Europe Trip March 28-April 12

This blog will be used to document in detail our Europe Planning and Trip!

Hints, Suggestions, and our Mistakes will be carefully recorded so others can learn.

How did this trip come to be?
Following graduation from Cal Poly not one of us had the time to take a final graduation trip. Unlike our friends who took off to Europe immediately following graduation (for a month living very cheaply)... each one of us had jobs lined up. So even though Ed and Rui will have been out of school for almost 2 years and Tom for almost 1 year this is in a way our final college graduation trip!

A little bit about us...

How do we know each other?
From the short biographies below it is obvious that we all met in college at Cal Poly(Rui and Ed met in the Summer of 2002, Tom met both in Fall of 2002). We all lived in the dorms together (Tower 5, Sierra Madre, Third Floor). Rui lived next door to Tom and Ed lived across the hall. Tom and Rui ended up roommates at Kris Kar apartments and Grand Terrace apartments for two years while attending Cal Poly. All three of us are Engineers.

Rui (Pronounced Ray ) was Born In China. He lived in China until the end of his Sophmore year in High School.
From there he moved to Santa Maria, CA (Central Coast), where he attended his junior and senior year of high school. In the Summer of 2002, he went to California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo. Graduated in 2006 (B.S. Computer Science) and currently works as a Quality Software Engineer at Sonic Solutions (Not the Fast Food Joint) in San Luis Obispo, where he lives .

Ed is born/raised in Modesto, California (North California), Following high school attended California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo in the Summer of 2002. He graduated in 2006 with B.S. Electrical Engineering and currently works as an Engineer (Rotational Program) at Raytheon in El Segundo, California. He resides in Redondo Beach and is concurrently earning his Master's in Systems Engineering at USC.

Tom (Will be referred to as Poon) was born in Long Island, New York. He moved to Camarillo, CA (Near Ventura) at age one. He then moved to Pleasanton, Ca (Bay Area) at the end of middle school. Upon completion of high school in Pleasanton, attended California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, CA. He graduated in Spring 2007 with B.S. Electrical Engineering and currently works as a Regulatory Affairs Electronics Engineer at Alcon Laboratories in Irvine, CA, where he resides.


Our Limited International Traveling Experience:
This is the first time any of us will have visited Europe.

Rui: China
Ed: None
Poon: Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong/China

Very Limited Foreign Language Experience

Rui: Mandarin
Ed: Limited Spanish
Poon: Limited Cantonese, Limited Spanish

The Flaking Fourth Member

Our very early planning included Van. Ed has known Van most of his life, while Rui and Tom met him freshman year in college. Unfortunately Van's work/financial schedule would not allow him to attend this trip... however he has assured us that he will attend the next great adventure!


-Poon