26 Days Abroad

The life of the professional bowler sure has changed. Packing up the back of the van and hitting the open road is now a thing of the past. With gas prices these days driving to Europe & Asia just isn’t economical anymore. Loading up 30 bowling balls in a van with the hopes of hitting that one specific pattern so that one ball I didn’t throw away last year could maybe possibly work is long gone. I bring 6 balls and try to make them work, (Abralon: don’t leave home without it) and even that is a pain without a trolley (too much time in the UK).

Today my job is traveling with a little bit of bowling mixed in. This stretch however was a record for me, 26 days out of the good ole’ US of A. Slovakia, Austria, England, & Thailand, 4 different countries with a couple different climates all rolled into one little carry on bag. When I think back to the beginning of the trip it seems so long ago that there was no way that was the same trip.

The thing that stuck out most in my mind from each country I visited:

Slovakia: Beer is cheaper than water

Vienna: Breath taking architecture (Garlic Ribs close 2^nd)

England: I guess I don’t speak English after all

Thailand: The amazing hospitality/humidity

 If I had to give the trip a grade and since it’s my blog I can do what I want, I grade the trip a B.

I didn’t raise any trophies so that knocked the grade down a bit. I did meet a lot of great people along the way; reconnected with some people I hadn’t seen and received a lot of great treatment everywhere I went, which made the trip much easier. Here is a quick list of all the people I want to thank for making my time away from my lovely wife easier: Radek, Dasa, & Veronika Popisil, Thomas Gross, Thomas Tybl, Folkert Nievelstein, Alex Hamilton, Matt Hall, Dom Gall, Sharron Tokkey, Gary, Dom & Cassie, Mo & Brenda Teece, Suwalai Satrulee, Grant Eadie, & of course Stephen Meli. 

One major goal of mine was achieved along the way. 4^th & 5^th (4^th among men) place finishes in Vienna & Bangkok respectively, barely squeaked me into the WBT Finals at the World Series of Bowling. When I say barely, I mean barely. One place lower in either event and I wouldn’t have had enough points. That was a huge relief and something that I really wanted to be a part of again.

For me now it’s off to the biggest event on the PBA calendar, the World Series of Bowling. Mid-season form is setting in and I feel like I am just getting warmed up. It sure is going to be nice to see what I can do in my own country.