Author: James
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Ahoy!
Our last calendar month on the road begins. The road is a magical place. It’s one where friendships are made. A place where bonds between people are formed. Bonds between people who speak different languages. Bonds between people for a minute, an hour, a day, a life. Yesterday was much the same as any other…
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Not normal is normal
Today marks the day when our trip turns 21 and is no longer a child. This morning we drove north and east right to the top right corner of Hungary Romania and Ukraine to our east and Slovakia to the north wrapping around the village we are staying in. As with much of our journey…
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Cave Men
Having returned to the UK for 48 hours to see my son Ben pass out from the course he has been on, one of the things I was asked quite a lot is “what’s your favourite …….?” In the dots you could put “place”, “food”, “experience” or “thing” and probably more. To which I’ve been…
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Concentric circles
Just outside Dubrovnik, slumped down in our chairs, the sun intense with us hunkering close to the van in the small amount of shade on offer, an Italian man came over telling us that we’d camped in the same spot a few days back in Sarajevo. While we didn’t remember him, he remembered Jenifer. Increasingly…
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Valbonë Va Bene
Thunder, lighting and a big down pour welcomed us as we arrived in Valbonë. An inauspicious inception to our friendship with the one of the places that everyone seems to rave about in Albania. By the time we set off for Valbonë, we’d been in Albaina for a whole 24 hours and as so often…
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Straying Alive
As we travelled further east we encountered an increasing number of stray dogs. Initially our reaction was fear but the more we travelled the more that we understood that it’s important we engage with them. Many a morning I go for a run and one of my first encounters with strays was in Erdine early…
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Kosovo Calling
As I write I’m high up in the mountains of Kosovo. The border with Montenegro so close that Juliet and I walked there a little earlier. It’s a beautiful place to be on this day that marks the half way point of our journey – we have now been on the road for 90 days…
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People get ready
We can’t believe we are coming up to the halfway point in our journey to Baku and Back – or as it is now – Nearly Baku and Back. In terms of driving miles we probably passed the half way point a while back down the road. Every day brings the chance to meet new…
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Row row row the boat
We’ve been camped on lake Ohrid for a few days. Throughout our journey I’ve been on the look out for places to row. Until today I have drawn a blank. This has surprised me as I thought that I would find rowing on the Black Sea somewhere along the way. The closest I’ve come to…
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Letter to Turkey
Dear Turkey As I sit on the border waiting to clear through your customs so that we can travel onwards to Greece, I just wanted to say a warm thank you for the generosity and kindness the wonderful people of your country have shown Juliet, Jenifer (the van) and I over the last couple of…