“Why did I take so long to come back?!” This is what I exclaimed to myself after my refamiliarisation wander through the streets of Istanbul. The last time I was here was in 2013, and I think I said the same thing after returning from my first visit in 2011. My original plan was to […]
Notes on Tirana
Tirana is the capital city of Albania, and it has a population of about half a million in a country of about 2.8 million. A small city in a small country, and yet I felt compelled to spend two weeks here without knowing much about it. I arrived at the bus station outside of the […]
Notes on Coastal Montenegro – Bar, Budva, Tivat, and Kotor
Montenegro is positioning itself as a destination for digital nomads, and it was until recently offering citizenship through investment. It has since scrapped this program in order to prepare to apply for EU membership. It already uses the Euro, so it already feels like its on the way. Most international interest in Montenegro is along […]
Notes on Podgorica – From provincial outpost to nation’s capital
Podgorica is one of the world’s youngest capital cities. Its relative youth as a seat of power goes some way to explaining why Podgorica feels more like a provincial outpost than the nation’s capital. Montenegro became a new country in 2008 after seceding from the union of Serbia and Montenegro. During that time, Belgrade was […]
Notes on Sarajevo
Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and apart from the siege, the assassination, and the Winter Olympics, I didn’t know much about the city. For my generation, the name Sarajevo is probably as synonymous with conflict as Saigon is for a Boomer. I visited Sarajevo without researching what to see so I could […]
Notes on Mostar – Visiting the famous bridge of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar is home to one of the most famous bridges in Europe. For those of us who lived through the nineties news cycle of the Yugoslav Wars, it become a symbol of the war when it was destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993. The Stari Most (Old Bridge) has since been reconstructed and is […]
Croatia trip summary – Highlights and observations as a digital nomad
Croatia has become a popular destination for digital nomads, and at the start of 2021 they made history by being one of the first countries in the world to offer a digital nomad visa. Croatia is more affordable than Western Europe, and being outside of the Schengen Area makes it a convenient place to do […]
Notes on Split – The historic hub city of the Dalmatian Coast
Split is a city on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, and it’s the second-largest city in the country after Zagreb. For my 2021 visit to Croatia, I bookended the trip with time in Zagreb and Split to compare the two. Split has a metropolitan population of about 346,000 people, so it’s not a huge place. […]
Notes on Rijeka – Croatia’s grand port city
Rijeka is the third-largest city in Croatia (behind Zagreb and Split) and the main seaport. Croatia is better known for its beach and island destinations, so Rijeka doesn’t figure high in tourism promotions. I had never heard of anything about Rijeka before going. My decision to go here was based purely on the fact that it […]
Notes on Zagreb – Croatia’s cool capital
Croatia is popular for its islands and beaches, so the inland capital of Zagreb doesn’t get as much consideration from European holidaymakers. After all, it’s just another European city. I first visited Zagreb in 2012, and I remarked on that trip that Zagreb was an underrated city. After nine years since my last visit, I […]
