5. More. Sleeps

Holy Moly!

5 more sleeps until I set off on the biggest journey of my life, to date!

It's been a whirlwind, full of ups and downs. Tons of planning, rescheduling, re-budgeting, revising, and just generally requiring a lot of patience!

I've learned a ton about myself in preparation for this trip.

For one, I can't pack 12 pairs of shorts and 15 T-shirts because airlines in Europe get super sticky about extra luggage.

Another thing. Who knew that exchanging money is and would be such a hassle? Fees here, exchange rates there, etc......Does my debit card work in Europe? Does my Visa card work? Will my new Visa card come in the mail in time? Phoning banks to let them know I will be spending my money in Europe. The list goes on! All I want is that I just want my money to be changed into a different kind of money, and for my money to be available to me!

Planning the trip has been a real blast though. My itinerary is wide open at the start, with the only "for sures" being flying into London Monday to Tuesday, overnighting there, then taking the train Wednesday from London to Barcelona.

From there, Thursday to Sunday the 21st, I will be in Barcelona in a Sant Jordi Hostel for 4 nights, until I meet up with my travelling partner/ referee compatriot Brad Tannahill, where we will be taking the high speed train to Malaga to meet up with the IberCup staff for the Costa Del Sol tournament.

Barcelona is wide open. I definitely plan to see the Nou Camp, but after that I have no idea what to do. I think my best bet is to make some friends with the hostel staff and ask them what's good around town.

I also hope I can conquer the jet lag pretty quick. Hence the overnight flight and the arrival 6 days before. I want to make sure I'm in tip-top shape for performing during my games at the tournament!


Well, I have to go keep packing and pre-shopping. Hopefully I will be able to write one more post before I head off on the trip.

A special thanks to my 3 gracious donors - Grandma, Tim Taylor, and Keith Coulson. They donated a generous amount of money to my trip, and without their extreme generosity I wouldn't have been able to go on this experience.


No foul red card.

Mike Stacey