Okay, so now that you have a budget, an itinerary, and an idea of locations, now it is time to book it all. Of course, the earlier you book your tickets, the cheaper they are going to be.

Book your tickets as early as possible!: When you know where you want to go, your first step should be financing the tickets needed to get where it is you want to be. Now there is more than one way to skin a cat. Of course, since backpacking typically implies doing stuff "on the cheap" i would suggest if you are under the age of 30, is trying to book your tickets with STA Travel. I suggest STA because they provide affordable rates for Hostel and Hotel bookings as well as tickets. It is the ideal tool for the young backpacker to utilize, and unfortunately i did my research on STA while i was over seas... I believe that you can save lots of money at a student rate than if you chose to purchase at a standard rate.

Another note on booking tickets as early as possible... if you have a solid understanding of your itinerary and all of your hostel bookings, you can just book all of your train, and airplane tickets in advance and save lots of money. If you are only spending most of your time in major cities, you can save money by advance booking your tickets.

Eurail Passes (or other equivalents): In Europe, there are many different ways of traveling by train. Purchasing a Eurail pass allows you to have a certain level of travel throughout the EU. As an American citizen you are allowed to purchase one, however citizens of the EU are not. A note about Eurail passes: While you "save money" on the front end, there is a lot of possibility of losing gobs of cash on the back end. Why? because you can get lost on the train system, or in one of my experiences, having to deal with a rail worker strike by the ::coughcough::french::coughcough::. It doesnt sound as if you are losing money right? However when you have hotels/hostels booked, and you lose money to missed reservations, and also have to spend extra bucks on getting to your destination whether it is by bus or plane... you end up losing money... and lots after a while. Personally I don't have very many intentions of ever using a Eurail pass ever again just because of the funds i ended up burning as a result of using it. Now, it is still a useful tool. You can get lots of "free" train bookings which is nice and you don't have to worry about fumbling around and looking after tickets. I suggest trying it (at least once)... just to see what your experience is... hell, it could be very different from mine. You can book Eurail passes with STA Travel as well.

Hostels!: Okay... before going into hostels, it is important to note that if you think you can just waltz into any respectable hostel with clean sheets, hot showers, and a good atmosphere in HIGH SEASON you are absolutely, POSITIVELY WRONG. It doesnt work like that. The reason why i suggest planning out an itenerary is because you can completely advance book all of your hostels. The closer to high season that you make a hostel booking the more likely the cost of a single bed will go up. I am telling you only once: DO NOT TRY AND BOOK HOSTELS ON THE ROAD!. Not because you cannot do it, but because you are cutting up your budget with high season rates. Most hostels will honor the rate at which you booked them which is why you book them outside of high season far in advance when most people like you aren't really thinking of making their bookings and are actually convinced that they "have time". The fact is, you DONT have time. Optimally rated hostels will go fast whether it is because of group bookings, location, or general facilities. If you think you are going to walk into a hostel in the middle of june or worse yet, july, and think you are going to get a room when you are in Paris, Barcelona, Ibiza, or Hamburg... you better get ready to fork up some major dough to pay for a cheap hotel room (which aint all that cheap). If you are looking to go to Amsterdam, forget about it! There are rooms available, but most are either in dodgey sections of town, or are extremely over priced (like 225 EU for a bed with 6 other bed in it, over priced). So do yourself a favor, advance book everything. Also, be sure to do your homework on hostels because some are affiliated with certain organizations such as YHA, or HI... If you need more information on hostel bookings i suggest you check out Gomio, Hostelling International, Hostels.com and STA Travel.

You are probably thinking right now, "Cliff, you are telling me to prepare for everything in advance, so where will all of the adventure be in having everything go perfect?" The fact of the matter is, while yes, it makes for a good story to talk about how you got lost and ended up in the wrong country, or landed in a city but had to sleep in a train station because of no available hostels, but the fact is that after a while you realize that everything that is "part of the adventure" deftly becomes cumbersome and unenjoyable... You spend so much of your time in worry about where the next place is, that you in many ways forget that the entire purpose of the trip is to have fun and not spend your time in worry. Trust me, even when you have everything planned out to a key, stuff still goes wrong... You'll get your adventure despite all of your plans.

Okay. As stated before, some people like the idea of not planning your trip... and well, it is a good idea minus all of the associated risks involved. Now granted, some can get away with not spending as much time planning... depending on what time of year it is. But if you are young, adventurous, and ready to shake a leg and throw back some shots with other young, like minded people... you will want to go in the summer time in which case, you will want to plan. Summer time is the high season and it is so easy to meet many wonderful, beautiful, adventurous young people... just like you.


The first question you need to ask yourself is how long do you want to go for?:
During my stay, I came across groups of all shapes, sizes, and age groups all staying for different periods of time. There are certain things to take into account when asking how long does one wish to stay for. Some of these things are: how many places do you want to go, and for how long do you want to stay at them(we'll discuss later)? and What is your budget(we'll discuss later)? The longer you stay in a foreign country, especially a western European one, the more expensive it is... Guaranteed. While there are certainly cheap eats in Europe, not only does the conversion hurt, but Western Europe is also just numerically higher than the United States. Most people I came across on my trip averaged a total time of about 3 weeks. Personally i feel that three weeks is ideal as it gives you not too little time, but also not too much time as well. Me and my friend stayed there for four weeks which personally felt was a week too long. Jonathan's brother Fon, typically stays away from home for a few months... and by a few I can mean anywhere from two to eight... When one stays overseas for this long though, many times people will take up jobs to help compensate for meals, room and board expenses. However, I suggest you start with about three depending on how many countries you plan to visit. You can visit roughly four or five countries with three weeks... and comfortably so with four weeks.

Money matters: and don't think that it doesnt. For doing things on the cheap... and by cheap I mean cheap, I would suggest going along this table. If all of your hostels are pre booked, most places will honor the locked in rate that you booked it at. You will save booking money that way.

2 weeks = $1500 - $2000 (comfortably)
3 weeks = $2500 - $3000 (comfortably)
4 weeks = $3000 - $4000 (comfortably)

In a four week period, if you go in excess of $4000 you can do this trip at an extremely comfortable pace... Money matters will also dictate where you want to go. If you want to save money, you can do so by finding a friend's house to stay at (if you know any body) or avoid really expensive cities. By defining really expensive cities, i mean cities where you can make an entire vacation out of spending a week in that city with the budget you have for the entire trip. Expensive cities include: Nice (or anywhere on the French Riviera for that matter), Paris, London, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, and most places in Switzerland. If you want to sustain more of your finances, eastern europe is a good bet for a cheap five star meal and a good place to rest your head... or so many backpackers say. If you want to cut your budget in the west, I suggest going to the supermarket and getting groceries. Groceries are cheap. You can purchase a liter of coke for cheaper than a small glass bottle of coke in a restaurant. The same applies for meats, snacks, and other consumables. If your hostel has a usable kitchen. Utilize it! you will be glad you did... and you can avoid spending gobs of money in really expensive places like Paris.
Here are the minimum rates for some western european countries.
Minimum budget per western european country (USD)
Spain: 50USD
France: 70 USD
Germany: 50-60
Great Britain*: 20-50USD

*Great Britain, while at a 2 to 1 scale with the United States, is not as numerically high as the United States on most things.

Where do you want to go?: Now here comes the fun part... While this series of posts details arranging a trip for Western Europe, it can be applied to anywhere that moves you. However, I would highly suggest a European (particularly a Western European country) for these reasons:

• Reason 1, Singular Currency:You only have to worry about financing the Euro, and not having to switch currencies for all of the places you choose to go on your trip. Also you dont have to worry about running conversion numbers through your head for everywhere you go on your trip because it is one, solid (albeit crappy), rate.
• Reason 2, Governmental Stability: Okay, so not all places you go to outside of Europe are going to be politically instable, however, after some conversations with fellow travelers over some brewskis in London, I found out that many eastern european countries, despite their affordability, are incredibly corrupt. If you are a new traveler, you will have to get used to the language barrier, transportation, lodging, not getting robbed, and a bunch of other things which generally means that you dont want to have to worry about fleeing the country the next coup d'etat takes place.
• Reason 3, A good introduction to backpacking: Look at this experience as backpacking 101. It is the perfect tutorial on how to take care of yourself, set up a budget, and follow an itinerary.
• Reason 4, Free and open travel:Because most of western europe is in the EU, when you visit, you get free and open travel within the european union which means that you dont have to go through customs every time you go over a border and wait to get your passport stamped, and your bags checked.

and finally, What will be my itenarary?: Take my advice, YOU WANT AN ITENERARY THE FIRST TIME AROUND (especially in the high season)! You will want one to help create a stronger sense of reference within your trip. You need to know if you are going according to schedule. Plan out how long you want to stay in each place. Also, iteneraries help people better pick out what their living arrangements are going to be for the entire trip. Iteneraries save time, they save money, and they allow your trip to go smoothly. If you dont want to listen to me, fine. But be prepared for the fresh new hell that awaits you every waking moment of your trip due to having plans that just weren''t fleshed out enough.

Next post we will talk about setting it all up so that it meshes together... bookings, boats, trains and aeroplanes!

So, word around the campfire is that you now want to backpack huh? Well, if you have been following the last fifteen of my posts, or if you have heard from a friend of a friend that it is the best damned thing since sliced bread well hey... its enough for me to want to tell you what you need to know, and just drop the facts on you like a ton of bricks. Backpacking through foreign countries has had a certain allure to it since the 70's when people would just "get up and go" to certain places not entirely sure of how they were going to finance their way, and not entirely sure of where they were going next. But now in the 21st century with cell phones, laptops, and cheap flight websites this has become an unnecessary burden to bear. However, there are certainly some of you that probably feel that planning out everything takes the allure away from the entire trip... But lets be honest... and I am speaking from experience here, the less you plan, the more can go wrong (I will go into this in more depth later). If any of you have seen the movie Eurotrip then you understand what i am saying. While yes, there is the eminent possibility of ending up on the wrong train (which happened to me), you also have to worry about the general safety of certain places, and whether or not you will have to feel threatened for your, pack, money, or kidneys... do you understand?

This series of Overseas backpacking for dummies is going to be chock full of suggestions and only take them as such. I do not want any of you to feel any sort of obligation to do so and should you? HELL NO! Why? You are individuals! and if you aren't individuals, by the time you are done with this trip you damn well will be. Not only can i not force you to do any of these things (no matter how beneficial they may be) i wouldn't want to force you to do anything you aren't comfortable doing. Plus, i can also learn from different strategies from fellow backpackers. When doing research on how I was gong to go about traveling in Europe there were certain things I certainly took heed to and other things I generally dismissed.

Before going in, lets address some things you might face over there:

You might get robbed: Yes, it happens. For those of you who live in large cities, this doesn't apply to you (unless you are the unlucky guy who regularly gets his pocket picked). I am directing this to most of you suburbanites... Yes, those of you who are used to living in small suburban communities where people laugh and smile all the damn time (even when they don't like you) and are polite and ask you how your day was, and where people don't honk their horn when the stop light just turns green... yes, you. There is certainly the possibility you have never faced anybody trying to rob you, or been in a situation where potentials might try and take your shit... Prevention is easy. Take your wallet out of your back pocket, and put it in one of your front pockets. I'll go into more details later.

Stuff is going to be expensive, you will be on a budget(duh): If you don't know... now you know.

Examine your own physical fitness: As farfetched as this may sound much of this trip involves lots of physical fitness. You need to be in enough shape to carry your own stuff. On the road, I come across many individuals (namely women), who cannot carry their own stuff. Now while I consider myself a gentleman and always available to help someone who needs it, there are other people who cannot concern themselves with affairs that do not involve them and hence, will not help someone in need. Also, there may be periods when you walk longer than anticipated... You might have to walk long distances, you might have to walk up hills, you might have to move a little faster than usual and pick up your pace... the more in shape you are, the easier it is to handle whatever your adventure may throw at you.

Bring a friend: Hell, bring more than one friend. While two is better than one, I guarantee you that three or even four is better than two. The more people that come, the less likely you are to go insane, or even feel your sanity slipping away from you. More friends help you when you cannot deal with someone, when you are feeling stressed out, and when you are out on the town. Both John and I agreed on our trip that our experience would have been better if we brought more people because it equates to more people to hang out with, and a lower likeliness of hearing the same thing more than once (I will go into more detail on this one later on as well). If you choose to go with only one other friend, i suggest you rethink this option not only for your sake, but also for your friend's sake... you can very well risk needing a LOT of space later on after the trip and your friend needing a lot of space from you...

So now lets move on past all of the psychological preparation and get onto the fun stuff... PLANNING YOUR TRIP!

My eyes shot open to be greeted by birds chirping, my brother laughing, and my cousin screaming from the Video Games going on in the next room. The adventure was over, the language barrier had fallen, and now I was given the opportunity to speak about what I thought about the trip. It has been almost two weeks since I made my landing back into the United States. Things have changed but that has been the story of my life for the last four years... what is new? Looking back on it all, despite all problems that arose, I met some of the most interesting people I have ever met in my entire life... and plan to go back to the horizon again.

The End(for now).
-Cliff

Before coming to Paris i was subjected to a flurry of comments, stories, and theories on what we should expect from those who resided in the city of lights. We arrived on the train at 9:30 in the morning (30 minutes late from the original ETA) and hit the ground running. Everything is different in paris and over the last few days i have come up with some observations and opinions about being in the city as a whole.

1. Observation #1:Parisians aren't rude. If there is any one thing that i have heard way too much of in the preparation for this trip, it has been that parisians are the rudest people on the face of the earth. THEY ARE NOT. Saying that parisians are rude to only americans has about as much validity as saying New Yorkers, Bostonians, and Los Angelites are rude to only foreigners... No.No.No. Parisians are rude towards everybody. Why? because Paris is an enormous city where there are jillions of people. To be honest, if parisians were nice whilst at the same time dealing with filthy streets, crazed drivers, and overpriced cost of living, we would all be saying that there was something in the water. But if you go to any of the american cities mentioned above, the same thing applies. People get pissy because they are being paid above average wages, to only live a below average lifestyle. City life sucks to be frank, so parisians arent rude, they are just city goers that speak another language.
2. Observation #2:Paris is dirty. Well no shit its dirty. Similar to the first observation, when you are trying to service one of the largest cosmopolitan populations on the face of the planet, stuff is gonna get dirty and unfortunately there is no way to effectively clean one pile of garbage without another pile of paper, cans, bottles, apple cores and feces magically reappearing a place that was cleaned 20 minutes before hand. its just how it is... If you cannot handle the trash, you might as well rule out every large city that you have ever wanted to go to on the face of the earth.
3. Observation #3:Parisian shopping is the best in the world. Let me clear things up: PARISIAN SHOPPING IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD*.
4. Observation #3.5: Note the asterisk... It is expensive.
5. Observation #3.75: By expensive, i mean, there are no price tags on half of the things you find, and on the other half the price tag is hidden, which means that most likely you can't afford it... or will be eating spam for the rest of the month. This also leads me into my next point. Things are over priced. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING IN PARIS THAT YOU CAN BUY IN THE STATES!! I looked at a pair of 7 Jeans at a department store, and they were going for 250 Euros... but in the states i could pay 115 DOLLARS. If you decide to embark on some small indulgences... which i DO suggest, make sure you purchase something you will not find in the states, its makes you hate yourself less that you spent way to much on the product in the first place.
6. Observation #4: Parisians dont speak english... Bring a friend... hell, bring 3 friends. So that you have other people to talk to. Also it helps for when you get to the club so that you dont look like the sketchy guy in the corner drinking the mojitos and bobbing severely off beat to the rhythm of songs and periodically screaming "Yeaaahhh!"... but parisians will not speak english to you... they will not TRY to speak english to you... and do you blame them? no! why? because when you are nice and comfortable at home, and a foreigner tries to speak to you in their language, you dont understand them! and why should you? you're at home right? the same principle applies.
7. Observation #5: If you decide to go to the club... be prepared to pay a low cover charge... but lose your left arm on the drinks.
8. Observation #6: If you are going to paris for the girls, save your money... or go to barcelona. The girls ain't all that... If you're going for the guys... i'm not gay but, they all for the most part, smell like my armpit. Go to barcelona.
9. Observation #7: If you are going to paris for the nightlife... save your money. As i said in my 5th observation, the cover is cheap which is the draw... but the drinks will have you carried out in a body bag.
10. Observation #7.5: Also, if you do choose to pay for drinks... dont try to order a Long island iced tea or any martini that isnt white or red because you will get stared at as if you came from mars...
11. Observation #8: If you are going to the louvre (possibly one of the best things that has happened to me in a while) go on a weekday... That is, if you dont like long lines. Everybody that i have come across has said that they have waited hours trying to get in. Well... OF COURSE you're going to wait for hours trying to get into the louvre. Its possibly the single greatest museum on the face of the earth... seriously. So why would you go on a Friday, saturday, or sunday. go on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday... and go anywhere from 9:30 (opening time) to 11:00... Dont bring bags because the line for the bags is what takes forever in some cases.
12. Observation #8.5:When you get in... whether you come on a thursday, or 12:00 on a saturday... You wont be able to see everything. Its just too damn big. So when you go into some of the halls and corridors, make sure your head is on a swivel. Take it ALL in. You'll be glad you did... and be sure to see the mona lisa. No matter the wait. For some, its not that big of a deal, but if you really enjoy art it will give you chills.
13. Observation #9: You will see Parisians rolling their own cigarettes... yes, they like smoking THAT MUCH. No matter where you are, whether you're on the train, or at a cafe... ITS NOT POT. no matter what you think....
14. Observation #9.5:But in the occasion that it is pot... there really is not suitable response for if it is pot because there are so many things you can do... So use your own discretion.
15. Observation #10: If you dont take pictures... you're an idiot. So yeah, alright, Paris has its flaws and its benefits... I have spent some time revealing and debunking a lot of truisms in this post, however, it is still going to be one of the greatest places you will ever go to. If you dont take pictures, you arent really doing anybody at home very much justice. Paris is THAT different from everywhere else where you actually want to take pictures. Whether it is the people, the food, or the architecture... there is plenty about the city worth remembering and unfortunately i couldnt see it all. And I can say that i will not completely miss it because I have taken enough photographs of what it is I wanted to remember and what it is I want friends and family to envision.

That's it... tomorrow we head to britain, and then we head home on thursday. I cannot wait to see you guys. It has been fun.

-Cliff

Leaving soothing, aurete hues on Las Ramblas (the barcelona boutique street with lots of bars and stores) the sun calmly set on Barcelona, slowly immersing the city in warm, summer night. It was a saturday and as John and I sat down over a good meal after some good budgeting earlier on in the trip. A batchelorette party was going on behind us, an on my other flank was the bachelor party we soon figured out. The night was young (10:00) and John and myself had time to waste. We sat down, talked, and looked at passing women who all of a sudden looked prettier, and inherited american accents.

It was definitely the weekend. All of a sudden, the city became easier to navigate after the influx of young vibrant americans with dough to spend, as well as a strong pallette for spirits, wine, beer, and cigarretes. Fully knowing this, John and myself trekked the city earlier in the day to see if we would recieve any flyers as well as scoped out any posters that advertised prospective parties that would be happening in the night. One party dubbed "the biggest outdoor discoteque" advertised 5 dj's, a locale by the beach, a cheap cover charge however after exploring the city, the two of us came to the realization that the party must have been during the day.

After meeting this disappointment head on, we took the train back across the beach over to Las Ramblas where there was a port where a boat party was going on.

"What is it like in there?" I asked to the middle aged clerk sitting at the desk. She gave us a puzzled look.
"Excusa meee???" she responded with overt confusion. I repeated the same question, this time with johns help. unfortunately, the idiocy of being a tourist (Specifically an american one) is that when we arent beign understood, as opposed to talking slower, we talk LOUDER... which doesnt help. I decided to change the question and help her out.
"How many people are in there?" I asked her slowly, trying not to speak loueder than necessary despite the chillaxing R&B on the top deck, and the exotic weed rhythms below.
"Oh, we have R&B and Reggae!?" she obviously didnt understand... and i felt bad. John and I, curious, with nothing to do paid the cover and proceeded to go in. There was a bar on the top deck where youngish/middle aged people hung out and a deck below where the "party" or lack thereof was taking place. We proceeded downstairs, into the belly of the beast. The belly consisted of a dimly lit room which had a stage at one end where two men stood at turntables, and one man with dreads down to his butt swayed and vibed with the beats. On the other end of the room (the end where we entered) stood the bar where a short man from what looked like central america was smoking the last bit of his spliff to where it would almost burn his lips. All over the room, white people with dreads and baggy pants, black men from the caribbean stood and a few americans excluding us were peppered out into the crowd which consisted of AT MOST 45 people. After 45 minutes of talking and hanging out, john and i left.

Walking down the boardwalk towards the restaurants.
"Wow... that really really sucked..." I proclaimed
"Yeah i know" John said... "We sort of burned 10 euros on something that wasnt all that great." I felt bad. I thought the party would actually be somewhat fun as opposed to sitting in a room with a bunch of lifeless 30 to 40 some odd year olds who were getting high and doing nothing. Thus far. The barcelonian club experience has fallen short. However, we were buying our time... walking over to the place where we had dinner, it was now 1:15 in the morning. Our waiter gave us a free pass to get back into the restaurant if we wanted to go to the night club which started at 1:00 in the morning. Heading down to the lower level of the board walk, we wanted to enter through the beach entrance. The guy in black, standing next to the gate, didnt ask us how many people we were taking in, but just told us to come in. The patio was extremely crowded, and from the outside we could hear and see the bouncy, bass abusing rhythms that many were rocking out to. We entered through the lounge entrance. AT the time they hadnt drawn the curtain to join the eating section, and the lounging section together. People were rushing the contemporary bar for mojitos, vodka tonics, gin tonics, and many other sorts of drinks. We walked to the back of the lounge (which took about 5 minutes due to all of the people in there) and took a pathway which lead from the lounge to the club. The room, featuring two bars on either side, a VIP secion thrust up above everybody else and parallel to the dancing stage, and glass on the back wall exposing the beach, was PACKED. Mostly with people who were overtly american (including john and i), people we called high rollers (wealthy stock brokers, artists, lawyers), models, and the such. The average age in the room was about 27 most likely. The men donned black shirts, black pants or jeans that hugged their asses, dark shoes, and partially tinted designer glasses. They drank mojitos, smoked marlboro reds whiche they never ashed down to the butt, and "dropped game" on the women who took amusement in listening to the garbage and sleaze that dribbled from some of their lips. The women wore cocktail dresses, booty pants, open toed spiked stilettoes and all had bags from either prada, gucci, or louis vuitton. After an hour of being in the room, I realized that the only girls being approached were the ones that were cute, really pretty, or highly attractive. However, the ones that were the most attractive danced by themselves and nobody ever talked to them.
"Lets meet people and talk" John said. I scoped out the room to see who we should talk to that was reasonably within our age range. "You ready yet?" He asked me.
"Hold on... i need to look." A gorgeous blonde haired, girl about 5 feet, 3 inches was completely ignored after her friend became approached by a guy like myself; someone obviously american. Her back was facing me, and I placed my hand at the small of her back and pulled her in closely to speak. "Habla ingles?" I said in her ear.
"Si." she responded.
"Thank god."She laughed, and we talked for about 7 minutes about completely random stuff, joking as if we had known each other for a little while. She was swiss, her name was cordi (I know, its a weird name), I closed the conversation while things were still interesing, and talked to more people. Venturing through the room which was filled with clouds of smoke, I donned a loose swagger which all of a sudden came from speaking to who i thought the hottest girl in the room was. All of a sudden things got easy and IJ felt as if i could talk to anybody. The problem i ran into ,however, was the fact that i couldnt tell who was in my age group, and who was old enough to be my mom.
"Hey, lets roll..." I said.
"Why, its awesome in here, and i am having fun" john responded with covert disappointment.
"Yeah, i know its fun in here, but everybody is a lot older than us, and there are some great clubs in the near by area... lets check them out and if they are not that great then we can head back."
"Okay" He responded and we left the area. We went next door to a thai place we went to the first time we came around to barcelona. It consisted of a patio with beds and tables as well as a large open room with a bar in the center, ebony wood floors and beds located around the room. The lighting in the room had a red tint which gave it a sexy vibe, however compared to next door it was nowhere near as fun.

2:30 am. We tried getting back in the previous club but it didnt work. The bouncer who even said that we could come back all of a sudden said that we had to be 21 to enter.
"Shit cliff, we missed our cance Jon said.
"I´m sorry dude, lets try the upstairs entrance... they probably wont card us" We went upstairs and the woman didnt card... me. But told john that he had to be over 21 to enter. IT was after that when i noticed a large neon blue sign and two lines of people. We approched the entrance... I asked the bouncer "Whats the cover to get in?"
He said "18 Euros" I told him i would be back in 20 minutes. John and I walked over to the ATM and got money... getting ready to come back.
"This better work cliff" Jroge said.
"Dont worry, it will work..." I said... and i knew it would work because the guy didnt say anything about age, and also the crowd for this venue was obviously a younger, more vibrant crowd. The bouncer unclipped the velvet rope and let us in. I walked over to a counter and paid the cover. Simple. John did the same... and we were in again. Upstairs the party resumed with greater measure, deftly making me forget all about beatiful little cordi and what now seemed like generic bass busting "techno music". This place seemed that much better. We walked in on the middle of a chemical brothers song and after that they played basement jaxx. The room was Large about the size of half a ballroom. It was filled with a comfortable haze which consisted of artificial smoke created by smoke machines as well as cigarettes smoked down to the filter by suave and sophisticated spaniards and exotic, skantily clad women with smooth dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes, long legs, and soft lips. The room had a VIP section consisted of velvet couches which swung from the right side of the club to the back. Transsluscent burgundy drapes, red candles, and small tables accomodated clusters of young americans in designer jeans, ralph lauren polo shirts, and prada glasses who drank Johnny and jack. They held bottles of belvedere by the neck which they sloppily poured in glasses and dribbling gobs of it on the table and on themselves by accident while smoking camel filters which hang out of the corners of their mouthes.

I saw a staircase which lead upstairs and told John that we shuld see what was on the second floor. Going upstairs i could still hear the pulsating rythms from below but after walking by a thick barrier of glass these beats all of a sudden seemed to cease existing... Upstairs now we found ourselves in a slightly smaller room with glass walls suspended over the first room where we could look down on the 1st floor´s VIP section and bars. in the back of the room was an exit. On the right side were smaller velvet couches, but no VIP rope, in the front of the room was one of the 3 bars in the room and behind it were more velvet couches. On the left hand side of the room was a DJ playing only HIP HOP and R&B music which they call in europe "black music". Beautiful women covered almost every square foot of the room. Many of the women in the room were from other countries such as germany, the united states, or england and dressed as such. The american women wore cocktail dresses, while the british women wore pepe jeans and the german women wore message tees that i couldnt read. I advanced to the bar. "John... you want a brewski?" I said... He donned a look of surprise, and I had a feeling similar to a child at an amusement park-sheer excitement.
"Yeah, lemme get a heineken" He said over the earth shattering base which comfortably rocked every square inch of the room. I leaned in to the bartender who was a beautiful, tall, woman with brown and black hair.
"Hey, let me get a heineken..." I looked over her shoulder as i spoke in her ear and noticed a woman which was truly divine. She looked at me, looking in my eyes. I looked in hers until she broke contact."and... a georgia lime."
"Georgia lime?" She asked...
"Lime juice, coke, and a shot of vodka." I said... "it tastes great." She chuckled and made the drinks. I gave john his heineken and we walked around the room. The place was PACKED to the brim taking us about 10 minutes to make a tour around the room. Guys and girls were jamming out by themselves, people were up on the stage inebriated some of which were leaning and rocking while others were trying to joc, and some girls were booty dancing with guys(The first i have seen since arriving in europe.). I danced two songs with a glass of coke in one hand, and a my georgia lime in the other... John was at my side vibing with the music. I went back to the bar, the girl was still there and a man dressed in black which i noticed the first time (that i had hoped to leave the first time) was still standing nearby. I walked up to the side of the bar that she was standing on with her friends, i walked past her, on a route where she didnt notice me, and i walked up to the guy who I thought was with them. I leaned up against the bar and tapped the guy on the chest as if he was an old bud...
"Hey man... you with any of these girls?" I said. John stood on my flank. He turned his attention to me.
"Ah man... I wish... i went club hopping with all of them the previous night and the one that is closest to me (the one that i made eye contact with earlier in the night, he pointed to her) seemed kind of pissed at me because i think she thought i would get with her, but i liked her friend better..." he was a black british man with a bald head and dressed in dapper attire. Why he wouldn´t go for the girl closest to him, i dont know... but that wasnt my problem. as far as he said, i could talk to her. We talked for about five minutes, i told him that i wanted to talk to her. I didnt want to talk to her to get with her... but rather to just get experience talking to extremely intimidating girls I dont know, who cannot speak my language as well so that I could have a leg up when I get to college and have to meet new people.
"Hey man... you should talk to her" He said, which i thought was a major surprise as i figured a man like him would have thought a younger, taller guy would probably be considered competition... But whatever. I didnt care.
"I´ll talk to her in a moment" I felt my bladder start to tighten... "but first... nature calls!" I smiled, and he laughed and gave me a pat on the back... I left, peed, came back to find john and him both gone. It was perfect. I approached the woman... she had curly hair similar to beyonce´s in goldmember, chocolate milk skin, hazel eyes which were natural, freshly manicured fingers, small hands, small feet (about size 6), a nose which wasnt a ski slope nose, but one that was small, and sharp without hooking. Her mouth was small, with slightly swollen that were glossed pale which matched her complexion. She was about 5feet 5 inches, she had heels that made her about 5feet 8 inches, Her arms were soft and well lotioned, her legs were long for her height, perfectly toned, and her feet were also freshly pedicured. She.Was.A.Dime...
"Hey, have you seen my friend?" I asked her.
"What are you talking about?" She responded...
"You know... the white guy in the black shirt that was with me?" I said as if she was supposed to know... "Hm... you arent very observant are you"
"Haha... i guess not."
"You have an interesting accent... where are you from?"
"Oh, i´m from morocco" Damn... She´s from morocco, thats exotic"Where are you from??"
"Ah, i´m from the states... by the way, my name is Cliff..." I offered my hand in a halfway relaxed and apathetic manner and set it out in front of her... she took it and gave me a firm handhsake which took me by surprise.
"I´m..." I dont remember her name. Which makes me sad... and the fact that i didnt take a picture with her makes me even sadder... Oh well, i suppose i´ll just have to find another pretty girl in paris ;-) . We talked for about 10 minutes, her surprisingly enough holding the conversation, but i decided to leave before i started to fall into the same category as the the previous guy which is CLINGY... I told her it was a pleasure, and before she could say much more i made my leave.

Nobody else in the room looked as good as her. And while i spent time talking to her friends (which should have done first now that i look back on it) it still wasnt the same, and didnt give me the same type of high that spoking to her did. John and i partied until 4:00 that morning and headed to the train station where tons of other young, sweaty disscheveled americans waited for the train... It was a good night.

Patiently sitting in a large room with benches, chairs and screaming children running around making blowing up souds, boinks, zoinks, slams, bams, and other noises found in what I would soon call Hell´s Waitingroom. And It was. Amid the overabundance of gameboys, girls sitting patiently, boys playfighting and screaming, an older woman and an older man who I soon realized were the unfortunate souls coordinating this trip full of 3rd and 4th grade brats held their head in their hands and I only a mere passer by could feel their onus. The room was soon quiet as the group of about 20 or so people left and waited out by their trainsto, leaving john and myself alone in the glory of peace and quiet. It was only soon after that we were summoned to our train platform. John, leading the way, walked straight onto the train without paying too much attention to the cars, except to make sure that we were on the right train because the two of us knew that the trains would be splitting up later on in the evening. We ventured through too much of the train, with myself periodically stopping to rest my arm which was carrying my pack in a duffel bag.

After stopping by the quaint, small room with six neatly arranged bunks, two men made their way into our room past the mexican couple which was also staying with us in the sleeper car.

¨Ahhh Shit...¨the two words sounded almost like heaven as John and myself would have a chance to speak english to people other than ourselves. We never caught his name unfortunately. Although we knew that he was a recent graduate from san diego state university with a major in finance and was preparing to become an insurance broker. His friend, also a major in finance (we presume the two met at san diego state) was preparing to become a bonds trader. The four of us sat outside in the train car with other young travellers such as ourselves (with john and i being the youngest ofcourse) and shared in discourse with one another. For this moement, each travellers story crossed paths with one another. I suppose we didnt really need to find out names and phone numbers and the such... we just wanted to know a little bit of what it was like to be each other, and where we would all be after our parting in Barcelona. Thus far, My life and John´s life have intersected with the lives of many young travellers. Between the british guys we met on our way to barcelona from madrid, the girls from phoenix, guys we have met on the train from madrid, and girls we have met over by the ATM machine who were taking a day trip to Port Bou (which isnt all that great by the way), we have met great people who we will know for a second, and then vanish into thin air.

The two finance majors hung on our every word. From the winding streets, exotic firedancers, and fabulous bars and clubs, to the stunning landscape which may remind some of a 1st world paradise, both men ate it up and were ready to jump off of the train and spend some of their time in one of the greatest cities we have visited thus far on our trip. After talking about previous travels, talk about school, politics, sports, and future travels arose as if the four of us knew each other a long time and were going to know each other tomorrow and the day after. Slowly but surely, the train started to fall asleep at around 10:45, and soon both men suggested that the four of us go to sleep now.

We climbed into our bunks, deftly engaging in slumber amid the sempeternal night which would later be torn apart by a young child´s outcry for his papa.