A "Formal" Introduction by Eric

Hey everyone! Eric here to give you guys a "formal" introduction to our blog.

For those of you who are not familiar with what we have been up to recently, I'll fill you all in. I just recently graduated from the Materials Engineering program at UBC, and got a job offer in Calgary that starts at the end of August. My girlfriend Amber has been graduated for the past year and is currently working in Calgary. My brother Dan is still in Vancouver working and living at the Hepler Hotel. His latest project that is consuming all of his time is that he is starting up a brewery with Andrew.

Since my job doesn't start until the end of August, I decided that it was time to set myself free and do some serious travelling before becoming a corporate slave. Not wanting to be apart for any longer, Amber decided that it was high time to leave her job behind and come join me in my adventures. We started making a list of all of the places that we wanted to go, and quickly realized that we couldn't possibly see them all in the mere 100 days that we have alloted for this adventure. After making some very difficult cuts from our list, we decided upon a travel plan unlike anything either of us had ever experienced before. Hearing our plan, Dan knew that he could not sit idly by as we travelled the world, and decided to take an extended leave of absence from his work to come on most of the trip. He was far from alone in wanting to join us on our adventures, and we expect to be joined by Amber's mom, my father, Karin, Galvin, Sabrina and others. If you are reading this blog and find yourself gripped by a sudden urge to join us, or will find yourselves in the same countries as us at the same time, we would love to meet up with you...please send any of us (Amber, Dan or myself) an E-mail or leave a comment here.

Those among you who are not yet familiar with the details of our trip are probably getting curious as to what sort of trip could possibly lead to 2 people leaving their jobs behind in order to join. So without further ado, here is an outline of our proposed travels:

1. Turkey: Amber and I will fly from Calgary across Canada, over the Atlantic ocean and across Western Europe, touching down in Frankfurt, Germany before continuing on to Istanbul (was Constantinople...) in Turkey. We will spend a romantic couple of weeks seeing the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, the weird and phallic rock formations of Cappadocia (pretty much in the centre of Turkey), and relaxing on beaches along the beautiful Turquoise coast (so named because of the colour of the water) located in the south west of Turkey.
2. Greece: From the turquoise coast, we will take a ferry to the Medieval fortress on the island of Rhodes, and get on a flight to Athens. It is in Athens that we will meet up with Dan, and Amber's mom Karen will also join us. After a brief visit in Athens, we will take a ferry to one of the picturesque Greek islands (possibly Naxos or Santorini) to soak up the sun, the delicious food, and the ouzo.
3. Italy: Before we decide that we will never work again, and settle down to live in Greece for good, we will take a flight from Athens to Palermo, the main city on the Italian isle of Sicily. After a few days of eating, drinking, and dodging Mafia hitmen, we will slowly make our way up the west coast of Italy to Rome. Once in Rome we will drag Karen, kicking and screaming because she wants to stay in Italy for ever, to the airport to catch a plane bound for Canada. After our tearful goodbyes, we will continue up the western coast of Italy towards France. At some point here (probably in Rome) we will meet up with Galvin for some delicious Italian feasting.
   
4. France: After a healthy dose of Bouillabaisse and sun in Marseilles and the French Riviera, we will probably head north to Paris and party with Sanaée. The plans for France, Italy, and subsequently Denmark and Germany are not set in stone and may change during our voyage depending on who we meet along the way.
5. Denmark: Dan would like to visit some friends of his in Denmark, but Amber and I will probably stay in France or Germany instead.
   
6. Germany: Ahh, the ancestral homeland at last! My father Bill will probably join us for our adventures in Germany, which will have to include a visit to the Hammerstein castle (the castle of my mother's side of the family, who was German nobility). Our visit to Germany will not be strictly pleasure, and will likely include a detour to Munich, where we will conduct very important research into the local breweries to assist Dan in starting his. Berlin will be our final stop in western Europe, after which things begin to get quite interesting.
7. Russia: From St. Petersburg, Dan, Amber and I begin a 9,000 km train voyage across Asia. We are doing this portion of the trip with Vodkatrain (http://www.vodkatrain.com/), and will travel in a group of 15 people across Russia, Mongolia and China, with locals in each of the major stops to keep us out of trouble. In Russia, we will have stops in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Irkutsk, and Lake Baikal, before entering Mongolia.
8. Mongolia: We continue our train journey to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. From here, we set out to spend several days in a mongolian Ger, living with Mongolian nomads, riding horses and camels and drinking airag (mare's milk that has been fermented until it contains alcohol). We will then return to Ulaanbaatar and continue on the train to China.
9. China: The final destination of our trip is the Chinese metropolis of Beijing (formerly Peking, of Peking duck fame!). Here we will see the great wall, the forbidden city, and eat everything from duck to scorpion to dog. When we have had our fill on the 100th day, Amber and I will fly back to Calgary across the Pacific ocean, thus completing our circumnavigation of the globe. Dan may remain in China for a bit longer.

Amber and I will be leaving on May 11th from Calgary, meeting up with Dan on May 28th, and returning on August 17. No idea when Dan will return...he might stay for awhile. Stay tuned to our blog for stories and pictures from our trip. We will try to update as often as we can. Feel free to leave comments here or send any of us E-mails...we would be happy to hear from you!

Can't wait until 3 days from now!

Eric