A Life of Travel: Let's Go to Socotra Island, Yemen! Seriously.

March 19, 2024

Current location: Pesac, Romania

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Hello {!firstname_fix},

It's Tuesday and it's time for a travel newsletter!

update

The trip from Yerevan to Timisoara, Romania last week took 14 hours. On the first flight (Yerevan to Vienna), we had to make an emergency medical landing in Bucharest. As a result, we missed our connection in Vienna. Luckily, two kind Austrian Airlines staff helped us get on another flight for free, even though our first flight was with a different airline. Then we flew to Munich, had a quick layover and flew back east, finally landing in Timisoara just before midnight. I felt like I had flown around the world twice, but the straight line distance between Yerevan and Timisoara was only 2000 km (1200 miles)!

Now it's time for 10 days of the quiet life. We'll be taking it easy in a small village called Pesac until we head back to the US for Thanksgiving.

Airfare Savings Tip

When I recently looked for flights from Tbilisi to Yerevan, the lowest fare was $150 USD on Georgian Airways. But then I noticed that the flight was actually operated by Armenia Aircompany. I went directly to Armenia Aircompany's website and the exact same flight was available for only $50 USD. So, it's worth looking for the actual operating airline and checking their website too!

Crazy Cheap Taxis

The ride took 23 minutes and covered 13 kilometers. It cost $2.00 USD. That was the insanely low taxi fare from our Airbnb in central Yerevan to the airport using the Yandex taxi app. And our other taxi ride across the city? 15 minutes for $1.20 USD. I'm not sure I've ever seen cheaper taxis.

Should I Start a Podcast?

I've thought about doing a podcast for a long time. And recently, a new and really cool podcasting app reached out to me. They offered me a chance to be one of the first podcast creators on their platform. There's lots to think about and I'd love to get your thoughts. Should I do it? Any recommendations or advice?

Let's Go to Socotra Island!!

This is related to last week's "Where in the World?" photo below. If magical Socotra Island is on your travel list (it should be!), I'm organizing a Wandering Earl Tour to Socotra Island for the Spring of 2022. If you want to be added to the Early List, let me know and I'll send you the final details once they're ready!

In Yerevan, we visited the museum of Sergei Parajanov, a Soviet/Armenian director and artist. This was my favorite piece, "My Childhood Suitcase Transformed into an Elephant".

all things travel

The Most Incredible Dessert!!
I've been to Delhi, India at least 40 times and I have never heard of this unique ice cream stall. But it will be the first place I visit when I go back. How this ice cream is made is unlike anything you've seen before!

Anti-Racism Graffiti in Italy
One Italian artist is fully determined to cover up anti-racist graffiti with beautiful food-related graffiti of his own. And when the racist graffiti returns, he simply covers it up again.

All the Maps
Get lost in this endless collection of maps you've definitely never seen before.

Dreamy Camera Cafe
It's a cafe inside of a camera, located in the owner's front yard an hour outside of Seoul, South Korea.

Listening Bars to Visit
I had no idea about listening bars. They're bars (or cafes) that allow guests to listen to carefully chosen music with the highest-quality sound possible. Here's a list of the best listening bars around the world.

73 Abandoned Planes for Sale
The Kenya Airport Authority is selling 73 abandoned planes that are taking up space at various airports in the country. You can buy a plane for as little as a few thousands dollars, but you need to remove it within 2 weeks!

Good News in the Animal World
The Saharan gazelle has been saved from extinction, cheetahs have returned to Mozambique and the Amur tiger numbers in China are increasing!

where in the world?

Congratulations to Grace, John, Crystal, Kevan, Deborah, Chauun, Emily, Barret, Brad, Malgo, Kenric, Rose, Jen, Michelle, Hemang, Rafael, Katie, Laura, Hillary, Mike, Gill, Steve, Karin, Aurelia, Owen, Mhar and Kendall for guessing the location of the photo above!

This is a photo of a dragon's blood tree on Socotra Island in Yemen.

Socotra Island is a remote piece of land in the Indian Ocean that needs to be seen with your own eyes to be believed. It's like being in a true fairy-tale with its trippy landscapes, surreal beaches, a ton of endemic flora and fauna, crazy beautiful marine life, sand dunes, hidden canyons, plateaus and mountains and super friendly people...it's a destination that offers one of the most unique travel experiences on the planet!

***As mentioned above, I'll be running a Wandering Earl Tour to Socotra Island in 2022. Just hit reply and let me know if you're interested. I'll then send out the final details as soon as they're ready!

And now...

This week's photo

Where in the world is it?

The Rules

1. Try to figure out where the above photo was taken.

2. Reply to this email with your guess.
3. The more specific the guess, the better!
4. The location will be revealed in next week's newsletter.

Good luck :)

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Thanks so much and I appreciate you reading!

Derek

(my middle name is Earl)

WanderingEarl.com

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