Here are some compiled trip statistics from my last year. Hope you
enjoyed my stories, until my next adventure, take care, safe travels,
buckle up and always wear sunscreen. -Keith

Kms traveled by train/ferry: 44,000 km (the equatorial circumference of the earth is around 40,000km, also if mentos were placed end to end, it would take around 2.3 billion to cover this distance).

Number of night trains: 27 (only 1 with a sleeper).

Months on a railpass: 6 (2-month eurail flexipass, 2 1-month scanrails, 2 1-month interrails).

Longest rail journey: Wales to Sweden, 4 days.

Coolest high-speed train: Italian Pendolino, plenty of leg room and power window shades.

Worst train experience: Waking to a Swede puking above me.

Number of night ferries: 16

Worst ferry experience: Being caught cooking pasta in the sauna and having to throw it overboard.

Cheapest ferry (and duty free!): Estline, Tallinn Estonia to Stockholm (hmmmm, I wonder why).

Packs of Mentos consumed: 99 in 9 months (enough to circle my room
in Ryd), this would be an estimated 132 packs/year, or a pack every 2.8 days, or 5.4 delicious candies/day.

Mentos flavors sighted: 8, fruit, mint, apple, tropical fruit, strong mint, licorice mint, strawberry, spearmint. The only known flavor not found in Europe was cinnamon (only sighted twice at a now defunct hardware store in Duluth Minnesota).

Most expensive pack of Mentos: Zem am See Austria, $3/pack.

Days spent hiking: 32

Worst trail: The underwater swamp boardwalk on the Wolves' trail in Finland.

Best trail: West Highland Way Scotland, old military road with drainage and a pub at the end of each day.

Worst hiking weather: Isle of Skye Scotland. Rain, sleet, snow, hail, thunder, gale winds.

Song stuck in head for longest while hiking: Rocky Mountain High by Mango Jam covering John Denver.

Fish caught: 6- spinning gear (3), fly gear (0), ocean gear (3).

Patches added to robe (number of countries visited): 21, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Holland, France, Belgium, Andorra, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Finland.

City with the biggest rats: Edinburgh, Scotland.

Highest temperature: 39C (104F), Madrid.

Coldest temperature: -18C (0F), Linkoping.

Hardest language to understand: Scottish (for proof of this, please see
the film Trainspotting).

Best McDonalds value meal: The original Moscow McD's, huge drink
and fries all for less than $4.

Subway Sandwich stores sighted: 2 official (Copenhagen and Dublin), 1 fake (St. Petersburg).

Taco Bells sighted: 0

Foods I can no longer stand: Strawberry jam.

Foods I dream about at night: Gnocchi, gelati, hell Italian food in general.

Best beer: Guinness at the home brewery in Dublin.

Worst beer: (American) Budweiser (it was on special okay).

Home brew brewed: 50 liters beer, 50 liters wine, 15 liters "experimental".

Most expensive hostel: HI in Oslo, almost $30/night.

Cheapest hostel: Closed hostel in Finland, $0/night. We slept in the bike shelter.

Most annoying currency: Russian rubble, I once paid 1.5 million rubbles for a cheap flight.

Lonely Planet guidebooks utilized: 7, Western Europe, Britain, Scandinavia and Baltic Europe, Finland, Russia, Walking in
Switzerland, Austria.

Best hostel/place on the planet: Stamsund, Lofoten islands of Norway.




I found these shoes on a beach on Lizard Island Australia. I wore
them for two years in the states and one year in Sweden. They
had to be duct taped and super glued, but eventually they had to
be retired. RIP.