Final Few Days, Returning Home, and Job Searching

It’s been a few since I last wrote. A lot has happened… I wrapped up my trip in Scotland, flew home, reunited with Ivy, trying to get a job (or a least an income), and beginning to scope out some of the spiritual thingys out there. It's going to  be a long one...

I'll start from the beginning, the last I wrote I was on my way to Edinburgh. I did stop over at Aviemore to look at our “mountain”. The mountain that they set on fire was actually mostly a cliff face and the rest was a craggy hill. I snapped some photos and hiked around for awhile in the park devoted to it which was really pretty. After a few hours, I caught the train to Edinburgh. Side note: One thing I like about most of the trains in Europe is that you buy a ticket without a time. For example, the train runs every 90 min during the day from Aviemore to Edinburgh. If I had have missed the one at 3, I just show up to the next one. No need to change my ticket or anything. End note. On the way to Edinburgh I passed through Sterling. The only reason why I mention it is that Sterling hosts the William Wallace monument.

Turkey Post, Finally

I've been neglecting posting lately. Mostly that's because of access to a computer. I'm writing this from my phone, which I hate. It's hard to type long prose and I basically can't proof it, not that I do too much proofing anyway. So FYI.

After all that fuss that the picketing agent gave me in Bangkok, all I had to do was walk up, say I wanna go in Turkey, and they gave me a visa. When I got to immigration, the hardest part was the 5 min. line I had to wait in. I'm not sure one person looked at me to see if I was even the same sex as on my passport. I guess it may be because they have women with burkas comings through all the time and checking a passport against a small slit where you can only see their eyes really means nothing. No, they don't have to remove them, but yes, you as a man will need to remove your hat.

Dylan Is the Most Awesomest Being Evar - Guest Post by Ivy Gahn

OK, the title is my own.
I asked Ivy to write about the experience from her point of view. I wanted to give you guys a view from a different perspective. She remembered a few things that I had forgotten as well. It was nice for me in another way as well. I had never read anything that she wrote. I didn't even know she had written or even enjoyed it, but it turns out she is pretty good. Check it out:

Cambodia, Thailand, Ivy, and Jason/Angie

Sorry folks, but this will probably be a long one. It encompasses a little over two weeks of stuff and Ivy.
Originally, I planned on going through Laos to Thailand and meeting Ivy in mid-June. However, her work and idiotic bosses had other plans. They nearly made it so that she would never be able to visit. Why? Because two weeks off is too much. It is a sad, sad state of affairs in the US. First, we only get about 3 weeks off a year - maybe 4 if you're lucky or upper management or spend 20 years at the same place. Then, most people can't take more than a week off at a time. Most of the time it's just stigma. I mean, if we get our work done, or if it's shared work when we are out (as in Ivy's case - coworkers are required to cover for people on vacation), then shouldn't we be able to do whatever we want with our vacation time. When talking with European or Australian people, or even some of the third world, they are baffled about how we view work. Even British get twice as much time off as us, and they are workaholics too.
Our work paradigm is better spent for another post, so getting back on track, Ivy's work had another person out for a couple days of the original time, so they wouldn't let go on our original plans, then they were reluctant to let her go for two weeks. I'm not sure I would have allowed her to come if she could only get one week, it's simply a waste of money and we'd likely have not been able to Bangkok. We'd have had to take tours out of Bangkok for a couple days, but going to the islands in the South would have been out because we wouldn't be able to afford the time to not fly and we'd not have been able to fly there cause we are on a budget. Thankfully, her bosses came around, though I (and my parents) was about to have words with them had they not.
So, I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok for under $100 and was scheduled to arrive thirty minutes before her. I figured I'd go to her gate and meet her, you know, all romantic like.

How Ya Going? Yeah, Good Mate

It's been awhile since the last update. That's due to the fact that I've been on the road most of the time and not staying in places (beaches, rest stops, etc) where there is much, if any, access to the internet. Quite a bit has happened since then, and my interests are evolving. Also, at the end is a book review or two.

So You've Got a Girlfriend

Well, who would have thought it possible?  I am speaking of course about the fact that I now have a girlfriend; Ivy.  As any romantic story goes, I met a girl who is different from the other girls I've dated.  I technically met Ivy on St. Patty's day at Lenys, but had been scoping her out quite a bit on the bus for months prior.  Then, after a few times flirting on the bus, we saw each other during lunch.  She, of course, imposed herself on me.  After she wouldn't leave me alone, I felt obliged to ask her out.  9 or 10 weeks of dating later, I realized that I had strong feelings for her, and could tell she did to, so I asked her to be my girlfriend.