Blue Dot Explore

October 4, 2023 - View on Valbonë valley from Valbonë-Theth pass viewpoint, Albania After Hungary a.k.a. Magyar, it was off to Albania a.k.a. Shqiperi. (Wouldn't you think the names we call these countries be what they, themselves call it? Still odd to me.) The plan was to break Albania in two parts, hiking in the North and the beaches in the south, with a trip to Kosovo in the middle. We didn't initially plan much time in the Capital city of Tirana because I was anxious to get up into the mountains for hiking before we got any later into the season, but we both quickly realized that it was a place we wanted to try to circle back to later in the trip.  In Tirana, we discovered that we are big fans of Albanian food and drink. Not only is it super fresh with lots of veggies and salads, but there is also cheese with just about every meal. I love cheese. It is also very affordable, with a drink of the local brandy, Raki, or a huge glass of wine with your meal for 100 lek ($1). We ...

September 13, 2023, View of Parliament building from the Buda side of the  Danube River. Our ninth month on the road finally found us in Europe. Hungary to be precise. Prior to Budapest, the longest we'd stayed in one spot was a week in Capetown, South Africa. Chaing Mai, Thailand was a close second for 6 days, and no more than 2 or 3 other five-day stops in the last 9 months. Most of our stays have been about 3 days on average. The pace sped up a lot when we were road-tripping in Africa, changing just about every night, so we were more than ready for an extended stay. Budapest wasn't somewhere necessarily on my radar, but Johnny found it when researching spots in Europe that wouldn't break the bank. With notable buildings and a lively nightlife, it seemed like a perfect first stop for the European leg of our trip and a good place to kick up our feet for the next 3 weeks. We stayed in District VII, also known as the Jewish Quarter. Once part of the Jewish ghetto, is now kno...

*Wow, a bit longer blog than usual. A LOT has happened in the last month and there were at least 3 stories that warranted sharing (Himba Love, A Busted Truck, and The Sand Road). The next couple of months should be a lot slower as we stay in one spot for prolonged periods of time. August 4, 2023, Spitzkoppe Rock Arch, Namibia This next leg of our trip would take a very different direction from what we have experienced so far.  It was decided that we would visit the rest of our Sub-Suharan Africa destinations via a camper truck. I was more prone to sign up for a tour to take me to see the dunes (the only thing I really knew about Namibia), but once Johnny started researching, he decided to take on the task of planning out a 6244 km trip (3880 miles) to take us across multiple borders (and that's not counting driving in the parks). No simple task. Equipped with a rooftop tent, it's a common way to explore this part of the world, the main difference being that most people plan it ...

July 17, 2023. The Otter Trail in Tsitsikamma National Park With Rachel still joining for a couple more weeks, we left Tanzania, headed to South Africa. This was a very special destination for me and Rachel, as it is where we had discussed having our girl's trip for our 40th birthdays. Life has other plans and, although our trip was not what we originally envisioned, it represented a promise made to a dear friend that we would look at the big skies of Africa together. Country #10 started with a quick stopover in Johannesburg and some very cold temperatures, including getting to experience the first snow the city has seen in over a decade. It even made  international coverage .  We stayed in the Maboneng area and had an afternoon out in the Melville neighborhood, but it was so cold it was difficult to explore much of the city. We did visit two art museums and the Apartide Museum. I really enjoyed the Apartide museum, but it was a lot to take in as it was yet another exampl...