Whenever I go to Spain, I seem to be too emotionally exhausted to do it properly. Egypt had tired me out a bit, and since my passport was nearly full my options were limited. So, I opted to finish out the year by spending a month in the South of Spain. Well, a bit in the South of Spain, and then Madrid.  Continue reading I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money →

Ah, Macedonia, the second to last Eastern European country I haven’t been to. Had to visit before they changed their name to North Macedonia to appease Greece. They voted on it while I was staying there, and the vote failed. So Macedonia it is, and no NATO. Continue reading Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. →

After I got dad on a plane (actually he got himself there via tram super early so I didn’t even wake up), I decided to stay in Prague for another week since I liked it better this time. The apartment was really nice, and having a beer garden a 5 minute walk away is handy too. Continue reading Wanna thrive in the dust of the universe →

This is post #100! Didn’t realize I’d even done 100 things. All this traveling apparently hasn’t made me any smarter, because this week in the hostel I made the brilliant move of dropping my glasses behind the shower wall. They dropped about eight feet to the inaccessible area behind the showers into the abyss of random clothing, shampoo bottles, and other items lost forever. I climbed up, and luckily could see them. So I Macgyvered a contraption with the towel hooks and some medical wrap and fished them out. I’m sad to admit it was the greatest sense of accomplishment I’ve had in a while.

Continue reading History shows that there are no invincible armies →

I’ve been sick for more than a couple weeks now. Not terribly sick, just a cough, mildly soar throat and runny nose, and the occasional minor headache. Pretty annoying, and my “red eye” flight to Tbilisi didn’t exactly help. I left at 9:45pm, had to change in Riga, and arrived in Tbilisi at 4:25am which included a 2-hour time zone change. Not exactly a good night’s sleep, and then I was too early to check in (even after waiting at the airport until 9am) so I had to leave my bag and wander around the streets of Tbilisi for a few hours.

Continue reading The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. →

Here we go again, the road beckoning. After a couple days in NYC (I stayed in the Upper West Side for the first time), I took a flight to Helsinki via Stockholm. In the Stockholm airport a simple coffee was nearly $5 (which was greatly desired after a red eye), which I didn’t to survive without, but I’m going to judge all prices moving forward in terms of Stockholm airport coffee.

Continue reading You city people are children of the moment →

Worked most of the day in Kotor since there was only one bus that went, and it was at 3:15. So I took the nearly 4 hour ride in a small bus that seats about 20 with a group of locals through the Montenegrin countryside. Apparently Zabljak is not a popular destination this time of year. As I dozed in and out of conscience staring out into the dark, it occurred to me how comfortable I had become with a situation like this, which not long ago, and to most now, might seem rather concerning.  Only way to get around though, if you ask me. I mean, they’re on the Euro, how bad could it be? Continue reading Every Allied country gave me a medal, even Montenegro →

My bus ride between cities was finally only two hours this time, after my string of 6-8 hour journeys. Just had to cross from Croatia into Montenegro basically. And as nice as Dubrovnik was, it was a little too nice, so when I arrived in Kotor I felt like I could breathe a bit more. Even though its old town area is also quite touristy, everything had a bit more of an authentic feel to it. Continue reading Enough to travel the world with you until one of us has to take an honest job →

The first night I went to Charlie’s Bar with a guy from my hostel in Sarajevo, which was fun. The next night I went to Caffe Bar Mosquito to have some coffee, a beer, and get some work done. Similar to Iceland in that their coffee shops turn into bars, which is kind of cool. I’m mostly working, so not a whole lot of sightseeing is accomplished each day. Continue reading Even Beethoven had his critics. See if you can name three of them. →

My venture into the Balkans was on an 8-hour train ride through Hungary and Serbia to Belgrade. It was a long train ride during the day, but I somehow managed to sleep on and off for the entire trip. What didn’t occur to me is that I should buy some food, so I kind of forgot to eat the entire day yesterday (paired with the fact that it’s not easy to find vegetarian food in Serbia. Continue reading Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors. →

Salzburg is a smaller city in Austria with a lot of good day trips from it, so I decided to stay here a bit longer.  Should allow me to relax a bit and catch up on work as well.  There’s an Aldi (Hoger) right across the street, plus the hostel/hotel is attached to a mall with a grocery store in it, so I’m able to eat a little more normally again. Continue reading Climb every mountain, ford every stream →