Category: History
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Thoughts on Tblisi
(July – August, 2026) “I don’t usually like Americans, or capitalists.” -“Well, you must be making an exception. We have been talking for the last hour and a half.” As a speeding vehicle turns the corner, I pull Nia close as we rise up off the street to the relative safety of the cracked, and…
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The Demise of a Demigod
The Chaukhi-Sadzele pass loop – Juta, Georgia (High Caucasus mountains) (August 2nd-5th, 2026) The hour had struck. Humanity’s suffering had endured too long. The cruelty, oppression, and terror had reigned beyond society’s tolerance to withstand the pain and torture any longer. The three-headed giant ogres known as Devi had plagued man’s existence since the dawn…
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Where did that glacier come from? (Upper Svaneti, Georgia)
(July 26th – 30th, 2026) The suede brown purebred steed hardly budged as I lunged my weight forward in an attempt to swing my backpack further over the center of horse after initially pulling myself up as much as possible from the stirrups. As I found my balance, the horse settled and awaited my further…
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The Path with Heart: A 70 mile epic across the volcanic spine of Armenia in the Gegham mountains
(July 13th – 21st, 2026) Mt. Ararat, the fabled mountain where Noah’s Arc came to rest after the biblical Great Flood, rose regally above the western horizon as the morning sun lit it up in glory. Kate and I had similarly marveled at its stature from the overlook above Yerevan’s storied Cascade Complex the evening…
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Keeping an open mind in Türkiye
(June 25th – July 2nd, 2026) -“So first we wash in the fountain of ablution as an act of wudu, which is a ritual cleansing the hands, face, and feet with water before prayers.” Ibrahim, my local contact introduced to me by my affable innkeeper Ensar of the Ziyagil Kongi hotel, instructed me on proper…
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Surprising Sofia and Piety in Bulgaria
(June 21st – June 24, 2026) On cue, I roll off the bus from Niš, Serbia, to Sofia, Bulgaria, in the late evening of June 21st and in the midst of searching for the entrance into the Metro station underground I fell gravity towards Latin fusion rock rhythms emanating from an open courtyard adjacent to…
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Serbia: Yu-Rock, River Fortresses, and Graffiti Wars
Late my first night out in Novi Sad, I walked along cobblestone streets back towards my hotel a few blocks off the central plaza. Serbia is pretty rough around the edges, but old town Novi Sad is generally as polished and charming as any European city. As I near the last cross street a tall,…
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A Pub Called Heaven (Menny) – Budapest, Hungary
(June 15 -17, 2026) The bus doors open and I step into the busy streets of Budapest, backpack weighted over my shoulders and guitar in hand, keen to find my hotel and settle in for an evening on the Danube before continuing my travels onward the next morning. After all, I had been to Budapest…
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Ah, das schöne Berlin! (Oh, beautiful Berlin!)
(May 29 – June 8, 2026) I met Bastian my second year living in Finland, as he moved into my old apartment when I transferred out of the first-year furnished room into the long term unit across the hall. Born to a German dad and Finnish mother, he grew up in West Berlin until he…
