📈 Q2 2023 Wrap Report 📉

Hello Adventurers, 

It’s not an original thought…but when I was a kid — maybe around nine years old — I was jarred by a heavy-to-me realization; that when you’re born, you actually begin to die…because one’s finite hourglass is activated, and the game of life starts until it ends. And it didn’t scare me (not because I was brave, but because my young brain couldn’t process such an abstract concept). Rather, it just landed somewhere between a ‘whoa’ and a ‘hmm’ as it does when one first begins to understand the contours of mortality.

Time is a really odd thing, and my experience with it this year has been peculiar; ‘time’ is a liquid that can be runny one second, and viscous the next. Like every step of every marathon — for me at least — is such a slow slog (where a minute can sometimes feel like an hour) yet my execution of such this year — across the realms of the physical world — has been breakneck in pace. And together, it amounts to the ‘slowest fastest’ year I’ve ever lived, in one year where I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes (where the physical pain has killed me time and time again as awe-for-the-world has re-birthed me a million times more). And then there’s just time folding on itself; like me here now staring at bygone things; be it the Colosseum or the Great Pyramid of Giza.

And dunno, maybe it’s ‘cause of the buzz about the Oppenheimer flick, but it got me reflecting ‘bout Christopher Nolan’s examination of time dilation in Interstellar…but more so thinking about how imperative it is to ‘wring out’ as many experiences from life as we can…because none of us know how much time we have on our clocks (unless one commits suicide). Like, there’s always a tomorrow until there isn’t. And that’s why I’m always dying to live each day versus living to die (the latter shows the utmost contempt for time).

This is the second quarterly wrap report that I’ve done for this project. Yes, it is one month late — my apologies…but this is a one man show where things rarely go to plan — but thankfully time can be folded onto itself (so let us ‘run it back’ and plot this newsletter issue on some past continuum).

Anyhoo, if you’re a new-ish subscriber, these ‘wraps’ are just a quarterly means for me to share some standouts — via high-level summary — from experiences with things or places from some earlier points in time…to hopefully inspire you to experientially investigate those which speak to you (like, at some future point in time). And regardless of whether it is me or you, I hope all our plans and dreams are near future ones; realized alive as buzzer beaters before that fateful final second of swish and/or earthly expiration.

- Ben Pobjoy, Chief Endurance Officer @ Killometres International Inc.

2023 TREK TRACKER

Where in the world...record am I?

• Countries visited: 42

• Flights taken: 46

• Kilometres flown: 70,387

• Marathons completed: 137

• Kilometres trekked by foot: 6,500.1

• Total kilometres trekked since 2015: 69,591

RAPID QUARTERLY RECAP

A speedy synopsis of Q2 2023 for time-crunched readers

• The Wildest Thing: Not sustaining any significant injuries on marathons in Q2 2023…but somehow whacking the outer side of my left kneecap last week — on the tiled corner of a wall — while exiting the shower at home in Toronto😣

• The Biggest Obstacle: The continued push-and-pull of deciding when to marathon and when to rest, and trying to see people whilst home…but not spreading myself too thin socially ‘cause I still gotta trek😵‍💫

• The Lesson Learned: Individual accomplishments aren’t real ‘cause nothing happens in a vacuum…yes, I’m trekking solo but I have an army of supporters…like you😘

THE LAST QUARTER: IN REVIEW

Stats and anecdotes from Q2 2023…and then some

Okay, I need to politely ask that you show me some mercy…because this section is a ‘smushing’ of a month-behind-schedule quarterly review WITH an end-of-month review…when there’s still three days left in July. So suspend some belief…and just try to follow my swerving!

The good news is — is that at the time of writing this — I have completed 137 marathons so far this year and will complete three more marathons by the end of the month…and being at 140 marathons going into August means I am on-schedule to break the world record for most marathons in a calendar year in as many different countries as possible (so long as I keep travelling and complete no less than 20 marathons a month — for the next five months — by 11:59PM on New Year’s Eve 2023).

Basically, the Marathon Earth Challenge is proving to be a series of trials — based on ‘best guess’ hypotheses ideated at home — that I test in the world-at-large…which — in doing so — produces data that I evaluate using quarterly post-mortems in order to ‘tweak’ my approach to the next quarter (in order to optimize my future results). And while I can’t say I have made mistakes — because I have never done a project like this before — I am learning lessons and making adjustments.

Originally, my approach to this project was gonna be to ‘hammer’ as much as I could in the first half of the year, and rack up as many marathons as possible (then go lighter in the second half of the year because I’d presumably be banged up). What I did not anticipate was how treacherous South America and the Caribbean would prove to be; collectively having everything from high altitude to crazy elevation gains to busted-ass urban terrain that is brutal on the feet / ankles / knees / hips. Going hard in the aforementioned — if I’m being honest — was ruining me too quickly. Luckily, I was able to recuperate in Mexico City — when my brother got married there last February — but this was done at the expense of marathoning (which meant I took more days off than I wanted to and — in turn — got behind in my hypothetical schedule). Then, in Q2 2023 my wife joined me for a month in Europe, and I slowed my schedule to maximize my time with her. The result is that I’ve ended up ‘conservatively on schedule’ as opposed to liberally being ahead of schedule (like I wanted to be). However, I don’t regret my decisions to make time for pause. Firstly, I didn’t shortchange my family by spending less time with them (which would have been an insult to them…since they’ve extended a lot of grace to me this year). Secondly, I am basically injury-free right now…which is a miracle.

I didn’t think I’d feel this good at this juncture of the project, and I’m confident I can start dialling up the intensity of my marathon schedule moving forward — because in Q2 2023 — I sorta cracked the code on flying; finding that super late or super early flights were more conducive to my marathoning. Conservatively, I only have to bang-out 20 marathons a month going forward…but I think I can execute 20-24 a month depending on terrain as well as flight paths. So if you’ve been a longtime reader, you know I started slipping behind in my ‘total numbers count’ in the spring…but now I’m 100% on schedule this summer…and the fun ahead is attempting to go above and beyond 240…which I think could be realistic (but I’m not gonna count my eggs before they hatch).

Psychologically, getting to 140 marathons will be a big feat…because then the amount of marathons left to do goes from triple digits to double digits. But don’t get me wrong — I’m stiff and sore and tired — and know nothing is given and everything is earned…and acknowledge there’s still A LOT of hard work to do ahead. But I called this thing a ‘challenge’ because I knew it would be challenging but I’m nevertheless feeling pretty jazzed in my belief that I can pull it off. Basically, I just have to be consistent and persistent and do everything I can to stave off injury.

So yeah — 42 countries visited to date as well as 137 marathons completed so far in 2023 — and a lot more countries to hit as well as marathons to crank out…but I’m feeling really good in mind and body and spirit…and remain infinitely inspired to go explore the world and share my findings with you.

I’m obviously having the time of my life on this dream project — and regardless of how you receive it (i.e. you may disagree with what I say or hate the scatterbrained tone or dislike some of the photos) — I just hope the sum of it all nudges you to make a little more time (or lots more time) for chasing your dreams, be they big or small. Until someone adds another hour to the day — or another day to the week — there’s never gonna be enough time for us to do what we want…so fuck the clock, take pause, and commit to furthering your passions / harvesting whatever it is that makes you happy. We only have one life to live…so let’s go have the time of our lives!

BEST LOCAL THING-Y

I always have to ruin a good thing…and — in this instance — I ruined two things at once. Up first; my thoughtful wife baked me some homemade granola ‘cause she knows I need nutrient / calorie dense foods to survive this project (since I gotta eat 5,000-6,000 calories a day on the Marathon Earth Challenge so I don’t wither).

And gosh, I gotta say; homemade granola just always ‘tops’ anything you can buy in a store when it comes to taste and texture. And I don’t know if it is because it’s fresher — or just infused with love — but receiving homemade granola always feels like such a gift. And this batch was a real treat; oats, orange zest, almonds, pumpkin seeds, black sesame seeds, yellow sultanas, and dried cranberries all clumped together with coconut oil and maple syrup. And it just had that perfect golden ‘oven bake-y’ look as well as the associated aroma when I cracked open the mason jar it was stored in.

Up second; when I saw my Mum the other week, she had made a cherry compote, and kindly gave me the leftovers…which I didn’t know what to do with, so I dumped it on a few breakfast servings of the granola.

It sorta drives my wife crazy — but when we eat together at home — I’m always trying to ‘hide more health’ or ‘sneak more science’ into anything I eat…the ‘hacking’ of which sometimes makes her eyes roll since my ‘hacks’ make things gastronomically grosser.

So yeah, I dumped a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a tablespoon of both chlorella and cacao nibs atop the ‘granola compote’ and turned it into edible super sludge by cutting it with some unsweetened almond milk.

Was this green monstrosity the best thing I ate this week? Absolutely not — I ruined everything — but after three months on the road, it feels restorative and luxurious to be back at home with access to powders and potions and supplements and vitamins…which I’m currently gorging on to try and backfill my busted-ness with health.

I’d love to bring these things on the road with me…but I just don’t have the space in my backpack / I regularly get inspected by guards at borders and travelling with a bunch of unmarked pills and powders in places I don’t speak the language seems like a recipe for disaster ala harsher interrogation. Plus, I have a fear of protein powder ripping open in my backpack on sweaty gear (and turning it into some gluey catastrophe) or powdered algae doing the same on dry gear (and tie-dying my white shirts into some green and stinky psychedelic mess when I start to sweat in them).

My bloodwork is always pretty normal in terms of the levels of everything — and I can never qualify whether my hacks are helpful…or just witchcraft-y wishfulness / a waste of money — but it either works or I’m just another one of those suckers buying into it all. That said, eating this crap makes my mind feel better when I think I’m eating better, and — real or not — it just gives me a bit more belief in my capabilities when I’m pushing my body to the limits. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

GEAR REVIEW

Seek and destroy…for your benefit and consideration

To date, I’ve always ‘made do’ with whatever marathon-related gear I can afford. Partially, it’s because I’m not fussy (movement shouldn’t be material-reliant…so my vibe is to just go outside and move in whatever you have) but mostly it’s because I don’t have paid sponsorships and therefore have to buy everything myself (and because I blaze through gear at an alarming rate, I buy inexpensive house brand stuff from MEC or heavily discounted stuff from a nearby Nike clearance store). Yes, I do have some premium ‘piecemeal technical stuff’…but my kit is way more ‘amateur hodgepodge’ overall. As such, I’m not an authority on the matter BUT I did just put the following pieces of gear through 50+ marathons across 25-ish countries (with varying terrain and lots of rain and wind) in 80-ish days in Q2 2023, and I’m confident that my testing was robust, and that my findings are accurate.

Anyhoo, I made some ‘gear tweaks’ on my Q2 2023 ‘leg’, and they were game changers; I bought a shoe holster — which proved to be durable in construction — that enabled me to travel with an extra pair of shoes clipped to my backpack (and being able to rotate shoes was clutch for offsetting blisters) and I made the switch from micro weave merino wool socks to wearing synthetic LYCRA® yarn socks by Near Earth, and the fit as well as the comfort of the latter was a noticeable improvement (no bunching and more breathable, and no blisters whatsoever).

When it came to soft goods, my pals at Ciele Athletics* kindly outfitted me from the tops of my knees to the top of my head on this ‘leg’ of my project…and I’m beyond grateful for their floating-gear-to-me support (as well as their friendship). I have never had a complete ‘pro’ kit like this Ciele one — so take my findings with a grain a salt (since I don’t have anything to compare it to) — but I punished the hell out of their stuff, and it remained comfortable and functional. Furthermore, I didn’t always have access to laundry abroad in Q2 2023 so I’d regularly wear Ciele stuff for days and days (gross, I know) — which meant it accrued crud and dirt and blood and sweat and suntan lotion — and I’m shocked that none of the Ciele stuff disintegrated or lost its material integrity. Furthermore, when I did crudely launder Ciele garments, they bounced back (never holding onto stains or funky smells). And I was really thrashing this gear — just not gentle with it / it rubbing on rocks as well as getting caught on trees — and nothing tore nor did one stitch, zipper, button or drawstring break or snap.

In terms of specifics, Ciele Athletics hooked me up with a bucket hat (which provides optimal sun protection over my ears, is crazy breathable, and has an innovative drawstring that ensured it never blew off of my head), a raincoat (which is so lightweight and folds up to nothing in size…yet so waterproof, has internal pockets that ensured I wasn’t pickpocketed, and an intelligently designed clasp on the chest for when you’re hit with a bit of light rain but still want the jacket unzipped to remain cool), shorts (which are insanely durable, comfy, and have these super soft interior pockets that are so cozy — and comforting — to slip your hands into when you’re having a moment of panic), and shirts (masterfully technical / truly innovative because they’re so breathable via the fabric as well as the vented slits in the side…and they made me feel near shirtless due to their lightness…and I appreciated this because I’m not comfortable marathoning shirtless — even when it is blazing hot out — because I don’t possess that type of self-confidence / I can lose a drastic amount of weight over the course of a few days and get very loose skin that bounces about). Basically, the Ciele Athletics stuff was outstanding — outperforming my expectations — and I feel kinda dumb / cheap for never having invested in this type of premium, best-in-class technical gear before.

If I have to reach for one Ciele criticism (which is minor), it’s that the zipper on the raincoat is really small and fine which means it can be tricky to engage with numb hands and/or in crazy winds. However, I have bad hands from years of boxing / years of my hands freezing on winter marathons…so this problem is prolly particular to me. Also, I don’t want to misrepresent the Ciele gear as being invincible; it is showing some normal wear and tear; the bucket hat has faded a tad ‘cause I wear it like 10 hours a day outside, the shorts have some pilling on the front due to friction from my fanny pack (which is where I carry my phone and GPS unit), and the seams on the back of the jacket are getting worked (because they’re being ground down by my heavy backpack on marathons). Basically, I’m severely beating the gear — and it is slowly showing some bruises — but the fact that all of it remains intact speaks to the definitive quality of Ciele Athletics products.

In Q2 2023, I could finally bring two pairs of shoes with me — courtesy of the shoe holster I bought — and bringing it with me on my ‘marathon travels abroad’ will be standing operating procedure moving forward; because when caught in a downpour, I can now swap soaked shoes for dry shoes (which does wonders for one’s spirit).

Norda† kindly gave me a pair of Norda x Ciele 'Gravel' 001 shoes for my Q2 2023 rip, and they are hands down the most indestructible shoes I’ve ever owned. They’re designed for unforgiving trails and built like agile tanks (and can take severe punishment without showing wear or tear). That said, they are a very advanced / innovative shoe and ‘feel’ completely different than any other shoe I’ve worn before (i.e. the heel system is more glove than padded, and the midsole is super firm but fast). Basically, they’re like a formula one car designed for performance…rather than a boat-y Oldsmobile sedan designed for slow cruising and max comfort. As such, they’re not for everyone…but they are 100% perfect for me and my psychopath needs, and I truly love this shoe model…and it is why I was absolutely heartbroken to have completely ruined them. It’s a long story — but I was dealing with really different laundry machines in Europe / Africa / Asia … many covered in languages I couldn’t read like Arabic or Russian — and in Northern Ireland I got caught in a downpour the day before I was to stay with my pal Rancho — and I didn’t want to show up to his place in Edinburgh stinking of wet shoe — so I laundered my soaking Nordas at my Airbnb in Belfast and — unbeknownst to me — the washing machine had some inferno-like ‘steam dry’ cycle…and it shrunk the Nordas a full size. This is why I had to slash a crude ‘caesarian incision’ across each toe cap to force the shoe to stretch to my-now bigger-than-them feet. Basically, I totally fucked up the shoes — and that reflects poorly on me and I feel like a moron, but I was desperate in that situation — and this does not reflect poorly on Norda (since it isn’t reasonable to expect a running shoe to withstand what’s akin to a bake cycle in an oven or a kiln). Oh…and one of these shoes also got burnt by fire in an oil field in Azerbaijan — which is a whole other story — and despite all the chaos I brought to them…the Nordas remained in-tact (and have the only soles that I haven’t been able to turn completely bald). So yeah, this is Rolls Royce-type footwear, and made for total psychopaths like myself.

*†Ciele and Norda do not pay me / I’m not under contract with them / none of those hyperlinks are affiliate marketing links…so this is just my honest opinion.

To compliment the Nordas, I bought a pair of Nike Pegasus Trail 4 GORE-TEX shoes — from the mall at full price — because I needed something waterproof to wear in downpours. These shoes exceeded my expectations yet sorta disappointed me. I liked that they legit kept my feet dry in rain, have a gaiter at the ankle to keep rocks from getting inside the shoes, are really comfortable courtesy of being stretchy in the toe cap, and have squishy ‘Nike React’ midsoles that are heaven for enduring European cobblestones. What I didn’t like is that Nike is doing this weird thing now — on many of their shoes — where the soles aren’t fully covered by rubbery treads, and the rubbery treads are shallow and soft in compound so they wear fast. The result is like this expedited ‘planned obsolesce’ where the sole goes bald quick, and then you’re stepping on the foam above it— and this has no traction whatsoever — and begins to make this annoying ‘suction cup’ sound with each step on wet pavement. Basically, the sole at the heel of this shoe model has this 'inset negative space of foam’ surrounded by rubbery tread — and when that tread ‘goes’ the shoe becomes subpar ‘cause you’re trekking on foam — and it is a huge design flaw. All that said, these are sufficient shoes for normal people trekking a normal amount of kilometres…they’re just not ideal for psychopaths like myself that trek no less than 200+ kilometres a week.

Anyway, these two pairs of shoes are now toast and I bought some ‘discounted cheapies’ to function as dally shoes in the interim…but if any of you have recos on water-resistant or waterproof trail-styled shoes…please share them with me. Bonus points if I can find them in Toronto (or if they can be shipped to Toronto within a coupla weeks).

MARATHON MUSINGS

A worldly rundown of hits and misses from Q2 2023

One of the missions of this newsletter is to provide readers with unconventional travel and sightseeing recommendations from the field via my Marathon Earth Challenge. And given subscribers sign up in waves over weeks and weeks, I wanted to do a recap of what slapped and what stunk in the 26 different countries I marathoned in Q2 2023.

My hope is it functions as a bit of a resource for you to consider or consult when planning your next trip. And anything that's hyperlinked below takes you to old issues of the newsletter...which go way deeper on 'place', and provide exact locations of sights and attractions.

The following is pretty spontaneous and not sequenced in order of importance — or — like from best to worst. So take from it what you will!

THE HITS

Still can’t believe the Brits didn’t fully fuck it up: Cyprus. I went there to decompress after a challenging time in Cairo / arrived with zero expectations. And my presumption was that Cyprus was gonna be ‘England abroad’ vibes — because of colonialism as well as the continued military presence there — and just like full of vacationing Brits on scooters and fish and chips everywhere and just general yob party vibes…and there was a tiny sliver of that in Larnaca but absolutely none of that when you got into the countryside. And while the island is technically part of Asia, I found it to be a Mediterranean oasis; very old world in parts and quaint and full of golden light and just so pleasant and peaceful. It’s def a stretch for North Americans to get to…but if I lived in Europe it’d be a regular, no-brainer getaway destination.

Where rugged beauty and good living intersect: Northern Portugal. I am in my forties and I’m balding and I’m married and I mostly go to bed at 9PM…so that tells you everything you need to know about the ‘life stage’ I’m in. Said another way, railing a line of blow off of a dirty urinal in some humid / stinky dive bar with booming music surrounded by a bunch of hooligans looking to paint the town red…it’s no more. And while this newsletter makes piercing proclamations with bombast…I’m a quiet person IRL who prefers to do quiet things (even when I’m in loud cities). And because of this, Northern Portugal just really resonates with me; the long swaths of undisturbed coast, the timelessly slower pace, the beautiful food, the simple stone-y abodes that are hundreds of years old, and the small towns and villages that dot the countryside where locals have such deep connection to the earth as well as to one another. Like, I don’t know if heaven is real — but if it is — I bet it feels a lot like Northern Portugal.

A diamond in the rough: The Baltic States. I signed up for an Estonian history class in university and it was promptly cancelled within a week ‘cause it didn’t attract enough students. And then *blink* two-ish decades go by and I end up in that part of the world on this project…not knowing much about it. And boy, the whole region is so damn fascinating that I’m sorta shocked it continues to fly under the radar. Long-occupied and now untethered, there’s all these crumbling Soviet structures scattered across Estonia and Latvia and Lithuania and yet sooo much newness growing outta the cracks in Tallinn and Vilnius. The Baltics aren’t touristy — and they’re inexpensive to visit — and there’s a real energy / feeling of renewal there…and I’m just saying you should maybe mull it over as a destination even if you haven’t heard much about it.

A world of possibility: Scandinavia. If you’re an outdoorsy type or a fan of Jane Jacobs / urban planning or dig sustainability or are curious about what a healthier citizen-focused society could look like…go visit Norway and Sweden and Finland. I was gobsmacked by the imagination and innovation on display there, and really inspired by the thoughtfulness and intelligence I saw everywhere. Yes, it is wildly expensive…but it’s so safe and so clean, and just an exemplary model of how to balance market interests with public interests.

Count your lucky stars: Manshiyat Naser aka Garbage City. This Cairo neighbourhood processes garbage…and it is like a city atop a dump, and basically just makes you confront your privilege while being humbled by the human tenacity there. And if you go, please visit respectfully and chat with locals and buy stuff from local businesses…and don’t just go to be a voyeur or photograph it exploitively ala poverty porn.

Chic charm: Paris…but in the springtime (not in the grey of fall or winter). Yes, it’s cliché but that city sure knows how to do cool and beauty. And lord, when there’s blue skies and flowering flowers everywhere…it’s just very pretty. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s attitude-y…but locals are so put together in their street style that it just always dazzles me (and always compels me to step my game up). Paris, je t’aime.

So fun and friendly: Edinburgh. This place was sooo much smaller than I thought it would be…yet I had such a huge blast there! Firstly, everyone was super warm and nice (it’s like small-town vibes but in a city). Secondly, it offers such a robust range of activities; you can hike Arthur’s Seat in the city centre, eat good food, shop at really great indie businesses, golf for free in this quirky little park, hit free museums, and just wander around taking in the wonderful architecture. Looking for a weekend getaway? This place is the spot!

Narnia on earth: Tbilisi. This place is just really whacky and unique; hilly, forest-y, full of fantasy-like monuments, peppered with wood-clad homes with an aesthetic I haven’t seen anywhere else, it has a written language that looks like it was created by Tolkien, and it is just awash in this sense of mystery where light and dark feels like it hangs in fragile balance. Yes, it’s the birthplace of wine and yes, I saw lots of random dudes just doing donuts in cars in fields…so it is spellbinding in its strangeness…but sadly not LGBTQ+ friendly.

Nowhere more thought provoking than this: A trip where you split your time between Jerusalem and the West Bank. Straight up, this isn’t for everyone…because the latter can be a very risky place due to instability (which can pop-off at any time…especially this year with the Knesset being so right-leaning and ultranationalist). However, if you want a heavy dose of religion, history, politics, geopolitics, identity politics, nationalism…or just want to do a dialectical examination of freedom and oppression…there’s no better place than here. Also, I liked Yuval Noah Harari’s book ‘Sapiens’ but didn’t love it (because it requires you to take some questionable leaps along the way)…but it should be essential reading before visiting this part of the world (because of how the book explores the power of fiction — being imaginary tales we accept as real — to rally large groups of people). And for the sake of space, I’ll lump Belfast into this paragraph for many of the same reasons.

Perennially quirky: Amsterdam. The canals. The cyclists. The coffee. The culture. And the Dutch…who are so blunt that you can’t tell if they’re rude, sarcastic or pulling your leg with such dry humour. I encourage a summer visit because there’s some neat swim spots on the outer edges of the city centre.

THE MISSES

Downright scary: Baku. Azerbaijan is an autocratic petrostate that is fond of war and ethnic nationalism. There were recent pogroms and it’s full of caviar diplomacy as well as sport washing. Baku presents as normal for one second…but 1,984 seconds later it feels like George Orwell’s 1984.

Ruined by tourism: Rome…in peak tourist season. I don’t mind busyness…but the selfie sticks nearly decapitating you and the cringe of morons shooting TikTok stuff everywhere…and American families clogging sidewalks with strollers and arguing with one another…and so many crying kids wanting water or gelato…and too many restaurants catering to tourists…it’s chaos. Rome is beautiful and has some great pockets…so go in the fall or winter (or just hit the zillion other better places elsewhere in wonderful Italy).

Mean streets: Cairo. This place will chew you up and spit you out. Crazy traffic and lots of people trying to run game on tourists. It might be better if you’re cabbing everywhere and/or sticking tight to the main attractions…but if you’re poking around by foot you’re gonna get tested. Yes, lots of bullshit but seeing the Nile as well as the Great Pyramid of Giza sorta makes up for it.

Losing its charm: Istanbul. Blame Erdoğan…the city as well as the country are becoming more authoritarian. Istanbul was always so funky and vibrant…but there’s just this perceptible ‘tightening’ now. If you’ve never been, go. But if you’ve already been, don’t go back…I promise that it is better in memory (said with sincerity from a dude who has hit it twice).

They’re gateways not destinations: Amman and Dublin. The former is fine if it’s your entry point for Petra and/or the Dead Sea. The latter is fine if you’re an alcoholic or if it’s your entry point to the rest of the Emerald Isle.

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