Technology is great. The internet is allowing me to stay in contact with family and friends on a regular basis, so being part way around the world has not been a problem. If anything, it is making those relationships stronger.

Overall things are good, it's neat to see the places I visited first hand. Books, TV, movies, or web sites never really show you what a place or people are really like. Just taking in a few sites, wandering the streets seeing how the locals go about their daily lives, and talking with locals and other travelers from around the world, is exactly what I was hoping to do. Dealing with the languages differences is a challenge, but it's not a road block.

Getting my bearings in a new train station and/or area can be a bit stressful, however most places all have similar services, so it just a matter of figuring out what's available and how they do things in a given area. My GPS device has eliminated a lot of head aches, making navigation much more efficient. I could get around without, but it would just take a bit longer.

Food has not been much of a problem. I can usually find something real good and healthy to eat, although some times I don't know exactly what I'm eating!

The Rick Steves' travel guides are proving to be more useful than the Lonely Planet books. I sure am glad I bought the new 2006 versions at the last minute.

It was nice to see the country side on the way to and from Toledo and on the last part of the trip into Lisbon. I look forward to getting out into the rural areas more as my trip progresses.

I'm glad I made my way south when I did. It's starting to get warm around here, high 20's and even low 30's, so it will be nice to start heading north again to cool off. However, that won't happen for a little while yet as I will be making may east to Italy first.