Blogs from West, Kosovo, Europe

I sleep pretty well but I wake up tired and my back is sore from the too soft bed. I get dressed and head down. I find the hostel owner on the sofa, it looks like he slept there and I wonder if I’m in his room and he gives it up when guests book? It definitely feels more like an air bnb than a hostel. I tell him I’m too tired for hiking today and just going to see the city he says no problem. I head out walking to the bus centre which I do think is further away then the 400 metres he advertises. I continue walking looking for the street we drove through last night. I find the bazaar which is essentially lots of shopping streets with shops selling trainers, sports gear, ... read more

One of our - and when I say our, I mean Jane, Deb, Cate, Krista, and I - goals this year is to see more of Kosova since we spent much of our vacation time traveling outside of the country in which we are actually living. So when we heard that a cultural herritage group was running tours to Pejë - a city that we have been through on the way to the mountains - every Saturday and Sunday for a month, we knew we had to go, especially after we found out that the whole trip - from train ride to tour around Pejë was free! So early Sunday morning, we embarked on our journey to Pejë, not quite sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised by the entire day. When we arrived ... read more

When I joined the National Guard almost 20 years ago it was under the recruiting slogan, "Join the Guard-See the World". Well somebody in this outfit of camoflage has made it their personal mission to ensure that their promise to me does not go unfullfilled. As my travel history is recapped I can look back on a military career that began with travels to Saudi Arabia for my year deployment for Operation Desert Storm. Then onto Holland for a logistics mission to relocate equipment from Europe to the United States. During peacetime I found myself on the east coast for nearly two years for specialized transportation training with a follow-on deplyment of a fun filled summer of fighting raging fires in the State of Washington. Then the military found a way to re-emphasize the "See the ... read more