Is Istanbul Now More Expensive Than Dubai for Tourists?
In August, we spent a week in Istanbul meeting with my family, and the city once again left us speechless. But this time, it was not for the reason you might expect. I could write about incredible sites or delicious food (of which Istanbul has plenty), but, as a travel […]
What Else Is on the Menu? Bosnian Edition
Where in the world could you walk into a sweet shop and find a blonde, blue-eyed girl selling Turkish delights to a family from Istanbul? Where could you see Omani tourists admiring “oriental rugs” while a Slavic shopkeeper explains their designs and the centuries-old story of his family business? And […]
Don’t Call It a Burek!
I am a simple person. I see a bakery, I go inside a bakery. Or at the very least, I stare at the goods in the window display like a hungry orphan from a Dickens novel. A cup of coffee and a baked good is our usual go-to lunch while […]
Sarajevo: From Olympic City to Besieged City
My mom rocks me gently in her arms. I’ve just turned one and stare at her with my big green eyes. She watches me lovingly but occasionally glances at the black-and-white TV in our living room. The TV broadcast shows snow-capped mountains, the open-air stadium, and cheering spectators. She would […]
With Love… To Sarajevo
I have never felt more lost in history and geography than on the streets of Sarajevo. Within the same block, there would be an old mosque, a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, and a synagogue thrown in for good measure. Strolling down Ferhadija Street, we would pass Viennese Secessionist buildings […]
Iceland in a van
We had 6 days and about $1000 each. “The tickets to Iceland are super cheap!” Victor called out from the couch, “$400 round trip for around Labor Day.” In the back of my head, I could faintly remember an article I read about the recession in Iceland and how much […]
Guatemala – Strangest Place for the Best Coffee
Guatemala, a country where coffee is the number three export after bananas and raw sugar, where coffee plantations are crowded by volcano ranges, and where thousands of people subsist by growing coffee, happens to consume some of the worst coffee in the world. All of their flavorful coffee beans are […]
India – Food and Fast Food
Both of us love Indian food, and the trip to India only reinforced our shared love for Indian spices, vegetable curries, flatbreads, and fragrant rice. Friends warned us that we would tire of turmeric and cumin and coriander in every dish and that we would miss meat, but the only […]
McDonalds Everywhere
Almost every country we visit has a McDonald’s. And in every country we run towards it, as it beacons to us, weary travelers, with its golden arches and a free toilet. Our routine is almost always the same. We use the bathroom, I sneak in a picture of the menu […]
Cambodia and Thailand – Us vs. Monkeys of the World
Everywhere in Cambodia, whether it’s the temples of Angkor, the caves of Kampot, or the countryside of Battambang, if you see tourists gathering with cameras while the locals are rolling their eyes, it can only mean one thing – monkeys. Macaques are cute and photogenic. They are also vicious assholes […]
Cambodia – How to Cross the Street and Live
On our first morning in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, we were standing on the corner of a busy intersection, unsure of how to cross. The interweaving flow of scooters, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, tuk-tuks, and occasional trucks never slowed and never stopped. There were no marked lanes, they didn’t […]