Kevin Runs Europe

Denver. That’s where. I start a dual Masters program in urban planning and public administration in August (two Masters in three years). I’ll be at the University of Colorado Denver – right downtown – and I’m very excited! First, though, I need to find an apartment. That’s what I’m doing right now, and it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. The market is extremely competitive in Denver at the moment, so wish me luck!

Today marks the end my first full week of running since I was in Split, Croatia on June 8^th, and it marks the first week of running totally pain free (at least in my Achilles) since I was in Belgium. I only ran (more like “easy-jogged”) about three times from June 8^th to July 21^st, which might be more time off than I’ve taken in ten whole years of running! I’m still not even sure if my Achilles is healed. There seems to be a little lump of scar tissue under the skin that won’t go away, but I’ve been pain-free for quite some time. I kept active with biking and swimming in my time off, but somehow I still got way out of running shape. I feel like my body is learning how to run again. It’s a struggle but it seems to be coming back to me relatively quickly. And I’m in Colorado now so I get to run in some cool new places again!

I think I’ll hold off on traveling for a while. I have so many ideas, though. I’d like to run from the source of the Rhine River in Switzerland to its mouth in the Netherlands – about 800 miles. That was actually the original idea for this trip, but for reasons of practicality and finances, we decided to just do a regular European tour. Someday I’ll do something like that, though. Maybe I’ll start with a run across Nebraska first.

Fifty-two days, fifteen countries, twenty-eight cities/places, approximately two hundred forty miles of running, and eight jars of Nutella later, this adventure has come to an end. I had the bad luck of getting injured about ten days in (the pain started in Brugge, I think), and I finally accepted the fact that I was injured two weeks later, at which point I was on track to reach my goal of running 800 miles in 80 days or less according to the schedule I had set myself, but life had other plans. Since I had no “obligation” to stay and I realized I should really get back to start looking for an apartment in Denver before I move in August, I figured I’d come home early. Even though I didn’t reach the goal I had set on paper (or on electronic bits of data or whatever this “Internet” thing is made of) I think I accomplished the larger goals I had set my heart and mind to: I saw a good portion of the world, I met some cool people, and I think I’ve come home a better person than when I left.

Curtis and I made the most of our budget. I’m sure you’re all secretly wondering how much this trip put me in debt. It didn’t, actually. I think I personally spent about $5500, and that includes WAY overpriced plane tickets! That’s a good chunk of money, but a 52-day trip to Europe (including flights) for that much is not bad, not bad at all (granted, I had a little help with food and lodging expenses when my parents showed up at the end :) ). If we had stuck only to Eastern Europe and booked all our plane tickets far in advance, it would have been much cheaper. It just goes to show that one can travel without breaking the bank, if you’re willing to sacrifice a little comfort for a little more adventure.

Along the way, we met up with some wonderful old friends and made lots of cool new friends, and I have to thank each and every one of them for making this trip an incredible experience. So…

Thank you Laura and Fabian! Thank you Erika! Thank you Janika! Thank you Rick and Natalie! Thank you Zak! Thank you crazy old Ukrainian lady! Thank you super-cool hostel owner in Kotor! Thank you Deny! Thank you Sergio, Etienne, and Robin! Thank you Leah! Thank you Ricky, Jasmin, and I-forgot-your-name-and-I’m-so-terribly-sorry-but-you’re-not-going-to-read-this-anyway! Thank you Irish people in Bled! Thank you Mike from San Diego! Thank you insane hostel staff in Budapest! Thank you Amy, Zoe, Michelle, Sean, Ralph, and Conor! Thank you Triin! Thank you Hellevi! Thank you Hellevi’s family! Most importantly, thank you to all my friends and family at home who provided support and encouragement, especially my parents! Even most-er importantly, thank you God!

I’m sure I forgot someone, but please don’t be offended if you happen to read this! Which reminds me, thank you to everyone who’s been following this blog. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I never expected the pageview count for this thing to get well into the thousands, but it certainly did. (I’ll let you guess what it is!)

If anyone out there is planning their own trip to Europe, whether it’s a summer-long backpacking adventure or just a week-long getaway, I figure I should leave you with my recommendations. Basically, my advice is this: Don’t neglect Central and Eastern Europe! When most people plan European vacations: they tend to only think of the big-name Western European destinations like London, Paris, and Rome. These are all spectacular and you should see them if you have the opportunity, but there are so many overlooked places in Central and Eastern Europe that are much cheaper and just as (if not more) spectacular, depending on what you’re into. Most of my favorite destinations from this trip were in Eastern or Central Europe (like Kotor in Montenegro, Bled in Slovenia, Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina, just to name a few) and we missed out on so many places that we would have liked to have visited but didn’t have the time (like Poland, Romania, Latvia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey…well, basically all the countries we didn’t visit). On second thought, don’t go to those overlooked places in Central and Eastern Europe! Part of the reason why they’re so great is that not quite as many tourists go there!

And now... some maps explaining what you've probably been asking yourself since my first blog post: "Where the hell were they?"