I leave for Moldova in the morning and I’ve gotta admit, I don’t think I have ever been more nervous about going somewhere. Usually Moldova can be challenging and the breakaway region of Transdnistria, which I’m also obliged to visit, is one step above chaos, but things have worsened recently…

(If you haven’t already seen it, I posted an amendment to this piece in June of 2011. This post is pretty dated now, but still largely accurate. And I apologize in advance for the length. As is all too common with me, once I started writing, I completely lost control….

Anyone reading this blog from beginning to end all in one go might notice that my attitude toward Romanian drivers, authorities and postal employees is hovering dangerously close to racist. And they’d be right. On a side note, anyone reading this blog from start to finish in one sitting should…

I don’t often get the opportunity to pair up two people so deserving of each other’s company, so when I had the pleasure of matching up two social deviants on the last heinous night of my recent spirit-crushing research trip, I was so full of pride afterward, that I still…

Don’t worry LP editor!  I’m not leaving for a couple months, but I have already started to line up some freelance work and travel for the summer and I’m beginning to realize all the things I’ll miss about being here.  Off the top of my head… Nice people:  If you…

I’d like to officially give a warm ‘thank you’ to all the travellers who send reader letters into LonelyPlanet.com with information they’ve collected from their trips.  At the beginning of each research period authors receive a giant document with all these letters (mine was 36 pages long, but more popular…

It’s really amazing how 10 hours of sleep can change my attitude.  When I was on the road, I’d fall into bed each night thinking I’d hit the wall of exhaustion like a rotten grape and there was no way I could get out of bed in eight hours, get…

Best big city:  Timisoara Timisoara is how all big Romanian cities should and hopefully will be.  It’s trendy, cosmopolitan, full of great museums and sights of tourist interest, excellent restaurant/bars/clubs that were simply too numerous for me to note for the book and run by an organized, competent and proud…

I’ve been back for three days and am just now feeling coherent enough to post. If you’re just joining us, this previous trip, the longest leg of my road research, was tough. I knew it wouldn’t be a cakewalk, but I didn’t expect it to test the limits of my…

Another sloppy email submission. This is the last one I hope. Things have ramped up in my effort to get through this trip without having to sleep in my car. I’ve been putting in 15 hour days and the late discovery of summer-only destinations that I cannot visit now will…