If you’d seen me just one minute ago, you would have caught me in a rather telling position. With one hand covering my eyes and one on my keyboard, I was scrolling through our website, peeking through my fingers at our recent posts. How many days have passed since I’ve last made an appearance? My [...]
It’s been almost a year since we visited Ladakh. Now, news out of Leh is that flash floods have killed hundreds of people in the region. Both locals and foreigners remain unaccounted for, and the whole area is cut off from the rest of the world. Normally it never rains in Ladakh. As the above [...]
The ladies are burned to a bronzed crisp. The men’s hairdos are greased into stiff perfection. The sun is shining and tanned skin is as abundant as bad taste. This is the Jersey Shore, a surreal strip of boardwalk that has been featured in a number of popular reality television shows recently. We were in [...]
The Forum Romanum, Trafalgar Square and the National Mall in Washington, DC. These are all big stacks of monuments, gathered together to impress visitors to each capital. The white marble monuments speak of warlike efforts, of heroism in the face of danger and of the self-glorification of the ruling people. What makes the Mall stand [...]
I think food is half the journey. I love trying new things, experiencing new flavors and making mental notes on how I’ll enrich my cooking once I come home. There’s also that element of fear involved: will my stomach be able to handle this stuff? Are deep-fried bamboo worms really safe to eat? Coming back, [...]
There are very few buildings and architectural monuments that manage to move me emotionally. Istanbul’s ancient Hagia Sofia is a clear exception: a place where history, architecture and religion have clashed over and over again. It is a defining building for this part of the world, and a beautiful one at that. The current Hagia [...]
Sometimes, a picture says more than a thousand words. At other times, it may be necessary to use video to convey our messages. Check out this video below: it’s a walk around the upper gallery of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. This video is from the ground floor of the same building.
Istanbul is not cheap. It’s a bustling metropolis of European caliber price points. But it’s also one of the coolest cities we’ve been to. So how did we handle our day there while managing to stay within our meager backpacking budget? A good pair of shoes, a little imagination and loads of sunscreen. Before letting [...]
Batumi is being pimped out as the next “it” place on the Black Sea coast. Construction workers are furiously working to revamp this coastal town. It looks to us like they’re trying to turn the town into a Nice of the East. While I understand their desire to bring in more tourists, I can’t help [...]
This ruin is unique in the way that it’s not really a ruin: it is a 2,000 year old intact Roman fortress. Gonio, as it is called today, was never destroyed or damaged by warfare, nor was it ever used as a quarry. Instead, it has been left alone to slowly decompose into today’s green [...]
I think it’s great when a town shows a bit of age. A few cracks here and a little rust there creates character. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that I’ve fallen in love with Batumi, the popular seaside town on the southern tip of Georgia. The air feels Mediterranean, the streets are wide, the [...]
We’re in Georgia – the country, not the US state. It wasn’t really a part of the original plan, but seatofourpants style of travel dictates that when an opportunity to travel to an interesting place presents itself, we hop on the next bus. The border between Turkey and Georgia was a pretty interesting place [...]
This insanely beautiful expanse of water is Lake Van – Turkey’s biggest lake. There are a few settlements around the lake, but most of its shores are untouched by civilization. You hardly see any boats out there, just the impossibly blue water, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Pure magic. Instead of taking the bus around [...]
We don’t make hotel reservations. Rather, I should say that we don’t usually make reservations. I think we’ve made maybe two in the last year of travel. That’s just our style. If a guesthouse doesn’t have a room available, the one next door probably will. We weren’t picky to begin with; we’re especially not picky [...]
Turkey is great. In fact, it is our new favorite destination. The one thing that hasn’t worked out for us is the trekking. We’re here way too early. In just two months from now, the weather will be much warmer and drier, the skies will be fair and all the interesting destinations open for [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
