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Abandoned in Herzegovina: Urbex in Mostar’s Sniper Den

February 8, 20162 Comments

The Eastern Bloc is great for folks interested in urban exploration (see also here and here). As luck would have it (luck may be a bad word for it), the combination of poor economic conditions, relatively recent political turmoil, and communist history make for a wealth of abandoned, decaying structures that hold part of the key to understanding the rich, troubled history of the region. december-balkans-1016jpg_24215660831_o december-balkans-1111jpg_24008820190_o

Nowhere is the region’s troubled history more visible than in Mostar, the crown jewel of Herzegovina. And, as it happens, there’s great urban exploration opportunities in the city as well. Read more

Exploring with Locals in Subotica, Serbia

February 1, 20166 Comments

I think it’s common knowledge that the quickest and easiest way to get to know a place is with someone who lives there and knows its ins and outs. It cuts down on the learning curve, which can be especially difficult in places off the beaten path – like some parts of Serbia that aren’t as frequented by tourists, especially in the winter months. So when I was doing my manic googling (as I do before any trip), I was very excited to come across the Subotica Greeters Program – a program that enables tourists in the Vojvodina city to explore with someone who knows the city well and has access to all of the gems it has to offer. Read more

Training while Traveling: Running in Sofia, Bulgaria

December 18, 20154 Comments

I don’t talk about it much here, but in the list of hobbies that form the foundation of my adult identity, fitness ranks pretty highly. In fact, after puppies and travel, I’d say fitness, and running in particular, is a close third.

David and I run several distance events every year, ranging from half marathon to ultramarathon distance, so staying fit when we travel is important to us. That isn’t to say that we actually do train when we travel, but rather we usually think aloud about how we aren’t doing it, then proceed to stuff additional cheesey carbs into our face holes. After all, the base of the traveler’s food pyramid is cheesey breads, am I right?

Wait, is this post about running? Cheesy carbs? The latter, please.

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Road Trip! Bulgarian Roadside Commie Kitsch

December 10, 20155 Comments

The title to this post makes me grin from ear to ear. It is a microcosm of everything travel-related that I’m living for these days – road trips, Balkan destinations, and the stuff for which this site is named. I think if a single post were to encapsulate the way I love to travel, it would be this one. So with that, let’s dive headfirst into the wacky world of Bulgarian monuments.

The major draw to Bulgaria (and the whole Balkan region, to be honest) was the ability to visit Buzludzha (more to come on Buzludzha!), the showcase, now-abandoned, former meeting hall of the Bulgarian Communist Party. As it is inaccessible without private transportation, we rented a car for the Bulgaria portion of our trip. A rather unexpected side benefit to this was being able to pull over whenever and wherever (within reason, of course) that we wanted.

As it turns out, there are roadside relics of the Communist era all over Bulgaria. Quelle fortune!

It seemed as though everywhere we went there was a random, totally wacky structure, monument, or sculpture – and our job was to spot them as we went on the most fun game of “Where’s Waldo” ever played. jpegs-288_21846306344_o Read more

Soviet Architecture in Vilnius, Lithuania

November 25, 20152 Comments

While Vilnius, Lithuania is a destination known for its sprawling old town, abundance of churches, and quirky Užupis Republic, its well preserved examples of Soviet architecture is what enticed me most prior to our trip (and the shopping, but I’ve already written about that). I make no attempt at hiding my affinity for the style (if one can even call it a style…), and whenever I travel in the Eastern Bloc (which is almost every time I travel these days), I do some heavy scouting on what Soviet or Communist-era relics remain in my chosen destinations.

So, as a preface, let me say Vilnius is mostly known for things like this: Gediminas Hill, pretty. Read more

5 Reasons to Travel in the Off Season

November 17, 2015Leave a comment

When one thinks of a vacation, usually it’s very much associated with the summertime, when good weather is almost assured and families with children are able to take time off to jaunt to exotic locations around the country and the world. This said, of the three big trips we’ve taken over the past year, two have been in the off season, and one in the almost off season.

And we certainly wouldn’t have it any other way. Traveling in the off season is, for us, a much better alternative than traveling in peak season. Here are the reasons why: Jpegs-470 Jpegs-460 Read more

Desperately Seeking Trinkets at Sofia’s Bitaka Flea Market

November 13, 2015Leave a comment

I am a shopper. When David and I go on vacation, one of our best practices is to arrive in our destination with only carry on luggage, and then check luggage (full of trinkets, naturally) on the way home. I have some hoarder-type tendencies (it ranges from tchotchke to canines) that are very real, and perhaps they most strongly manifest in my accumulation of things when I travel. IMG_20151017_090328510 IMG_20151017_094034835

Feeling the Communist Fantasy in Skopje, Macedonia

November 5, 20152 Comments

One of the great parts of our most recent trip to the Balkans was that it pushed me out of my comfort zone. Normally when I travel I obsessively and compulsively project manage the living hell out of the whole thing. To the point where almost every minute of every day is accounted for in some way or another. I’d attribute this proclivity to my business training, but that’d be lying – I’ve been like this forever. But anyway, being that there was only a week between booking tickets and departing on this adventure, I didn’t have the time to plan everything. And thus, I didn’t realize when we left that we were destined to fall in love with Skopje, Macedonia.

I mean, what’s not to love about all of this quirky, Yugoslav-era, “communist” architecture?

In Defense of Fast Travel

October 29, 20152 Comments

I travel fast. When I am on a trip, unless a more relaxed beach-type of vacation, I create itineraries to see as much as possible in the limited amount of time I have off. In a perfect world, I’d have as much time as I wanted to travel, and be able to get to know the ins and outs of every street, town, city, and country I visit. But the world’s not perfect, and as I don’t list “Travel Blogger” on my professional resume, I am only able to travel in the time my professional life allows.

Here’s an example of a single day in the life of one of our whirlwind trips:

From there, we traveled to Pec, to visit the Patriarchy of the Serb Orthodox Church.

We walked around the town of Pec, admiring the views toward Montenegro.

Then were able to visit a Kulla in the Isniq area.

We arrived in Prizren, Kosovo’s second city, midday, and hiked up to its mountain fortress.

And ended the day with a beautiful view over Kosovo’s most scenic town.

Travel bloggers across the web are unanimous in their praise of slow travel – the act of taking time to truly get to know every place one visits. And I agree. I am not here to bash slow travel. But I am of the majority of the population for whom slow travel is not a logistical possibility – I have a family to support, and a job that requires me to be in an office for around 50 hours a week. The key here, also, is to understand that I wouldn’t change that. I enjoy my work and the lifestyle it affords me and my family. David and I wouldn’t be able to travel in the way I like to travel without it. But it does make true slow travel a non-option for us. And while we’d love to spend a week exploring a single place, our life’s travel ambitions (especially those for the short term) make a week getting to know the ins and outs of a single place impossible. Read more

Karosta, Latvia – The Baltic States’ Urbex Mecca

October 26, 2015Leave a comment

I am a fledgling urban explorer. Urban exploration, or urbex in shorthand, is the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment. Photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby and it may sometimes involve trespassing onto private property (thanks, Wikipedia!). Urbex is becoming more and more popular as a mainstream travel interest, evident by this year’s induction of cultural industrial complexes to UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Honeymoon Jpegs-384 Honeymoon Jpegs-397

My interest in urbex started with our visit to Chiatura in Georgia last year, and is largely intertwined with my interest in Soviet/Communist era brutal (and largely abandoned) architecture. The former Soviet states are an urban explorers dreams, with many former Soviet military and government buildings empty for the exploring. So when we (let’s be real, when I), started planning our Baltic Road Trip Honeymoon™, I knew urbex would figure prominently into our plans. You can read posts I’ve written on urbex in Estonia in Tallinn and in the nearby Lahemaa National Park. Read more