Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 99 • December 14, 1994
My final day in Tours, France

This was it. My last full day in Europe.

I woke up knowing that everything I did from this point forward would be for the last time on this trip. I met Marina for lunch one final time, then spent the afternoon with Rachel — shopping, talking, and moving through the day at a slower pace than usual. I bought her a rose as a small thank you for everything she had done for me over the past few weeks. It felt important to mark the moment somehow.

Later, I finally took the portraits Rachel had been asking for since I arrived. We had to rush because I had plans with Corrine, but we got them done. It felt fitting that something she had wanted for weeks only happened on the very last day. That seemed to be the theme of these final hours — things coming together at the very end.

I met Corrine for a drink at Donald’s Pub, but our time was short. She showed up late, and before I knew it I was already catching the last bus back to Joué-lès-Tours. I said goodbye to Lionel on the way out, one of the only guys I felt like I could have become real friends with if I had stayed longer.

When I got back, I finished packing in a quiet apartment. Olivier was already at work. Rachel was tired. And I kept thinking the same thing over and over:

Tomorrow at this time, I’ll be back in America.

My Family for Life

My family for life: Rachel and Olivier. The bond we formed over those weeks in Tours felt deeper than friendship — they had truly become like family, and saying goodbye to them was one of the hardest parts of the end of the trip.

With Rachel

Rachel and I immediately connected and shared a very special, sisterly-brotherly bond. Sitting together on the couch like this, it felt like we had known each other for years instead of just a few weeks.

Rachel’s Portrait Session

Rachel during her portrait session on my final day in Tours. She had been asking me to take these for weeks, and we finally squeezed them in at the very end. Bold, confident, and rocking some beautiful lingerie — the French word for sexy underwear. A perfect memory to close out the trip.

My Final Photographs from My Trip

DAY 99 / 12-14-94
My final day in Tours, France

Well, this is it. My final day in France, in Europe for that matter. Fuck.

I got up at 10:30, bathed, then packed. I left at 11:30 to rendezvous avec Marina for lunch. We went to a tiny Chinese food place & met 2 very nice rural French men, 1 of whom offered to house me & give me money if I needed it the next time I was in France. After taking their picture, Marina & I went to Donald’s Pub to meet Olivier.

The next few hours were difficult for me. I was so anxious to get going, & the time was dragging at a snail’s pace. I decided to splurge & buy a USA Today [newspaper], which helped pass the time. Rachel showed up, & we went shopping. They don’t celebrate Halloween here, but they do dress up for New Year’s Eve/Day & they were looking for costumes.

Along the way, I bought a rose for Ra-Ra [Rachel], to thank her for all she’s done for me.

When we got home I finished my wrapping & packing. The good news is everything fits, the bad is that it is heavier than a motherfucker!

Olivier had to leave for work at 8:00 [pm], then Rachel posed for some pictures for me. It’s funny, the first day I arrived she said she would, but it took until my last day to do it. We had to hurry because I had to catch the 9:15 [pm] bus, but I think I got 1 or 2 useable ones.

I was supposed to meet Corrine at 10 [pm], at Donald’s Pub, but she called me because she was running late. She didn’t get there until 11, which was too bad because she was looking hot & I only got to spend a half-hour with her.

I was glad because Lionel showed up just as I was leaving so I could say goodbye to him. Had I stayed here longer he was the one guy I feel I could’ve become good friends with.

I caught the 11:40 bus home, the last bus ride I would take.

After getting in at 12:00 [am], I did my final packing & recheck.

God, I can’t believe tomorrow at this time I’ll be in the Fucking United States of America!

**The Very Final Picture**

The very final picture from Europe. With Corrine on my left (the right side of this picture), and a friend of hers in Donald’s Pub. A perfect, happy way to close out the entire adventure — smiling in the place where so many good nights had happened. The trip was over. I had made it.

Looking Back

This was my last real day in Europe.

I spent it doing the things that mattered most in those final hours — taking portraits of Rachel, having lunch with Marina, saying goodbye to Lionel, and stealing one last short drink with Corrine. It wasn’t dramatic. It was quiet, a little rushed, and strangely ordinary for what it represented. The end of something I had dreamed about, planned for, and survived.

I took pictures of Rachel and Olivier together that day. I even took a few of Rachel by herself. But somehow, in all the rushing and emotions and last-minute plans, I never took a single photograph of Olivier and me. Not one. That still bothers me. After everything we had been through together over the years — him living with my family, me living with his — I have no image of the two of us on that final day. Just memories.

When I caught the last bus back to Joué-lès-Tours that night, something shifted. I had done it. I had actually made it through the entire trip. The fear, the loneliness, the cold nights, the moments where I questioned everything — they were all behind me now. What was left was gratitude, exhaustion, and the quiet understanding that I was not the same person who had left Nebraska four months earlier.

I went to sleep that night knowing that in less than twenty-four hours, I would be back on American soil. The adventure was over. But the person it created was just getting started.