After coming back from Switzerland a few weeks ago, we still have a few warm days of weather left before the Fall officially comes which will make way for a winter. I am definitely ready to get back to skiing soon. There will still be some rock climbing to do before the rain comes back again in the Pacific Northwest.

I also have a trip planned to Colorado in a few weeks and definitely hope to see some fall colors there too.

It’s hard to believe that almost 25 years have passed since Woodstock 99. As some of you may know, I got to “work” as a t-shirt vendor there. I put “work” in quotation marks because it wasn’t really work.

In recent years there have been a few documentaries come out about Woodstock 99, and just like that I’ve gone down this Woodstock 99 rabbit hole which has led me to various Youtube videos and ultimately listening to survivor stories on Podcast 99.

So many things have happened these past 25 years. I have always been a person to stay in the moment and focus on the now and move forward especially all the way back then when I was 19 years old. I usually don’t like being nostalgic and looking back on past times, but this time I’m making a small exception.

It’s hard to believe that I was once this long haired college dude with ear piercings and a goatee. I just wanted to meet new and interesting people and gather new life experiences since I was no longer bound to the small southeast Georgia town I grew up in.

Woodstock 99 was one of those experiences to say the least. This was billed as the biggest concert event to end the century/millennium/whatever.

Being a t-shirt vendor at Woodstock 99 was a really cool way to experience the festival. I got to see a band each night I worked. To this day Red Hot Chili Peppers is the only band I have seen in four different decades, and who knew my first Chili Peppers show would feature a blue haired fully nude Flea. lol

Since I worked the night shift as a t-shirt vendor, I was oblivious to the horrible conditions the concert goers were subjected to. Even during the sunlight I didn’t really notice much in the change in tone of the event. It’s still hard to believe that I was feeling comfortable and having a fun time while people were suffering in the heat and getting pissed off.

It’s amazing to think about all the things I have done and seen since that summer of 1999. That was the final summer I was monolingual since I started learning German during the fall semester of 1999 at the University of Georgia.

I would later go on to study and live in Germany and then work in the Czech Republic and travel to over 30 countries on five different continents. And I went on to become a physician. And then I became an avid skier and rock climber.

It is so strange to look back on 19 year old me and look through all these pics and newspaper clippings I haven’t even looked at in well over 20 years.

I know that Woodstock 99 ended very terribly, and this should certainly be documented, and we all need to learn from this. It really is too bad that something with so much promise and hope turned out to be a miserable experience for countless others.

With that said, I think I ‘ve reflected on this enough for one blog post. Cherish the moment you have now and look forward to new things. That’s what 19 year old me would tell the 44 year old dude typing all this out now.

Before you know it, this year will go by way too fast. I recently got to enjoy skiing on my birthday in Park City, Utah. And the sunsets over the mountains there are always the best.

I look forward to getting back there in a few weeks.

It has been a nice start to 2024 even though I didn’t get to see UGA go for a threepeat. I spent some time in Whistler Canada skiing and am ready to tackle this year head on.

After ski season, I definitely want to get back into rock climbing and hiking, and I hope to get back to Europe in the summer. In a few weeks I get to turn double 4’s in the age category, and I’ll be doing that while skiing in Park City.

As you can see there is still some fun and adventure out there before the Fall comes again. Speaking of Fall, besides the college football season, I actually want to travel back to the middle east in particular the UAE to see what it is like there in half way decent weather that is not too hot.

I’ll do a few more trips here and there too and go see some concerts too.

Let 2024 be a nice year for all of us.

Before you know it, it will be 2024 soon, but there is still a lot of 2023 left. I still plan on getting to 30 ski days before April comes. And I am happy to say that I am planning on visiting India in July. It has been almost 5 years since I was last in India. Definitely long overdue.

I am also planning on vising Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, and Singapore during my travels this summer. After this trip this will bring my visited countries total to 35. We’re gonna’ try to get to 50 during my lifetime!

Well, we begin 2023 the same way I started 2022 one year ago. I started the year finishing my ski trip in Colorado only to fly to the national title game again and watch my beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs win again.

Wow! What a way to start the year and what a dominant performance from my Dawgs. It was really great to chill at Hermosa Beach and catch up with alumni and friends in the days before the game too.

As you can tell from the first pic, I pulled out the Dawg Vader outfit again just like I did in Indianapolis last year. Unfortunately, the Sofi Stadium security did not allow me to bring my helmet into the stadium (I was able to store it in a locker for $20). So I was left helmet-less and light saber-less for the game.

In the past days I’ve watched a few highlights of the game, and ironically the Sofi Stadium security let this fan wear a Mandalorian helmet in the stands.

Anyways, there are bigger problems in the world, so I just feel fortunate and blessed to have been a part of this game and watch my University end the season on top once again. Aside from the stupidity and hypocricy of the Sofi Stadium staff, I had an awesome time and got yet another chance to witness my team win it all.

And after the game was over, I was able to get my helmet and light sabers back and dance in the rain.

And in case the video feature is not working on whatever you are viewing this with, here is a low quality grainy 80s style cable quality pic of me after the game.

I hope everyone is starting off 2023 great. Go Dawgs!

I just had to include a pic of Mt. Ranier from one of my favorite climbing spots in Washington. I can’t believe I was in Europe just over 6 weeks ago. And in one week I’ll be in Colorado visiting friends and hopefully climbing. I’m going to see Nine Inch Nails at Red Rocks too.

And of course the most wonderful time of the year has arrived. College football will start up soon and my Georgia Bulldogs are defending champs. Hopefully, they can repeat.

In October I plan on going to Mexico City to see Rammstein in concert, and I’ll make my way to Athens Georgia as well to see my old university and go to the Auburn game.

Summer will wind down in the coming month and fall will be upon us. I’ll probably be skiing soon again as well.

Well, I think the title speaks for itself. I will be headed back to Germany in two weeks, and I will use my three weeks on the European continent to spend a week in Iceland as well. This will mark country number 29 on my list of countries that I have visited.

I know the world is an unfortunate crazy place at the moment, and before deciding to come to Germany, I had spoken to a number of friends there about how they feel about me visiting. The vast majority of them told me to come visit. I think with everything that has been happening in the past few years, I find myself needing to get out of the U.S. to travel a bit just to keep some sanity.

This will be the only trip I will be making outside of North America this year. I would love to get down to South America (especially Argentina) this year, but due to time and expenses and other plans it won’t be possible at least this year. I still need to try to get back to India as well.

I’m happy to be fortunate enough to be able to travel to western Europe in the next few weeks. A lot of friends and new adventures await. I am even going to catch Beatsteaks and Die Toten Hosen in concert while in Germany.

Alles geht weiter!

Well, a new year is upon us and how about them Dawgs! I started the year off skiing in Colorado and making my way to Indiana to see my beloved Georgia Bulldogs win their first national title in 41 years.

The start of the new year has been a blast and let’s see what the rest of the year has in store for us. I do hope I can FINALLY get back to international travel as I have not been back to Europe in almost 3 years now.

Hopefully, everyone is staying safe out there. It’s obvious I have been in a championship kind of mind of mood recently.

Go Dawgs! We the champs!

As we all get older we think about where we were or what we were doing at another time. On the 25th of August 2001 I got on a plane and flew all the way to Germany to study at Universität Heidelberg for one year. I commemorated my studies in Germany with a photo-/scrapbook and recently went through the two (!) volumes of it. The above picture shows the opening pages, and my message to the reader can probably be viewed a bit better with the picture below.

I truly cannot believe that this happened over 20 years ago and all the things that have happened in my life since then and where I am today. Back then I certainly did not see myself as a doctor or ever thought I would take up learning Spanish or doing certain outdoor activities such as skiing or rock climbing.

But here I am, and I do all of those aforementioned activities. It was great to revisit an old friend and remember some old times and faces from my early 20s. This photoalbum was probably the last time I used an actual old fashioned camera with developed film (since then we have been spoiled by digital cameras and, subsequently, our smartphones).

I am not going to go on and on about my feelings of seeing who I was back then and show any more photos from the book mainly because the pics are not the best quality, but I was really struck by a pic of a quote I took from a side of a building (probably in Weimar, Germany, but I really can’t remember):

“Keiner kommt von einer Reise so zurück, wie er weggefahren ist.” No one comes back from a trip the same person as he left.

I don’t know the exact Graham Greene quote, but that is my loose translation from the German wording of it. I came to Germany to study during that time and certainly came back to the University of Georgia a changed person. I had developed so much independence during that time since I had to open up a bank account and get a study visa and other important things all while speaking German too. I also had to study German linguistics with the most proficient German language scholars.

And all the traveling that I did with just a backpack stuffed with clothes and a baguette, some salami, an apple, and some water. The nights I spent on trains and ferries during my travels through Italy and Greece. And plus all the people that I met and friends I had during those times.

It is unfortunate that I lost contact to a lot of people from during that time, but it was nice to see their faces in those photos and remember how much fun I had during that time. Wherever they are now, I hope they are doing well.

I do look back on those days as some of the best days of my life. With that said, I certainly know that there can be even better days ahead, and I hope everyone is taking some time to reflect on some good things during these difficult times.

As Ingo Zamperoni says, “Schönen Abend noch und bleiben Sie zuversichtlich.”

Good night, and always remember to keep hope alive.