Good Bye Army! - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**Legitikick** · 05-10-2007, 11:59 AM

Tomorrow's my last day in the Army! Oh I'm so excited.

My bike (cycle) trip starts on Monday, from Maastricht (Holland), to Luxembourg, to Normandy, then down the coast into Spain, and possibly to Portugal, not sure though. Really, I just wanna be totally free, with no cares in life other than riding and finding food and fun, for a month. Then my Asia trip starts on the 15th of next month.

Ahhh I can't to sign that line tomorrow!

**TheJake** · 05-10-2007, 01:06 PM

Nice! Congrats man!

**omisan** · 05-10-2007, 02:55 PM

Congratulations!

**aliz** · 05-10-2007, 03:35 PM

you must be so excited about your newfound freedom! congrats & use it wisely (ie do as much stupid crap as you can think of) have fun!

**marc873** · 05-10-2007, 09:44 PM

kickass, hit the road and have a fucking blast

**expatben** · 05-11-2007, 02:39 AM

Awesome man-you totally earned this and have a great time!

**DC_Jessica** · 05-11-2007, 03:35 AM

Congratulations!!!

hurr111 · 05-11-2007, 12:24 PM

Congrats and Enjoy! I say hit Portugal...I have heard great things and I hope it will be one of the highlights of my trip.

**Delaney** · 05-15-2007, 12:05 PM

Congrats! What an exciting trip and way to end your army time.

**kingcrazylegs** · 05-16-2007, 06:51 PM

congrats!

Philosophise · 05-17-2007, 02:44 AM

Portugal is a definite must yeah,
The Algarve is alright but rather touristy

And if your cycling I warn you in advance of the drivers there!

-Tom

**Legitikick** · 05-20-2007, 07:46 AM

Thanks guys! Well so far its been a blast. I had an incredible going-away party, dinner at a great restaurant, and . . . . hey, excuse my laziness, but I've already written this all out in a nifty e-mail, so I'm just gonna cut & paste.

Last Friday night was great. We had a great dinner, for about three hours, at a great Spanish restaurant with about 15 friends and some wives. Some friends were buying shots and eventually a whole bottle of Tequila, and that led to deep heart-felt farewell speeches. It was really cool, I couldn't think of a better way to leave the Army. And then we walked to our favorite Irish pub, where a few more people joined us, including our old company commander who drenched me with a whole bottle of champagne. That's one hell of a going-away I'd say!

So then Jenny and I drove to Maastricht on Saturday, she left on Sunday night, and I stayed behind with my bike, tent, sleeping bag, and a few basic necessities. I gave myself three days to get to Luxembourg, I wanted to relax a bit and take my time getting back, but the clouds were threatening the whole time, so I did it in two days. Also, my rear derailer was having some serious issues and I couldn't use the gears I wanted to and that really made it no fun. The one night of camping went great, except for the old Dutch man that wanted to talk and help me so much. I just wanted to be left alone, wasn't in the mood to talk. It was pooring most of the night, but the tent did well.

Today (Thursday) is a holiday in Luxembourg, so Jenny and I are trying to find something fun to do, but the weather's nasty. I sure hope it gets better, because I want to take off towards Normandy on Monday. And, I think my biking plans might be changing once again. I'm starting to think that it won't be much fun just riding all day. I was planning on roughly 100k/day, but even though that's not that much, I think it's going to get very boring by myself after a week or so. So maybe . . . well, I dunno. Either way, I'm at least going to Normandy. I might have some friends meeting me there next weekend. Also, my budget's so tight with all these plans of mine over the next four months, that I hope I can still have some fun. I can enjoy the simple cheap things in life, like noodles, oatmeal, and water, but I don't want to force Jenny to do the same. She has a job, I don't.

My German's getting better, much better. Very, very, few people speak English here, but some speak German. So German's getting me around here. Jenny was in a car accident a few days ago, very minor little bump, it wasn't her fault at all. I was going around trying to find a shop to get a quote for the other guy's insurance company, with no luck because the fews shops here are so packed they won't even give us a quote. But not one shop spoke English, but at least one employee spoke German so I managed. Same with the bike shop yesterday.

Oh ya, my bike. So a shop here adjusted my rear derailer again. It felt good on the way back from the shop, but the guy said it wouldn't be perfect because I need a shorter chain. He said the chain I have is still good, but I should get a shorter chain. So why would it have been perfect for 2500km's and now it's horrible? This whole derailer thing is a real headache. I think I told you how I had it tuned in Wiesbaden before I left too . . .so I hope I don't have to do it again in another 50km's.

Well the rain has stopped for a little bit, we're going to go for a walk or something. We're going grocery shopping in Trier (Germany, cheaper) tomorrow, and otherwise we have no plans for the weekend. This sure is different, being totally on my own, in a foreign country where everyone speaks the disgusting language of French. It really is a nasty language, it sounds like moaning and groaning, which might be cool if it was a chick, but I really don't want the guys to sound all flustered when they're talking. Anyways . . .

Josh

**Legitikick** · 05-20-2007, 07:49 AM

Oh, and about Portugal . . . . I REALLY want to go. But I'm starting to think that I'd have a better month riding less, and enjoying each place I'm at a bit more. Because that'd be one hell of a push to get all the way down there in time. Plus, I'm trying to be super sparing with my cash now that I have no income, and I'd rather not have to pay for a plane or train, with a bike, back from Portugal. So . . . hmmmmmmm

But I'm off to Normandy tomorrow morning!

**worldwidemike** · 05-22-2007, 09:39 AM

Sounds great...reward yourself...go where you want to go, when you want to go. Hmmm...suggestions. How about Provence? I'm not big on France in general, but Provence is more like the Mediterranean countries than northern France. Great scenery. Cool hilltop towns. Roman, Medieval ruins...

Anyway, have fun! And congrats on getting out of the Army.

worldwidemike

**Legitikick** · 05-26-2007, 11:54 AM

Well Mike . . . funny you said that about Provence. This whole trip has changed a bit. I realized that other than Normandy, there was nothing I wanted to see in northwest France. So I just headed south out of Luxembourg. I made it to Dijon on day three where I met these two Canadian ladies that joked about giving me a ride south. I laughed, then thought about it, and then decided to do it! So I rode to Aix en Provence with them, and now two days later I'm in Montpellier. I still don't care much for France.

Then, late a few nights ago, I had a few drinks and ended up at an Internet cafe in Aix, and booked a Ryan Air ticket from Marakesh, Morocco, to Frankfurt Hahn. Now I'm a bit worried about that decision, because Gibraltar is still a long damn ways away, and Marakesh is a long ways through Morocco on (I'm guessing) bad roads and horrible drivers. I'm actually kinda scared.

I'm debating now whether to ride through Andorra, or along the coast with a stop in Barcelona. I'm swaying towards Andorra since I'll still have plenty of coast time, and I wouldn't have enough time to really dig into Barcelona anyways.

So uhhh . . . . yeah. And then my girlfriend and I fly to Dubai and then Thailand the day after I get back to Luxembourg!

Oh, anyone in the southern France or eastern Spain, or Morocco area?