Half way home

I'm about a month away from the end of my backpacking adventure through Europe that has been the most amazing adventure I have ever done in my life.  With each day presents new challenges and new obstacles.  Finding fun in the uncertainty of each day is the most thrilling of all.  I think that is what life should be all about, well at least for me anyway.  I guess as I continue this vagabonding experience, a person who wanders from place to place with no job, I've realized that where ever you go and whatever experience you put yourself into, in the end everything works out.  I can't tell you the number of times I've been in what seemed like the most crazy situation like a missing a train or taking the wrong bus, but in the end I made it to where I needed to be and everything seemed just fine.  Taking a look back on it all, it's really mind blowing to see how far I've come on this adventure that started in Greece in late August until now.  With all the different experiences weeks seem like months. 

Though I know this experience will soon come to an end one of biggest things I have taken from it is that everything works out in the end and even the highest of mountains aren't so big after all.  If we just give it everything we've got, live each day as if it were our last, and put a smile on our face our lives become simple and fun.

With that being said, the Oxjam Music Festival was a blast! My good friend Heath Little who I played soccer with back in South Carolina has been working on his masters degree in London and offered to let me stay as his flat during my time here.  It's been awesome hanging out with him and his friends.  

Edinburgh, Scotland is next up on my travels around Europe.  My heritage is Scottish and Irish, so the goal is to find as much information as I can about the history of my family and to soak in the culture of the Scotts.  From Scotland I will make my way over to Ireland and enjoy everything Dublin has to offer. 

Please continue to follow the trip on twitter @LiveGoodVibes
and
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Oxjam Music Festival

Only a few days away until I play in London, England at the Oxjam Music Festival where we will be raising money to fight poverty around the world.  The nerves have kicked in and the anxiety begins to rise. I have friends I have met along my travels throughout Europe who will be attending the festival, so it will be great to see all of them once again.  I go on at 9:25 and will be playing a 30 minute set.  Very stoked about this!

After I was in Berlin, Germany for just over a week I took off to Amsterdam, Holland.  Where I caught up some friends that I had met at Oktoberfest and Berlin, Germany.  While I was in Amsterdam I wanted to make sure I went to some of the museums that I missed when came to Amsterdam in 2007 while studying abroad in London.  I went to the Van Gogh Museum to learn about his art and his life in Holland.  His story is very interesting and if you ever make it to Amsterdam I would highly recommend going to see this museum.  His artwork was full of color and full of life.  Van Gogh's said "I don't invent the whole painting, instead it is already made in nature, though I still have to extract it".


From there I made my way over to the Anne Frank museum.  Though I never did read her book, I met a Australian lady whose father was Dutch and had been to the museum several times.  We briefly spoke and I kindly asked if she would help give me some insight onto what I was looking at while going through Anne Franks hideout and that she did.  It's really amazing that a 14 year old girl could right so deep at that age.  It's inspired me to read her diary.

Next week I will be attending an Arsenal Soccer match when they take on the Bolton Wanderers next tuesday night and then I am playing in a showcase open mic on Friday.  Wish me luck.  Hope everyone back home is doing GREAT!!

keep vibin'
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Week in Berlin

Where to start.  I feel like its been so long since I've last blogged.  I'm currently hanging out in Berlin, Germany and I can honestly say its been one of my favorite cities thus far on the trip.  I arrived on the 6th of October just after a fun filled adventure in Munich for Oktoberfest.  Once I arrived the first thing on my mind was "sleep" and then go do all the cool touristy things during the week.  Once I got to Berlin, I unloaded all of my stuff did some laundry and slept.  It was the greatest sleep of my life I can assure you of that.  From there I met some other people in my hostel and had a few drinks at a bar on the bottom floor of our place.

On the next day I decided to get cultured and took a free walking tour around the city to learn a little bit about Berlin.  The tour was great and now I want to do a whole revision on the Prussian empire again.  I never would have said that 4 years ago while in college.  Later in the day I went and busked in the streets promoting my album and preparing for the Oxjam Music Festival coming shortly.

Later in the week I met up with the cousins from North Carolina Keith and Cory Sherman who are cycling across Europe with their tents, a few pots and pans and their beards.  We all met each other in Munich and decided that we would all go to Berlin to celebrate Keith's 25th birthday before he had to fly back and start work again at Trader Joes.  We had a blast to say the least.


I played a small gig in Berlin and all the people I had met from Munich and Berlin all decided to come out.  We had a great crowd and it was a lot of fun.  We'll only 8 more days until my show in London.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Until then catch everybody Monday for the latest Web-Series.

Wie Gehts?

Sitting in a small-cafe that is part of the hostel that I am staying at in Munich, Germany going over all of the random videos that I managed to take while participating in some adult fun here at Oktoberfest.  Prague and Oktoberfest definitely lived up to the hype.  Oktoberfest was similar to that of a massive carnival that you would find at your local fairgrounds.  Cotton candy, hot-dogs, almonds covered in brown sugar and all the typical things you would find at a carnival.  Once you walk into a the madness begins and thousands of people are up cheering, celebrating and having fun while the band rocks away a mixture of American classics like Sweet-Home Alabama, Sweet Carolina, and others that are well known.

Before I headed to Oktoberfest I decided to take a detour and head north to Prague, a city that has been raved about by many of my friends.  Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen and I enjoyed my few days there. I caught up with some southern travelers that were in Prague seeing some of their friends that they had played golf with in college and now played for the European tour.  We all had a blast and the memories will never be forgotten.

Now where to go next.  Berlin!

Croatia I love you

I am Currently in Zagreb, Croatia and I've throughly enjoyed my time here in this beautiful country.  I started in Dubrovnik moved my way up the coast to Split and then over to the Capital Zagreb before I make my way over to Budapest, Hungary and then to Munich, Germany for the last weekend of Oktoberfest.  I've heard great things about the craziness that goes on during Oktoberfest, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Two words that represent the the people of Croatia "Super Friendly".  Time and time again they have gone overboard in making me feel welcomed in their country.  From making pizza orders, finding out what time the trains run, giving me free drinks because I play guitar at their hostel, and other things.  I can't say enough about the people here.  Their english level is great and it seems as though everyone speaks english and if they can't they do their best in trying to make do with their english capability.

So where to next?  Budapest, Hungary.  I am a month away from my music festival Oxjam in London, so I'm trying to see as much as possible by the time I make it there.  At each hostel I've been to, I've played music for the travelers making the experience awesome.  Everyone really seems to be enjoying my music and are eager to hear more.  I guess thats a good sign :) .   Today I played for 2 guatemalan girls that had overheard me the night before, but didn't get a chance to hear me sing.  Before they caught their train to Slovenia I promised I would play them a song.  After we got done touring the city of Zagreb, I pulled out the guitar and played them one of my tunes.  I decided to play them my song "The Wonder of Love."  After the song I looked up and saw one of the girls crying, she gave me a big hug, took a picture with me and asked if I would sign an autograph for her.  This was a special feeling that I really can't describe in words.  The ability to touch someone's heart with music is something that is special and a gift and for that I am very thankful.  It's been great here in Croatia.
Now onto Budapest.

 let the Good Vibes movement and spread of the Self-Discover Album continue


www.LiveGoodVibes.com

Alive and well

Its been a crazy week and a half.  I flew from Athens to Istanbul where I stayed for 3 nights enjoying the sites that Turkey had to offer.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but to see alot of Turkey you need a good amount of time because the country is so big.  While in Turkey I took a ferry around the Myanmar sea, checked out the famous Blue Mosque and dabbled in some Turkish ice-cream.  I had a good time, but was ready to get to eastern Europe!

I took a flight from Istanbul to Sarajevo, Bosnia.  I never ever thought I'd go to Bosnia, but let me tell you the city is freaking beautiful, the people are super friendly and the stories I heard were mind blowing. While busking on the streets of Sarajevo, I met a guy who was 13 years old during the war back in 1992 that lasted for 3 years.  Many of the Bosnian people fled as refugees, while others stayed back and took cover during the siege. My friend that I met on the street said, "We could hear bombs dropping everyday.  It became normal and a part of everyday life.  People left dead in the streets, It was horrible"  After hearing stories such as this I get a sense of realizing how lucky I am to live in a country where war isn't at our doorsteps each and everyday.  During my ride in from the airport you could see bullet holes all along the sides of buildings from the war reminding you of the fight that took place in Sarajevo roughly 20 years ago.

Now I am in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  A beautiful city that literally sits on the ocean.  More to come as I being these next few days.  Catch the web-series out Monday night at 7:30pm

www.LiveGoodVibes.com

3:00am bus to airport Greece-Turkey

3:00am, bags packed and ready to head to Istanbul, Turkey.  These past three days in Athens have been awesome.  Enjoying some more sight-seeing that I missed due to wanting to get to the Greek Isles, and let me tell you I missed alot.  I have nothing bad to say about Mykonos, but it was the island of Santorini where I stayed in the town of Thira where I can honestly say is probably one of the most amazing places on the planet.  While Trying to make a decision on where to go next, I ended up booking two extra nights and it was well wroth it.

If you ever go to Santorini and you want to stay in a Hostel, I would highly recommend Caveland hostel.  A  hostel that was an old wine cellar years and years ago before they closed it down and turned it into a hostel.  All I can really say is the place is amazing and it would blow your mind..

The decision is to head to Istanbul, after a difficult decision, hoping to make it from Israel to Turkey, Croatia and so on.  My best bet was to use my Frequent Flier miles after London and head to Israel towards the end of October then back the west for the rest of Europe.



The web-series should be an interesting one so stay tuned for Monday nights episode.  The Video will be posted Monday night @ 7:30pm.  For a sneak peak, I've been meeting the locals and even had the chance to jam my song "Around The World"with a local musician on the street!  Thanks for watching and keep in touch

To view the web-series you must go to WWW.LIVEGOODVIBES.COM