Alan

After my appointment in Amsterdam today I took a short walk through the city. It's always great to be there. Not in the least because of all the colorful people.
I saw Alan leaning against a wall. He had a friendly a look and we talked for a while. Alan's 62 and originally from Canada. "I've come to Amsterdam to smoke hash" he said.
He left his country after an American company took over the mill he worked at and closed it down. Leaving him and more than 500 people in his town unemployed. It almost sounded like a Bruce Springsteen song... He went to Europe: to Spain and Ireland. But the hash was cheaper here so now he had lived on the streets in Amsterdam for a little while. Soon he will go back to Canada to take care of a small pension he still has. His goal is to save money to go to India. Not by plane but the long way: over land. Because traveling that way is much more interesting and that's what counts. The journey.