The "Thank You" Post

Before I wrap things up for good, I want to take a moment to thank all those people who helped make this trip great:

Thanks to Mom and Dad for staying remarkably calm and supportive, even after I told them that I was leaving my stable, well-paying job for a temporary stint as a wandering bum. And for contributing to the Blue Steel Memorial Fund.

Thanks to Hopie for setting the wheels in motion.

Thanks to all the great folks who generously offered me a place to stay at one point or another: Joanne, Hanne, Anand and Tammy, Karin, Calci, Nadja, Mikkel and Lasse, Ingar, The Eriksens, Elana and Thor-Eirik, Norbi, Anna, Mira, Emre, Dylan, and Nammon.

Thanks to the New Zealand Department of Conservation. You put those huts in all the right places.

Thanks to Ava for being a fantabulous travel buddy in Morocco. "Where's Ava? Where's Ava?"

Thanks to Søren for introducing me to the word "schwagabond." Usage example: "Shut your cake hole, you goddamn schwagabond!"

Thanks to Eivind Luthen for sending me off in search of Trondheim and, subsequently, glory.

Thanks to those kind Norwegians who refueled me with coffee cake and solbaer juice before my descent into mosquito hell. I don't think I would have made it otherwise.

Thanks to Ana and Demetria for the dog-eating-a-watermelon lighter. That is the coolest souvenir ever!

Thanks to Nammon for integrating me into his radio program. I've never had so much fun yelling "Get 102.5 international hit music!"

And finally, thanks to all you UT readers who followed me on my zany round-the-world trek. Especially those that left comments. Well, except for the homo-erotic ones. Not that there's anything wrong with that.