Last week, I took a trip out to the east coast for a pair of conferences, one in Washington, DC and the other in North Carolina. The first conference was hosted by ONE, a grassroots organization I volunteer for that works toward the eradication of extreme poverty and preventable diseases (AKA, the ONE Campaign).  Each year, ONE brings all of its leadership from across the country to DC to learn about its upcoming campaigns, to hear from renowned speakers, and to spend a day on Capitol Hill talking with our Congressmen and Senators about certain policies.  This year, we were asking Congress to protect funding for PEPFAR, Feed the Future (a program sponsoring agricultural development), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, all of which come out of the United States’ overseas development budget, a mere ~0.7% of the entire federal budget.

The second conference, hosted by the company whose software powers the University of Colorado Boulder’s online study abroad system, took me to Charlotte, NC, where I gave a presentation on APIs. Despite it being my first tech talk, it went without any hitches!

As it was my first time to the area, I decided to rent a car and spend a few extra days shooting photos and traveling around North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina. My first stop was Asheville, NC. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but what I did get to see I loved. I was surprised by the city’s dominance of art deco architecture, probably my favorite design style.  One of the few places I visited there was the Basilica of Saint Lawrence, a small basilica designed by Rafael Guastavino.  Guastavino, who is buried in the basilica’s walls, was an architect who worked on the Biltmore Estate (the largest private estate in the nation), the New York City subway, and the Great Hall at Ellis Island and invented a tile system used to construct self-supporting arches and domes, such as those in the Boston Public Library, New York City’s Grand Central Station, Carnegie Hall, the West Point Chapel, and the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.  I even got to open his crypt (yes, sort of creepy)!

After Asheville, I made the scenic trek through the Smoky Mountains – shooting photos along the way – to Gatlinburg, TN, a booming resort town despite its remote location nestled in a narrow valley – and when I say “booming,” I mean it.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a town or city with as many attractions per square mile.  The most notable place I visited in Gatlinburg was the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, and I must say it was $18 well spent!  I saw some crazy stuff including a two-headed goat, a genuine human head shrunken to the size of a grapefruit, and a portrait of Eminem made out of M&Ms.

After Gatlinburg, I headed back south to North Carolina through yet another picturesque area, passing through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which was absolutely beautiful, and a Cherokee Indian reservation.  I eventually arrived in South Carolina, where I spent the night at a friend’s place on Lake Hartwell, and in the morning, I booked it back to Charlotte, stopping in Greenville, SC along the way, to catch my flight home.

Overall, my week away was a success, being both relaxing and productive.  After I get a little more time to decompress and to process my whole experience, I plan on sharing a few miscellaneous travel tips I came up with during my adventure.

Sensor size

Before digital photography, most consumer cameras used the standard 35mm film, on which each shot, or frame, was 24mm × 36mm. When digital SLRs started being produced, manufactures mimicked this standard size by making digital sensors at 24mm × 36mm. However, due to the bigger size and higher cost, most camera manufacturers only put these standard-sized sensors in their higher-end cameras while putting cheaper, smaller sensors in their amateur-level cameras. The former were dubbed full frame bodies and the latter crop sensor bodies, or simply crop bodies.

The biggest difference between full frame and crop bodies is the apparent “zooming in” of a crop body camera. For instance, imagine you have one full frame body and one crop body, each with a 50mm lens. The light that enters and hits the back of each camera, called the light circle, will be exactly the same since the focal lengths were identical. The portion of light captured by each sensor differs, however. The full frame sensor captures a bigger portion of the light circle while the crop sensor captures a smaller portion (see diagram — coming soon).

Looking at just the area of light captured by each sensor type (i.e., the image produced from each sensor), the photo from the crop body seems more “zoomed in” since more of the original light circle is cut off, thus making the original 50mm lens produce a shot that seems more like one from a lens with a longer focal length.

Depending on how much smaller a crop sensor is from its full frame counterpart determines the crop factor, a ratio relating how a certain focal length on a crop body equates to a lens on a full frame body. For instance, an APS-C format sensor, used in the majority of Canon crop body dSLRs, has a crop factor of 1.6. Using this, we can calculate that a 50mm focal length on a crop body is equivalent to an 80mm focal length on a full frame camera (1.6 × 50mm = 80mm). Don’t worry about calculating the crop factor yourself – crop factors for given cameras are widely available online, like on Wikipedia for example.

Megapixels

Sensors are responsible for capturing images, which are translated into digital format by way of pixels and megapixels, where 1 megapixel equals 1,000 pixels. Now, just because a camera has a smaller sensor doesn’t mean it will inherently be a lower megapixel camera. Sensor size and megapixel count, while loosely influential on the other, are independent.  In any case, the truth is that megapixels aren’t really that important at all — unless you’re printing large images. Here’s why.

Most dSLRs shoot images that are anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 pixels long on the shortest edge.  For general usage, images this large don’t provide any benefit for general use (e.g., posting online, sending via email, producing small 4 × 6 or 5 × 7 prints); images this large must be scaled down to even fit on a standard computer screen (the biggest screens are only around 2,000 pixels long on the longest edge). During the resizing process, the extra pixels are essentially “thrown out,” thus rendering the high pixel count of the camera irrelevant to begin with.

This sizing dilemma can also be looked at in terms of inches using pixel density, or resolution.  Imagine we have an image that is 5,616 × 3,744 pixels (the maximum image size produced by a Canon 5D Mk II).  Using the logic above, we already know that this won’t fit on screen, but let’s put it into terms of inches.  Most computer screens have a pixel density around 110 pixels per inch (PPI, not DPI – more on this later), so let’s use this as an example screen resolution.  On this screen, our example image would be 51 × 34 inches (5,616 pixels ÷ 110 pixels/inch = ~51 inches; 3,744 pixels ÷ 110 pixels/inch = ~34 inches).  As demonstrated before, this image greatly exceeds the screen size and would have to be resized for digital use.

Printing

Printing is where megapixels become important.

For starters, printers don’t print pixel-by-pixel, they print dot-by-dot. Think of the tiny dots you see in a comic book.  A printer prints thousands of these little dots per inch (DPI), mixing different amounts of cyan, yellow, magenta, and black inks to produce a certain color (a process called halftone).  The pixel data of the image file is converted into this corresponding dot information that the printer needs to print the image.  Every printer has its own math to convert the pixel data into dot data, but it is generally accepted that an image resolution of 300 PPI will provide enough data to create the clearest possible dot pattern without any pixelation.

The thing to always remember, though, is that PPI is not the same as DPI.  If you have a printer set to its lowest quality setting, meaning it will print at a lower DPI in order to increase print speed, it will never produce a sharp image no matter how high PPI your image is set at; there won’t be enough dots to create enough detail for a sharp image.

A Few of the More Important Lessons I Learned

Boldness is key.

Whether you’re a startup or a freelancer, making the right connections can make or break your success in the startup world. It follows that you need to be bold enough to make connections with those who might be of benefit.  If it turns out that they can’t directly help you, they might at least be able to introduce you to someone who can.

Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses, and learn those of others.

In a fast-moving environment, trying to tackle a project that’s above your head can eat up valuable time.  There’s no reason to attempt to do everything by yourself.  Instead, see if someone else is better qualified or if they can at least help you learn what you need to finish the job.

Don’t just be busy, be productive.

I would have to say that this is the most valuable lesson I learned this summer and one that others I’ve worked with need to improve upon the most.  In any business, it’s important to execute fast in order to get new product out, receive feedback from users, and fix the problems (i.e., use an iterative design process).  However, many seem to interpret this need as an obligation to always be doing work.  While it’s important not to be slacking off everyday, the type of work you accomplish makes a difference.  For a successful iterative design process, don’t waste time with small subtleties.  Focus on the features on which you need feedback and finish those.  After all, many smaller features might not even make it into your product because product evolution may prove them to be irrelevant.

Execution is more important than the idea.

Apple wasn’t the first to make an MP3 player, and Google wasn’t the first to build a search engine.  What I’m saying is that success is based less on the idea and more on how you execute it.  Team dynamics, product development, and every small or large decision you make all are a part of this how.  With that said, it’s important not to get overconfident about your idea and overlook the importance of the execution.

What I Learned About Myself

I still work best in coffee shops.

For some reason, even given my own desk in an office, I still work best in coffee shops.  I seem to do horribly with absolute quiet because it makes me want to fidget.  Coffee shops give me just the right amount of ambient distraction, as well as sunlight, to be able to delve into code for several hours.

I suck at networking, and it’s probably what I can improve upon the most.

Above I said boldness is key.  It really is.  Unfortunately, I’m a bit shy and really suck at it.  I was able to make a few connections, and those got me introductions to even more useful connections.  However, if I had reached out even more at the beginning, I would have made exponentially more connections, and who knows what other options I’d have on the table.

I love ping pong.

Pretty self-explanatory.  Whenever we needed a coding break at TechStars, the ping pong table was right there, and it grew on me throughout the summer.

function truncate_str($string, $limit)
{
	if (strlen($string) <= $limit)
	{
		$string = $string; // Do nothing
	}
 	else
	{
		$string = wordwrap($string, $limit);
		$string = substr($string, 0, strpos($string, "n"));
		$string .= "...";
	}
	return $string;
}

Update: Here’s an updated, condensed version of the above code.  It shortens the function and gets rid of some redundant lines (i.e., $string = $string).

function truncate_str($string, $limit)
{
    if (strlen($string) > $limit)
    {
    	$string = wordwrap($string, $limit);
      	$string = substr($string, 0, strpos($string, "n"));
      	$string .= "...";
    }
    return $string;
}

So, an amazing opportunity has just recently come to me. I’m pleased to announce that this summer I’ll be participating in the TechStars Boulder 2011 program as a HackStar! For those not familiar with it, TechStars is a start-up accelerator program that helps new tech start-up companies get up and running through mentoring from Boulder’s amazing community of successful entrepreneurs and investors. As a HackStar, I will float among the eleven twelve participating start-ups, helping them develop and improve the web side of their businesses. My focus will be front-end development (i.e., user interface and user experience).

I’m extremely excited for this opportunity. Not only will I get to use and improve my skills while being part of something big, I’ll learn all about creating new start-ups, and I’ll make amazing connections that could come in handy if I ever launch my own (and I definitely do have some ideas!).

Besides TechStars, several concerts are on my schedule, including U2, Blues Traveler, Matisyahu, and Death Cab for Cutie. I’m also crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to head to Florida for the final launch of the Space Shuttle, tentatively scheduled for July.

That’s all for now. If you’d like to know what I’m up to until the next post, follow me on Twitter.

First off, here are the photos that are up for auction.

Here’s how it works:

The auction takes place on Flickr.com. I will offer a print at a certain starting price. You may bid by posting your bid in the photo comments section of the desired photo on Flickr. The comment section of the photo is the official bid record! If you don’t have a Flickr account, you can contact me through my website or send me a tweet at @ericmagnuson, and I will submit your bid in the Flickr comments on your behalf. When the auction reaches the closing time, the highest bidder will win the print. At this point, the winning bidder must go donate the winning bid amount to a legitimate charity involved in the Haiti relief efforts (Red Cross or Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders are my suggestions). Once complete, take a screenshot of your donation confirmation, and email it to me along with your address (if you need help with taking a screenshot, Google it or just ask me – I’ll help!). After I see you have donated your bid amount to charity, I will get the photo professionally printed at Mike’s Camera in Boulder, Colorado and ship it out as soon as possible!

I am paying for the print to be produced and pay for shipping, so all the money goes straight to the cause!

For more info on this movement and how it all works, please visit the discussion in the “CHARITY PRINT AUCTIONS” Flickr group.

1. Drink more water (target is 2 glasses daily – it’s a start!).
2. Get a photo published in a major publication.
3. Travel to 5 new countries.
4. Learn to cook actual food.
5. Get in shape and have more muscle definition.
6. Go out of my way more to meet new people.
7. Adopt a better daily schedule/routine.
8. Launch a new website.
9. Get in touch with old friends around the world.
10. Record a song.
11. Get some loose plans for volunteering abroad.
12. Finish my homework within the first three hours after returning home each day.

Chances are as I get some new ideas over the next few days, I’ll add to this list.  I’m hoping that by putting my goals online where everyone can see, I’ll hold myself more accountable to actually achieving them.

I believe that before any change can occur, people must be informed about global warming so they know why it’s such an important and serious topic. With that, I’d like to focus first on some facts from National Geographic.

• “Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.”
• “Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth’s surface.”  (This is nothing new.  We’ve been learning about the greenhouse effect since the ’90s.)
• “Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana’s Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.”
• “Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.”
• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.
• Research has shown “the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.”
• “Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.”
• “Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.”
• Speaking of which, global warming has allowed for a similar problem where I live in Colorado.  With winters that aren’t cold enough to stop their progression, global warming has led way to an unstoppable population of mountain pine beetles which have eradicated nearly all lodgepole pine forests over thousands of square miles.  To get a sense of the severity of this probem, the satellite images of red forests speak for themselves. (more on this: here, here, and here)

The one that gets me, though, is that many people don’t believe in global warming (like its a religion or something). In fact, I have friends that insist it’s a natural process and shouldn’t be accredited to humans.  Evidence, however, proves otherwise.  While the global temperature does fluctuate naturally in cycles of hundreds of thousands of years (the carbon dioxide levels in arctic ice core samples show proof of this), the current rate of global warming is drastically accelerated.  Today’s temperature changes have occurred just over the past century. (source)

If global warming continues as it is now, the results will be very serious.  Here are some facts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (via National Geographic) about what will happen if we don’t do something now.

• “Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century’s end, the IPCC’s February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.”
• “Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world’s population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.”
• “Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.”
• “Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.”
• “More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.”
• “The ocean’s circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.”
• “At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.”

Assuming these facts are convincing enough (that is, if you weren’t already a “believer” to begin with), here are a few easy ways from Stop Global Warming in which you can do your part to reduce greenhouse gases, the root cause of global warming (you can also read all of them here).

• Use compact fluorescent bulbs: Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Saves 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year.
• Fill the dishwasher: Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Saves 100 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.
• Use recycled paper: Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Saves 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.
• Take shorter showers: Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Saves 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.
• Carpool when you drive (or take public transit): Carpooling with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Saves 790 lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.
• Plant a tree: Trees suck up carbon dioxide and make clean air for us to breathe. Saves 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.
• Unplug unused electronics: Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use energy (called phantom power). Saves over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.
• Ditch the plastic: 2.5 million individual plastic water bottles are thrown away every hour in the US. Start using a reusable water bottle and just say no to plastic!
• Turn off your computer: Shut off your computer when not in use, and save 200 lbs of C02. Conserve energy by using your computer’s “sleep mode” instead of a screensaver.
• Use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store: Using your own cloth bag instead of plastic or paper bags reduces waste and requires no additional energy.

Although some of these things might be pretty obvious, it’s easy to take them for granted and forget about them. I hope Blog Action Day 2009 can help educate people about the reality of climate change and serve as a reminder that in all the ways in which we can help, we make an impact no matter how big or how small it is. After all, doing something is better than doing nothing.

If you have any suggestions for how others can help, or if you’d like to share your thoughts on climate change, let us know in the comments.

Sources: National Geographic (here and here), Stop Global Warming (here).

France

After the UK, my trek picks back up across the English Channel in France. First stop: Paris.

During the rest of the week, I really didn’t do too much. After all, I had already been to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs-Élysées. Instead of hitting up all the usual tourist places, I decided to try something a little differently and travel at a slower pace (more to come about this later). Over the next four days, I went to some parties, listened to street musicians near Notre Dame along the Seine, went to the top of the Sacré-Cœur, and spent a whole day in my favorite spot of Paris, Montmartre.

The next stop of my journey was Lyon in the central east part of France. There, I had an old friend from four years back to visit. It was awesome seeing him, and he was great enough to show me all of Lyon and its ancient Roman ruins. As it turns out, Lyon used to be one of the largest Roman centers in France. Weaved in with the busy modern apartments and businesses are old theaters, hippodromes where they had chariot races, and museums filled with thousands of sculptures, tablets, and other artifacts from the Roman era. I also went to Vienne, France which is home to France’s biggest Roman theater which is still used for concerts to this day. Aside from the wanderings through Lyon’s history, I spent the rest of my time catching up with my friend and really living the French lifestyle. We even went to my friend’s parents’ house for dinner one night for a tasty home-cooked meal and ate out another night at a small kind of French restaurant special to Lyon called a bouchon lyonnais. One of my favorite parts of Lyon, however, was actually the gigantic park they have in the middle of the city called the Parc de la Tête d’Or. At nearly half a square mile, this park has a lake, rivers, a velodrome, huge gardens, several gigantic lawns, and even a zoo!

After Lyon, another friend from two summers ago picked me up and took me to where he lives in a nearby city called St-Étienne. We caught up the night I arrived, but after that, we didn’t waste any time getting out to see things. The next morning we took off around 5:00 am or so and headed to Oradour-sur-Glane in the west part of France. Instead of beautiful landscapes or ancient Roman ruins, we actually went to Oradour-sur-Glane to see a different type of ruin – a demolished village that was left as a ghost town during World War II.

On June 10, 1944, the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich surrounded the village and brought everyone to town square saying were just searching the buildings for weapons. Thinking that this was all, the townspeople didn’t do much to resist. The men were taken to barns and the women and children were locked inside a church. Without a warning, the Nazis fired upon the men in the barns and the women and children in the church. After people were wounded and had fallen to the ground, the Nazis poured fuel on them and burned them alive. As a result of that day’s massacre, 642 people were killed, and only six survived.

Experiencing this village and standing inside the church where hundreds of people were murdered was almost overwhelming. Seeing as there’s not places in the United States with such a gruesome recent history like this – apart from those of 9/11, it meant a lot to go here.

On the way back from Oradour-sur-Glane, we stopped at some old French châteaux along the countryside before arriving at a friend’s country home in La Chaulme, a small commune of around 20 buildings back in eastern France. We barbecued some fresh sausage, listened to music, and just enjoyed a typical night in the French countryside.

The next day, we returned to St-Étienne, and the rest of the week was pretty relaxed back at my friend’s apartment. Days were spent editing photos, exploring town, and even play pool while the nights were spent trying new cuisines and tasting different apéros.

The end of the week brought a sudden change of plans. Originally, I was supposed to stay with my friend in St-Étienne for almost two weeks. However, after chatting online with my host brother (who I know from when I went to France in high school), it was decided that it would be best if I reschedule my stay with them to the next week and then return to stay with my friend in St-Étienne afterward. So with the new plans, I bought a ticket and headed for Aix-en-Provence, France where my other host brother would meet me and take me to their place in Nans-les-Pins, a small village east of Aix.

The next ten days I spent at my host family’s house seemed like I had only been gone for a few days since I last saw them – well, except for my younger host brother was as big as me. It was nice seeing old family and meeting some new friends, too. For fun while I was there, we saw a French movie at the cinema, went to the beach in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, played some soccer, had a pool party (one of my favorite parts!), went out in Aix-en-Provence for the Fête de la Musique, and even went to a Muay Thai boxing tournament! My time with my French family was one of the most exciting parts of France, and it was great to hang out with some kids my age.

Before I knew it, I was on the train again heading to St-Étienne for my last week in France. Back with my friend, we mostly hung out, and most of my time during the day was spent planning the rest of my trip, which, at that time, was completely unknown. I didn’t even know where I’d be five days from then. Besides the hours on Google Maps, Flickr (had to find somewhere picturesque), Hostelworld, and other backpacking sites, we make it up to a beautiful scenic overlook above St-Étienne (check out the time lapse video I shot here). Toward the end of the week, we spontaneously decided to go see Mont Blanc, Europe’s tallest mountain at 15,781 feet, and Annecy, France, a city in the Alps where I had thought about studying abroad.

The drive to Mont Blanc was amazing! It was the first time actually seeing the Alps during my whole trip even though it was just the start of the great mountain range (more of which I’d see later on in my journey). Despite the cloudy day, I did get a small glimpse at the peak of the giant mountain, and, wow, is it way up there! We took a gondola ride up to the side of another mountain across the valley to get an even better view. Mont Blanc was very impressive! On our way back, we stopped in Annecy, and it was way more beautiful than in the pictures. Luckily, we made it there in time to see the beautiful lake because after about fifteen minutes, rain started pouring, so we were confined to the car for pretty much the rest of the time.

We returned back to St-Étienne later that night, and a couple of days later, I was already off for my last excursion in France – this time to Dijon, the former principal city of old Burgundy and the present-day capital of the French région of Bourgogne. To get there, we had to drive down the Route des Grands Crus (roughly the “Route of Great Wines”) through the Côte d’Or (or “Golden Coast”), a hillside known for its exceptional Burgundy wines. It’s even home to one of the most expensive wines in the world called Romanée-Conti, and I was lucky enough to see the vineyard (which is only 4 acres big!).

As we drove through the wine country, it was obvious we were getting deeper and deeper into the Burgundy region because more and more of the decorated rooftops were popping up. These special roofs with a style specific to Burgundy have different colored shingles organized in different repeating designs.

Alas, we arrived in Dijon. I was very impressed with how clean the city was. We visited some old churches and a museum, and all of the old Burgundy history inside was actually pretty interesting. After, we continued to walk around town where I touched the famous owl on the side of the Notre-Dame de Dijon. It is said to bring you good luck if your rub it (and, as I was told, it must be with your left hand while walking by from the left to the right). Finally, with some recently purchased Dijon mustard in my bag, we took off to see an old Roman road still in pieces tucked away in a city park. Although it wasn’t much, it was still pretty cool to see something that was constructed before my continent was even known to exist.

The night finished in a small town outside of Dijon where my friend and I stayed with some of his friends for the night. After a delicious outdoor dinner, we headed down the street for a town festival and gigantic bonfire where we had a great time full of music and chatting.

Well, that’s it for my time in France and for the first month of my journey in Europe. Like I had expected, I had a wonderful time in France, and I wasn’t disappointed once. Seeing all of my friends and [host] family made it feel like a home away from home. I was, of course, a bit sad to leave France, but, at the same time, I couldn’t be anymore excited for the unknown road I’d be venturing down the next day completely on my own. The first stop: Switzerland.

To be continued…

London

Being the first stop on my journey, it was exciting to finally be in Europe. Right from the station where I got in, I got on the Underground and headed for my hostel. After five minutes, though, I realized traveling in dark tunnels below the city streets is not the way to see London, so I got off the Underground and walked across town, seeing Westminster Abbey and Big Ben on the way.

After getting a solid night of sleep at the hostel, I took off in the morning to a place called Covent Garden thinking I could get some good photos of flowers, etc. Once I got there, though, I found out that Covent Garden isn’t actually a garden but a huge market full of shopping, food, and street performers. I ended up staying all day watching the funny street acts that were put on.  Going to Covent Gardens without even knowing what it was was one of the best choices I made in London.

Besides my fun time in Covent Garden, London was a little bit different from the friendly Boulder I’m used to.  I felt that my interactions with locals weren’t ever very personal.  Overall, I got the vibe that Londoners are a bit stand-offish.  A typical ride on the Underground backs that up.  Nearly everyone sits down, avoids eye contact with others, and stays in their own little world behind the day’s newspaper.

Manchester

After two days in London, I headed up to Manchester to visit a friend.  A bit out of the usual traveler’s path, I felt Manchester had a much friendlier atmosphere.  People were less robotic and easier to approach.  As far as the city itself goes, I loved it.  I got to see a great art gallery and an extremely old (with books from the 1600s), off-the-beaten-path library where Karl Marx studied and may have written the Communist Manifesto.  Manchester’s buildings were old and beautiful, and the city had a warmer feel with tiny pubs in every nook.  It was much calmer than the country’s capital, and the people were great.

Despite the sometimes cold feel, my time in the UK was awesome.  Being a small-town guy, what I thought about the people in London is probably common to any large, busy city.  With that aside, it was very easy to get around, (even going ~200 miles to Manchester), the places I saw were beautiful, I always had something to do, and I got to take a ton of photos (which should be up soon!).  Thanks, United Kingdom, I had a great stay.