Well, hello #158! The Gambia was part of my December 2020 mid-pandemic West African end-of-year journey. I arrived into Banjul from Casablanca just before 2AM. My driver Kemo was waiting for me at the airport. We exchanged pleasantries on the way to my hotel. We’d have a lot more time to get to know each…
View More
Welcome to Liberia I wasn’t too excited about an overnight flight into my 157th country, but if you thought routes and schedules were bad in normal times, traveling West Africa during the pandemic–on a tight schedule–is nearly impossible. It’s amazing how small and close all these little nations are to each other, yet how difficult…
View More
I was really geeked out about this one. Western Sahara is actually not part of the infamous “193” list of fully UN-recognized nations. But it is part of the five “partially” recognized countries, often included in some people’s “197” or “198” list of countries. Let me explain… There are 193 fully recognized members of the…
View More
Grumpy Gus I wasn’t in Tirana but 90 minutes and I already wanted to go home. It was that rare but poisonous combination of being my very last stop (I was exhausted), raining cats and dogs (enough to have soaking wet sneakers), having just left my favorite country on the trip (Montenegro was absolutely stunning)…
View More
Hang Time My average stop in a country is somewhere around 1.3 nights per nation, so three full nights in Montenegro would be somewhat of a luxury for me. We can thank the fine folks in Bulgaria for turning me away, opening up some extra time for country #155. I’m actually glad it worked out…
View More
This isn’t just any hot dog…I speak of the infamous Sonoran Hot Dog. How these treasures haven’t spread internationally, is beyond me – but I’ve seen them start to pop up in places like San Diego and Salt Lake City, so I feel it’s only a matter of time. Sonoran Dogs were born and live…
View More
I’m excited to announce that the Ramblin’ Randy Award for Best International Radio Station goes to (drum roll) Radio Skadar 107.9 in Beri, Montenegro! While it’s listed online as an Alternative station, that’s certainly not the type of music that I heard on my Sunday morning drive through the mountains. They were playing one of…
View More
Push the Panic Button My heart sank into my stomach as I walked towards the man at the desk in uniform. Why was he stamping passports? Would he stamp mine? But I wasn’t leaving the EU! Ker-PLUNK went the stamper. Usually a joyous sound for my ears, but the opposite this time. Inside I shrieked…
View More