring twice, have lunch
- Munich
- Soccer
- Mobile Traditions tour (Kelly K)
- Salo
- Avenone, visit village
- Modena
- Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Maserati factories and museums
- Florence
- Museums
- Day trip to Pisa
- Rome – point of departure
- Patrick
- Coliseum, other old stuff
It only outlined the first few weeks with my brother and father but it’s funny to look back and see I did just one-half the things on my original list and did twice the number that weren’t originally planned.
To me, that is the beauty of travelling. Not in seeing everything at warp speed but in taking your time to interact with the people, sample some food and visit a museum. Moderation. Not trying to grok an entire culture and people in two whirlwind days of Lonely Planet. Taking a day off occasionally to sit in the park. Long lunches. Time spent with interesting people. For me, this trip was mostly about slowing down.
It’s a lesson I can still learn something from as I manage fifty simultaneous projects (like putting this together) and release the next version of MotorsportReg.com. The good news is that I feel like I stop and smell the roses a bit more often – and I have made it to Alcatraz since my return. 
I hope you will scan through, look at the pictures and leave comments.
