Going to El Salvador, I had a bucket list item to check off: taking a surfing lesson. In the second week of our travels, we drove to El Cuco, a remote region in the east. In addition to two excellent beaches for sunbathing and swimming (Playa El Cuco and Playa […]
Read MoreAuthor: Victor
A Heatstroke in the Stone City
I sit on a stony curbside in complete darkness. My head hurts. Dogs bark in the distance. The sweet darkness of the Albanian night hugs me gently as I rub my temples, trying not to throw up. That’s not how I envisioned our first meeting, Gjirokaster. Last summer, we traveled […]
Read MoreDonbas of My Youth
The train arrived at 3 a.m. We descended from the passenger railroad car, groggy and disheveled, into a dimly lit platform, the edges of which were swallowed by the night. Kolya, our team captain, silently motioned, and we marched down the platform behind him. I was 19 years old, and […]
Read MoreMuseum of Russian Aggression
The world is shocked by the unprecedented Russian aggression in Ukraine. But the sad truth is that it was very much precedented, by Russian aggression in Georgia in 2008. Much like Ukraine, Georgia began eyeing integration into NATO, which led to a deteriorated relationship with Russia and eventually to the […]
Read MoreSearching for Crashed Planes, Helicopters and Guerillas: A Very Unusual Christmas in El Salvador
We spent the past holidays in El Salvador, and it turned out to be one of the strangest Christmases we’ve had during our travels. No, it didn’t top our Christmas in India in 2014, when on Christmas Eve we nearly lost our camera, money, and Julia’s passport and ended up […]
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