Family with love @ Sevan and Yerevan, Armenia, November 19 and 21, 2019
Family with love It was only my second evening in Armenia but it already felt like it had been a lot. The first day I had to drive for hours at night on unpaved roads trying to find a guesthouse that is still open during the off-season, only relying on offline maps. The second day, I realized that the exhaust pipe between two catalytic converters came off, probably due to the shocks taken from the roads. And it took several hours to find a confident mechanic...
Arrival in Georgia @ Tbilisi, Georgia, November 8, 2019
Arrived in Georgia. Already from its neighboring countries, I’ve been well-informed about its growing popularity as a travel destination. I feel I’d need to stay here over a month in total. I’m excited about what I’ll see. (I already ran into an army of sheep today) @ Tbilisi, Georgia, November 8, 2019
Detours @ Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, October 29, 2019
Detours After over one month of living like a Muscovite, I hit the road again to the south. In Moscow, I had focused on some of the longer-term projects while moving around predominantly with Moscow Metro. From now on, I’ll be constantly driving each day as I explore the Caucasus region, probably until I finish visiting Armenia by the end of November. Russia is very big. And sometimes there is no ‘next big city’ during the next five hours of driving, which is the amount...
Listening to myself through Ekaterina – some questions about my travels, Moscow, Russia, October 2019
It was my pleasure to meet my friend, Ekaterina, again in her home country, Russia. Just like the last time I met her in Mexico years ago, she’s still a curious and energetic person. I appreciate that I got to listen to myself and see how I’ve changed after two years, if any, about some topics concerning traveling. I’m also grateful to have learned about my friend more through her questions and comments. Things she asked about: 1.How do you support yourself financially? 2.How do you...
A map of feelings @ The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, September 28, 2019
A map of feelings St. Petersburg is often called the ‘cultural’ capital of Russia. The nickname was originally given by Boris Yeltsin, and some Russian people I met found the idea puzzling or controversial. In any case, I know that the world-famous Hermitage Museum is on the ‘must-visit’ list for tourists visiting the city. But during my 3-week-long stay there, I ended up not visiting the museum, and I still don’t regret it too much. During the past two years, I’ve visited 55 countries and many more...
A brief time travel and the start of the final chapter
A brief time travel and the start of the final chapter On September 5th, I took a flight from Moscow to Korea to visit family. It turned out that the day was my 2nd travel anniversary, which was a pure coincidence. I had thought about taking the time at the airport to record how I feel about having spent two years traveling. But as is often the case, at the end I was only grateful to have made it to the gate only 20 minutes before...
Arrival @ Incheon, South Korea, September 6, 2019
I am visiting Korea for several weeks to celebrate mother’s birthday and the Korean Chuseok. Afterwards, I will come back to Moscow and finish the remaining parts of the journey. @ Incheon, South Korea, September 6, 2019
with Artyom @ Bratislavskaya, Moscow, Russia, September 5, 2019
In general, I try to keep distance from using the word ‘hospitable’ when describing people of a country or a region. It’s not because hospitality is an undesirable value by any means. I just feel that accepting to use the word encourages me to subconsciously believe that I am in the position to evaluate different cultures or even compare them, based on my perspectives. Allowing myself to reinforce my previous world view is far from the purpose of journey. But during the three days of stay...

