rcargo's VirtualTourist Home Page

Since birth my parents included me in their travels. When I was three my family spent a summer sailing to Alaska on our small sailboat, at four I visited Europe for a month, and at seven my parents and I moved to the east coast to build a larger sailboat.

Aboard "Northern Cross" we hoped to sail around the world before it was time for me to attend university. Because her construction took longer than planned, we were only able to sail for several years, but during that time we traveled throughout the West Indies and the Eastern coast of Canada. During those years I was also blessed with the opportunity to spend a month in Korea.

For more about the sailing lifestyle visit: Chuck, Sue, and Ryan - Sailing Vessel "Northern Cross"

I am currently finishing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman. Luckily, my passion for the ocean is equaled by my love for rugged mountains, climbing, skiing, and hiking, so the five years I have spent here have been wonderful indeed.

While university life has been much more stationary than my younger days, I have still managed to travel a fair amount. From a spring break hitch-hiking Vancouver Island, to two weeks spent backpacking on Kauai, Hawaii, to numerous trips around the United States while fighting fire in the summer, I have managed to keep too much grass from growing under my feet. However, now that graduation nears, my lust for serious travel has returned.

April 1st, 2005 - UPDATE!
My trip was absolutely fantastic! My three weeks in Europe flew by, leaving me no choice but to return as soon as possible for even an even longer stay! I ended up going to Prague, Budapest, parts of Austria and Switzerland, Frankfurt and the surrounding area, and Brussels (as can be seen on the revised map). So far I have merely added some of the places I went to my travel pages, while their actual content will be a slow process, but keep your eyes posted, because with the 800 pictures I took while there I plan to but some serious effort into my pages!

Jan 11th, 2005 - UPDATE!
I just purchased my tickets and my new travel route is shown on the map. I fly into Prague on March 9th, and back home from Brussels on March 29th!

Jan 8th, 2005 - PLANS!
In March (less than two months away!!!) I am planning a three week trip to Europe. While not set in stone, I plan on flying to Austria and then slowly working my way to Switzerland and then to Germany.

As of now the only language I speak besides English is some Spanish, but in the next two months I hope to learn as much German as possible so that during my visit I can get around on my own.

I have a few friends in Switzerland and Germany who I plan on visiting, but other than that I will for the most part be on my own so I look forward to making many new friends during my trip.

I would love to meet some people on VirtualTourist before I leave for my trip, so if you feel like writing and introducing yourself, that would be wonderful! Or, if you are planning on visiting the United States and would like to know someone in Montana, just write and say hello!

Sincerely,
Ryan!