The Last Five Years….

Travel is not a thing you do in life,

Or a way of life...

It IS life.......

I’ve found Nemo swimming round a reef off a Motu in Raiatea, French Polynesia. I caught a wild Salmon with my bare hands in a mountain stream in Skagway, Alaska. I’ve been "Screeched" in TWICE by the mayor of Corner Brook, New Foundland (which consist of donning Atlantic fisherman gear, eating hard tack, reciting Newfy, and kissing a Cod fish on the mouth). I’ve played soccer on the Swedish national team practice fields in Stockholm. And for some reason, I jumped out of a perfectly good plane and floated 8,000 feet down onto Cape Canaveral, Florida.

I’ve held wild Caiman in one hand and an even wilder Caipirinha in another on a small canoe at midnight on the Brazilian section of the Amazon.  I’ve drunk pints of Guinness, tapped, clapped and sang century old shanties with the locals of Dublin. I’ve sipped prosecco and ate pizza lounging along the canals of Venice until 3 am. I held up the leaning tower of Pisa with one hand (and the help of a camera). I’ve walked along the same stones of the Parthenon as Julius Caesar, threw a euro in Trevy fountain, and explored the great Coliseum in Rome.

I proposed to my fiancé (now wife) at 12:01 am on New Year’s Eve in Bora, Bora. Toured, via helicopter, Kauai on Christmas Eve (aka where Jurassic Park was filmed). I found a hidden cave while swimming behind the most perfect waterfall in Fiji. I’ve seen Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family walking down the street in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’ve sailed through the breath-taking Milford Sound in New Zealand, all the while searching for Orcs and Hobbits (Lord of the Rings was filmed here of course!).

I traveled along the coast of Eastern Australia in an RV with five friends, camping, wine tasting and kangaroo chasing. Sampled some delicious handmade Lemoncello at a centuries old lemon grove in Sorrento, Italy. I’ve watched Germany beat England in an Irish pub in Croatia in a World Cup Match. Then, four years later watched Germany beat the USA at a Senor Frogs in Mexico during the next World Cup (Germany is pretty good at football!).

Like Waylan and Wille and the boys, I’ve sang country songs in a pickin’ circle in Luckenbach, Texas, where everybody’s somebody. I exchanged marriage vows on a natural bluff in a Northern California marina. Spent New Year’s Eve with great friends and family at a beach condo in San Diego. I’ve enjoyed a massive Estrella Dam and Paella on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. And I watched, barefoot, as two dear friends exchanged their marriage vows as the sun set on a white sand beach in Cancun, Mexico.

I’ve tapped mugs of Krombacher and slammed bottles of Fiegling while screaming “Prost!” at the train bar in Warnemunde, Germany. Devoured beef Tar Tar while sipping champagne and watching pedestrians wander the seaside boulevard at sunset in Bordeaux, France. Meandered for hours down the streets and avenues of Lisbon, Portugal. Scaled the mountain by donkey, and foot, to the breath-taking city of Santorini, Greece and watch the sun say goodbye over the Mediterranean Sea.

I took a regenerating dip in the Blue Lagoon and watched the sun NEVER set in Rejavik, Iceland. Attended the opening night of the National Ballet season and strolled through an entire palace made of gold in St. Petersburg, Russia. I’ve done an underwater backstroke beneath a beautiful glass hut with the tropical fishes of Rangiroa, French Polynesia. I held a tiger cub next to my friend, a professional juggler, in Cabo San Lucas.

I visited a small village called Boca de Valleria in Brazil along the Amazon, and was made guest to a neighboring village, via barely floating canoe, where no one spoke English, but everyone was fluent in smiles and kindness. I’ve crossed the Equator and International Date Line more times than I can count, but get excited each occasion.

I’ve celebrated my 28^th birthday with Peronis and lasagna in Venice, Italy, my 29^th birthday with Kilkenny and oysters in Victoria, Canada, my 30^th birthday with Carlsberg and a football match at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen, my 31^st birthday with Cervezas and Ceviche in Hualtuco, Mexico, and my 32^nd birthday with Lonestar, Jameson, and live country music at a true Frontier Outpost in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Along the way, I’ve performed for tens of thousands of people, conversed with thousands, became friends with hundreds, and became family with a few....

                                                And this was all in the last five years....

Imagine where I can go from.

Hopefully, you'll come along for the ride.