After spending decades working for the state of Arkansas, my buddy Jerry Colburn decided upon his retirement that he had seen way too little of the world. In particular, he had never been to Europe. Being a longtime artist in his hometown of North Little Rock, he knew there was a lot of great art that he never had the pleasure to look at. He also just wanted to see how other people live.

Jerry did a lot of research, deciding where he wanted to go and what he wanted to see. He also thought he'd give Couch Surfing a try, which is a web site where you find people who are willing to let you stay in their homes for free. As a backup, he also found where hostels are available. That proved invaluable as many people he had communicated with suddenly weren't available for Jerry to stay with, or simply didn't get back to him.

In November 2009 he filled a backpack with three changes of clothes and took off, beginning six weeks of adventures, taking him to Amsterdam, London, Wales, Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Venice and Rome. Being a lonely traveler in some strange lands, he ended up having quite a few interesting experiences. I sat down with him on December 28, 2009, shortly after he returned home and recorded many of his adventures, which you can download here, broken into five MP3 files. To the right is a photo of Jerry testing the patience of a guard with a machine gun at Buckingham Palace, who is probably used to folks like our old pal Jerry. More photos are below.

MP3 AUDIO: Jerry 01 -- Jerry begins his six-week adventure by traveling to Amsterdam, where he gets lost on a cold, rainy night, has some blue cheese and meets up with a native Arkansan who today is a squatter in a building there and gets his shower via a water hose from the apartment above. MP3 runs 16:56 (11.6 mb).

MP3 AUDIO: Jerry 02 -- Jerry travels to London and Wales, gets a little more than he bargained for on a walking tour that he expected at least somewhat involved a bus, sees a lot of bookstores in Hay-on-Wye, stumbles into a Gary Numan concert in Cardiff and gets kicked out of an arcade for his shenanigans. MP3 runs 22:05 (15.2 mb).

MP3 AUDIO: Jerry 03 -- It's on to Paris, where Jerry can't seem to get away from the gypsies and he sees lots of great art. Then he hops a train to Brussels, where he pays to pee at McClean and meets up with a friend from Little Rock who now lives there. Oh, and he discos down. MP3 runs 16:38 (11.4 mb).

MP3 AUDIO: Jerry 04 -- Jerry takes the ICE train to Vienna, where he manages to avoid the interrogation of a couple of Gestapo-type agents arguing with another passenger. Then it's on to Venice, as he raises the ire of a ticket-taker on the train. Once there he gets some hostility over pepperoni. MP3 runs 27:42 (19 mb).

MP3 AUDIO: Jerry 05 -- Jerry sees Rome, the ruins, shares a room with seven lovely young ladies at a hostel, photographs a lot of torn posters, then travels back to Amsterdam before returning home to Arkansas and the USA. He evaluates his travels, what worked and what didn't. MP3 runs 23:35 (16.2 mb).