8:30 am

I woke up on the train this morning, nearing Geneva. It was raining! How perfect! A trip through the mountains in the rain! This is shit. I only get hot weather, or cold and rainy. I want a refund! A woman told me it's been very hot in Geneva. Ha! Liar! I don't believe it! Only southern Europe for me now on. Who needs soggy mountains! I'll take a hot sunny beach any day! I did have chocolate and croissants for breakfast, however. Made me feel better. I'm overlooking Lac Leman now. The mountains should be beautiful in the distance, but I can barely see them. I walked down to the water to see the Jet d'Air, (it had stopped raining) but it wasn't on. Probably starts at 8:00 -- it was 7:55. But I had to get back to the station. Perfect. great way to end my trip, huh? I took the Tourist Bus yesterday in Barcelona. Didn't leave myself enough time, though. I did see Parc Guell with it's incredible works by Gaudi and the amusement park on Mount Tibidabo, but I didn't see Montjuic or the Olympic Stadium. Oh well. Barcelona was fantastic. Especially Antonio! I've met so many wonderful people on this trip! Here's my new idea. Get a video camera and offer to tape people at the Olympics and the World's Fair -- so they don't have to lug their camera around! Hmm. Possibilities! I need to learn Spanish better -- and French and German. Air conditioning and automatic sliding doors here in Switzerland. Too cold, though. The train from Barcelona to Cebrere was air conditioned, but I think it had lost it's freon. It was a long trip -- many stops -- but some fun people. An Australian guy talked about Pamplona. I guess people were jumping off a statue into the link-crossed arms of people below. One person was killed when he fell instead of jumped. A German (I had heard Swedish or Norwegian, too) girl died after being gored by a bull. So many experiences. God, I wish it were clear. I can tell this would be beautiful.

11:00 am

Maybe it's a good thing it's raining. Dreariness is easier to leave than sunshine. I'm absolutely not ready to leave, but I'm pretty resigned to the fact that I'll be on that plane in 48 hours. When I think of seeing everyone and telling them about my trip and seeing Dingo, and planning the rest of my life -- then it's okay to be going home. I'm thinking now of staying in Bruges tonight instead of going on to London, and taking a Thursday overnight ferry. That would be cutting it close!

5:45 pm

I keep thinking about talking with Antonio. I'm proud of the fact that I was able to communicate, but I wonder how he felt. I wonder if he felt I was kind of stupid. I know that's irrational, but I think that you do subconsciously think that when someone can't speak your language. In your own country. I had met a girl from Yugoslavia and she spoke English pretty well. But when she couldn't remember a word, she got all flustered and said how stupid she was. That's how I felt with Antonio. But I know I communicated much less effectively than that girl did. It caused me not to say as much as I would have liked. I guess there were some barriers. I am going on to London tonight -- if I make the connection in Brussels. What the hell -- I haven't missed one yet. I just don't look forward to London like I used to. It's a wasted day in my eyes. But I should see Keith. And maybe I'll do some shopping. I managed to spend $20 in Switzerland pretty easily. On what? I'm not sure. Lucerne turned out to be beautiful when it cleared up.

6:00 pm

I miss Mark from Leicester, His "I'm gonna shout 'Oi' in a minute," While walking near the stadium in Florence, we saw some kids writing graffiti on a wall. So Mark shouted "Oi." How funny. How British. I wish I had gotten his address -- and his picture. Florence may be my fondest memory of this trip. Aside from my Barcelona buddy. Getting on the wrong bus in the rain in Mainz. Going back to the hostel after the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Meeting "Maude" on the way to Fulda. The anxiety of the illegal trip through Czechoslovakia. The warmth of the Polish family on the train on the way to Warsaw. The stoned times in Amsterdam -- staying out until 5 am! The Jazz Festival in Nice -- and running for the train! The dreary day at Dachau with Neil from Birmingham. What a nice guy! What an incredible journey this has been!

9:30 pm

I've been reflecting again. This kind of travel uses up every single resource you've got. Every bit of information you've learned in your life -- you use! All kinds of skills you never thought you had. You have to be so resourceful, yet so dependent. So active, so aware, so intense, so willing to learn, to accept, to adapt. It's like being an actor. Each city is a new film with a new setting, a new cast of characters. Everything changes - language, money, location, customs, expectations, people. It is a whole new world -- so different from the things you've experienced before, yet those past experiences are so necessary to survive. The challenge is incredible. The rewards, tremendous. You're changed forever. You've bonded with so many fellow travelers. All in the same boat, yet all so very different. Each with his or her own movie credits. The fact that you've touched each other's lives and make "guest appearance" in each other's movies is MIND-BOGGLING! One missed train, one changed mind, one minute's difference would change this whole world that you've created. Common goals -- varied destinations. Yet paths cross. You touch each other's lives. You become part of someone else's world. This is nothing new, of course. It happens in everyday life. But traveling makes it all so apparent because every chance meeting is so important. So intense! You're constantly creating history. Your own personal history -- and that of the people you join with.

I'm traveling to Brussels. I've been alone in a compartment for almost 2 hours now. Nice. This time is so necessary for reflection, for tidying up, for bringing together a myriad of thoughts. So many thoughts! Questions. Answers. Each day an adventure. Life lived to the fullest. So much energy! I've created much more than I've used up. I'm rarely tired (except at museums). My mind is constantly racing. Traveling is the drug for me. You see so much more -- and truly appreciate life and it's incredible potential. What a world, what a world.