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While traveling around the world I carried around a good 35 pounds and was often asked what I packed. No, I didn’t carry souvenirs (there are post offices!) or evening gowns. there just isn’t much you really need to set off for a good global adventure.

1. Medicines – I had stuff for all sorts of ailments and injuries as just in case for times I wasn’t near a pharmacy or wasn’t well enough to get to one. By far the most valuable ones to me were Neosporin (it cures everything the Greeks use Windex for), Dramamine, oral rehydration salts and probiotics. Other than Neosporin the others could be bought at any pharmacy. The only preventative medicine I used was Malarone for malaria in Madagascar (I recently heard of someone taking that for a trip to Costa Rica where all they were going to do was take a tour bus and I still can’t get my eyebrows back down) and that really needs to be purchased in advance of travel. Any anti-malaria with -quine in the name seems to provide great visions and an overall odd feeling so unless that’s your goal I would go with the low/no side effect Malarone.

2. Gadgets and batteries – I had my camera, lens attachments, video camera, binoculars, outlet adapters and chargers of all sorts. The medicine and gadget bag were by far the heaviest portion of my pack, but I never could pare them down very far. I probably used the binoculars the least, but was so glad when I had them – for lemurs, whales, etc.

3. A good multi-purpose knife (knife, scissors, corkscrew) and wet wipes. I had great dreams of eating mangoes while traveling by train through Madagascar. Turned out they only had one short-ish distance train line semi-running and it wasn’t mango season. I didn’t give up hope though because the Philippines came later and there were good mangoes (along with Vietnam). India had excellent mangoes as well but I ate them civilized residential.  When you have good mangoes and limited access to a sink, you need wet wipes.

4. Clothes, Teva sandals (seems like standard traveler equipment), 50 cent flip flops for showers, a versatile walking/hiking shoe and a pair of black flats I was ready to retire when done traveling. As for clothes, there was the usual traveler/hiker North Face kinds of t-shirts and shorts (fleece top, rain jacket, no heavy jacket), but for pants I can’t say enough about Dockers. They’re cheap, they’re stretchy enough for hiking, they’re cotton so they breath, and my black pair with flats got me out of the jungle and into 777 first class seats as if I hadn’t missed a hot shower.

5. A list of addresses for postcards, copy of my passport (also emailed to myself) and a self-made photo ID listing medications, allergies and emergency contact info.

6. Sunscreen. Period.

Other than that, there’s nothing you really need to carry around for a year and a half. It’s funny when I hear about what people have to have or need and most of the time none of that would have fit in my backpack. Really, with clean water and a few necessities you are all set to set off on a world trip.

welcome! recepción! willkommen! bienvenue!

Welcome to lorem ipsum
dolare & adipiscing

I have great friends, an interesting job and I live in a city with access to anything at just about any time, and yet rarely does a day go by when I don’t mentally reminisce and miss my short time in Serbia. Oh Serbia, to what do I owe this romance? It always comes down to the people, but in this case it almost seems to run deeper.

I can’t say enough gushing things about my friends there in Novi Sad, and their friends, and their friends’ friends and the friendly hotel, café and boutique staff. Serbia all started as a destination to meet former business contacts while I was in Europe anyhow for a wedding – since I don’t get across the pond too often anymore (Europe has felt so “done” for me). We had exchanged plenty of emails and talked occasionally, but I wanted to meet them as soon as I had the chance, and like so many things if you don’t make the effort you don’t get the experience. So I popped over for a week and was met by Aleksandar and his amazing wife Biljana who are the most incredible people. Not just in generosity, but in sense of humor and life perspectives. I love Biljana’s communist enthusiasm and Aleksandar’s cultural ideas. We had such a time together and they weren’t an anomaly – everyone else I met was similar. It was fantastic learning about the region and exchanging world views. So cool their currency is still tied to gold and they are all about bucking the Euro. About a week in, I realized by American standards I wasn’t just a flaming liberal (as described by family) – I was a radical. There is something about equality and fair access that I just can’t be convinced out of!

Things I loved beyond people – the old neighborhood around the Novi Sad fortress, couples making out in tiny cars at stoplights, cobblestone streets, the pace of Belgrade, café lifestyles, and old world European architecture mixed with progressive Serbian eccentricity. I spent most of my time in Novi Sad with a day in the Hardap Dam region along the Danube next to Romania and a day or so in Belgrade. If you ever drive along the Danube to Hardap Dam you have to look out for the carving of a head on the face of a cliff in Romania. It’s massively large and looks a lot like Jay Leno. To this day I have no idea who it is or how they got the forest fairies to carve it.

People in the US and even at the wedding in Denmark often asked why I would go to Serbia (but with the italicized “Why would you go to Serbia?” inflection). I was told it’s a war-torn country. There are physical reminders in Belgrade and sentiment about American foreign policy is not flying at a high (although certainly an improvement over Bush). One very interesting reminder of the sentiment was the American Embassy in Belgrade has no windows! Anyhow, the world population can rest assured, Serbia is doing just fine (thank you very much). They’ve rebounded and continue to make economic progress and the quality of life is quite high for many compared with others in European nations and the US who are burning the candle at both ends working long hours for low pay. Serbian services and increasingly products are in high demand and the local prices remain competitive.

I’ll absolutely go back and hope to explore more of the region including Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia on my next visit. If you’re going to be there soon, I can highly recommend the hotel I stayed at in Novi Sad -  Arta Boutique Hotel http://www.boutiquehotelarta.rs/. The rooms were very cool and the staff was very helpful.