Ljubljana,
Slovenia:
"Enjoy
the beautiful countryside and a great quality of life. There are few
capitals in the world where one can be in the mountains in half an hour
or at the sea in an hour." Read More.
Thanks to Robin Pascoe, Joanne Grady
Huskey, Jo
Parfitt and Patricia Linderman for their generous gifts of books for
our fundraising campaign! Click here to donate $75 or more
to Tales and get one of these classic expat books free while supplies
last!
A British expat makes his permanent home on the Turkish coast
In 1988, Colin Guest went to Kemer, Turkey, for a five-week work contract.
He still lives there today, and the mountain view from his house makes him
"feel good to be alive." In a Covered Wagons essay, he shares instructive
details of his life abroad, from social ties to international volunteering,
and from traffic conditions to the friendliness of the Turkish people. If
you've ever thought of retiring on the Mediterranean -- or anywhere else
abroad -- don't miss Colin's take on "what it's really like to live there": Living on the Med in Turkey, in our Covered Wagons section.
A long-awaited assignment abroad ends with a terrible loss
Karen O'Neill De Thomas and her family had long hoped for
a U.S. Foreign Service assignment to Vienna. After twenty years they finally
arrived there, enjoying a grand home with a staff of two and world-class
cultural opportunities. Yet it was not to last: a terrible and unforeseeable
tragedy struck the family. Karen's heartbreaking and eloquent essay
describes how her international experiences helped give her the strength she
needed to keep on living: Vienna Waits For You, in our Road Less Traveled section.
An American in Serbia comes face to face with a family of Roma (Gypsies)
Is giving money to beggars a kindness, or does it encourage harmful behavior? Why are the Roma considered a "problem" in many parts of Europe? Living in Belgrade, Regina Landor has found that the answers to these questions are not so straightforward. Don't miss her thoughtful observations of a Roma settlement near her home in Belgrade, and her reflections on what she can do to help them: "Boy on the Bus: Crossing Paths with the Roma," in our Road Less Traveled section.
An American 4th of July in Thailand
Ronald Estrada loves his new life as a retiree in Bangkok, but he sometimes gets nostalgic for a taste of home. He found the perfect solution at a Fourth of July event sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce, featuring fast food, classic rock music and a life-sized cardboard cutout of President Obama. Read his enthusiastic and informative account of the event -- and the everyday delights he's discovered in Bangkok -- in his Covered Wagons essay, An American Fourth of July in Thailand.
Bed, breakfast and drunken threats in the Republic of Georgia
An expat from the Netherlands appreciates small luxuries in Armenia
According to Karen van der Zee, everyday life in Yerevan
features "electricity that takes unannounced breaks, water
that stops flowing when you have guests for dinner, and no
fresh broccoli." But like many seasoned expats, she's tracked
down sources for some luxuries that counterbalance the
discomforts: a fabulous imported American mattress, and some
of the world's best trout and sturgeon fillets, delivered
right to her home. Find out why people are surprised by the
sight of raw sturgeon -- and why testing a mattress in public
is an act of cross-cultural defiance -- from her honest and
insightful Covered
Wagons
essay: Forty
Kilos of Fish and a Posturepedic Mattress.
Coffee culture in France through the eyes of an American expat
What if the French introduced a speeded-up version of baseball called
"Quickieball"? That's how American fast food appears to them, according to
expat Dan H. Woods. He also found that in France, coffee is not something to
be gulped from a huge mug while commuting, but a concentrated, flavorful
beverage to be savored with friends and colleagues -- even if it comes out
of a machine. Read about this and much more in Dan's funny, insightful
Covered Wagons tale of two cultures: French Roast.
An American development worker finds herself mired in the
snow in enemy territory
While helping rebuild war-ravaged Bosnia, development consultant Amanda Fernandez and a few colleagues hoped to forget about work for a weekend and just go skiing. But the winter resort was in a scary Serbian nationalist stronghold, and their jeep got stuck in the snow -- which provoked humorously different reactions among the expat nationalities represented. Don't miss this Road Less Traveled tale of discarded scruples and pragmatic solutions: Skiing with the Serbs.
Language isn't the only communication barrier in Asia
Of course it's hard to communicate in Asia if you can't
speak the local language. But what if you can? According to
longtime Asia hand Antonio Graceffo, many people across the
region seem to assume it's impossible to exchange information
with a Westerner, no matter what he says or does. Don't miss
Antonio's delightfully exasperated Covered Wagons article, reporting on hilarious encounters in the Philippines, Thailand and China: Asia Isn't Babel: The Lack of Communication is Cultural, Not Linguistic.
An Australian finds much-needed support in an unusual expat group
Living in Singapore and working at home, Australian writer
Patricia Tan felt increasingly isolated and lonely. Yet the
first steps toward friendship seemed daunting too -- "Keep
breathing," she told herself, as she set off for her first
gathering of YCFE (Young Childless Female Expats). Don't miss
her honest and personal Covered Wagons
essay about reaching out to a group of strangers in a
foreign land: Starting Somewhere: a first step into the expat community in Singapore.
TALES ESSAY FEATURED IN NEW "TRAVELERS' TALES" BOOK!
The recent Tales essay "Ich
Spreche Kein Deutsch," by Nichole Martinson, has been reprinted in
The Best Women's Travel Writing 2009: True Stories from Around the
World, from the best-selling, award-winning Travelers' Tales
series. Buy it here and support Tales. Congratulations to Nichole, and thanks to all of our readers, contributors and volunteers who helped with the publication of this story!
Some cross-cultural experiences are memorable for the
wrong reasons, as American writer Dave Seminara discovered in Kazbegi,
Georgia. Don't miss his sad and moving -- but hilariously written -- story of a homestay that revealed the host's ugly side: "
According to Karen van der Zee, everyday life in Yerevan
features "electricity that takes unannounced breaks, water
that stops flowing when you have guests for dinner, and no
fresh broccoli." But like many seasoned expats, she's tracked
down sources for some luxuries that counterbalance the
discomforts: a fabulous imported American mattress, and some
of the world's best trout and sturgeon fillets, delivered
right to her home. Find out why people are surprised by the
sight of raw sturgeon -- and why testing a mattress in public
is an act of cross-cultural defiance -- from her honest and
insightful 
