-----Original Message-----

From: Dan Burke

Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 10:32 AM

To: Dan Burke

Subject: Two boards...

I've been sleeping on two boards for the past three

nights, no bullshit. The bathroom is dark, dank and

is, of course, shared with 5 other boarders. What do

you expect for $20 USD per night, huh?

Needless to say, I'm very pleased to be boarding the

Marco Polo for Italy tonight. I'm sure the bed in my

shared cabin will be board-like, but somehow it will

feel different, I'm hopping. Somehow knowing that the

shores of Italy will greet me in the morning is

keeping me going.

I haven't had a power converter for the past 3 weeks.

All my batteries have long burnt out. There was a

brief moment in Slovenia when I had a 7-piece

makeshift converter put together in my $200 hotel

room. I charged my toothbrush, and that seemed to go

OK. With the test case out of the way, I could then

focus on the important stuff. I plugged in my iPod for

about 3 seconds and the sound of bacon frying put me

in a panic. I yanked it out of the wall and looked

down at my iPod screen and nothing -- just a black

line across the top. I tried to reboot, to power down,

to coax it into turning on but nothing. My iPod is

dead. No more tunes. No more connection to my soul.

I laid on top of a beautiful cliff yesterday,

overlooking all of Dubrovnik. The sun was finally out,

the birds were chirping. Ever thing was perfect. The

ancient stone wall that held me lined a valley that

was filled with grape vines, tomato plants, stone

benches, and all let down to a mid-evil church just

sitting on the shoreline. The water out before me was

deep green. And in the middle of all this, an enormous

yacht floated calmly, sitting in the middle of the

bay. It must have been 100 feet long, had dozens of

rooms, and best of all, had a helicopter on the bow.

Yes, a helicopter. What kind of person has that much

money? And why would they need a helicopter on their

yacht? Fast-passed relaxing. Leisure travel with

availability?

As I thought about the harsh removal of living that

kind of life, and about not being able to feel the

boards of local boarding houses make-shit bed, I

wondered what it was all for? There are buildings

still sprayed with bullet holes on the mainland. Cruel

reminders from a war for freedom 10 years ago.

FREEDOM. Free to make as much money as you wish. Free

to have a helicopter on your yacht. It's weird to me,

but I like nice things too. Maybe there's a place

between a dingy bathroom and a 100 foot yacht that

feels right? Maybe all I need is a comfy bed and a new

iPod?

Love from the Adriatic.

DB