Where in the World is Luis?
“We have a gap in the itinerary,” I said, “I don’t have an Airbnb booked for the night of Dec 30th. Where are we going to be?” “We are going to camp on top of the volcano,” Victor said. Here’s the thing. I didn’t even question it. I know Victor […]
The Holy Pilgrimage of the Monarch (Butterflies)
I was on my hands and knees digging in the damp dirt outside my patio. My knees were wet, my hands were dirty up to my elbows. Victor watched me from the window, his brow furrowed. Sometimes, even a short international trip can have lasting consequences. But let’s start at […]
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 […]
Donbas 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 […]
Museum 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 […]
Слава Україні! Glory to Ukraine!
On February 24, we planned to post about El Salvador and Victor’s surfing attempt at Las Flores beach. Then, Russia invaded Ukraine, and blogging about travel became irrelevant. I was born in Ukraine, in the tiny village of Ponornytsya in Chernihiv Province, because the hospital of Korop, a slightly larger […]
