What I’ve learned by traveling with minimal money or plans

  To skip directly to the list, click here. Otherwise, read on about how this type of travel became my lifestyle over the last couple months.   There are infinite different ways to travel. When many people picture travel, they imagine all-inclusive vacations consisting of beaches, spas, fancy restaurants, and Continue Reading

Balkan Hospitality

I arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, after dark and without a clue where I was going, but luckily the guy who gave me a ride was willing to call the person I was staying with, take me into the city center, and drop me off at her apartment. This was the Continue Reading

Rainbow Snowball Caravan of Abundance

Due to a brutal hangover, most of my third day in Novi Sad, Serbia, was spent laying on a couch, eyes half-shut, half-staring at my computer screen, vowing never to drink rakija again. Something productive did come out of this lazy day, though, as I read the blog of the Continue Reading

Paradise in Slovenia

  Slovenia, a tiny country of only 2 million people, a bit smaller than New Jersey, contains some of the most impressive natural beauty in all of Europe. Unlike other parts of former Yugoslavia where mountains and rivers are littered with trash, nature seems to be a prized value in Continue Reading

From the Baltics to the Balkans, via Wrocław

I left the Baltic countries in a truck driving to Olsztyn, Poland. It was 10pm in Kaunas, Lithuania, and I was at a very empty gas station asking the few cars that came by if they were going in the direction of Poland. Finally, after about an hour of no’s, Continue Reading

The Great Hitchhiking Adventure: Baltics

The route   4 weeks 2,923 miles 58 car rides with strangers $0 spent on intercity transportation $0 spent on accommodation It all started as I sat in a friend’s apartment in Darmstadt, half working on editing a research paper (my job while traveling) and half scrolling through my Facebook Continue Reading

Pomona Reunion: Balkans to Berlin

Europe round two started off on a good note when the Norwegian family sitting next to me on the airplane bought me a sandwich and beer and offered to let me stay in their house for the night. I politely declined the offer, as I had a connecting flight at Continue Reading

The Land of Fire and Ice

Iceland is one of the most beautiful places in the entire universe. The tiny island of 323,000 people contains every landscape from black sand beaches to rocky fjords to lush mossy green valleys to 1,000 meter deep ice caps to giant standalone volcanoes. Due to the volcanic nature of the Continue Reading

Back to ‘Merica

I was welcomed to the Boston airport by the wonderful aroma of Dunkin Donuts as I walked out from the baggage claim. This was the most intense culture shock I had experienced yet in my year of traveling. The whine of loud American accents complaining about something or other rang Continue Reading

Climbing trees, Shotgunning Guinness, and Jamon Iberico

To continue my 1 – 1.5 month late blog writing habit, here’s a post about England, Ireland, and Madrid back in the beginning of June. From Egypt, I bussed and hitchhiked my way back to Tel Aviv and got on the cheapest flight available: $90 to London. I was on Continue Reading