Trip Wrap Up: A Look Back
June, 2026, Pinetop, Arizona I’ve been back in the States now for a week, and I’ve been gathering my thoughts for this page. This trip visited eight countries in a three-week span, including seven countries (and one new continent*) that I’ve never visited before. New friends were made, and there were a lot of sightseeing highlights. I really enjoyed my time in some of the cities, especially Munich, Salzburg, Budapest, and Istanbul. Being immersed in those cultures, traveling around the city on my own, using public transportation, eating the local foods, gives you a different appreciation for those places and the people who live there. Additionally, I enjoyed the time spent in some of the less populated stops. Regensburg is charming, Passau is beautiful, Vukovar is resilient, Vidin is trying to find itself as it recovers from Communist rule and figure where it fits in in the 21st century. Our voyage through the “Iron Gates” was impressive, kind of like the Danube’s vers...