I had planned to visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum today, so I got up with my guidebook and camera all set. Met my new best friends from the night before downstairs at the bar for our 2 euro cornetto/yoghurt/fruit/hot drink breakfast and off I went. About ¾ of the way to the Colosseum I realised that, wait, I was hungover...got to the Colosseum...looked at it...looked at the line...had to sit down...nope, not today. So I walked around the Colosseum, ...

Well arriving in Rome at 9 am after a transit stop in Zurich was a bit disorienting - naturally I got no sleep on the plane thanks to no seating preferences from the good people in Star Alliance (oh, Qantas, how I miss your knowledge and accommodation of my likes & dislikes). But the good thing is that Italy and South Africa are in the same time zone so, I can say farewell to jet lag for a while at least. The first time I put my backpack on - besides for nove...

Ciao Roma!Executive Summary Backpacking as a 32 year old - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...and don't reveal your age unless asked. Having said that, joining a bunch of 20 year old Americans shouting 'Spring Break!!! Wooooooooo!!!' takes a great deal of alcohol and the acceptance that, a lot of times, you're just not going to have anything in common and, frankly, that's not a bad thing. Walking down the street in Rome is not unlike driving in Sout...

The Lazy Way of Blogging by Using Facebook Status Updates Sarah Reinertsen... is in Jo'burg (and for those of you seeking a backpack update, i'm still not convinced i can pack this properly for the next year!) (28/3/09) has developed better game-spotting techniques after the first attempt, which went something like 'oooh!! OOOOHH!! Leopard! Leopard! Leopard!' (1/4/09) has thus far survived South African roads despite the better efforts of goat...

Farewell to South Africa Well they say Africa gets into your blood and I can certainly see how that happens. I guess it's always been a part of my blood given Dad was born there, but I certainly didn't feel more than a slight connection to the place until visiting and seeing it firsthand. I feel so privileged to have visited with Mom & Dad, though it made things tense and emotional at times as Dad went through the process of revisiting his past, confronting ...