Adventure of the month

I know what you are saying, dear fictional nitpicking reader. Is Kosovo actually a country? Like, for real? Well, they did declare their independence on 2/17/08. Out of the 193 UN member states, 111 recognize this declaration. The other 82, namely Russia and China, still see it is as a province of Serbia. The fact of the matter is that while crossing the border from Macedonia, it is a Kosovo stamp that I got in my passport. I did not actually want this stamp, as it may cause problems if I ever want to enter into actual Serbia in the future, but I had taken a crowded jitney-type bus from Skopje and the customs official had us all pass up our passports and off he went. I had no chance to make my "no stamp" plea.  While this stamp business may cause me some headaches in the future, I was glad that the customs process was relatively speedy since it was getting late and I had to be at the National Theater at 11am for a free walking tour of Prishtina . As it was, I kept sending...

Have you ever been so pleasantly surprised by something that it made you angry? Or maybe just slightly annoyed? I know this sounds weird but hear me out. As part of my quest to hit all the countries, I'd booked a flight to Skopje, Macedonia. This in itself was a kind of consolation prize because I actually wanted to go to Ohrid for some sunning and funning. Those flights, in the middle of July were way too expensive so I'd settled on the larger, less water-adjacent city. After checking into the wonderful  Lounge Hostel , I'd realized that I had left my European power-adaptor plugged into the wall of the Belgrade airport and had to rush out to replace it before the stores closed. It's possible that this situation had put me into a disgruntled state of mind. How else explain my reaction when I first saw a massive Alexander the Great presiding over this very imposing square.  As I gaped at all the perfectly restored neo-classical architecture around me, my first thou...

You know how you can tell that you have waited way too long to post a trip on your reportedly monthly travel blog? For me, it is generally when I have a hard time remembering all the details of the trip itself.  I'm terrible with numbers so I never have any expectation of recalling significant dates but when I have to run to google for the most basic details- names of museums, why I found it important to photograph a certain monument, who is that in the photo with me? This is when I know I might be a procrastinator.  At this very moment, it is December 2018. This is going to show up as a June entry bc that's the premise here but know that it's a lie.  It is the end of the year and I am doing last minute blog housekeeping lest I have to change the title to Adventure of the Year. So, back in June, I was kicking off my latest undertaking. Specifically, I am now the proud owner of a National Parks Passport and intend on getting as many stamps as possible. My unlik...

Traveling is all about learning. Sometimes it is something as lofty as learning about yourself when you are presented with different perspectives. Other times, the questions are much simpler. Questions such as: "What the hell am I going to do with all this time in Tulsa, St. Louis and Omaha?" Turns out the answer is: a lot. Like going non-stop and still not covering everything I wanted to do kind of busy. Let's start with the first stop, Tulsa. I kicked off my midwestern outing with a visit to the Woody Guthrie Museum, not mind you because I am a huge Woody head. I actually just wanted one of the "This Machine Kills Fascists" t-shirts I had seen on their website. I could have just grabbed one at the entrance which doubles as the gift shop and ran but since I had come this far, I figured I might as well see what this guy was all about.

Lately, I've been lucky enough to have a couple of chances to stay in Athens. Usually, it is not for very long but when you adopt my "I'll sleep when I'm dead" world view to traveling, you can usually get in a couple of sites, which is important in a city that has so very much to see. Last month, that meant that I got to visit the National Archeological Museum and stumble across a cool hipster neighborhood. This month, I was back and staying within plate-smashing distance of the Acropolis. This was my chance to check out the highly-recommended Acropolis museum, which is a relatively recent project, having only opened in 2009 after a lengthy search for the perfect location. I would argue that they found it.

Many years ago, I was excited to find myself in Acapulco on May 5th. Surely, Cinco de Mayo in Mexico would be a tequila-fueled bacchanal for the ages. I went to the hotel's front desk to ask what I should expect. "Well, the banks will be closed. The post office too." "Uh, ok, that's fine. I'm really more interested in the parties. Is it going to be crazy?" -blank stare- As it turns out, Cinco de Mayo, which is not the Mexican day of Independence (that would be Diecisies de Septiembre) is primarily an American excuse to don sombreros, drink Coronas and eat unlimited nachos.  In Mexico itself, it is not much more than a Federal holiday commemorating an  unlikely victory over the French. Fast forward to last month, when I learned that I would be spending St Patrick's Day in Dublin. My initial thrill at this news was tempered with the sinking feeling that this could be 5 de Mayo all over again.  And technically I was not wrong. The green beer drink...

Have you ever been just minutes into something and already known that you were going to love it? I have. It happened last week when my friends and I arranged a tour with MH Travel to take us from Podgorica, Montenegro into Albania. Our guide, Dean, who had designed and developed this tour himself was explaining why he felt the need to do so. It was obvious he had a passion for this off-the-radar destination and wanted to share his discoveries but what drew me in was his reasoning: "It's the most punk rock country there is. Everyone does whatever they want but it just works." I like countries. I like punk rock. And a dash of anarchy makes everything a little better. I was intrigued. The border crossing, which is the subject of the majority of complaints on the few blogs covering travel in Albania, was completely painless. We were through both border checks in less than 10 minutes. Apparently this is not the case during the summer, when waits can be hours long.