From Almaty to Karakol From Almaty, it was time to traverse to our next location in our ‘Stan a Plan, which would be a two-day, 12.5-hour journey to Karakol, pausing overnight in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek. Yes, to go east, of course, you gotta go west first. Oh yes, we are indeed moving again… To leave Almaty, we traveled to the…
In Summary... Admittedly, we found that our time in Almaty, Kazakhstan was simply way too brief. In fact, based on how livable, enjoyable and walkable this city is, it seems very likely to sprout as a nomad hub in upcoming years. So, we’re putting it on our growing list of places we’d like to visit again for a month, which we’re…
From barren steppe and deserts, to slicing canyons, to turquoise lakes encompassed by carpets of evergreens, traversing the terrain in southeast Kazakhstan can feel like rolling from the American Southwest to the Pacific Northwest in a matter of moments. Yes, there is SO much to do in and around Almaty for nature lovers. However, since we’re limited on time, we…
It was with sadness we had to depart from Bulgaria in late July. Although the rose-colored glasses lifted a bit, on our third and longest jaunt to Bulgaria so far, it enamored us with its serenity and allure. It affirmed itself as a place we undoubtedly could settle down in, one day, and also as a place in our top…
Those who are regular followers of our Facebook page may have noticed that our posts came to an abrupt slow down in mid-July 2025. This is because I, Mandy, the writer of this blog, had been on yet another “chronic pain discovery journey,” and was utterly immersed in trying to heal the hip pain that had been overtaking my body,…
From Sliven, we decided to take a half day trip up to the “architecturally significant” village of Kotel, (our personally branded “cute” towns), which is folded into yet another of Bulgaria’s mountain ranges…the Eastern Balkans. Kotel is one of the many villages the red hiking trail meanders which offers the opportunity to traverse Bulgaria’s entire length, offering clean mountain air,…
The Extraordinary Village of Melnik To celebrate Greg’s 47th birthday, we chose to have an overnight escape to the seductive teacup-of-a-town called Melnik, which we first visited on a whirlwind hour-long dash and drink in 2019, thanks to the inconvenient buses we had to catch from Blagoevgrad. This time, catching a direct bus from Sandanski, we were thrilled to spend more…
Day One: Kovachevitsa, Leshten, Gotse Delchev & Ognyanovo It didn't take long to realize that Sandanski may be slightly more challenging when it comes to public transportation than other parts of Bulgaria, so in order to get to the other side of the Pirin Mountains and continue to have our freedom, we rented a second car for another overnight SW…
