Blog
Every now and then you do something that you want to tell others about. This is my place for doing that. Primarily a repository for travel-related experience sharing, I may also drop some content on technology, security & privacy, management, people, and so on as opportunities present themselves.
I just got involved with my favorite nonprofit of all time: Spark. Their mission is to connect people in industry with middle school students who are interested in a particular career. I’ve been working with the coolest dude in town, Jamal Morris, to build a website that uses videos to teach other others how to do tricks on skateboards.
Ah, Germany. The final destination for our European voyage was symbolized in my mind by castles, beer and the Romantic Road (what could be more romantic than traveling with your brothers, after all?). Our original plan was actually based around the idea of traveling down the Romantic Road and seeing what may be the highest density of awesome castles in the world, and I was really, really excited about it. Well, as things happened, we ended up not seeing a single castle in Germany, but only because we found some marvelous alternatives that were even more appealing.
I like Spain. Actually, I think that everyone does except maybe for the Dutch folks these days. Out of all of the countries in the world, I know more people who have studied abroad in Spain and come back awestruck than anywhere else. After having been there, I think there’s a good reason for it. Going to Spain is something like drinking from a cultural fire hose, and there’s no way you’re not going to get wet.
In a lot of ways, I think that one of the best incentives to explore is the possibly of finding beautiful things. Places, ideas, inventions, art…its actually pretty amazing how much you start to appreciate the mundane once it’s cast in a different light. Among all of the places that we went in Europe, I think that Switzerland probably had some of the most beautiful and inspiring places as well as a number of world-changing ideas and the tools to make them happen. It’s a truly inspiring environment to be in.
Almost every group of adventurers has to have a mission, a Holy Grail: a direction for their wandering. If my brothers and I were one of those groups, then our European Grail would go by the name of Jason Weeks.
Alas, who would have known that France had so many diverse sights to see! Like the rest of Europe, France is littered with historical marvels, not the least of which is the D-Day beaches from World War II. Our adventures carried us up to Caen, the nearest large(ish) town to the site, and over to the simply fantastic Mont St. Michel that was only a little ways further down the coast to the west.