by Matthew Allison | Jan 23, 2009 | Mexico, North America
A Layover Adventure: Climbing the Pyramids of Teotihuacán In January 2009, with a 10-hour layover in Mexico City on my way to Tijuana from Panama, I decided to make the most of my time by visiting Teotihuacán. Taking a combination of metro and public bus from the...
by Matthew Allison | Dec 3, 2008 | Central America
Darien Gap December 2008/January 2009: Few places in the world are as mysterious and alluring as the dense, foreboding jungles of the Darién Gap. This is a wilderness so deep, mountainous, and hostile that it remains the only break in the Pan-American Highway, which...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 29, 2008 | Europe
Exploring Moldova: Europe’s Least-Visited Country and Its Unresolved Conflict November 2008: As part of a two-week journey through the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia, my friend Dan and I spent three days in Moldova. I was particularly excited to visit Europe’s...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 29, 2008 | Europe
Break-Away Republic of Transnistria Transdniestria: A Soviet Time Capsule and a Break-Away Republic Adventure November 2008: As part of a multi-country journey through Eastern Europe, my friend Dan and I set our sights on Transdniestria—a self-declared breakaway...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 26, 2008 | Europe
Exploring Albania: From Communist Isolation to Modern Transformation November 2008: I visited Albania twice—first in 2008 during a two-week backpacking trip across the Balkans with my friend Dan, and later in September 2021 with my wife Paula. On my first visit, Dan...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 25, 2008 | Europe
November 2008: As part of a two-week backpacking trip across the Balkans, my friend Dan and I spent three days in Serbia. Our main goal was to explore Belgrade and observe how the country has rebounded from the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, which contributed to the...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 25, 2008 | Europe
November 2008: Traveling to Bosnia was one of the highlights of my two weeklong backpacking trip across the Balkans with my friend Dan because I was able to put faces and names to the victims, I watched in the news reports during the 90s when I was a young kid. I not...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 22, 2008 | Europe
November 2008: As part of a 17-day trip across the Balkans, my friend Dan and I spent 3 days in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik and its old city dating back to the 7th century made of marble and stone seated along the picturesque mountainous of Adriatic Coast was an...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 10, 2008 | Europe
November 2008: As part of a two-week journey through the Balkans and Eastern Europe, my friend Dan and I visited Montenegro, one of the world’s newest countries. Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Montenegro gained independence in 2006. We traveled overland by public bus...
by Matthew Allison | Nov 4, 2008 | Europe
November 2008: Visiting Athens and standing before the ancient Acropolis, with its towering Parthenon, was a must-do for me—just as it is for most travelers. The Acropolis, dating back thousands of years to the 5th century B.C., is one of those landmarks you see...
