"So where exactly are you going?"

I get that question a lot.  If I knew how to answer it, I would.  I do know that we'll be landing in London in about an hour (as of when I'm writing this).  We'll spend the whole day there before heading back to the airport, where we'll attempt to sleep before catching a morning flight to Dusseldorf, Germany.  Yes, it's a shame we don't have more time in London, but apparently Dusseldorf is having a huge Japanese festival, Japan Day, and besides the fact that that is a must-see for Curtis, it sounds pretty darn interesting to me as well.  We're staying with a couple of friends in Dusseldorf, Laura and Fabian.  Laura went to UNK studying political science (like me!) and met Fabian (who's German) while studying in the Czech Republic.  Lo and behold, they're married now.  Can't wait to see them!  It's nice knowing you'll have a place to sleep and some familiar faces to greet you while traveling in an unfamiliar place.
So after spending the weekend in Dusseldorf, we'll probably travel through the Netherlands and Belgium on our way to Paris, where we'll be by May 28th.  My friend Rick, a fellow UNK Loper cross country and track and field alumnus will be returning from a mission trip in Kenya along with his sister Natalie.  After a few days in Paris, Curtis and I will fly to Croatia and work our way up the coast and then through some countries and cities in East-Central Europe (potentially including Slovenia and/or Budapest and/or Vienna and/or some other places in the vicinity) before getting to Prague by June 26th.  That day, my mom and sister Kristin will be arriving in Prague, and I'll join them for about 10 days as we visit our former exchange student Otto and his family in Leipzig.  Then we'll head to Berlin for a bit before flying to Helsinki, where we will be visiting my mother's good friend Helevi, who was an exchange student (in the very same high school as Otto, by the way) when my mom was in school long, long, long ago (just kidding, mom).  After Helsinki, things are a little up in the air, so you'll have to stay tuned to find out where I go from there.