Soccer Balls And Traveling Season…Team TWB Is Going Back Out On The Road
It’s summertime here in Los Angeles, California — which means fun!
This young man from Japan was showing off his incredible soccer ball handling skills on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Just a few blocks from the beach and the SM Pier, the pedestrians-only street lined with shops and restaurants is a huge draw for tourists from all over the world.
As thousands upon thousands of international visitors descend upon our city, William and I are preparing to become overseas visitors ourselves. We arrive in London on August 10th in order to watch our friend, Meb Keflezighi, compete in the Olympic Marathon. I first became friends with Meb when he was entering UCLA as an 18-year-old freshman. He smashed all NCAA distance-running records while at UCLA and I promised I’d watch him run in the Olympics one day. I couldn’t make it to Sydney; or to Greece when he won the silver medal for the U.S. He was hurt and missed the Beijing Olympics. Now, at 36 years old, married and with three beautiful young daughters, Meb is planning to retire after the London Games. I believe in keeping my promises so we’ll be there to root him on. (Prices are exorbitant in the city during the Olympics, so we’ll be staying in a dorm room in one of the residence halls of the London School of Economics, which should be a novel experience in itself!)
After London we’re going to fly to Prague, pick up a rental car and spend three weeks exploring a few countries in Europe. Right now we’re thinking the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria but we’re not sure if we’ll have time to visit them all. We’re not going to set any plans in concrete; instead we’re going to go with a rough idea of where we’re headed but then allow the open road to have its way with us. And, of course, no matter where we end up we will definitely be handing out some soccer balls to kids. So, in essence, we’re going to Travel With Balls on two different levels!
I’ll be blogging regularly again during our trip, so feel free to travel along with us through this site.
And always remember — the GOAL is JOY!
Peace & Blessings,
Jan