Hello travelers!

As a new list member, I thought I'd take a few moments to introduce myself. I hail from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) area, where my wife and I currently live. We've also lived in the Chicago area, Virginia Beach, and four summers in Alaska. I'm an avid traveler (well, you probably guessed that!), with my favorite destinations over the past few years being those in Germany and Austria. We became enamored with Europe when we took our first trip there (a business trip for me) in 1997, and have since gone back many times. Our most memorable European trips have involved bicycle touring, although we also have done plenty of rented-car trips, too (including just getting back from hitting the Christmas markets in Germany and France and seeing friends in the Netherlands). We have quite a bit of travel experience in Germany and Austria, so we'd be happy to help anyone heading that way with suggestions or hints, especially if you are considering bike touring (it's not as hard as you think it is!). Our travel philosophy is to enjoy where we are, but to save $$ (or Euros) where we can. While we aren't budget/backpacker type travelers, neither are we four-star hotel travelers, either (zimmers and pensions over Best Westerns and their like).

Prior to getting the Europe bug, we concentrated on the USA, driving to and from Alaska twice and seeing much of the country. Some of those experiences are detailed on my Alaska travel Web site at http://members.aol.com/briwasson/alaskalinks.html (some of the links are woefully out of date, but there is still a fair amount of good info on there if you are considering traveling to and around Alaska).

Most memorable travel experience? There have been many great ones, but sadly the one that sticks in my mind was spending September 11, 2001, with friends in the Netherlands and watching CNN.

Oh, and to support my travel habit, I work in communications for a medical society located on Independence Mall (home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, a great city to visit in its own right!

Looking forward to travel talk,

Brian Wasson Abington, Pa./USA