Finale...

Of all places... I´m in the Madrid Airport´s business lounge for platinum fliers for American Airlines, in between Iberian flights on my way from Athens to Minneapolis... and I´ve never even signed up for frequent flyer miles... Turns out one of the dudes I met in Corfu was on my flight to Madrid and is on my next to Chicago, and he can bring a guest in. I gotta get hooked up with a platinum membership- free internet, grub, cocktails, tv, newspapers... the only way to pass the time in a layover.

With my last day in Ios to myself, as Ben headed home a day before I, I took it easy: chilled on the beach, went it to town for some last-minute gifting, and went on a date with a Belgian girl who was also traveling alone. It was quite a pleasant farewell.

The trip on the whole- pretty much what I´d expected it to be once the plans were in place.

I have been pretty damn successful living my life with minimal regrets to date. This trip has not steered me off course. Nonetheless, there are a few choices I would made done differently given my budget and time...
- spent one day in athens and seen another island
- bought the right train ticket to the athens airport (painful story)
- purchased a 6-day eurail pass and coughed up extra dough if we needed to, rather than an 8-day pass to give us (unnecessary) cushion
- brought a female - not ben - to santorini... i love you man, but seeing you topless on the most romantic beaches i´ve ever seen just isn´t the same
- taken more EMAIL ADDRESSES. so stupid. i met so many people, made some pretty solid connections given the circumstances (relaxed atmosphere and condensed time frames...and aboundnig inebriation), but I was a compelte and utter failure at doing what was necessary to maintain those relationships. it´s so valuable to have a connection in san francisco or athens or london or wherever. idiot.

Biggest learnings/takeaways?
- a much more realistic grasp on how big the world is. I now know that I literally CANNOT imagine in my mind what places like Egypt and Laos and South Africa and the Philippines are like.
- don't travel with anyone who loves good food as much as you... otherwise the food budget stretches its belly a bit.
- when backpacking... don't try to get by on a used bath towel for 5 weeks - especially when hitting the beach.
- language is power. both ability to speak multiples and the accent you carry - it speaks volumes about your world and your worldliness.