So, here’s the plan.

After more than a year of non-stop traveling, of long days working local jobs, followed by working on production, followed by working local jobs, followed yet still by an endless series of adventures the first stage of my journey is coming to a close.

Our primary goal in all of this is to enable and inspire others to have these experiences, to not only travel, but to really explore the cultures of other countries.  After more than a year of telling our story we wanted to give some of our followers a chance to do just that.  Jen, Kris, Serene, and Laurene will carry the story forward and share their experiences, journeys and adventures with you.  In the meantime Rob and I will be back in the US and we’ll be working hard to launch some exciting new projects that should expand the scope and depth of our story.  In some ways it is a difficult transition, but when it really comes down to it I am happy to trade some time in front of a laptop in the US if it allows dozens of others to tell their own Jet Set Zero stories and adventures.

We’ll be behind the scenes for a little while, but we haven’t gone anywhere. 

Thank you to everyone who made this first year possible.  We promise that the second year will provide some amazing new directions, locations and adventures.

And of course, we’ll be back soon.

-Brian

Here’s a brief (totally staged) look at what my typical day consists of these days. Nothing but web work from morning till night.

Thanks Susy.

Everyone!  Rob is engaged!

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Honestly, I haven’t seen much of Istanbul yet.  However the other day we met Jen at work and took the long way back, up past the blue mosque, and through the park.

And the rest of the trip home…

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Rob is now officially sitting on top of the hill at the ripe old age of 25, sorry to say, but life just goes downhill from here.  Just kidding. So how does one celebrate a 25th birthday in Istanbul with no money?  Easy… pretend like you have it and worry about it after.  As soon as we had any sort of excuse to blow cash we did.  Let’s break it down:

Ice cream (we had about 5 cones each yesterday) = 15 TL

XL pizza from Upper Crust (with bacon) = 30.50 TL

Chocolate Cake from a fancy bakery in Taksim = 19 TL

Beers at an overly priced bar = 20 TL

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Themed shots at Rock Bar (where they played Kung Fu Fighting) = 25 TL

Gozleme (Turkish Pancakes) = 7.50 TL

Transportation = 15 TL (approx.)

Total Damage = 132 TL (once again this is just an approximation as I’m quite confident I’ve forgotten something).  This could’ve bought us groceries for nearly 2 weeks.

Happy Birthday Rob!

Rob and his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shots

It’s my fifth day in Turkey, and I have already ruined one establishment for us.

I was flirting with a real estate agent while she showed us a flat. I lied to her (for absolutely no good reason) about going to a job interview when in fact we were going to another real estate agent to look at a flat. Turns out, the guy took us to the exact same house, where the old woman there told him the girl took us earlier, at which point he proceeded to call her and tell her the story.

I can never go back.

A couple shots from the day Nick took off for Turkey.

It was Rob’s last night in town so we headed out to our favorite hof to say goodbye to soju with some of our good friends: Yuyu, Shinhye (pictured above), Katia and of course Kevin.  All in all I think we did a pretty good job of wish soju a fond farewell.

The fun continues…

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Well, it’s only six hours now until Rob lands in Istanbul… it’s also about six and a half hours until the first tram starts running so hopefully they lose his luggage or something and buy us a bit of time to get there. If only he’d flown Aeroflot instead of Turkish Airlines, he’d be stranded somewhere near Moscow right now and we’d have plenty of time to grab breakfast, see some sites, and meander to the airport before some percentage of him and or his luggage arrived.

Aeroflot! The official airline of Jet Set Zero and the Russian Federation!

When Rob arrives he’ll have a full 3 hours to relax in our hostel room until we’ve got to gather up our bags and move locations again. Apparently the place, which has been all but abandoned this weekend, has suddenly filled all of its available rooms for Monday night.  Strangely Hostel World claims it’s got availability in every type of room, so maybe we just smell funny… I’m not sure. On the plus side, we’re in the heart of Sultanahmet only a block away from the Blue Mosque so at least if we end up sleeping on the streets it’s a fantastic view!