planning Archives - Page 2 of 2 - concrete and kitsch

Road Tripping Kosovo: From Pristina to Pec to Prizren

November 10, 20152 Comments

As I’ve said before, the spontaneity of our Balkan adventure this October made me get out of my comfort zone while planning. So, when I knew we’d have two nights in Kosovo – one in Pristina, and the next in Prizren – before heading to Macedonia, I wanted to make the day in between really count. I had lofty goals of seeing the Patriarchy of Pec on that day, which would require either bussing between all three cities, or hiring a car.

My typical MO when planning trips to places with less developed tourist infrastructures is almost always to hop on Tripadvisor forums first to see what is possible. This was especially useful this trip as my other main source of information, other travel blogs, are a bit scanty on information about Kosovo outside of Pristina and Prizren. So off to the forums it was, and even then, information wasn’t readily available. No problem, I just started my own thread, and waited for replies to arrive. Read more

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

We’re Going to the Balkans…Day after Tomorrow!

October 9, 2015Leave a comment

Where to start? My life has been a crazy whirlwind the past two weeks and I want to tell you all about it. Where to start…

David and I got back from our honeymoon on September 12. On September 11, a random on Linkedin added me to his network, and I confirmed about midway through the week on September 16. Turns out, it was a recruiter, and I ran through about six rounds of interviews with a major company in Seattle, let’s call them…Ahab’s Tea…and last week (September 30) received a ridiculously generous offer from them.

October 1, I put in notice with my current job, with my last day being Friday, October 9. Also October 1, I confirmed with Ahab’s Tea that I would start on October 22.

So…I know what you’re thinking – there’s a 12 day gap between those two dates. We’re taking a trip – looked around for cheap(ish) airfares, and landed on a trip overland, starting in Pristina, Kosovo, through Macedonia, and into Bulgaria.

Here’s what I’m most excited about, and what I’m reading to get me excited: Prizren o6.01.2010- Read more

photos by: & ,

Church and Monastery Fatigue in Armenia – Sevan and Dilijan

July 31, 2015Leave a comment

By our final day in Armenia, David and I were sick and tired. I don’t mean that figuratively. We were both actually sick and developing a tolerance for expired Russian Theraflu, and tired from sleeping on 1 thread count sheets in our “hotel” (a generous assessment if there ever was one) in Yerevan.

Ts'tesutyoon, Yerevan. — Ts’tesutyoon, Yerevan.

Making Friends while Traveling – in Mongolia, and the Rest of the World

July 24, 2015Leave a comment

In September of 2011, I visited Mongolia. My trip came at the tail end of a long summer job at the tail end of my graduate program at the tail end of a long distance relationship. I had been traveling a lot in between Seattle and Seoul, Korea (a former home) to spend time with my then partner. On my third trip of the year, I decided I needed something more – so I started researching flights to other exotic destinations in that general part of the world.

Mongolia had been on my wanderlist for a long time - though let's face it, not many places aren't on it... — Mongolia had been on my wanderlist for a long time – though let’s face it, not many places aren’t on it…

The Accommodation Paradox – Apartment or Hotel?

July 5, 2015Leave a comment

I’ve been traveling in fairly offbeat/exotic places for a solid chunk of time now, and one thing I find myself talking to folks about over and over is how I choose a place to stay. Now keep in mind that, despite having closed the hostel chapter of my life (temporarily, at least), I don’t crinkle my nose at staying at places that wouldn’t be considered luxurious. Quite the opposite – as a story collector, I often find that a night or two at a grotty “hotel” in a random corner of the planet (I’m looking at you, Casa Iguana on Little Corn Island, Nicaragua) can yield some incredible memories that dazzle at cocktail parties. And while I admire the long term travelers who stay at such places without qualms (as being thrifty with accommodation is one prong of a strategy that allows those folks to stay on the road for so long), putting in my time at my 9-5 for 11 months a year financially allows me to spend a moderate amount of coin to ensure relative creature comforts while on the road.

Church and Monastery Fatigue in Armenia – The Debed Canyon

July 3, 2015Leave a comment

When I was planning our trip to Turkey and Georgia last year, I hadn’t originally thought to make a little jaunt into Armenia. But after doing additional investigating into various places to see and things to do, I couldn’t help myself and booked a shoddy hotel in Yerevan – the Erebuni Hotel, if you’re wondering – for three nights in the middle of our 10 days in Georgia.

We had planned to spend 4 days and 3 nights in Armenia in total, one of which would be spent in Yerevan, one on a day trip, and two going to and from Tbilisi. I arranged transport (with the help of lovely folks at Envoy Hostel in Yerevan) so that we could see different things coming to and from the border – an arrangement that basically meant we took two different routes when coming from the Sadakhlo-Bagratashen border to Yerevan and back. Basically I was a total ninja in making sure we used our time in Armenia to see as many damn churches and monasteries as we could.