Shasti Walsh

Belgrade

07 April, 2018: On the train from Budapest to Belgrade, I sat in a cabin with a retired Serbian couple. We eventually started chatting, and I was impressed with their pride in their city. “You will love Belgrade” they said. “It is the best city in Europe.” They told me all about the food, andContinue reading “Belgrade”

Tourism at Easter Bunny Speed

Easter weekend in Vienna

Vienna’s Hidden Towers

To be fair, they aren’t exactly hidden. It’s difficult to hide 50-meter-high concrete behemoths in the middle of a city; they’re taller than all the surrounding buildings with the exception of church spires.

Statues of Budapest

After spending a month in Budapest, I have lots of thoughts and impressions on the city, but the biggest first impression remains the primary one: Budapest really, *really* loves statues.

Welcome to Budapest!

07 March, 2018: I landed at 2am, on a magenta plane from Morocco. I don’t even remember passport control, so it must have been easy, and then I stopped at the ATM to withdraw local currency. The exchange rate is confusing — my primary reference point is that 5,000 Hungarian forints equals approx $20 USD,Continue reading “Welcome to Budapest!”

Morocco was about making friends

I had an amazing time in Morocco, and I would love to go back someday. I learned a lot, I went surfing and swimming, I got to experience an entirely different culture, and I confirmed for myself that I can live and work pretty much anywhere. The best thing about Morocco, though, was spending fiveContinue reading “Morocco was about making friends”

Hot Water Methodology

I’m confused, y’all. Why do we have hot water heaters in the US? I didn’t think anything of it until I started traveling more frequently several years back, but over the course of multiple years and multiple countries, it has come to my attention that there are other options, and they seem a whole lotContinue reading “Hot Water Methodology”

The Cool Ranch saga continues

I first wrote about this over here, but to recap: I’ve realized that ranch dressing is not a thing that exists outside the US. Sure, fine (tragic for pizza-eating in other countries, but ok). But then you have Cool Ranch Doritos, which *do* exist in other countries… except they have to give them different namesContinue reading “The Cool Ranch saga continues”