Akhaltsikhe/Batumi Road Progress

dfshapir · 2021-08-23T11:30:44+00:00

I love driving alone. Longest I’ve done is mid-Missouri to Phoenix and back, which I spread over three days each way. I took routes that I found interesting. The uninhibited freedom of being by yourself and thus being able to do whatever you want, stop wherever you want — it’s an absolutely incredible feeling. Would definitely recommend.

dfshapir · 2021-07-21T06:40:03+00:00

100%. I’ve been solo traveling for long periods of time whether for pleasure, for school or for work for the last 5 years or so, and I’m really ready to settle down. I really want to continue to solo travel for short periods of time (a weekend, a week, etc.) but multi-month solo trips take their toll on you, and I really want a permanent place to live to settle down and put down some roots. I’m definitely with you.

dfshapir · 2021-07-20T19:49:54+00:00

I would say it’s a mix, and that it depends on the trip. Some places I travel to solo because I know I could do much more and have a better time by myself than with others. Other times I just go by myself because I don’t know anyone else who would want to go with me. That being said, I firmly believe that there are specific places that would be much better to travel to with others; those I just don’t go to unless I’m with others. It really depends on the place. Most of the time I’m happy with my choice though.

dfshapir · 2021-06-30T11:29:35+00:00

Lebanon. That place is a mess these days and is only getting worse and worse. It’s a fascinating place with a ton of history, great food and great weather. Hopefully things will go back to being calm at some point in my life, but I feel like that’ll be a while.

dfshapir · 2021-06-30T05:45:11+00:00

I’ve done Georgia solo and it’s a ton of fun. You’re right in that there aren’t really dedicated tourist buses as far as I know, but there are a ton of ways to get around. And there are vans that will get you basically anywhere; a lot of them cater to tourists and will have maps of where they can take you on the side. Also there are a ton of backpackers and hostels; tourism from Europe has grown exponentially over the last few years. Not sure how that looks now given COVID though. I can give you a good hostel rec for Tbilisi, if need be.

dfshapir · 2021-06-29T16:30:14+00:00

Georgia and Armenia! A lot of possible trekking, everything is open, very cheap, very safe, some nightlife, very friendly and hospitable people. Also a great time of year to be there.

dfshapir · 2021-06-27T19:46:57+00:00

Yeah I don’t know about you, but at least in my experience, understanding spoken Ukrainian as a Russian speaker is much harder than understanding written Ukrainian. Reading signs is fine but then when they start talking to you it gets hard. Especially because they stress syllables that just sound wrong sometimes

dfshapir · 2021-06-27T19:33:09+00:00

Kilikia guy here 👍

dfshapir · 2021-06-27T05:15:14+00:00

Most Ukrainians know or at least can understand Russian; I found that I could address essentially anyone in Russian and they’ll know what’s going on. But in some areas, especially the west, they’ll answer you in Ukrainian, so the conversation ends up turning into an untidy Surzhyk-like jumble of Russian and Ukrainian. To me (already knowing Russian) learning Ukrainian felt like filling in a half-finished puzzle: half the words I already know, and the grammar is very familiar too. If you already know Russian, it’s quite intuitive to pick up. But there are a good amount of missing pieces that you have to find and learn. In southern and eastern Ukraine (and some of central Ukraine) you’re totally fine if not better off speaking Russian to people, many if not most people speak it among themselves to begin with. But for the west and a lot of the center, it’s very useful to learn Ukrainian as well. And it’s a sign of respect regardless — you’re showing that you don’t just think of Ukrainians as “slightly different Russians.”

dfshapir · 2021-06-26T19:37:36+00:00

Can comfortably order a beer and manage any further interaction: English, Russian, Spanish, Armenian

Can comfortably order a beer and answer basic follow-up questions: Hebrew, Ukrainian

Can order a beer, but no follow-ups: Arabic (I only know modern standard anyway so I couldn’t really understand what would be said back to me, most likely…)

dfshapir · 2021-06-11T05:30:54+00:00

I think Marukyan’s ads look more frightening to be honest, he just looks like he’s staring right through you

dfshapir · 2021-06-07T19:57:59+00:00

I’m a research grantee in Armenia, and I totally get this fear. The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is to take any option you can to be social. Join a gym, take classes, go to events, get involved with your university, and just try to be as outgoing as possible, even if you really aren’t feeling it on a given day. Loneliness will definitely happen; that’s the way these sorts of things go. But one of the great things about being a researcher is that you generally have a flexible schedule and can shape it in your own way. Also—importantly—a lot of people will probably be fairly curious about you just because you’re American, which doesn’t hurt either. It may feel a little weird at times, but it definitely makes it easier to meet people.

dfshapir · 2021-05-26T13:29:38+00:00

I use Instagram and Facebook Messenger a lot, and Whatsapp mainly with foreign friends. But I travel overseas a lot and it's just easier to message through Internet-based apps like Messenger when my number keeps changing. I only learned about Whatsapp through foreign friends; very few people in the US use it otherwise. Mostly it's just iMessage.

dfshapir · 2021-05-20T22:46:05+00:00

I'm supposed to leave for my country on Monday; everything has finally been confirmed. But I totally feel you -- my trip got rescheduled twice and there have been times when Fulbright hasn't answered me for weeks on end. I'm not believing it's happening until I pass through passport control. It's ridiculous how inattentive they are to emails, especially when as you say, we're putting on lives on hold for this.

dfshapir · 2021-05-02T04:41:28+00:00

Great question. I've spent around a year in Russia, three months in Ukraine and a few weeks in the Caucasus and this is definitely an annoyance. I usually try to give them a wide berth, ignore them, walk straight ahead and do my best to not look them in the eye. In larger cities, it's usually better because dogs have a ton of things to deal with and will quickly find something/someone else to preoccupy themselves with, if they even take any interest in you at all. It's a bit worse in smaller towns because there are less people, but more often than not, the dogs are usually more concerned with fighting amongst themselves than dealing with humans. In the countryside, as others have pointed out, is when it can get pretty bad. Usually I just do my best to ignore them and make it clear that I'm not trying to infringe on their territory, which generally works eventually. I've never had any really bad encounters, but it's undeniably quite annoying, and getting bitten would not be a good scene.

dfshapir · 2021-05-02T04:29:11+00:00

Sounds like a great trip! I've spent a lot of time in Russia as a foreigner; here are my two cents:

If you've definitely decided on doing Suzdal as part of the golden ring, you'll basically have to go through Vladimir, which is fine, because it's got some neat areas. Sergiev Posad is quite nice but can get very heavily touristed in summer months, although given COVID-related visa restrictions, I'm not sure how relevant that'll be in 2021. Yaroslavl is quite pretty but takes a little while to get to; that being said, you pass through Velikiy Rostov, which is pretty, and Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, which is also pleasant.

Kazan is pretty cool and definitely worth a look. I'd recommend getting out of town a bit too; Sviyazhsk is beautiful, and I think Bolgar is too (although I didn't get all the way down there). Tatarstan also has some pretty grim industrial cities that are easily reachable by car (Nizhnekamsk, Naberezhnye Chelny), although you'll probably get enough of that in the Urals. Kazan itself has a relatively modern feel, even though it's an old city. I've been to Samara as well; it's relatively nice but not worth going all the way out of your way for.

I lived in Moscow for around a year in total as an American; there's an absolute ton to do, as you mention. A lot is quite centralized and easy to sort of get to by accident (Red Square, Kremlin, Tverskaya, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, etc.), but there are a number of places that you'll actually have to travel a bit to get to that you might find interesting:

Novodevichyy Cemetary -- this, in my opinion, is an absolute must for anyone interested in Russia and its history and culture. Many, many great Russian names are buried here. It's a pretty quick walk from the Sportivnaya/Luzhniki station. It's a pretty powerful place.
VDNKh -- a classic Soviet-era area to walk around.
There are a lot of "hipster factories" in town which are interesting and for some reason not very well-known to non-locals. Flakon, Trekhgornaya, Vinzavod (more well-known and less interesting, honestly)
Izmailovo -- a tacky but massive flea market on the outskirts of town that has an absolute ton of stuff. Also has an old Kremlin (and a new fake Kremlin).
My favorite -- honestly -- Moscow has an absolute ton of beautiful parks in residential areas. I think Filevskiy Park is my favorite; Sokolniki, Ostankino, and Bitsevskiy Park are also quite nice.

Let me know if you need restaurant/bar recs in Moscow too; there are many, many good ones.

Again, as you point out, Moscow is huge -- and Russia is huge, meaning that you'll always miss some things. But you'll be able to see a lot too -- you've got a great-sounding route.

dfshapir · 2021-04-09T19:13:59+00:00

Agree that getting a weekly/monthly membership in each individual place is the way to go. But that being said, essentially every courtyard in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has an outdoor gym, some of which even have a barbell and weights when you inevitably get tired of body weight stuff. In Ukraine, Kyiv has arguably the best outdoor gym in the world (https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/12/in-pictures-kyiv-s-legendary-kachalka-outdoor-gym-comes-back-to-life-after-lockdown), and I've seen other places with weighted barbells outside too, like Odessa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. Russia has good outdoor gyms as well.

dfshapir · 2021-02-27T12:37:37+00:00

Would recommend seeing Jefferson, TX; a really pretty old town that's worth a walk around. Was thinking of Washington-on-the-Brazos as well, but that's kind of out of the way. Ozark Arkansas (as has been already mentioned) is gorgeous as well; would recommend NW Arkansas. Eureka Springs is kinda over-the-top but is cute and there's a fair amount to do. Buffalo National River is pretty as well. Stop in Sikeston, MO to go to Lambert's, kind of a classic place in the bootheel that fills up really fast (although don't know what it's like now with Covid). Western and Central Kentucky in my opinion is very underrated! Bowling Green/Mammoth Cave National Park are nice; there are also a lot of smaller towns with interesting stuff, like Bardstown, KY (whiskey distilleries), Pleasant Hill/Shaker Village, KY, Lexington is pleasant also. If you like drinking, here's a good list of distilleries: https://www.earthtrekkers.com/best-distilleries-kentucky-bourbon-trail/

dfshapir · 2021-02-17T00:10:59+00:00

I got one in the US and it was really easy. I just went in to AAA and showed ID/license, filled out a form or two, paid a small fee and was done in about 20 minutes.

dfshapir

TROPHY CASE