The Trip of a Lifetime - My Son's Big Adventure

[mom45]

No blog updates...the artist is busy doing artwork!!

Here are a few pictures of some beautiful scenery near the border of Romania along the Danube and a couple of recent portraits.







And a cave in Eastern Serbia that had to be explored....he still hasn't answered as to whether or not the bones he found inside were human.

 

[mom45]

No blog updates, but I did see a new painting finally. There are a few portraits somewhere on their way to me for people here so I may have those to post if my mail lady doesn't lose them.

There is another girl that has been mentioned. I have a feeling a certain redhead from Australia has been a distraction. LOL

Today's pictures that have been shared with me...the first posted by the manager at the hostel where he is staying as this painting is on their wall of one of the resident dogs, a pug named Dali.

 

[Sylvain]

At least he has no been "taken" in Eastern Europe Mom, that's a good news.

You won't have to use your particular set of skills.

 

[mom45]

At least he has no been "taken" in Eastern Europe Mom, that's a good news.

You won't have to use your particular set of skills.

 

[indiucky]

Very nice mom...The wife is here so I shared...She loves his work....

 

[mom45]

Very nice mom...The wife is here so I shared...She loves his work....

Thanks! He seems to be staying fairly busy with artwork. It took him a few weeks to do some portraits I had ordered here and I'm told they are in the mail. I have no idea how long it takes from Belgrade to my house and I don't have tracking info so I am waiting. Not very patiently as I can't wait to deliver them, but I'm waiting.

 

[mom45]

I have no idea how long international mail takes, but I am still waiting on the drawings referenced in my last post. They were returned to him for some unknown reason and were sent out a second time 6/22....still not here.

He is still in Belgrade, and is getting ready to take a "vacation to Greece" for a few days. He is now managing the hostel as a paid employee. This includes free housing, and they are paying for his Serbian lessons. He also has time to do his artwork while doing this job.

Here is his latest painting done on the side of a building. It is certainly the largest painting he has ever done!

 

[churchmouse]

Catching up.

 

[Sylvain]

I have no idea how long international mail takes,

Could be one to two weeks to cross the big pond.
It all depends what type of shipping option he chose.

 

[SSGSAD]

I have no idea how long international mail takes, but I am still waiting on the drawings referenced in my last post. They were returned to him for some unknown reason and were sent out a second time 6/22....still not here.

He is still in Belgrade, and is getting ready to take a "vacation to Greece" for a few days. He is now managing the hostel as a paid employee. This includes free housing, and they are paying for his Serbian lessons. He also has time to do his artwork while doing this job.

Here is his latest painting done on the side of a building. It is certainly the largest painting he has ever done!

JMHO .....

THAT, is GREAT !!!!!

I LOVE IT !!!!!

 

[SSGSAD]

At least he has no been "taken" in Eastern Europe Mom, that's a good news.

You won't have to use your particular set of skills.

JMHO, but I think Mom, would have lots of volunteers, with LOTS of sets of skills .....

To take care of bidness .....

 

[Sylvain]

JMHO, but I think Mom, would have lots of volunteers, with LOTS of sets of skills .....

To take care of bidness .....

That would make for an epic movie!

 

[mom45]

Could be one to two weeks to cross the big pond.
It all depends what type of shipping option he chose.

I'm not sure how he shipped it other than thru the mail. It has been a month now....I'm getting nervous that the drawings are lost somewhere but haven't given up yet!

 

[mom45]

JMHO, but I think Mom, would have lots of volunteers, with LOTS of sets of skills .....

To take care of bidness .....

I should probably apply for a passport so I could be prepared.

 

[indiucky]

That would make for an epic movie!

This is how us Kentucky hillbillies handle such things......

(As a side note my great grandfather had to leave Caneyville, Kentucky with his family in a wagon about 1914 or so...My whole life and my dad's whole life we were told "the land was so poor on Caney Creek forty men couldn't raise Hell on an acre" so they had to move....We all took that as Gospel...Two family reunions ago the last of the children felt like enough time had passed the truth could be told...He had to leave over a "killing"...Not to be confused with a "murder"....Apparently there were no murders in rural Kentucky before 1920...Just "Killing's" of folks that "had it coming"...You didn't have to worry about the law coming for you...Just the other guys family......I love hearing those old stories...Anyway this movie was a 1980's take on that mentality and how it carried over into modern times...You should check it out some time Sylvain...I think you would dig it...Plus a YOUNG Liam Neeson is in it....It's easy for Irish and Scots to do a Kentucky accent.....)

[video=youtube;hHWC5Kvl3-c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHWC5Kvl3-c[/video]

 

[Sylvain]

I should probably apply for a passport so I could be prepared.

I'm sure we can make you do a HALO jump to get you into whatever country you son is "taken".
No passport needed!

 

[mom45]

He told me I can get a Serbian passport since my grandparents came here and my dad is first generation born here. That would allow me to stay with him indefinitely. He is applying for a Serbian passport but has to pass a test. That would allow him to stay and not even need a work visa.

I think I have lost him....he loves it there.

Neat story, Indiucky! I'm not so sure we shouldn't still allow killings of folks that have it coming!

 

[mom45]

August 15th...marked one year since my son left on this trip. He hasn't updated his blog on his web site for a while, but here is an update he posted on his facebook page yesterday and a few pictures of pages in his sketchbook.

He has taken some short trips to Romania and Greece with friends, but always returns to Belgrade. He seems to be quite fond of the area, and is now working as a manager at the hostel where he was staying. It is a paid position that is allowing him to continue his trip and focus on his artwork.

Here is his post...

Some of the past few month's sketches in one of my sketchbooks

I realize that I haven't been posting as regularly (or at all) and would like to offer at the least, a short explanation:
When I left for my travels, I really didn't have a distinct goal in mind. I wanted to travel, to draw, to experience the world. I didn't know what that entailed nor what I was really set out to accomplish. After all, what's at the end of this road? Fame? Fortune? Danger and adrenaline? Or perhaps something boring and substantially more disappointing than the life that I left behind? There wasn't any way to tell...
So I left. The first three months were packed with photos and drawings and I was really starting to get the hang of it. Not to mention my work was starting to really take on a style of its own... And then I had to leave the Schengen Area. Which really wasn't a big deal. It's just a border, after all... But it made me go to Serbia. A place that I'd always heard of and knew of, but really didn't know anything about. And wasn't planning on going for quite some time. Even more unexpected, I liked it here. And so I stayed. I left a few times when required, but eventually always found my way back. Since I've been here, I've worked on websites, murals, illustrations for books, writing, and my own artwork. As well as the hostel where I've stayed. I now manage it. A space where I can not only help the business thrive, but push my own work in the mean time. A place where I can nurture a creative community and make a lodging into something so much more.
Anyways, where I'm going with this is simple. I haven't been posting because I've been pushing every single facet of my life. With work, with relationships, with stressful decisions that I would never intentionally put myself through, with myself as a human being. I've been so busy that I couldn't find time to write and if I did, I didn't feel that I was using my time as I should. So I just avoided writing. I can't promise when my next blog will be. I can't promise when I'll draw more or upload what I've drawn. But I can promise that I'm still traveling, still working, still striving to be something that I myself still don't fully comprehend. It's been a year and though I miss my family, I wouldn't have chosen any differently for myself.
- Anthony

 

[Clay]

thanks for the update!!

 

[mom45]

thanks for the update!!

It has been too long since he posted. I believe there may have been a certain redhead distracting him a bit.