Any long trip requires flexibility, and at this time I’m “taking a vacation” from exploring new places. The travel photos will resume soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some memes related to traveling or the areas I have recently visited.

Turkey is the true intersection of east meeting west, Europe meeting Asia, combined with a long and ancient history. The country is home to Göbekli Tepe, an ancient archeological site from 8000 B.C. that makes Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids look young. The kebabs, baklava, and other Turkish foods are globally renowned, and the geography of the country offers a wide variety of locations and destinations.

While further east, Bulgaria is another country that’s part of the Balkans. Unlike the other countries I visited in the region, Bulgaria was not part of Yugoslavia and speaks their own Slavic language, Bulgarian. When I first arrived in the Balkans, I felt that no one was smiling and I began to learn how to keep a more straight face, but I was surprised upon arriving in Bulgaria that I had the same feeling again even though I thought I had already adjusted to this difference in the Balkans. Maybe Bulgaria takes it even more seriously?

Serbia isn’t on the map for most tourists thinking of scenic destinations, but because Belgrade was the capital of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), it is home to the largest city in any of the former Yugoslav countries. Compared to Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia is very flat and has many agricultural fields using that flat space. Like Bosnia and Herzegovina, the history of Orthodoc, Ottoman, and Jewish influence has left the country a multicultural hub.