by Matthew Allison | Sep 18, 2022 | Middle East
Reevaluating the UAE: Beyond the Glitz and Glamour I admit that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has never been my favorite destination in the Gulf. Compared to Oman, Saudi Arabia, or Yemen, it always felt too decadent, too artificial, and lacking the deeper cultural...
by Matthew Allison | Sep 17, 2022 | Middle East
Qatar: A Gateway to an Unconventional Journey August 2022: Qatar, a small oil-rich kingdom in the Persian Gulf, was the starting point for a two-week journey through Pakistan, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Dubai, and Bahrain. Though just a peninsula jutting out from...
by Matthew Allison | Sep 17, 2022 | Middle East
Arrival in Bahrain: A Gulf Journey Through Contrasts September 2022: After wrapping up an intense two-week journey through Qatar and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, my friend John and I arrived in Bahrain. Despite its proximity to Qatar—another oil-rich Gulf...
by Matthew Allison | Aug 27, 2022 | Asia
Return to Afghanistan: Chasing a Once-Impossible Dream The Minaret of Jam and a New Chapter in a Beloved Land August 2022 — After decades of war and turmoil, Afghanistan had unexpectedly opened its doors. The Taliban insurgents I once evaded were now in power,...
by Matthew Allison | Jul 3, 2022 | North America
About Beluga Whales in Churchill In Search of the Beluga Whale A Childhood Fascination That Never Left Me One of the biggest motivators behind my travels has always been my desire to see wild animals—especially those I’ve been drawn to since childhood. That passion...
by Matthew Allison | May 29, 2022 | Europe
Chasing the Last of Eastern Europe: A Baltic Adventure May 2022: Touchdown in Lithuania In May 2022, I boarded a LOT Polish Airlines flight from Budapest, Hungary and landed in Vilnius, Lithuania just around noon.This trip marked a personal milestone — the Baltics...
by Matthew Allison | May 28, 2022 | Europe
May 2022: Tracing Empires in Eastern Europe From Roman Ruins to Communist Relics on the Road Through Hungary Completing the Map In May 2022, I returned to Eastern Europe with a specific goal: to visit the last countries I had left in Europe. After years of weaving...
by Matthew Allison | May 22, 2022 | Europe
Completing Eastern Europe: A Final Journey to Estonia A Personal Milestone May 2022: This trip marked a personal milestone — Estonia was the final country in Eastern Europe that I had yet to visit.It felt like the closing of a long, adventurous chapter of one of my...
by Matthew Allison | Apr 18, 2022 | Africa
March 2022: As part of a multi-country African trip, my wife, friend, and I visited Burundi. It was the last country in the region that I had not visited, and even though I was miles from the border in Rwanda years earlier-Tracking Wild Chimpanzees and Observing the...
by Matthew Allison | Apr 4, 2022 | Europe
April 2022: On our return flight to the U.S. from Luanda, Angola—Tribal Stay with Muila People in Southern Angola | Venture The Planet via Brussels Airlines—we had a five-hour layover in Brussels. Rather than wait idly at the airport, we decided to make the most of...
