Tag: Jordan

Top Posts of 2025

I’m sorry about the lateness of this post. Usually I am sharing with you the biggest posts of the year right around New Year’s Day, but because I was traveling through Patagonia at that time, I wasn’t able to sit down and sort through all of the data until now. 2025 was a crazy year for most of us for various reasons, and this was no different for me. I had taken a new job in Peru in July, so I spent a lot of the time getting all of my stuff together and moving it halfway around the world in Jordan. During that time, I was able to travel to many places such as Egypt, London, around Jordan one last time and a couple of trips back to the United States, but most of my time was spent moving all of our stuff and our puppy to Peru. Because of the visa requirements, I was not able to leave Peru once we arrived, but this was not a bad thing because the time I did have off was spent traveling through this amazing country. I hope you enjoy this look back of last year, and here is to more opportunities to see the world this year.

10. The Start of the Last Hurrah – Jordan

2025 was the last year that I spent in Jordan, and before we left, we started to have visitors. I was able to make the Jordan Loop, (Petra, the Dead Sea, and Jerash) one last time. It was a month before I left, and it was like my farewell tour of the area. I do consider myself lucky that I was able to make this trip that one last time, and do it with such good friends. It allowed me to create great memories of Jordan before I left it forever.

9. The Mummy

Egypt featured heavily in the posts for 2025, showing up four times in the top 10. The first time was a poem that I had written while out there, thinking about what it would be like to be a mummy so many years after you had been rediscovered by archaeologists. It was great to see them, but it was also gave me a sense of dread of what it would be like to have your body on display in a museum so people could come by and view you.

8. Packing Up the Holidays

My first post of the year was also one of your favorites. I spent a lot of time in the States this year, and I had spent some of that time with my family during the holidays. It is easily the best way to spend this time of year, and it always makes for great memories, but at the same time, there comes that moment when you have to pack everything up, and return to the life that you live. It is the reason that January is always a quiet month for most people, but it was still nice to have this to hold on to during that quiet month.

7. Santa Catalina Monastery – Arequipa, Peru

I made a big move this year, coming from Jordan halfway around the world to land in Peru. Because it was my first year there, I needed to stay in Peru for my visa. It is not a bad place to be stuck in as there are a lot of things to see. We were holding off on the big one, Machu Picchu, because we knew we would have visitors and we would see that eventually, so we went off to other locations. Our first big trip was to Arequipa, and it is a place in Peru that is not talked about enough. The monastery is a great place to visit if you are in Arequipa, and a lot of people enjoyed the post.

6. Cultural Duality

A return to Egypt with another poem about my time in Cairo. I really enjoyed this unexpected trip last year as what I thought would be another experience in a Muslim country turned out to be a cultural education about one of the oldest places in the world. The thing that struck me the most about the place was the way that the people embraced both aspects of their past. There was a huge pride in both their connection to Islam and the Egyptian kings of centuries past. At times, it seemed as if these cultures were at odds with each other, but there was a marriage between the two that allowed them to exist in perfect harmony in this part of the world.

5. The Last 100 Days

For many people, 2025 was a tough year. The world seemed to be imploding, and as I left one of the parts of the world where that struggle could really be felt, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my time there. I started to take one picture a day during my lat 100 days in Jordan as I went about my routine and posting that picture to Facebook. I was not trying to be political or get people motivated to think a certain way; I was just documenting the mundane. I received a lot of feedback from doing this as it gave people a reprieve from the crazy they were seeing on social media. This little experiment resinated with you as well, and oddly enough, it became a simple way to bring a little happiness to people’s lives during a time when they needed it.

4. Enchanted Grounds – Littleton’s Board Game Cafe

I had gotten back into one of my favorite hobbies, board games, during the 2020 pandemic. It was a great way to have fun with the few people that I had contact with at that time. It turned into something that stuck with me beyond that strange time in the world. As I explored this hobby more, I have gone to a couple board game cafes, but never the one that was right down the street from where my dad lives. Over the summer of 2025, I met a few of my friends down there to finish off our Dungeons and Dragons campaign that we were unable to finish due to me having to leave Jordan early. I am glad that I had finally gone into this place. It has opened the door to look for more of these little places around the world as a way to enjoy a couple hours of downtime during my travels. It was also nice to give Enchanted Grounds a little plug to keep them busy for future years.

3. Onirim – Welcome to the Oniverse

As I started to explore the board game hobby more, I started to review the games that I picked up along the way. I have only done one or two reviews a year, but they always seem to be very popular, and people continue to come back to them as they decided on the board games for their collections as well. This year I reviewed one of my favorite solo board games, Onirim. Many people must have been just as curious about this game as I was when I first came across it because it was one of the posts that was visited, and is still visited, the most last year. I still stick with my initial assessment that the game is fun, but the free app is a better way to enjoy the game.

2. Coptic Cairo

Usually when I think of Egypt, I think of the ancient culture with its pantheon of deities, or the modern people with their position in the Middle East. What I tend to forget about is the fact that Egypt plays a prominent part in the Bible. Jesus and his family spent a lot of time in this part of the world, and even some of the more important saints, such as Saint George, have part of their stories told in Cairo. There is a little corner of the city where these Christianity stories come to life, Coptic Cairo. It added a deeper level of nuance to a part of the world that already held a lot of depth, and it is one of the places on this trip that really stuck with me.

  1. Grand Egyptian Museum

Egypt has been putting a lot of energy and resources in order to get this museum open, and as of October 2024, it was 90 percent of the way there. I was able to visit it shortly after the opening in February of 2025, and the place is easily the best museum that I have ever been in. The collection of antiquities that can be found in this place is overwhelming, but I was lucky enough to have a guide to take me to the things that I really should be seeing. I must have stuck with a lot of you as well because it was the biggest post of mine last year.

Thank you for going through this walk down recent memory lane, and joining me on all my voyages throughout the year. I hope to see you more often in 2026, and look forward to sharing with you all that this crazy world has to offer.

Moving a Dog to Peru

Meet Zoey. I have talked about her before. She is my puppers. We rescued her while living in Jordan, and though she drives me crazy from time to time, I love her to death, and would do anything for her. When I found a new job across the world in Peru, I was definitely going to take her with me, but the logistics of taking a dog from one part of the world to another is a crazy endeavor of paperwork, muscle and stress. In the end though, it is worth the effort to know that she will be with me on this new adventure in a new country.

Let’s get one thing straight, Zoey has a pretty easy life even though she might tell you differently. She was picked up on the side of the road in the dessert on the way to the Dead Sea from Amman. Afterwards, she was given a home where she had all the toys she could want, never had to hunt for her food, or look for a fluffy place to rest her head when she was tired. Despite all this, she has still only know a dessert world where there are few trees, hot sun beating down, and a city landscape. Going across the world has been an eye-opening experience for her. For the first time in her life, she has seen big bodies of water, squirrels, horses, and deer, and trees so numerous that they cover a whole area that the humans call forests.

All of these new experiences have been a little stressful for her. She does not always know what to make of them, and as soon as she starts to feel comfortable in a place, we uproot and get her on the move again. You see, we couldn’t make a direct flight from Jordan to Peru. We had about a month lay-over in the United States, and to get her into this country was a little bit of a challenge. The United States currently has ban on dogs coming from Jordan because of a couple of cases of rabies a few years back. Basically it takes about six months to collect all the paperwork necessary to fly a dog into the United States from Jordan, and then you have to schedule an appointment with the CDC to get another health check before they officially allow the dog into the country.

Airlines are also fun to work with. They each have their own requirements and weight allowance. It requires just as much wrangling to get a dog into the cargo hold and even then, it is not always a given they will get to go. They will have to be there during a certain time of the year because they will not allow the dog to fly if it is too hot or too cold outside. In each case, it might cause the dog severe discomfort while sitting on the tarmac because they will not be able to turn on the climate control until they are up in the air. Luckily this was never a problem for us as we found the perfect time to get her into the plane, and the plane into the air.

We tried to limit the amount of time that Zoey had to spend in the air, and we definitely wanted to limit the amount of layovers that she might have to endure. The best way to do this was to fly in and out of L.A. even though she would be staying in Oregon the whole time she was in the United States. In order to make this happen, we had to take the long drive between the two states twice. It wasn’t ideal, but it was easier for Zoey to understand what was going on rather than having her trapped in a dark tiny crate for many long hours without us being able to explain why she was in it.

It also gave us the added bonus of being able to see a little more of the United States on a road trip. It has been a long time since I have been on an American road trip, and I enjoy the feel of the open road. This is not necessarily the same for a dog who has to find themselves cramped in the back seat with a collection of all of our stuff that we are bringing with us to Lima on our move there. Still, I was amazed at well Zoey did on the trip. She chilled out in the back seat and got up to watch the scenery as it passed by. It helped that we did the drive through California which offers a lot to look at.

But after a couple of nights in hotels that we fancier than what we usually stayed in because we wanted to make sure that there was enough space for Zoey, it was tine to pack everything up and head to the airport. That final jump over to our new life was exciting for us, but trying to explain to Zoey how much she would love the new experience was still difficult for us to do. I always wondered what was going through her mind at this moment. Did she think that she was heading back to Jordan to her home, or was she still confused as to what actually was going on?

Whatever she was thinking, the reality is she eventually got on that flight, and made it all the way to her new life in Peru. It was stressful for her and us, and there was quite an adventure along the way, but we are safe and sound now. She has taken the last week exploring her new surroundings and getting comfortable as so have we. I can’t wait to see where it leads all of us, and I am sure that Zoey agrees.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to keeping you updated with our new adventure.

Back from a Break

I know that I have gone quiet on my blog for a little while. It has been almost five years where I have had a break like this. I usually try to post at least once a week while working and as often as I can while I am on vacation, but things got a little busy for me over the last month. I have been taking a class so that I can renew my educator’s license, and I had some family matters that came up. The combination of the two made my leaving Jordan rather quick, and I was not able to write posts during that time. Well, things have calmed down, I’ve found myself back in America for a bit before making the final move to Peru, and I now can write again. I look forward to connecting with all of you again, and in the meantime, here is a picture of wild turkeys that I took recently while I was out walking. I hope to bring you more exciting things in the coming days, and thank you for being patient with me.

The Final Tour

This has been my favorite restaurant
Ever since we arrived in this country,
But the last time I visited, I can’t
Remember when. There was too much to see,
Such as those ruins of Roman design,
Or the Treasury carved into the cliff,
Both of which are a sight that’s so divine
That to see them, it is truly a gift.
I am glad to have seen them one last time
Before I shake off the dust of this land
For a place with a more tropical clime,
And other attractions that are so grand.
To not see them again will choke my craw,
So I’m the tour of the last hurrah.

The Start of the Last Hurrah – Jordan

I have known for quite some time now that this would be my last year in Jordan, and though I have taken some of the necessary steps to move on to my next adventure, it really has not hit me yet that I will be moving on. It was not until a couple of friends came into town that I started to realize that my time in the country was starting to become limited, and as I showed them around to some of my favorite spots, I started to realize that this was the beginning of my last hurrah tour of the country I have lived in for the last four years.

Of course, some of this last tour took me to the major sights of the country. I had to take them to the Roman ruins in Jerash, and the marvels of the buildings carved into the sides of mountains in Petra. I have been to both of these places on numerous occassions, but it felt a little different this time around because I knew that it would be the last time I would be seeing them. It wasn’t like the wonder I had felt during the first time I had witnessed these places, but a meloncholy kind of sadness that went along with the fact that I could no longer take these places for granted just because they would soon no longer be right in my backyard.

When I do visit them now, I see them with a fresh set of eyes, looking for those details that I missed the other times I have been here. It helps that I am going to these places with people who have not been before because they spend their time marveling at all of the things that I have already witnessed. They point and gawk and tell me about how fascinating it all is. I have to play tour guide a bit, telling the little nuggets of information that I can glean from what I have heard the previous times I have been here.

And then there are the new things that I missed the first time around, or the way that life will make some unpredictable changes to add a new flavor to something old. It is the donkey standing in the perfect place so I can take the perfect picture. It is the kids placing their stuffed animals in the carved alcoves of the cliffs so they can take pictures of them as if they are a part of the landscape. It is the people dotting the cracked earth on their way to the salt flats of the Dead Sea. These are the things that I didn’t notice the other times I had visited these place, but they seemed more important now.

I am noticing the country again just like I had when I first arrived, but it is different this time around. I am not looking on the sights with awe and wonder because I already know the stories behind them. Now, I look upon them like an enjoyable book whose pages are running out, and already know how it is going to end. I am still enjoying the experience, but soon I am going to have to close that book and place it on my shelf to remember the story I once enjoyed.

But as every reader knows, there are many great books out there. All you have to do is to look over the horizon to find that next great story. I may be leaving Jordan behind, but I do have that next great adventure just around the corner. I have really enjoyed my time out here, and I am glad that I am getting the opportunity to have my last hurrah before I go, but I am also excited for the next stop in my life.

I want to thank those people that made me go and take this last tour of Jordan before I left, but I also want to thank Jordan for four great years with the ability to experience a part of the world that not many people get to see. I will miss you when I am gone, but I will still enjoy those last pages before I leave.

The Last 100 Days

It started off with a simple picture. I took it while walking to my classroom one morning. It was of the little garden I pass by every morning on the side of the school, something that I would usually take for granted, but today I actually paid attention to it. The reason being that I only had 100 days left in Jordan, and I had never taken a picture of it before. I do remember the first time I saw this walkway and the way that I thought that it was a nice addition to any school, and it added to the aesthetics. After a awhile, I took it for granted and then eventually did not even pay attention it anymore. But on that day, I decided I wanted to take a picture so I could remember it.

This made me start to realize that there were many little corners of Jordan that I have enjoyed, but I don’t have pictures of. Considering that I took the first picture on a day where there was only 100 days left, it was the perfect time to start taking a single picture every day and to share it on Facebook, so I could collect those small little corners that have become a part of collective memory. Facebook would remind me of them years later, and I could reminisce of my time spent in this country.

At least that was the idea, but something strange happened along the way. People started talking to me about the project. I’ll be honest. This was more for me than it was for people to pay attention, but they started to get excited about the picture I would bring them everyday. It was something simple to share with the world, something that did not have political implications behind it, something that wasn’t about showing off to a crowd of people about how great of a life I can pretend to have. Instead, it was just a simple picture that was shared with people, a snapshot of what life was actually about, sometimes simple, and sometimes something that was more exciting, in other words, the way that life is lived.

At first I couldn’t figure out why these pictures connected so much with people, but then they told me what was that they liked about them. The pictures returned them back to a time when things were simpler, and social media was not a way push our political views, or pretend we were part of a television show that we thought everybody should watch. It was just a way to share our lives with the people we find important. It took away the vitriol and FOMO and made it about the simplicity of life.

I am not going to say that these things have not disappeared from social media, but it has been nice to add something that is different to the sights. It makes me wonder that if more people would return to these kinds of posts that we can retrain the algorithm to go back to that time where social media is something that you are excited to look at and not something that brings us grief. I know it started off as just a project to take pictures for one hundred days, but now that I am half way through the experiment, I am glad to discover that it was actually something a little more.

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

Mountain Breeze – Jordan

With all of the movies and television shows coming out to Jordan to film, I can see how people would think that the country is nothing more than a vast dessert landscape. It surprises people when they find out that there is a little bit of diversity to the country, and one of the places that holds this feeling is just an hour drive north of Amman, a tiny resort called Mountain Breeze.

The resort feels more like something that could be found in the mountains of Colorado or Oregon rather than the dry desert landscape of Jordan. There are ten cabins that are comfortably situated on the hillside overlooking the valley below. They each have a big patio, comfortable beds, and nice bathroom. Most of the time, it only takes opening the windows of the cabin, and turning on the ceiling fan to keep them cool, but for on those hot summer days, each unit comes with air conditioning. They are also far enough away from each other to isolate the noise that can be created from other visitors to the resort.

Despite the restaurant, a poolside bar, and a full restaurant on the grounds of the resort, there are many other activities to while away any vacation day. There is a large playground for kids with many swings and things to climb on. They have a paintball arena, and a place to show your ability at archery. You could always choose to relax next to the pool, or dip into the water if things get a little too warm. Mountain Breeze even boasts having a conference room that could easily be converted into a ballroom for your business or marriage needs. Considering that there are only ten cabins on the grounds, none of these places feel very busy, even though for 30JD people can come up from Amman and use the facilities during the day.

If you feel a little adventurous, you can take the quick stroll down to the 500 year old tree where they built a treehouse. The hike itself is not long, taking about only ten to fifteen minutes to get down to the tree. The walk is all downhill, so it does take a little longer to get back, but the end of the voyage is the pool, so a dip in the cool water can always be used as an incentive. The treehouse itself is a nice place for a reprieve. When we went, we were down there by ourselves, and there were plenty of places where we could have picnicked or just sat under the tree to read a book.

Mountain Breeze plays up the American feel of being out in the mountains by adding things like a animal petting park that includes chickens, roosters, and ponies. They even have fire pits out in front of each of the cabins where they will light a fire for you and supply you with a bag of marshmallows. I was a little disappointed that they did not also include graham crackers and chocolate so I could enjoy the whole s’mores experience, but it was still fun to roast marshmallows around a campfire.

The place also boasts a bunch of cats that roam all over the grounds as well. They are wild cats, but like all cats in Jordan, they are also friendly. Of course, you will have to keep a close eye on your food because they will take any opportunity to sneak a bite if you happen to look away, but they also supply great moments while staying at the resort. One night while sitting in the bar, a mother cat kept bringing her baby kittens over to us to show them off. We thought she might be trying to pass them off to us, but when we came over to pet them, she got defensive. It made for a very entertaining evening.

Mountain Breeze is one of those hidden gems that I am surprised took me so long to find while living out here. It is the perfect getaway if you are living in the country because it is dramatically different enough from any other place in the country that it makes you feel like you are no longer in the country. It is also a great place to visit if you are traveling around the country. It is placed nicely in-between a lot of the more exciting places in Jordan that it would make the perfect home base if you found yourself in the region. I loved my time at Mountain Breeze and I hope to make it back out there again before I leave the country.

The Freedom Flight

The world needs to beware. Teachers everywhere are putting away their red pens and lesson plans, and are making their way to the far reaches of the globe. It is summer time, and there will be a need for these people to unwind. For all teachers, the release at the end of the year is a time where they can let out that breath they have been holding on to. The kids have been on edge because they know the end is near, and the older they get, the more stressful it becomes for them. But after that final bell rings, and everybody floods out of the building for the summer months, there is a collective sigh. It is over, and we can recharge our batteries, and find a way back to that sanity we all crave.

For international school teachers, there is another layer to this. Most of them live thousands of miles from their family and friends. They do build many relationships with the people that they work with, but it is those other relationships that they wish to return to. Their new found home, wherever that may be, becomes a burden at the end of the school year, and they wish to escape to different environments.

This is where the freedom flight comes in.

Many international teachers wait a couple of days before they board that flight to their adventure for the summer. It gives them a couple of days to unwind. But there is another group of teachers who will throw a bunch of clothes in a bag, and rush to the airport a couple of hours after they have clocked out for the last time. Even before the clock strikes midnight, they are on a flight to a different part of the world. This is known as the freedom flight. It is an escape from the daily grind to try to grab as much of summer as they can. It can induce a different kind of stress than what is presented during the school year. They feel like they are leaving something important behind, and they are not quite sure if they will make it to that plane in the first place. But the rewards are worth the effort.

I woke up in the afternoon on the day after my last day in school in a completely different country with a completely different ecosystem. I had left behind the hot, dusty streets of Amman, and was in the cooler, tree lined boulevards of Tbilisi. Responsibility had been placed on hold, and I could now focus on different important things in life such as enjoying a great meal, and having my first adult beverage of the summer season. It only took a night of flying and a distance of about 900 miles to have a change of perspective and attitude.

It is a great way to start the summer, and I am already feeling the stress of the school year wash away as I prepare for a couple of months of rest and relaxation. I hope you join me on my adventures as I travel around the world, and if not, I hope it is because you are out there enjoying your own freedom flight.

The Ride Home at Night

As the sun tilts over the sandy dunes
Making its final exit for the night,
I listen to how the blowing wind croons
It lamentation of the fading light.
Two camels carry a family home,
Guided by their Bedouin caretaker.
The sunlight silhouettes the way they roam,
Giving the dying light to their maker.
It’s a simple picture of black and white
Only seen in the world on a corner,
And though we can connect with their respite,
We like to claim that they are foreigners.
Can we not find ourselves in this landscape,
Thinking it too Oriental to escape?