Embarking on a new adventure

The bags are packed, the course is set, the plane awaits.  Tomorrow begins a journey that has been in the works officially for the last four months.  Unofficially, I've been waiting for this opportunity since 2006 when I first experienced international travel under the tutelage of my aunt.  Little did I know at the time that a month-long trip to south-east Asia would ignite a need to see and explore the world.  That wanderlust has guided my life decisions ever since.  The perspective that only accompanies culture-shock has colored my world.  Tomorrow is the next step in the grand adventure of life and I am excited to share it with all of you.


Over the next nine weeks Christine and I are going to see the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  It will be a journey by land, sea, and air.  There is uncertainty built into this journey; from this uncertainty will surely arise moments of distress, anxiety, and maybe even danger.  At the same time I know we will find friendship, adventure, accomplishment, and pure joy.  Whatever the situation, I hope we can return to the present moment and embrace it for whatever it may be.  The end goal is Istambul, but the journey itself is the true goal.  It will be a snapshot of life with all it triumphs and trials and I wouldn't want it any other way.


My goal is to have this blog updated either every other day or every third day as possible.  We will both have our cellphones with us but due to the expense of using them overseas we ask that they be reserved for only important calls.  For anything else this blog will be checked regularly and facebook only slightly less so.  We will miss you all.  Send us your love and good vibes and everything else and we'll be back in LA on the 17th of September.


Oh, and in case you are wondering where the title of the blog and some of the posts draw their names from, they are derived from one of our favorite bands, Gogol Bordello.  I leave you all, my friends, with a parting thought from Eugene Hutz, the lead singer of that band: "There were never any good old days.  They are today, they are tomorrow.  It's a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow."

Embrace every moment as if it is your last
-Matt & Christine