I've been practicing my jumping in Sweden

The continuing story of my travels will continue on the next post, for now check out some sweet jumps that I've been working on with Elin, my Swedish jumping instructor. 

Paris, Bikes, and Something Spooky

You've probably seen pictures of Paris. Maybe even been to here. But here are some more pictures, why not?

Street Theater and the End of A Beautiful Road Trip

France is a great place, and street theater festivals in France are good. Real good.

Jumping

I know I haven't been around in awhile... But here are some photos of people jumping. More to come soon!

Boris or Ron?

Which one is me?

News: I Am Having A Good Time

Hello and welcome to a quick update from a tiny house in a tiny village in a country with very large abilities to have a good time. Cheese? Check. Wine? Check. Beach? Lake? Vaudevillians? Check, check, and check. I know that many have concerns that I may not be having a good time. Let me assure you, it is just not the case.

(Translated from French) Alice? Are we all having a good time? I don't think so. 

Are you kidding? Fuck yeah!

Hanging Out With The Locals.

Salutations, Brigade!

I'm coming to you from Prailles, a tiny French village just outside of Geneva, Switzerland. I last wrote from a different small French village just outside of Geneva. That week was spent with the Kenny Clan, and ended with Pat and I taking a tour of the CERN underground.

Friends in Faraway Places

Hello! I'm writing today from the rainy Swiss/France border, just a few kilometers away from Geneva, temporary home of the Kenny family, and close to the birthplace of the world wide web. It's a wonderful place, seeing my old friends Lauren and Pat has been a blast, and  hanging out with their kids Rowan the Goozmont (9 months) and Declan "Big Handsome" Kenny (4 years) has been an entertaining couple of days indeed.

I want to tell you something.

But first, let's go back to the event of the Quad-copter back in Erlangen...

Back in the Western World

Long time no see, Brigade! Things have been happening, and there's been no time to sit and type until just now, at the relaxing home of Aaron and Sequoia Webster in Erlangen, Germany, a lovely little town (my words, not theirs) outside of Nuremburg.

Since last I posted I have traveled a fair bit. How about a story, shall we?

Things I Love: Part 4

A post with stories coming very soon. But in the mean time, Things I Love:

So Many Stories

Hello! Coming to you from Lithuania, home of Arvydis Sabonis. Woah! Things have been crazy since leaving St. Petersburg, so I'm going to jump right into some stories. I will update this soon with some photos, but for now you get the words. Warning: it's a lot of words and I did not edit it.

Updated!

Things I Love: Part 3

San Pedro

Hello again!
St. Petersburg, for those who may not be aware, is way freakin' north. And I have only been here right around the solstice, so keep in mind that any of these photos could have been taken at noon or at midnight, it's so weird. Though I think most of them were probably taken closer to noon, as I don't often take my camera out to boogie, though I'm sure those would produce some marvellous pictures.

Moscow, A Mixed Up Place

Greetings, Brigade!
Coming to you from wonderful St. Petersburg, Russia, I am sad to say that I am coming to you alone, as my two travelling partners, Misters Phillips and Vanderwert, have moved on to their own short adventures before returning to lovely Melbourne. It's been less than 48 hours since they both left, and already I'm pining for moments like these:

Things I Love: Part Two

Things I love from China, Russia, Everywhere we've been, and Japan. No further comments necessary.

Guess Where I Am Now!

Siberia Is HUGE.

Woah! Three days and four nights on a train is a long time, but it never felt boring or even cramped, which is surprising because it was pretty cramped.

Lake Baikal Is Huge!

I don't know about you, but I'd never heard of Lake Baikal before a few months ago when I started planning to take a train from Beijing to Russia. Apparently, though, it is by far the largest body of unfrozen freshwater in the world. Seriously, by far. You could fit all five Great Lakes in it with room to spare. And, you can drink it, no problem. It's really tasty.

Some Things I Love About Japan and China

...

Hello from China... I mean, from Mongolia!

Censorship in China is no joke. I was only able to get on Blogger once in Beijing, and I sent myself the e-mail of what I'd written in case it didn't post properly. I'm glad I did, because about a week later I get to Mongolia to find that the post I'd posted did not, in fact, post! So here is what I wrote from Beijing a week ago:

Hi Brigadiers!
I'm coming to you from Beijing, China, and what a place it is! It's a massive city, with some amazing buildings and the largest public square in the world, which you may have heard of. It's also go some crazy skies, mainly in that the sky fluctuates from dust storm of the post-apocolypse to clear blue of a beautiful dream.



But it's mostly like this.

Vietnam Has Come And Gone. A Message From Tokyo (Updated with Photos)

Time flies when you`re in Vietnam. I LOVE that country, and I can`t believe that we`re already through with our trip there. The people are absurdly nice, the food is amazing, and the weather is stinking hot. I`m now in Tokyo, Japan and have yet to get a good feel for it, but I`ll get to that in a moment. First, some notes about the trip so far.

I Missed My Aussie Deadline. I'm Now In Singapore

Hi!

I still mean to post about all the great things I did in Australia over the last year, but it's going to be all out of order whenever it does come. I've left Australia and am currently in beautiful Singapore, Singapore! 

Why? You may ask. Rightfully so, as there were no plans to go to Singapore, in fact I don't think I even uttered the word "Singapore" over the last year. Well, due to a misreading of the rules and regulations about visas to Vietnam, we were told upon arrival to the Melbourne airport that we were not allowed to fly to Ho Chi Minh City as planned. BUT, we could fly to our stopover location and sort out our visa issues there. Hello, Singapore! We've spent our day and a half eating, getting a quick fix visa, eating, buying new plane tickets (boo!), eating, and hanging out on a boat on top of three skyscrapers. 

It's awesome.

So all is well and we head to Vietnam this evening. Ha!

Melbourne!

Hi there.

Ahh, many delays since my last stories. A shame, but it has not been at the expense of amazing stories, I assure you. I still have in my pockets many unforgettable times and some unbelievable photos, taken by world class photographers, such as Kelvin, as well as myself, to properly document my travels.

It's Wednesday, April 17, 2013 today in Melbourne. Last week I received my tourist visa to go to Russia in June, tomorrow I pick up my visa to go to China in May, and next Thursday I get on a plane to return to Vietnam. I'm travelling with my friends Jake and Andre for two months, where we'll go from Ho Chi Minh City up north to Hanoi through Vietnam, fly to Japan, travel west from Tokyo until a ferry to China. From Shanghai to Beijing, and then on a train through Mongolia (with stops of course) and on those tracks all the way to St. Mynamesburg in fucking Russia! There will be many stops through all of these countries, but I've hit the big ideas, you know? SO, in the midst of looking forward to this fast-approaching adventure, I'm taking some time to look back at the last 11 or so months in Melbourne. Which have been... a unique experience.

This post will focus on some of the highlights. The lowlights, to everyone's delight, will be omitted. Though I can't say there have been many of those, at least outside of the evil clutches of Myki*. MYKI!!! But there have been many, many highlights, enjoy a few whydoncha?

Post something! Anything!

Ahh, that feels better. I'll post more words soon. Many more words. This picture's better than any of those words anyways. For example, tell me if you would you rather look at this photo or read its title (my title for it, not Kelvin the photographer's title): Laos is best seen by rented motor bikes with a crew that prefers to jump in unison. Case closed.

Hey Look! It's Sydney and Pete!

Dudes, I don't know what you have heard about Sydney, Australia, but let me tell you something: It is beautiful. It's true! The people are beautiful, the weather is beautiful, even their trains are beautiful (you can sit upstairs or downstairs, and the seatbacks are adjustable so you can face either way. It's almost too nice). 

Oreos Never Tasted So Good

I wake up from the night before with no hangover. I should feel worse than I do but I'm lucky even though  I'm not that young. I lay on my back and rub my hands through my hair, trying to hold on to the beautiful dream I have just departed. Now I can't remember it anymore. The three-bed hotel room is windowless, it's impossible to know what time it is, or even if the sun had risen yet. I should be exhausted but I remember where I am and what I hope to see this morning. With hope I check the time and see that it is not too late to see it. I'm lucky. It's 5am in Quy Nahn, Vietnam, and I'll finally see the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean. I truly think this will be a monumental moment, forgetting that I've seen this in Hawaii with my sister, a fact I will later remember that will completely undermine the entire morning. But now I dress quietly, not sure whether or not to wake two friends, Kelvin and Mary.

My Favorite Guitar Player in Vietnam

The alarm clock in the hotel room is ringing. It's 5:30am on the Laos side of the Laos/Vietnam border and I'm more awake than I would have expected. We're supposed to board our bus in 30 minutes and I'm excited to see Vietnam for the first time.

Postcard from Thailand: Doggie Daredevils

The most unusual thing about this photo from Thailand is that there are only two people on the bike. 

Also of note, this bike was flying past us from the back of our songtao (cabbie where you sit in the back of a pickup truck that has bench seats along the sides and a cover overhead). 

Watching traffic in Thailand is a mesmerizing and terrifying experience. The golden rule is "whoever gets there first: wins" and all other general traffic rules are forgone. Despite the initial dismay, I soon realized the beautiful organization in this system, and thoroughly enjoyed watching busy Bangkok and Chang Mai intersections, as well as hopping onto the back of a moto-cabbie. Though I do prefer Vietnam, which requires riders to wear helmets. I bet the doggie helmet makers make a killing over there. 

A Hole in the Footpath (Australian for "Sidewalk")

On my way to work a few weeks back I was walking along, off in my own world, when I nearly walked directly into a gigantic hole in the concrete. What the what?!?! 

Let me note that the tape is not blocking off the hole at all. It's blocking the curb, which is also sinking into the Nothing. I looked in...

Of Course! It's Smile Brigade!

Hi! 

Welcome to my new blog, Smile Brigade. It’s very nice to have you here. I hope you enjoy yourself. I’m thinking I will enjoy myself, so I reckon that will probably translate to you. As you probably know I've been living in Melbourne, Australia for the past eight months and before that was traveling in Southeast Asia. I will be in Australia for about three months more before moving on to the next adventure. This blog will focus mainly on my travels and extended stays, although who knows what else I may choose to write about? I certainly don’t know.

Pictures! There will be many pictures. Here’s one: