Adios America

Well it almost 3:00am and we are sitting in Newark airport waiting to check in to our flight. Of course the actual flight isn’t until 8:00am, but being the thrifty overachievers we are we opted out of staying anywhere tonight so we could save some money and be here early for our flight. To help paint the mental picture: Tiff and Nate are laying here on a concrete floor with a thin layer of carpet trying to get some sleep, unfortunately for them Newark has been testing their fire alarms every 10 minutes for the last half hour. I find it fairly comical because what do you expect when you are sleeping in an airport at 3 in the morning, this is when all the work gets done (I say this of course as the man rides by on his seated floor buffing machine).

While Nate was still keeping it real in Colorado, Tiff and I were spending our time in Illinois with her family doing everything from mowing the grass to babysitting, but mostly eating delicious meals with great company. For the last 3 weeks we have been in Alabama and Illinois visiting family, there is something about being with loved ones that just feels right. I think many times life can get so busy that we forget to spend enough time with family, so if its been a while since your last family dinner I highly recommend it, its good for the soul. Another thing we picked up in IL is bean bag tossing ( I don’t know the official name), I would put it in the same category as washers, horseshoes, or tossticles. You basically throw a bean bag into a box with a hole in it. Simple - yes - but it provides hours of solid entertainment.

Our best discovery thus far is actually a website, www.couchsurfing.org. The basic premise is you create a profile (like face book with friends and references), then you contact people from any city you happen to be traveling in, and see if they have an open couch or room to sleep on/in. It is much more than just a free place to stay, it is a way to meet people, to connect to the “local” resources, and a great way to step out of your comfort zone. Now the first thing everyone asks is, “Is that safe, it seems kind of sketchy?” I would say go on the website and check it out for yourself, so far we have had a great experience with it in New York, hopefully we will have more good experiences in the weeks to come. Our first couch surf was with a guy named Matt, he had an extra room at his place in Upper West Side (5 blocks from Central Park). Matt was so kind and a great host, he even made us some spinach and carrot soup (it wasn’t poisoned) at 1 am so we had something to eat while we sat around listening to classic rock (Bob Dylan/Rolling Stones). The picture above is from the amazing patio on the roof of his building. Our time with Matt was made even better by his Chinese Jewish guitar playing friend named Abraham, unfortunately he is not performing anywhere yet but I told him to keep me posted. For the rest of the time in New York we hung out with our buddy Michelle Woodruff, she was an amazing hostess and treated us to some tapas and Cuban sandwiches.

As I said before we are headed off to London, our first international stop on the journey. We ask that you could keep us in your prayers and that you would let us know if you have any thoughts, ideas or comments (please let us know if there is anything you need some prayer about).

- good night from Newark Liberty International Airport

Josh, Tiff and Nate