Checked In To My First Hostel Ever

After a 7hr flight, little leg space for a 6' 2" guy, 3 movies later (21 Jump Street, the descendants, and Act of Valor) I made my way through customs and was able to catch a bus that took me close to my hostel.  I have yet to go to my room as they are still doing some room service cleaning however the common room area seems nice, well light and free wifi.  There is a pub crawl every night starting at 8pm, free breakfast, and a free walking tour of Dublin everyday.

I think for this afternoon I will go and see the Guiness Brewery, Kilmainham Gaol (old famous European jail), Dublin Castle, and St. Patrick's Cathedral and possibly make my way over to Trinity College to go see the Book of Kells.

May not update blog until I reach London on Friday.

Jay

Waiting To Board

I am currently waiting to board my flight to Dublin (10:02pm departure) and am starting to feel more excited than nervous.  Although I don't really know where I'm going once I land, I'm just excited to start a journey that will define my first action as a college graduate.  This picture was taken by my brother at the airport before he said goodbye.

Also, I can receive text messages and voice mails at this following number for the duration of my trip: 

201-282-6933

*If you text, please include your name as it is only an ipod application and my cellphone address did not transfer over

Jay

The Night Before

Tomorrow, at 10:02pm, I leave for Dublin.  I really don't know how I get from the airport to the hostel in Dublin once I arrive, but I have enough confidence that I'll figure that part out.  I have all day tomorrow to look into it before my brother drives me to the airport.

But anyways, tomorrow I will try to upload a video of all the items in my pack.  I have done a lot of research on what to bring and I would like to post a video to explain what items I have decided to live with for 3.5 months.

I had a great night hanging out with my hometown friends, Jeff and JP, and I look forward to hanging out with them again this fall upon my return. 

Also, I found out that I will be hearing if I got the internship on Capitol Hill by end of July.  I look forward to returning to a life in the DC area that I left a long time ago while embracing the opportunities DC has to offer.

I'll try to post the video tomorrow with my pack!

Jay

T-Minus 6 Days!

I am only 6 days away and first week back living at home has been very relaxing and productive.  I haven't lived at home for over four years and my parents are happy to have me back, and I am happy to have free food and sleeping well into the morning. 

Yesterday, I had an interview in Speaker Boehner's office for an internship to keep me busy upon my arrival back into the states.  Although I am excited to work for GE Aviation's Operations Management Leadership Program (OMLP), it would be a dream come true for me to work for a Representative and attend committee meetings on environmental-related issues.  I thought the interview went great (one person said they were even going to follow my blog) and as of now, I just have to wait for their response.  Big thanks to Tim Lolli for helping me set that up and spending some time out of his busy schedule to help me out.  I owe ya one Tim.

And to update on my planning, last night I have somewhat confirmed my trip to Brussels.  My friend Brad Stephens is meeting up with Tom and I in Paris and when Tom has to return to work in London, Brad and I are planning on visiting the NATO, EU, and the Atomium building.  Tom is helping us get the best train ticket, and later today I'll start looking up hostels for Brad and I to stay in.

And per request of a few of my friends, I am going to post my schedule of what I have so far:

• Fly to Dublin on Tuesday, June 26th
• Fly to London on Friday, June 29th
• Train to Paris on Wednesday, July 4th
• Train to Brussels on Monday, July 9th
• Flight to Barcelona on Thursday, July 12th
• Train (?) to Vienna, Austria / stopping somewhere along the way on Monday, July 16th-18th
• Meet up with my parents on Wednesday, July 18th in Vienna
• Oliver's wedding on Friday, July 20th
• Fly with my mom to start my graduation present/our trip to Italy (Venice, Florence, Rom) from Monday July 23rd to August 3rd and fly back to Vienna
• Fly (?) to Istanbul on August 4th with Oliver (still in the process of working out)
•  Fly back to Vienna on Thursday/Friday August 8th or 9th
• Do solo travel up north to Amsterdam, Netherlands (still need to start researching)
• Make my way back down to Berlin and Munich for October fest end of September
• More info to come later

Thanks for all of your support, I look forward to visiting some of you along my way and others to catch up when I return.  Right now, I'm on my way to find a pair of hiking shoes to get, I'll have to post a pic of everything in my pack before I leave.

Jay

Alumni and Moving

Phew, graduation was perhaps one of the longest, exhausting, and more rewarding experience of my life so far.  Although I had a minor slip up during my Senior Class welcome speech (was talking and looking out and then realized I didn't know what I was saying), I was able to recover and continue on and deliver some passionate message.

My family just left a few days ago back to Dayton/Columbus/DC and I have been busy packing up my belongings over the last few days.  Luckily, I also had a 24 pack of Bud Light I "had" to finish before leaving Cincinnati.  But tomorrow my roommate Phil is helping me move my bed, futon, couch, TV, and other belongs I don't need till I start GE's OMLP program.

Not a whole lot of new on my trip, there are two areas I need to think about what I am going to do.  My buddy Tom will be returning to London for a time period after Paris and I'll have ~1 week to travel with my friend, Brad Stephens, and by myself.  I'm thinking of a day excursion to some smaller France cities or elsewhere.

Also, now that my hostel is booked in Barcelona, I will have a few days to travel to Vienna for Oliver's wedding.  I'm thinking it may be fun to stop by some smaller cities along the way and make the most of it, but I gota plan this out.

Big thanks to Brian Crone for letting me use his pack for this trip.  It's 55L and I can't wait to sew my name with a patch or something.  Can't wait to tell him about this trip, but hopefully he's reading this too.

My next blog my be when I get back to DC.  It will be hard saying goodbye to Cincinnati but luckily I'll be back end of December for Mike Linger's wedding and in Feb. for GE OMLP training.

Jay

2 Days Away From Graduation

I'm two days away from graduation from the University of Cincinnati and just finishing up the last assignments and obtaining my final grades.  Things are looking good (grade wise) and I'm currently getting ready for a Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert with my roommates which I am really excited for.

Just yesterday, I booked my Ryanair flight from Dublin to London (only 19.99 euros!) and my train ticket from London to Paris (~$120) but I have no problem paying the cost as I don't have to pay for housing in either of these cities!

My buddy Oliver from Vienna called me (currently in Boston/NYC with his finance) and we were talking about his wedding and plans afterward.  Once the itinerary for my trip to Italy is finalized with my mom, I will relay the date I get back to Vienna and we are talking about Istanbul which would be a dream come true for me.  The city is an ultimate mix cultural diffusion in one of the greatest empires in history.

Trying to get the word about my grad party (Christy's, 5-8pm on Friday) and making sure every senior is bombarded with a donation.  We've already beat the $12,000 record by the Class of 2009 by collecting $24,000 (with the matching gift) but I wana keep pushing it as hard as I can.

My interview with Speaker Boehner is fast approaching and I haven't even started to prepare and I hope things work out the way I hope it does.

Till next time (I'll probably be a college graduate by my next post!)

Jay