In 2004 I had what I still call my quarter life crisis. I walked out of my job (just didn't show up for work one day), ran off to Europe with a backpack and a Eurorail pass. The only things I wanted was to get away from everyone and to sort my life out, on my own. There's a lot of stories that go along with this, but one of the more interesting ones involved my first hostel stay.

Being American, I have a bit of a problem. I really love my country, and I think we do some really, really stupid things as a group of people. In 2004, I was pretty down on being an American. Even considered wearing a shirt "I didn't vote for Bush" while in Europe. Two Italian gentlemen were sharing my room with me at the hostel. I joked about not voting for Bush. They said (paraphrased a bit), "Don't feel bad. Sure, your president is an idiot, but we don't think all Americans are like that. We still remember what you did for us in World War II."

It wasn't the content of what they said, as I'd like to someday move away from always being associated with a warlike nation, but how they were about it. They seemed to mean what they said, and were very welcoming to me as a person. It was one of the first moments where I think I got to be more than an "American" and realized there was potential for all of us to respect each other as individuals despite background.