Collection of Facebook Posts

I made a number of facebook posts while traveling this year. I wanted to let everyone know I was ok without giving away too many details of what I was doing from day to day. I’m in the process of making “vacation” pictures available, but these random odds and ends seemed to keep everyone happy. I was attempting to turn these into a Storify story with little luck, so this is my alternative.

I was doing what anyone does when trying to leave the country for a month: housework. I got an unpleasant surprise while doing the laundry:

I didn’t get too far on day one of travel. Stopped in Boston, MA for a 24-hour layover. This was the view from the airport hotel I stayed in. It was by far the nicest place I stayed, but had the worst view.

I finally reached Istanbul more than 36 hours after leaving home. And rush-hour traffic was waiting for me. I spent 3 hours being driven to the Asian side of the city to sleep in a semi-decent hotel before my next flight.

I made it to Albania and got connected to the wifi. I had very basic living accommodations, but it was a relatively nice neighborhood.

I did not bring home any of the currency. Albania is one of the European countries which does not use the Euro. It has the Lek, the smallest denomination I ever saw was a 5 Lek coin.

There were plenty of restaurants, buses, grocery stores, etc. within walking distance. And car washes. No laundromat, but 4 car washes in the neighborhood. I should have asked if they did clothes. One of the more interesting finds at the grocery store:

Every bus I boarded also handed out tickets (local or inter-city). I had a handful of these by the time I left:

I loved how cheap everything was while I was in Albania. I brought home the cheapest bottle of wine available at my local grocery.

I had an ancient cell phone to help me in an emergency:

I made several weekend trips to neighboring countries. The first was Montenegro. I was expecting faster, more efficient bus travel than I had in Africa. I was disappointed.

I was much more prepared for the physical travel the next weekend. And I was intrigued by what I saw on the bus:

I visited the Albanian coastal city of Saranda and the Greek resort island of Corfu. Post by one of the women I met at the hostel in Albania:

The next weekend I had to pack up all of my stuff and haul it across several countries to make my international flight back home. It was no fun hauling 40 pounds of stuff on my back for 4 days.

I did eventually get to spend a real day in Istanbul. Turns out both days I was in the city were Mondays. And that’s the day the Hagia Sofia is closed. I saw the outside, and plenty of other sights.