Packin'

I was looking through some pictures today, and it dawned on me that six years ago today, I was about halfway through my first-ever European vacation, a 3-week backpacking trip through Italy and Austria. Previous to that, I had taken 3 trips to Africa, but for each of those, I was dropped off at the airport in Chicago and met by friends at the airport in Africa. But for Europe, I decided to have a little adventure on my own. So I just bought a big backpack, stuffed it with a couple changes of clothes and lots of granola bars & fruit roll-ups, and flew to Rome.

I determined to make the absolute most of the trip on a limited budget, so I stayed in the cheapest places I could find (sometimes my hotel being an overnight train on the way from Rome to Venice or from Venice to Vienna). Also, with just a few exceptions, I ate very simple meals, trying to save my money for transportation and admission to places I wanted to see.

On November 11, I was in Milan, Italy, where I toured the breathtaking Duomo with its stunning stained-glass, followed by one of my three "special" meals of the trip, at a fancy restaurant in the Galleria Victorio Emmanuel (an amazing seafood pasta dish completed by the most amazing mixed berry custard dessert....nearly orgasmic!). Then the night finished off with a chills-down-my-back-inspiring concert at La Scala Opera House (one of many "pinch me" moments of the trip). Anyway, I'm just rambling along in my reverie here, but if you have never had the opportunity to take such a trip, I highly recommend it!



I did have one regret from the trip, however. On an overnight train from Venice to Vienna, I joined three other travelers about my age (mid-20's), each from a different place but all doing the same thing--backpacking around Europe. One was a nice Dutch guy, friendly but not particularly memorable. The next was a girl from Germany. But my final traveling companion was one of the most beautiful Asian guys I have ever seen, and he was traveling alone on vacation from his home in Australia (and yes, be it ever so shallow for me to say, his Australian accent just made me melt even more). Looking back in retrospect, I realize I should have picked up on certain hints he was dropping, such as would I like to get a drink with him when we got to Vienna and then go back to his hotel to rest. But sadly, I was still in my pre-coming-out days in which I was so completely confused and conflicted about my sexuality that I was absolutely terrified by the guy and so ran away as soon as the train arrived at the station. I saw him leaving the train station looking for me, but I turned a corner and metaphorically kicked myself in the butt for being such a coward.

By the way, if this sounds like I was pretty pitiful at the time, that's exactly the case. If you're interested, check out my recent posts on my other blog about my coming-out story. It's still in progress, but you'll get the idea with the sections I've posted thus far.

Which of these guys would you like to have as your traveling companion?....