Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, and thanks for visiting.  A little background should be given about my trip to Budapest before I dive into blogging.  

1.  The title of this blog is a Hungarian translation of "For the Journey."  This adventure is already proving to be an experience just from the beginnings of packing, and the journey itself is sure to bring much to the table.  (forthejourney.blogspot.com was already taken)

2.  I will be traveling to Budapest with my girlfriend, Maryann, and will be living with my good friend Nick.  Nick is a former roomate of mine from USF, and he just spent the past six months studying in France; I am convinced he has abandoned the States all together.  Maryann, who goes to Portland State University, will be attending classes at Corvinus University (formerly Karl Marx University), a separate school a short distance from ours (Pazmany Peter Catholic University).  Howerver, she will be living on the same street as us: Raday utca.  

3.  This blog will capture our trip from Monday, January 19th, 2009, until June 6th, 2009.  It will hold entries from an array of experiences and countries to match: including but not limited to Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Croatia.  Those are not set in stone but are on the list of places we hope to visit. 

Ultimately, this blog will capture our attempts at adaptation into a completely new lifestyle, where English is spoken in limited amounts, and the lifestyle is a complete change.  It will encapsulate our learning, appreciation for a new lifestyle, and realization as just how large our world is; it is sure to be very refreshing.  So please, watch as we struggle, squirm, and try to earn our right to say we lived in Europe for a short time. 

Thanks for reading.