Well I quit my job in Austria in mid October and came to the states, been travelling around the states for the past few months… my life is full of all kinds of changes, i have no idea where ill end up settling again, but for now im alive and smiling. will post more about my travels across the US later, got lots of cool photos as well.

So, im back from the states, what a trip that was. Now im wasted and im sitting on my couch watching some crazy show that joey bought while we are in the states, its called ‘Its always funny in Philadelphia’. HA!

Oh Yea i saw this awesome photo on wired.com.  sooo cool.
 
its a dude blowing milk out of his mouth underwater… looks like smoke doesnt it?

Well damn folks, its been a while aint it? Seven months or something since my last post here. Where to start…. Well i went home to Wenatchee last summer, as per my last post, it was a TON of fun. Strangely i get on a plane to go back there again in just 3 days. For as much flying as i do, i never look forward to long flights. Seattle is 12 hours from Vienna ;(. Since we last spoke not a whole lot has changed in my life, im still just hanging out and trying to survive this journey and all its twists and turns. I went to the Philippines and Curacao again this year, both were at least as much fun as last year.

In September I finally took some time to see more of Austria and Bavaria. So some friends(Joey and Sandra) and I rented a BMW and drove there. Münich, Salzburg, Linz, Innsbruck and Neuschwanstein are a few of the places we went. Coming from Washington state (where we got big mountains) i was never overly impressed with the Alps, but having really been up in them on this trip, i have a lot more respect for them. Bavaria and Western Austria rank very high in the most beautiful places i have ever been. Crystal blue skies, monsterous mountains, lots of little lakes and farms. This was probably both the single most expensive weekend vacation of my life(after $1000 in traffic fines) and the most unexpectedly awesome weekend trip of my life. A good long car ride with fun company and incredible things to see. Not just cool stuff to see, it was a fun adventure in general.

In October i took a trip to Barcelona with Sandra, she is a really cool Austrian chick i know. I also got to see another good friend of mine, named Kate, while i was there, sadly she was on her way out of Europe, as her tour here had ended. It was a really fun trip, albeit short, i got to see a few things and cant wait to go back to Barcelona, what an amazing city. Sagrada La Familia and Park Guell are both very interesting things to see, specially if you are into architecture like me. Barcelona is a bit expensive but not terrible and contrary to what i was told prior to going there, no espanol skills is NOT a problem at all. Met a few cool Canadians when i was out at a bar one night. I got really drunk in Barcelona, without a hangover even, it was good times.

Curacao this year was a lot of fun, got some snorkeling in, boating, ATVs, Dune Buggies, drinking, all kinds of stuff.  I had my little dune bugging going 95Kmph. Afterwards the guide stopped me and asked me if the buggy was pulling, of course it was, but i just thought it had bad alignment, come to find out, i was doin’ 95 in a 3 wheeled buggy, hell yea! Our last hour on the island we tried to gamble away the last of our local currency and doubled it instead, which is good for me, cause im usually walking out short from Casino’s.

The second half of November and Thanksgiving, was spent in the Philippines. This year we didn’t have a tour guide, just hung out and did our own thing and it was really F’in cool. We got to see more of the islands and this time a bit more through a natives eyes, we went way into the jungle and went camping one night. I even got to give swim lessons, it was probably the coolest trip of my entire life, it was truly an adventure and an eye opening experience.

I also had a chance to go to Bucharest Romania since my last post. In addition to London, Budapest and Prague. Bucharest was one of the most eye-opening trips of my life, communism under their old kook of a dictator was a very bad existence, its very cool to see a country like that turning around. London was a work trip and included lots of drinking. Prague… it was my first time to Prague, I went with Sandra. it was a really fun trip, Czech food isnt very good though, from my experience. Budapest I went to with Joey and Kate, we got good and drunk and wondered around, saw the sights and ate some really good food.

Whats next?
Well, I go home to America for 2 weeks in a couple days, so that should be interesting, I’m really hoping to get some snowboarding in, see some old friends and of course the family. A lot of cool punk rock bands will be performing in Vienna during March and April, so thats something else to look forward to… No Use For A Name, Millencolin, Dinosaur Jr., Strung Out, The Sub-Humans. So thats something to look forward to. In May i will go to the Maldives Islands to do some scuba diving, iv never actually dove before, i hope it works for me. The trip should be a lot of fun, we are going to spend the entire week on a Safari boat, aka a ‘Live Aboard’.

Well Im in my hometown of Wenatchee for a couple of weeks, it is my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary, figured it was important enough for me to fly my ass around the world and be a part of it. The weather here is perfect, upper 90’s and almost zero humidity. Friday night is the anniversary party, im really excited to see so much of my family all together in one place, its gonna be a blast! I have two little cousins I’ve never even met before. Granted, they are both less then a year old, so i shouldn’t feel too bad. They told me we have limited wine and beer available, so i guess that means i am supposed to bring my own bottle of vodka? Seventy years is a hell of a long time, I just can’t get over it. Ill be lucky to make it to 70, let alone be married to someone that long. I cant imagine, props to grandma and grandpa for that one!

Vacation is such a beautiful thing, I work so much sometimes i dont know what to do with myself with no work to work on. Ill keep you posted.

Its almost America’s birthday, 231 years if my math serves me correctly. Not to shabby, I suppose. I guess i will have to find some beer and something blow up in the next couple of days. Not like a building folks, more like some bottle rockets or something. Its been a while since i updated this, sorry about that. I updated a few of the other pages as well.

I went to Budapest a few weekends ago and had a fun time. Got wasted, watched Joey throw up in a bar again, Pee’d in public, saw some sights. We rode the train there, it was only my second time riding a train since iv been in Europe. I rode it from Vienna to Linz once a while back to go see the swollen members. We went to the Citadel, we took the hard way to the top but it was well worth it. an awesome view from up there. i had an awesome dinner at some restaurant, i think it was called Appetito, its across from the Hilton. Wonderful food and good service. Oh and its so cool, shops are actually open at night, even on a Sunday. After living in Austria for so long i almost forgot what it was like to be able to buy things after 7pm.

My mom came to visit me for a while too, that was a lot of fun as well. I finally had a reason to go see more of the museums and stuff around Vienna. We went to the zoo one day and i realized while i was there that i should go the zoo more often. Its relaxing and the animals are pretty cool too. The only drawback is the hundreds of little brats running around, where are the parents? Im so glad i don’t have kids at this point in my life, its not even funny, i would end up choking the little bastards. Makes me wonder how many times my mom wanted to choke my ass, poor lady, i hope it wasn’t too much

An old friend from middle school also came through Vienna on her European vacation. Its nice to see friendly faces when you are so far from home. We hung out and toured Vienna. It was a fun couple of days.

I am going home to the states for the later part of July, its my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary. yes, you read that right, the big seven zero. lot of respect for that. Should be a good time, i’ll get to see lots of family and old friends. I hope it goes well, ill keep you posted.

Not much is going on past that, still  just thrivin’ and survivin’.

The last couple of weeks have been awesome weather in Vienna, so Iv taken advantage of the nice weather the last couple of Sundays to venture out on the ole 2 wheeler and see the big ass city that i call home. Today we went way down south to a place called Öberlaa, i think. We went there to go find some skatepark Joey heard about. We found it, it was in this really cool park. I dunno the name of it though. Past that not much is new in the land of the Ian. Just hangin out and takin it easy. On the 10th it will be a year since i moved to Vienna. March marks four  years since i first left washington state for Texas, what an amazing journey its been. I think everyone should spend some part of thier life out there going and doing and seeing as much as possible, before they get old and no longer can. Vienna is a really cool city, we have our ups and downs, I truly wonder where the next year of my life will lead me—

i got my AIM back, the little kid with too much time on his hands wasnt as clever as he thought he was. anyways. i got it back now at least. life is busy as always. gotta get back at it folks, catch ya later.