#kosovo

These four pieces have been featured in the Love Issue of the O Gocë Magazine, which is a print magazine celebrating and documenting the work of Albanian female and non-binary creatives whilst also encouraging conversations, collaborations and connections with others in similar fields across the diaspora. It is a direct response to the often disregarded voices of creatives and hopeless approach to the arts within the culture. Please go on their website to purchase a copy of their newest edition.

Inevitably when people ask me “how many countries have you been to?” their follow-up is “what counts?”  It’s a really great question as both the idea of “being” or “going” someplace as well as the meaning of “country” are constructed ideas with multiple definitions.

I thought it would be fun to explain some of the different interpretations of these ideas and show how I count where I’ve been.

“Going”

The “how” of travel counting is often the more debated of the two - as it is intrinsically flexible (i.e without changing your definition you can return a different way and then count it, whereas once you define “country” it is essentially static).  The three most common definitions I’ve heard, from most required to least, are:

24-hours: I have a few friends who only count locations that they’ve been in for more than 24 hours (or sometimes even more- maybe a week!)  They argue that it needs to be more than a quick jaunt and that the location really needs to be taken in.  My thoughts against this methodology is that 1. Some small countries don’t need 24 hours (Liechtenstein, San Marino, etc) and 2. So much can be done in 12 hours! Or even 5!  I’ve walked the beach of Old Town Colonia and posed with elephants in Chobe National Park – so if you tell me I haven’t been to Uruguay or Botswana, I’d be less than convinced.  In fact, there are more than 10 countries I count that I’ve been in for less than 24 hours!  These are mostly in Europe as I’ve done road trips with many stops.

Experience: Personally, this is how I define “going” somewhere- Asking myself “Have I experienced the country?” or “Can I talk about my time in the country and relate to others who have been?”  Usually I say that I need to have eaten something and seen a famous site. 

Presence:Others say that having been physically located in a place, even in transit, counts as “being” there.  I disagree with this way because I don’t think that an airport really gives the feeling of a place, and politically speaking you haven’t crossed the border.  That said, sometimes when I get stunning views of the landscape while landing and then have some local cuisine at the airport restaurant, I wonder if it counts

“Country”

The more political of the two travel counting debates is obviously what is a “country”.  Despite common belief, there is no real definition of a “country” or a “nation” because different governments recognize various regimes as independent or not.  The perfect example of this being some countries refusing to recognize Palestine and others ignoring Israel.   But the three most used definitions in travel counting, from least inclusive to most, are:

Political: UN Member Nations:  The UN officially has 193 member nations in its main governing body.  However, this does not include a number of largely recognized states (some who are observers and a few other that are members of other UN bodies like WHO and UNESCO) such as Palestine, Western Sahara, and the Vatican.  I generally think that this is a good measure but being the political one, it is a bit slow to adapt to new movements, and also ignores locations that are so different from who they’re governed by (i.e Hong Kong and Macau which are technically part of China).

Cultural- Slight flexibility:  Again, the moderate approach is the one that I use myself.  I think defining “country” or “nation” in a more inclusive and flexible way is useful not only in travel counting, but also in general global understanding, cultural appropriateness, and modern identities.  I generally think of it on a per-country basis and make a judgement call then.  Usually though, my unscientific methodology requires 1. Some level of political autonomy 2. A quite separate cultural identity 3. Other historical and/or economic differences that would mean experiencing one part would not correspond to the other.  Some of these are more obvious to me, like Palestine and Kosovo, and others are more grey-zones like Puerto Rico.

Territories, states, and more:  It is common in extreme travel counting (those who have been to all UN Member Nations, observer states, partially autonomous locations, etc) to make lengthy lists of “countries” or “nations” that may include all 50 US States, all 7 Emirates in the UAE, each island of New Zealand, etc.  This means that lists may exceed 500 or even 800.  The most famous forum for travel counting: http://mosttraveledpeople.com/ uses a few counting techniques but also offers a list of 875 locations they describe as: territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces.  These are voted upon by their members for inclusion- but in my perusal of it, I’ve found it to be rather Western-centered with districts in countries like the US and Canada being all separate but not those in some major Eastern countries.

Overall- traveling shouldn’t be just about counting all the stops you make.  It is a fun way to plan your next trip or compete in a friendly way – but the real value in travel is the awe-inspiring sites you see, the differently similar people you meet, and the life long memories of experiences had!

The map of the 81 “countries” I will have “been” to by next week

It’s times like today, sitting the bus station in Podgorica, Montenegro, on my way to Pristina, Kosovo, that I think to myself, “my life is awesome and strange!”

I’m sitting in the station bar, joined by three men at a table catty-corner to me.  They all look ragged, and (of course) their story is unclear to me.  Are they also transient travelers?  I don’t think so.  Is this their bar of choice on a Tuesday night at 8pm? That seems slightly more likely. 

Despite these usual questions I ask while people watching, another thought is at the top of my mind-  Why is one of those men wearing an entire jean outfit?  Jacket and pants!  Fashion in the Balkans confuses me- and not because of some “this looks better than that” ideal, but because it really shows how disconnected (consciously or subconsciously) this area is from the homogenized global norm.  

All of this said, I think I’ve quickly grown to hardly question it.  Point proven by the fact that a guy my age just walked into the bar wearing a full sweat suit, and all I noticed was the dog he brought in with him.   A dog in a bar? I don’t know either.  He quickly walked back out though- maybe he realized what we were all thinking.

Oh, but now we four patrons have been graced by the presence of an elderly man (almost said “gentleman” but I’m feeling a bit pessimistic at the moment and don’t want to assume too much) who has sat down behind me and begun to smoke.  He is in the perfect position to read my writing… but I’ll gamble on language difference and his inability to decipher my awful handwriting.  Of any of us, he definitely seems like the regular to the train station bar.  I bet he could tell a hundred stories about this place- if only I could speak the language.  What is the language here?  Montenegrin?  I will have been in 11 countries this month so have lost all memory of language names, currencies, borders, etc.   And despite no shared language, I think I prefer my imagination right now.

On the small circular wicker table (the kind with a glass protector over it) my notebook is next to a single 1.5euro Niksicko (lines over both the s and c) 500ml ber bottle, half of the contents of which are poured into a small Coca Cola glass.  It’s a fine beer- I won’t pretend my palette or beer memory is enough to prescribe more than that single complimentary adjective to it.  I did think about ordering food as well.  I am hungry, have a three hour wait, and an eight hour bus ride after this…but from the seven page menu, only two options were available.  So I declined.  I’ll find something else soon.  Somewhere.  Though then I’ll have to take out more money at the ATM. Decisions…

What’s nice about traveling is noticing all of these little things and random people.  One gets in a mode of ultra-awareness of difference when going from place to place quickly.  This enables a heightened sense of smell, deeper respect for the beauty of vistas, acknowledgement of people and their jean jackets a bit more.  I think it’s because when we’re traveling we have the time to.  We are passive.  Taking the passenger seat to life happening around us.  We are in others’ lives when we travel.

We of course still find things weird when we travel, but unlike at home we can’t dismiss it so easily as such.  Instead, we spend time rationalizing, philosophizing, and hopefully not too quickly believing we “understand” it enough to move onto the next thought.   This makes travel a humbling experience- forcing the journeyer to say “I don’t know”.  It’s a transcendent juxtaposition between this forced lack of understanding and the heightened appreciation of the world’s beauty.

This exposure to the unknown (both places and people) is why some travelers love touristy places and others despise them.  Don’t you think?  Too much difference can be overwhelming.  Too many travelers are weak.

(side note) The jeaned man just left.  He was carrying a 2 liter soda bottle filled with a clear liquid.  He walks with a limb, has a scruffy face, and hair to his shoulder.  His one friend has a kind of fanny pack hanging from his neck.  The other is carrying a briefcase.  Understand them better now?

I find it funny that places like this bar (I’ve realized now from a sign on the door that it’s called “Aperitiv Bar”) were once new!  All shiny and quite possible fashionable- at least by local standards.  Maybe this simple blue carpet, the bar with green opaque-because-of-bubbles glass, or these dark brown wicker table sets were the “hit new thing” once.  Maybe everyone came to Aperitiv Bar- and slowly they have stopped- other than Mr. Jean Outfit, ancient old Mr. Smokes and SitsTooClose (oh I guess he left too), and the occasional random American on his way to an even more bizarre location.  

I wouldn’t be surprised if this cigarette-aged bartender woman was being chased by these men some 20 years ago.  They do say that bartenders have the best stories… 

Who knows?  I guess I do have 2.5 hours more to figure it out.  Though soon, after a few more gulps of Niksicko (don’t forget those lined consonants) I will find another strange location, but with food, and there I will once again try (and likely fail) to make sense of my surroundings.

But (closing thought) isn’t the point that through failing to make sense of others we get a new piece of the puzzle to make sense of ourselves?  But do we learn it immediately? If yes, then what have I learned from Mr. Jean Outfit?  No, I think it cooks under the surface for a while first.  But then how are these strange moments while traveling connected?

Do they make us who we are?  Or do they simply show us? 

In planning a trip through German-speaking Europe that I am hoping to take this December/January, I started thinking about other overland trips that I would like to take in future.  I came up with three really exciting ones and thought I would post the theoretical itineraries here!  

I’m not sure when- but I’ll definitely be taking one or more of these trips in the next few years.

I posted about the actual winter Europe trip and the first fantasy trip- in South America, from Buenos Aires to Bogota here:  Overland Trips I Want to Take: Part 1 (South America)

the third trip through West Africa can be found here: Overland Trips I Want To Take: Part 3 (West Africa)

Now onto the second trip

Eastern Europe

This trip would be amazing!  It combines ancient sites, Soviet era architecture, small modern cities, a beautiful coast, low lying mountains and more.  For me it would be unique in that Eastern Europe is really one of the regions that I’m least familiar with- I speak none of the languages, only know the basic outline of political history, and am not aware of much of the culture.  All of this would make it the perfect kind of travel- full of learning and experiencing new things.  

The trip would start in St. Petersburg experiencing the iconic “Mother Russia” before heading west through the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) this fast developing though often forgotten part of Europe interesting combines Eastern and Western Europe with some Northern/Scandinavian flair - or so I gathered from my short weekend in Latvia in 2011.  That brief encounter made me want to see more of the Baltics.

From there the route would go through Belarus and Ukraine. These two large countries were two of the more connected to the core of the USSR and still exist as more reserved (especially Belarus) than other parts of the former Soviet bloc.  These two nations being so large would mean long hours going through country-side, hopefully stopping in small towns, seeing the rural life a bit, making new friends, who knows. 

Next would be moving into the mountains of Moldova and Romania.  Considering I love low lying mountains and hills, I think this would be a highlight! Plus Moldova is probably the most obscure of the countries on the list, so getting to know it a bit would be really exciting.

Once in Bucharest, the plan is to cut directly West through Belgrade and all the way to Zagreb in Croatia and even further to Ljubljana, Slovenia.  These two capital cities are said to be somewhat unknown gems of Europe, with the latter being popular with cyclists and sharing some parts of Italian culture because of its proximity with Northern Italy.

The ride down the Croatian coast of the Adriatic sea will likely be the peak of beautiful landscape on the trip.  At some point though I’d move inland first to visit the campus of the boarding school in Mostar that is part of the United World College movement that I attended.  After crossing through the last bits of coast in Montenegro I’d move inland a second time, through Kosovo to Sophia, Bulgaria.

After Sophia I’ll be deep in old Greek territory, visiting Alexander the Great’s sites in Montenegro and then through another beautiful capital, Tirana, Albania. I will then leave the “Balkans” proper and head down through Greece to all the ancient ruins on the way to Athens!

Wow! I’m both exhausted and exhilarated from even writing about it!  Definitely would be a whirlwind experience. Hope I will do it (or parts of it) soon!

Bonus Trip: South Pacific  While talking with a friend we came up with three other long trips, and though I haven’t put much thought into them, I’m including one in each of the posts as a bonus trip.  This idea is to island hop around the South Pacific- seeing Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Marshall Islands, and many more!  I would be done ideally on a boat, though there are lots of small planes that go between the islands as well!  Who knows!

Kosovo - Akil Gjakova, European champion judoka