Category: Short Stories

The Best Posts of 2024 – A Year of Hidden Gems

2024 was an interesting year where I only traveled to eight different countries, four of which I had never been in before. I also hit the fiftieth country I have visited this year, and after all of the travel I have done, it is getting harder to find those places where I have never been before. Still, the new countries I went to, Georgia, Armenia, Slovakia, and Romania, are not the ones that many people put on their lists for travel. I found that they were some of the best traveling experiences I have had in a long time due the fact that the places were not overrun with tourists, and I was able to find some spectacular hidden gems out there. The interests of some of these sparked my readers’ interests as well, especially the country of Georgia, because this was the best year I have seen for this little blog that I write, and I appreciate that all of you come to visit to see what I am up to in this world.

Enough talking, here is the list of the most popular posts I wrote this year:

10. The Next Big Thing – Tbilisi, Georgia

This is the first appearance of the country of Georgia on this list, and it is not the last. My exploration of this country on the Baltic Sea captured the imagination of my audience throughout the year even though I was only there for a couple of weeks early in the Summer. It is not a place that is on the usual destination route for many Americans, but after being there, I think that this might change. The capital, Tbilisi is a great undiscovered city that I can see becoming the next big city that people will flock to. I loved the blend of the European feel with the old relics lingering around from the Soviet era. There is a reason that this country will appear on this list a couple more times.

9. Wadi Rum – A Photographer’s Paradise

Wadi Rum has gained in popularity over the years, but because of all of the unrest that is happening in the Middle East right now, it is not getting the tourists that it used to have. This means that the place is quieter, and it makes it feel like you are the only one there as you get explore the amazing landscapes. It was the second time I have made it to my favorite place in Jordan, and I am also amazed at the pictures I am able to get while there. It will only be a matter of time before people once again make there way out there to see its beauty.

8. Sighnaghi, Georgia

This is the second time that Georgia will appear on this list, and it will not be the last. Sighnaghi is not as big of a town as Tbilisi is, but it is one of the must-sees if visiting this country. This is the wine country of Georgia, and they are known as the place where wine originated. They still produce it the same way they did over 8,000 years ago in huge clay pots that are buried under the ground, and there are numerous wineries in this region that allow you to go and try out the unique blend that can only be found here. It was one of the more memorable parts of this trip and I can see why the post connected with the crowd.

7. A Day Trip to Armenia

Officially this is a different country than Georgia, but it was a day trip that I took while staying in Tbilisi. It was part of a day tour that took us through the majestic mountains of this country to explore its many monasteries. It was a great way to spend the day, and the landscapes out there were breath-taking. I also had fun getting to know the variety of people on the tour. They had come from all corners of the world with different beliefs, and ideologies, yet we were all willing to share in the beauty of the day.

6. Columbia Gorge Hotel – Hood River, Oregon

I was able to spend my wedding anniversary in Hood River in Oregon. It is a touristy town in the Columbia Gorge area that attracts many people who enjoy windsurfing. The town also boasts one of the oldest hotels in the state, the Columbia Gorge Hotel. We spent the night here, and enjoyed the accommodations. It was fun to take a little trip back in time while enjoying the landscape of the Gorge.

5. Gergeti Trinity Church – Kazbegi, Georgia

Yes, we are back in Georgia. This time we traveled to the border for the mountain town of Kazbegi. I remember taking this picture and saying, “I can see Russia from here”, and yes, we were that close. This post does not surprise me about its popularity. It talks about how to find the hiking trail that will take people up to the small church that sits on the peak of one of the mountains. This was one of my favorite days of the year taking this hike and staying in this small mountain town. I am glad that it was one of the bigger posts from the year as well.

4. The Foodie Tour – Bratislava, Slovakia

This was another one of my favorite days of the year, and also one that we had stumbled upon. Because of the recent turmoil in the Middle East, it had been difficult to find a quick flight to any place in Europe. Ryan Air had just about left the region, and the prices of air fare had grown a lot. We were able to find a cheap flight to Vienna, and we flew there to take a short bus ride to the town of Bratislava. We spent a long weekend in this small European town, and spent one of those days stopping at the various restaurants in town and having a drink and a small bite to eat. It was a great way to spend a day, and I would love to do it again in other small towns I get to visit.

3. Peles Castle versus Bran Castle – Transylvania, Romania

I was able to travel to other place other than Georgia this year, and another place I enjoyed was Transylvania in Romania. I did go to two of the bigger tourist sights, Bran Castle and Peles Castle, while I was there, and I did a quick comparison of these bigger attractions. Both of them were fun to go to, but they both had their own vibe and reason for going there. Many people found this post helpful as they made plans to make it out there on their own.

2. The Chronicles of Georgia

One of the strangest places I went to over the past year was also in Georgia. The Chronicles of Georgia is on the outskirts of the city of Tbilisi, and overlook the people as they move about their daily lives. It is actually a relatively newer structure that hints back to the days of Soviet occupation as it tells the history of the Georgian people. It was never finished, but there is enough going on in the carvings on the stone that it easy to spend half a day here looking at all it has to offer.

1. Arkham Horror, The Card Game – A Review

This is the post that surprised me the most this year. I have been writing board game reviews on the side ever since I got back into the hobby during the pandemic. Some of them have done well, but I never expected anything big to come out of it. I got this game because I knew I was going to have some time where I would be by myself and could play it alone. I really enjoyed the game, and posted the review. Apparently it is a game that many people are interested in because this was the post that is constantly being clicked on. It easily became the biggest post of the year, and has inspired me to write more board game reviews in the future.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The following post also had a lot of traffic, but they were written in previous years.

A Quick Tuk Tuk Ride – Chennai, India

The Basilica Cistern – Istanbul, Turkey

The Dead Sea, Jordan – The Salt Flats

The Best Short Stories

Blue Wine – Cyprus

Wingspan versus Everdell

Denver International Airport – It is still weird

The Bat Cave – Railay, Thailand

Happy Campers vs. Go Campers – Iceland by Camper Van

Where Are My Soldiers?

It was only a matter of time before I started to ease out among the people again. I had gone two weeks after receiving my first shot and I needed to get a couple of errands done before I got my second one, so I drove down to Bend to get them done. This is when culture shock hit me.

Culture shock happens doesn’t only happen when traveling to a new country, but also happens to a lot of ex-pats who come back to the country after an extended stay in another part of the world. It has happened to me every time I have come back to the United States after a year abroad, and I always tend to forget about it until I am in a situation where it smacks me in the face. It was even more pronounced this time around, not only because I had been away for two years, but during those two years, there have been a lot of changes in America’s culture and attitude that I was not expecting.

Some of it I was more normal, such as the over friendly attitude from cashiers. Coming from Asia where there is usually a line of people waiting to check out, even during the pandemic months. The cashiers just want to get through them as quickly as they can because they know that another person will extend the line in only a matter of moments. There is no mindless chit-chat, just a total due and them moving on of the customer. In America, a lot of cashiers believe they need to talk about your purchases in order to make you feel happy that you are making them. It slows down the process which is a little maddening, but it also makes you have to have that conversation that you are not really ready to have. It has been a long time since I have had to have those conversations, and I am a little out of practice.

These things are minor compared to the larger change I witnessed outside of a grocery store in Bend. To understand this moment better, it helps to know that Bend is traditionally a laid back town, but has been growing over the last twenty years. A lot of the people who have lived there for a long time are not happy about this change. It has brought a lot of money into town, rose prices with housing, and has changed the landscape of usually a beautiful part of Oregon. If it continues to grow the way it is right now, Bend will become one of the bigger cities in Oregon and start to swallow up some of the smaller towns around it. With all of that money and growth, it has started to bring the work force with it to support all of this change.

The biggest one I noticed was the southern twang in the accents of a few people walking around. It is out of place in this part of the country, but from what I understand, it is more common that I would suspect. I know that I should not be shocked by this, but when I have gone two years without hearing an accent like that, and then to find it in Central Oregon, not once, or twice, but a few times, made me take notice.

The moment that really stood out for me was when walking by the front door of the Food4Less where I came across one of these accents. It came from a man clearly mumbling to himself who did not see that I was right behind him. He was angry about an altercation that he had just gone through, and based on his appearance and the recent news stories, I could only guess what it might have been. He wore the leathery skin of a person who spent a lot of their time outside whether by choice or not, I could not tell. He did not wear a mask, even though he had just come out of a grocery store that had a sign declaring that masks were necessary in order to enter it. And I couldn’t tell if his wife-beater could hide a firearm, but I am sure he had figured out a way to make sure he was protected.

His mumbling is what highlighted his attitude towards his recent treatment. “They can’t do that to me. I will show them, but I need your help. Where are my soldiers?”

This is when he noticed that I was behind him. I had already started to pick up my pace, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out what he was really angry about. I am sure that it was nothing too crazy, but the news reports being exported out of the country, and the fact that I had not been around people so outspoken for such a long time, it made me experience that feeling of culture shock. It is something that people who lived through the pandemic from the American point of view might not notice. It was a subtle uphill climb to the point of where the country is right now, so they probably did notice the change. But for somebody who has been away for the last two years, and only in the country for short periods of time while the uphill climb was happening, it is quite the slap in the face when I come across it. I am sure that I will make more of an adjustment as I am able to get out more, but it made for an interesting night the first time I made that attempt since I have been back.

What Are You Going to do Next?

“You have jumped through thousands of hoops and flown for over 26 hours to finally arrive back in America after being stuck in a foreign country for two years; what are you going to do next?”

“I going to go to the CVS at the closest Target in order to get vaccinated.”

“Wait, you’re not going to one of the world’s most famous amusement parks?”

“Do they have vaccines there?”

“Well, no, but they have a lot of other exciting stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Long lines to really short rides.”

“Anything else?”

“Overpriced food, and cheap trinkets for sale.”

“Something more substantial.”

“Thousands of maskless tourists waiting to be your friend in the shared experience.”

“How about something more topical?”

“A heightened chance to catch the world’s most deadly disease.”

“And what do you call this place?”

“The happiest place on Earth! Can you think of any place happier?”

“Yes, the CVS at the closest Target where, if we all go to vaccinated for free, we can get back to a normal life. There is nothing happier than that.”