2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

So that was 2021? I don’t know about you, but for us it went by in a flash. Indeed it seems like only yesterday I wrote my first ever end of year review, 2020: The Highs and Lows of a Nomadic Travel Blogger.

I really enjoyed writing that piece. Moreover, it performed pretty well on WordPress. So here I am putting finger to keypad on another year’s end. You know, thinking I might as well make a tradition out of this.

This time though, the format is a bit different. This is because I already put out a half year review: Magic, Marriage and Mayhem. For those who haven’t read that piece or have forgotten, the highlights go something like this:

1: Got my yearlong temporary residence visa for Serbia. Yay! Sladja and I were now able to stay together until the world (cough cough) fixes itself.

2: Got fully vaccinated! Or at least what was considered fully vaccinated back in June.

3: Sladja and I got married in Belgrade!

4: Lost my online teaching job due to the Chinese government’s ruthless attack on the private education industry.

5: In between all of the above we managed to finish exploring Belgrade. And make tracks around Serbia with trips to Novi Sad, Subotica, Veliko Gradiste, Golubac and Donji Milanovac. All of which I need to blog up one of these years…

2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

Hence I find myself left to summarise the remaining five months of 2021. Which, perhaps unsurprisingly, proved every bit as eventful. By the end of August Sladja and I had done everything we’d set out to achieve in Belgrade.

Furthermore, things had finally calmed down with the pandemic. Indeed we were able to leave the Serbian capital and resume our lives as nomadic teachers/bloggers. Nevertheless, Sladja and I decided it would be wise not to overcomplicate matters. Thus we agreed to keep our explorations local within The Balkans. That way we wouldn’t have to travel far and there’d be no messing around with quarantine, self isolation or even PCR tests.

On the 30th of August we flew from Belgrade to the Montenegrin city of Tivat. Like the flick of a switch, what had been a patchy summer transformed into a joyous period of sunny, deep-blue-sky days. Basing ourselves in a spacious apartment in the hills, we spent a month discovering Tivat and its numerous little beaches and coves.

We hung out at The Balkans’ most exclusive marina and sought out the local parks, churches and museums. We fell in love with the nearby mountain village of Gornja Lastva and made day trips to the handsome city of Kotor and the idyllic town of Perast.

Sveti Djordje (Island of St George), Perast.

All the while, I built up my online school, Umbrella English. Two students soon became three… then four… and oh yes, five! I had to develop lessons, promote myself and… crucially… work out how to secure payments from Chinese customers.

It was a lot of work. But following the seemingly relentless troubles of life in Belgrade (surely the topic of a short story collection one day), it felt good to be living life on our own terms again. Unfortunately, it all ended badly with our Airbnb hosts in Tivat. But… well… that’s yet another tale for a future post.

We loved living in Montenegro. In fact, we were so comfortable Sladja and I stayed for a second month, relocating to the nearby town of Budva. We got to see the tourist season wrapping up, with the closing of various beach restaurants and cafes. The skies became increasingly moody, tourists fled en masse and we were able to explore the gorgeous old town and citadel in peace.

Budva was a sleepy town with limited sights, but the perfect base for some of my favourite Montenegrin adventures. We spent a day at the absolutely stunning King’s and Queen’s beaches. We also made the trip to the town of Cetinje, an architectural gem. And enjoyed an unforgettable day taking in the ruined UNESCO fortress of Old Bar. I don’t know when I’ll get round to blogging about it all, but I feel certain it’ll be worth the wait.

2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

Naturally, there were great challenges along the way. In between invigorating hikes and breathtaking sunsets, I had a period of stagnation with student recruitment. And then Sladja got sick, a sudden and unforeseen development that required minor surgery. The word stressful doesn’t even begin to cover it. But we handled everything of course, as we always do.

On October 25th, with Sladja still very much in a state of healing, we travelled through Montenegro by car before crossing the border into Bosnia and onto Sarajevo. The views from our windows were magnificent, particularly those that took us through Sutjeska National Park.

As for Sarajevo itself, we loved the place. Montenegro had been great due to its fine weather and picturesque landscapes. But the Bosnian capital, with its hilly terrain, mosques, churches, museums, cemeteries and lovely Trebevic Mountain, really stole our hearts.

Exploring Sarajevo.

Some of the war sights, however, were tough to stomach. As regular readers of these pages know, I don’t shirk away from visiting horrific genocide sites. Regarding those in Sarajevo, I’d say you can’t and shouldn’t avoid them. Not if you want to truly understand the city and its people.

Over the course of our month there we dove deep into the horrors of The Bosnian War, including the harrowing Srebrenica Exhibition: Gallery 11.07.95. If you’re not familiar with the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, just a quick look online will give you a good idea of what a dark chapter of world history took place there.

Bosnia was also a good time for my school and by the end of our stay I’d amassed a total of nine long term students. Not bad for the first few months of business. On the 22nd of December we returned to Serbia for a long term stay at Sladja’s parents’ house in the town of Obrenovac. What an intrepid three months it had been, but now it was time for a period of wintry stability. Some much needed weeks of rest in between all the teaching and blogging.

Obrenovac also gave us the chance to map out the next leg of our lives. After two years away from The UK it was high time to go home. I wanted to introduce Sladja to my family and friends for the first time. Show her around my favourite parts of London/Scotland and embark on trips to new corners of Britain.

2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

We applied for a visitor’s visa that would allow Sladja to stay for up to six months. It was so much ****ing work, just the latest bureaucracy nightmare in a year that had been full of them. Then, with the application still under consideration, Omicron crashed the party and threw the entire trip into doubt. We could only watch and wait as a few cases in Britain became hundreds… thousands… then broke daily records for good measure.

Next came the news that we’d now need to provide negative Covid tests before and after departure. Meanwhile, there came social restrictions within The UK and debates raged over a potential lockdown. Of course we were left wondering if there may even be a travel ban before we got to fly. And with scientists doing frantic research as to how severe Omicron actually was, I couldn’t help but ponder if we should go at all.

In the middle of it all Sladja got her visa! Much to our surprise, they’d given her an earlier entry date than we’d asked for. In The UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced no further restrictions until “after Christmas”. And reports surfaced that Omicron looked to be a much milder variant than its predecessors. We knew we now had a window to get in while we still could. So we went for it!

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What followed was a frantic and highly stressful couple of weeks. We booked our flights to Heathrow, our coach into London and our train up to Stoke-on-Trent, where we’d be staying in a hotel for 4 nights before transferring onto long term accommodation in a nearby village.

Obrenovac, Serbia.

We pre-booked our Day 2 PCR tests at Heathrow, did our pre-departure antigen test in Obrenovac and filled out our tedious Passenger Locator Forms. Knowing that the health system in Britain was under great pressure, we scrambled to take care of all our medical needs in Serbia. A crappy day of hospital tests and pharmacy visits in Belgrade.

In between, we had lessons to teach, the blog to maintain and Sladja’s family’s Saints Day celebration on December the 19th. In fleeting free moments, we would go outside for short walks in the deep snow. At some point we lost water and heating for 24 hours due to an incident at a local plant. What fun to have on top of everything else in minus temperatures!

Finally, on Monday December the 27th, it was time to travel. What a surreal day that was. First came our flight from Belgrade to Heathrow. Just 20 or so people on a 100-seater plane and Air Serbia packing us all into the first 6 rows. Then playing an insulting recorded message telling us “don’t mingle in the aisles” due to Covid. Idiots.

Next came the wonderfully straightforward breeze through customs followed by our Day 2 PCR tests at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. We used a company called Halo, which offers a spit test. Just fill up the tube to 4ml and leave it in a box, results back within 24 hours. £120 for the pair of us.

2021: A Travel Blogger’s Balkan Odyssey.

Next came the coach into London Victoria. It showed up over 40 minutes late “due to Covid” (staff shortages). Packed to the rafters, of course, with lots of non mask-wearing folk talking loudly on their phones without a care in the world. From there we had to jump onto the London Underground for the 4-stop blast to Euston and our train to Stoke. We could’ve walked it, but that would have been an hour in the rain.

At Euston we learned that our train had been cancelled “due to Covid”. Luckily, a helpful guy at the ticket office put us on an earlier train leaving immediately. With just minutes to spare, I managed to grab us some SIM cards, a bottle of water and dinner. An obnoxiously overpriced chicken and mushroom Cornish pasty. It did the job.

The train journey was a piece of cake. Only a handful of people in our carriage, including a drunken, maskless Irishman shouting on his phone for about half an hour. A veritable public broadcast for the entire carriage. “Yeah, I wanted to travel there today but I can’t. They said I need something called a PCR test”. 

The Holiday Inn Express, Stoke-on-Trent.

Having arrived in Stoke-on-Trent, we jumped into a taxi to The Holiday Inn Express on the outskirts of the city centre. As one of Stoke’s major budget hotels, the place was rammed with people. The breakfast buffet, for example, proved so chaotic we quickly gobbled up our food and scurried back to the room. Yikes.

Luckily we got our negative results through quickly. Yes!!! It was pleasing to have stayed one step ahead of COVID. Especially at a time when the tally of confirmed daily cases hit over 180.000 people. As I wrap this piece up it is New Year’s Eve and we have just relocated to a picture perfect Staffordshire village. This charming house, converted from an old post office, will be our base for the next four months. A place from which I can continue to build the school and dive back into blogging after an extended break.

And of course we have travel plans aplenty. Across Staffordshire, down in London, up in Scotland and beyond. Thanks, as ever, to everyone who reads the blog and takes the time to contribute to the comment threads. We particularly appreciate the community here on WordPress, who’ve shown increased enthusiasm and loyalty over the past twelve months.

Happy New Year! Here’s to a better, bolder and brighter 2022!

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