New Year’s Eve At Saint Petersburg And The Hermitage

New Year’s Eve At Saint Petersburg And The Hermitage

by | Dec 31, 2016 | Crisis, Fail, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Public Transportation, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Russia, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

    I’ve been to nearly every single ex-Soviet state except for the mother of them all: Russia. That changes today.     And it wasn’t easy getting here. Recalling my first monsoon trip to EgyptI also once again answered the call for...
Victoria Falls: 4 Countries In 1 Day

Victoria Falls: 4 Countries In 1 Day

by | Aug 8, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Border Crossing, Botswana, Crisis, Fail, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, South Africa, What Dreams May Come, Zambia, Zimbabwe

    Today I’ve marked visiting the last of the world’s 3 greatest waterfalls: In April 2014 we violated international law crossing Iguazú Falls (the world’s largest waterfalls system) along the intersection of Brazil and Argentina, a year...
Playing Chicken With South Ossetia & Stalin’s Gori Past

Playing Chicken With South Ossetia & Stalin’s Gori Past

by | Jan 11, 2016 | Crisis, Georgia, How Did You Do That?, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, South Ossetia, Unrecognized Territories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2015: The Silk Road

  After a 2-3 hour walking tour of Tbilisi at dawn, I hopped in my 9am car to Gori and the South Ossetian border.     South Ossetia is infamous for being the Russian-leaning autonomous region that declared secession from Georgia and its allegiance to...