Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 1 • Shannon and Limerick, Ireland
September 7, 1994

Well… I made it.

Thirty-two years later, sitting here in 2026, I still get chills reading those four simple words I thought the morning I landed in Ireland.

This is it. The first day of the adventure that saved my life.

One year earlier I had woken up in a pool of my own blood on my bed in my room in The Dome, convinced my story was over. Now I was standing on Irish soil, with no ticket home, no real plan, just a massive backpack, my camera, and a heart full of nervous fire.

Losing Curt last March, followed by the house fire in July, and every other reminder that we don’t know how much time we get… it all makes this moment writing these words even more sacred.

This story really is a Time Machine — and today, you and I are stepping back into 1994 together.

So come with me.

Let’s go back to the very first day… when a scared, excited, 22-year-old kid with nothing but a camera and a prayer stepped off the plane and whispered to himself:

“Well, I made it… now let’s go exploring!”

Before continuing, let me share the following reflection from 2026.

My Photography Journey – A Lifelong Passion

I fell in love with photography when I was 16, in Australia during my year as a Rotary Exchange Student in 1988. I was seeing places and meeting people I knew I might never see again. Instead of writing in a journal, I took pictures. Photography became my way of keeping memories alive. Pictures have always been magical to me.

In the area of photography, I was supremely confident — even when the rest of my life felt completely out of control.

Photography gave me power. It let me bend rules, create opportunities, and feel in control when everything else felt chaotic. It was also the only way I felt comfortable connecting with girls. When I had a camera in my hands, something shifted. They would pose for me. They trusted me. They loved how I made them look and feel in the photos. That experience was incredibly empowering.

I’ve tapped into this energy for more than 35 years. If eyes are the windows to a person’s soul, I’ve looked into tens of thousands of souls — I have photographed people in all ages and stages of life — sports team photos, dance group photos, high school proms and dances, professional headshots, family portraits, high school portraits, weddings and family events, just to name a few of the hundreds of photo assignments I’ve done in my career.
Photography has always allowed my full self, my full identity, my full essence to be on display.

I was absolutely fascinated by the science of it all things related to photography — capturing light on film, the subtleties and complexities of different emulsions, whether black-and-white, color negative, or slide film. I loved learning how to light a subject, how to compose, and how the smallest change in exposure could completely transform an image.

Then there was the darkroom, and bringing those carefully captured images to life. I studied and learned the science and the magic of the photographic chemical process. I taught myself to carefully load exposed film into developing tanks in complete darkness.

I loved the anticipation of waiting for the chemicals to do their work, then pulling the film out to see what I had captured. The red safelight, the smell of the fixer, the hours spent with my music playing while I stood at the enlarger making prints. I loved being in the darkroom — whether it was a basic one I built at home, the ones at school and the newspapers I worked at, or Peter Langone’s incredible professional darkroom in Fort Lauderdale when I was his studio manager, making 16x20 black-and-white prints for his exhibits and portfolios.

In 1998 I graduated at the top of my class with honors, earning a degree in Commercial Photography from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. My first career job as a photographer was when he hired me the week before graduation.

For the past eight years I have been a corporate photographer for News Link, flying all over the country to photograph some of America’s largest and most recognizable companies — Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, Kellogg’s, Conagra, Mars Snacking, and many more — all while living right here in Kearney, Nebraska.

I have made an incredibly magical life through my dedication, love, and relentless pursuit of excellence in photography.

But photography has always been so much greater than just me. With the house fire, losing Curt last year, and recently discovering that my mentor Peter Langone had passed (his website is now gone and all that remains is his obituary), I feel these memories and stories flooding back with even more urgency. It feels like there is a divine power working through me to keep these moments alive.

Now, with everyone carrying a high-quality camera in their pocket, I want to inspire as many people as possible to pick up photography. It is one of the most rewarding pastimes on earth — a way to slow down, see the world more clearly, and preserve the people and moments that matter most.

My professional catch line to this day is “Preserving Memories Since 1989” — the year I started working at Bob’s.

Photography has always been more than a skill for me. It has been my shield of protection and my magic wand of permission. As long as I had a camera in my hand, I could talk my way into almost anywhere and hold my own in any situation. It gave me identity, confidence, and a sense of purpose when I felt lost or broken. It still does today.

This 1994 trip was no different. My camera wasn’t just along for the ride — it was my reason for being there. It was how I made sense of the world and how I began to make sense of myself.

My Photographs from today

Day 1 9-7-94

Shannon and Limerick Ireland

M.O. Mahony
5 Crescent Villas
O Connell Avenue
Limerick, Ireland

Above is the address of Mick, the bloke who bought all my beers at the Grand Mariner pub (in his own handwriting). A very nice guy, but pissed off his gourd. I was at the pub to take in an acoustic jam session, and it was surprisingly easy to make friends, but I should give most of the credit to my accent and camera.

In addition to the above Mick, I met another guy named Mick who rides Harleys (Harley-Davidson motorcycles). He met Adam Clayton (the bass player for the Irish rock and roll band U2 - my all-time favorite band!) and Larry Mullen (the drummer for U2) in Dublin at a Harley convention where they had been invited to judge a wet T-shirt contest. I met Mick’s wife Mary, who met Bono (the lead singer for U2) in a tattoo parlor in Dublin in 1988. Bono wanted to see a girl getting a tattoo, and they ended up talking for quite a while. I also met Nigel, the bongo man in the band. But I'm way ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning.

I arrived in Shannon around 10:00 am. The flight was uneventful save for a three hour delay in Boston to fix a faulty fire extinguisher. Customs was a breeze, and I strapped on my pack, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the airport and into my new life.

After about 300 or 400 yards my pack became unbearable. As I sat on the ground catching my breath the realization of what I was doing hit me like a bullet. I was 100%, completely and totally on my own. I could not call anyone to come pick me up. I could not hail a taxi because I had no local currency (I didn’t want to get screwed out of my few precious dollars at the airport exchange). I didn't know where I was, or worse, where I was going. My lighthearted joke of the last few months was now a stark reality.

I continued on into the town of Shannon, a few miles up the road. I stumbled onto the town shopping center (I would guess Shannon has less than 1,000 people) and de-packed. I found the bank, and exchanged $24.00 US for £14 and change. Now that I had money, I found the supermarket and bought a candy bar. Next, I found the travel shop and got a bus schedule, and I proceeded a block over to the bus stop.

I met a woman who called herself Mother Teresa and she blessed me. I sure could use it. We boarded the bus and rode the 15 miles into Limerick. I'm glad I didn't try to walk it. Once in town, I headed for the USIT office to purchase a travel save stamp for £7. It will give me half price fares all around Ireland on trains and buses. They told me where the hostel was, and I walked the four blocks to it.

It didn't open until 5:00, and it was only 2:00, so I was just going to sit for the wait when the manager opened it up so I could at least put my bags inside. The fee was £6, and after paying she gave me a map of Limerick and I set out. I went to an art museum, down to the edge of the Shannon river, over to a castle, to the train station to check on times to Dublin, by a take-out place for a burger and back to the hostel at 5:00.

Utterly exhausted, I crawled up onto my bunk, into my sleeping bag and was immediately asleep.

I awoke around 9:00, showered, changed, and headed over to Catherine Street to find a pub. I met Mick upon entering and spent the rest of the evening getting free Guinness beer, and singing with Nigel and his friends. I made it back to the hostel at 5 till 12:00, and once again, was asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

A reflection from 2026…

King John’s Castle, Limerick

This is one of the very first photos I took on the entire trip.

In 1999, while studying Commercial Photography at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, I scanned this negative on a brand-new, $12,000 state-of-the-art scanner. I then sat down at one of the first Macintosh computers in their lab, opened up a brand-new software program called Adobe Photoshop, and spent hours carefully adding color and enhancing the image.

That single photograph became one of the centerpiece images in my senior portfolio. I graduated with Honors and was awarded “Best Portfolio” in my class.

To this day, this picture of King John’s Castle holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first real moment I realized I was actually there — no longer just dreaming about Europe, but living it.

A Reflection from 2026…

A Reflection from 2026…

Thirty-two years later, as I sit here listening to “Bad” by U2 blasting in my headphones, the emotions flood back so strongly I can almost smell the beer in the air, feel the wild energy of that freedom, and taste that first night in Limerick all over again.

It started with a Wild Irish Rose — untamed, defiant, and beautifully alive. A spark. A dare. A living symbol of the wild energy I had come to Europe to find — and to set loose inside myself.

That scared but determined 22-year-old kid — fresh off the plane, no ticket home, running from his past — had no idea that this single day would become day one of the most important adventure of his entire life.

I saw a castle. I saw a church. I saw a cemetery. I watched old friends smoking pipes. I made my own friends in the pub, singing and drinking deep into the night.

Was this really real? No… I’m sure it was only a dream, right?

No.

It was real. And I have the photos to prove it!

I was already making magic. I was already free. I was already becoming someone new.

And now, all these years later, I get to share that magic with you.

This is my 1994 Time Machine.

And you’re riding in it with me.

We’re only on Day 1.

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