100 days · 11 countries · 1 unforgettable story
Where the Time Had No Name
How my camera and a 100 day backpacking adventure to Europe saved my life
By Todd Rundstrom
This is the story of that journey — told in my original 1994 journal entries, the photographs I took on film, and honest reflections written 32 years later.
- Departs
- Shannon, Ireland
- Arrives
- Home, Nebraska
A portion of all proceeds supports McKenna’s Rae of Hope Foundation, whose mission is to prevent suicide by fostering awareness, resilience, and social change.
At 22 years old, I was lost.
After a suicide attempt and months of feeling like my life was already over, I bought a one-way ticket to Europe. I had no plan, no return ticket, and very little money. What I did have was a camera, a journal, and a desperate hope that getting as far away from home as possible might help me find a reason to keep living.
Over the next 100 days, I traveled through 11 countries with nothing but a backpack and my camera. I took hundreds of photographs on black-and-white film. I wrote in my journal every day. And slowly, frame by frame, I began to come back to life.
Thirty-two years later, those photographs and journal entries still exist — saved from a house fire that destroyed almost everything else my family owned.
This is that story.
Begin with the dedicationWhat you’ll find inside
Told in three voices
1994
The journal
My original journal entries, written in real time during the trip
Set on lined notebook paper, in pen-blue ink.
Film
The photographs
Hundreds of black-and-white photographs I took on film across 11 countries
Contact-sheet grids. Tap any frame for the full story behind it.
2026
The reflections
Honest reflections written in 2026, with the perspective of a man who has lived a full life since
Marked with a red rule, like a note in the margin.
Start anywhere
A few days from the road
This isn’t just a travel story. It’s a story about using creativity as a lifeline. It’s a story about grace showing up in unexpected places. And it’s a story about what we choose to carry with us when everything else burns.
Support this project
Come with me. Let’s go back to 1994 together.
You can read it for free, one day at a time, exactly as it happened. If this story moves you and you’d like to go deeper, here are a few ways you can support it.
• A portion of all proceeds supports McKenna’s Rae of Hope Foundation •