(CNN)I was late to Georgia. 
Source: https://www.yahoo.com
By Paula Froelich
Petra, Jordan (Thinkstock)
It may be obvious, but the Middle East is very different from the rest of the world. Even in Jordan, which is considered a liberal country, visitors can make mistakes without knowing it (especially if they are left-handed; it’s the hand you use in the loo).
Yes, we know the so-called Islamic State is all over the news and people are scared of the region right now. But those in the know — and those who love history — are aware of several things: Jordan is committed to the fight against IS. Jordan has the second-best military in the region (besides Israel). There have been no attacks in Jordan due to its excellent security. And now is the time to go. Sites like Petra, normally packed with tourists, are empty and open for exploration. That, and the country is pretty much on sale — prices are down and you can enjoy a five-star trip at half the cost. As locals in the country like to say, “We can’t help it — we live in a rough neighborhood, but our block is fine.”
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/how-to-spot-an-american-in-an-airport-104190326577.html
By Sid Lipsey
It doesn’t take a red, white, and blue suitcase and a T-shirt reading “God Bless the USA” to flag someone as an American — especially in a foreign airport. We Yanks tend to stick out. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing; we love it when people walk up to us when we’re traveling overseas and ask, “Are you American?”
But a lot of times, they don’t even have to ask. We say and do things in airports that out ourselves immediately as residents of the Land of the Free.
Here are the top 10 ways to spot Americans in an airport.
Read more.Source: http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/pamperspakhlava/2014/09/03/i-heart-armenia/
By Beth Shepherd
If you are not following Beth Shepherd's blog - fix that.
When summer turns to fall, my heart longs for Armenia. I made four trips to Armenia in the fall, and when the air begins to feel crisp and leaves on the trees trim their edges with gold and red, I reminisce: Vines laden with ripe grapes drape trellises outside people’s homes, hills are dry and brown and the mountains feel moodier as clouds start to enshroud their peaks.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/worst-things-americans-say-on-c1409797717625.html
By Yahoo Travel Editors
We already know this... don't we?
When we travel, we are, by definition, out of place. But the things Americans say when we travel (especially overseas) sometimes highlight just how out of place we are — and not in a good way. The natural biases we’ve formed at home can come out in the worst, although unintentional, ways.
So to help you prevent an international outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease, here are the Worst Things Americans Say on Vacation.
News from Bulgaria: Wishing our Hopscotch family a safe and successful registration trip. Congrats!!
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/any-good-traveler-knows-that-packing-is-an-93988697717.html
Any good traveler knows that packing is an annoying yet crucial task. So to make your experience more effortless, Brittany Jones-Cooper presents the six weird household items to use the next time you pack.
1. Shower cap
When you’re packing, it’s ill-advised to put your dirty shoes next to your clean clothes. My problem is that I don’t own any shoe bags. I mean, who does? Either way, a shower cap can do the job. Just slide each of your shoes inside of a cap and you’re good to go. I usually have a shower cap or two lying around the house, and they’re also cheap to buy. Double bonus: If you’re staying at a hotel, they usually have them in the bathroom amenity kits.
2. Straws
Packing jewelry can be a pain in the you-know-what — especially necklaces. I tend to just throw them in the pocket of my makeup bag, and then when I take them out, they are in a tangled mess. That’s where a straw will come in handy. You simply take a straw, thread the necklace through, secure the clasp on the other end, and bam! — you’re tangle free.
Read More & See Video
July 28, 2014
“As of July 27, the Department of State has made continued progress on restoring our system to full functionality. As we restore our ability to print visas, we are prioritizing immigrant cases, including adoptions visas. System engineers are performing maintenance to address the problems we encountered. As system performance improves, we will continue to process visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide. We are committed to resolving the problem as soon as possible. Additional updates will be posted to travel.state.gov as more information becomes available.”
By Madeleine Melcher
New Webinar! Tuesday April 1st, 2014 7:00PM CT
April 1st,2014 | 7:00 PM Central | Q&A 8:00 PM
Where You Once Called Home
Insights into Homeland Tours
If you're considering, or planning, a trip to your child's (or your own) birth country, many factors other than just travel influence how the trip goes.
Hear directly from adopted persons and parents who have taken homeland tours. They will share their personal experiences and feelings from preparation to the lasting impact of the their homeland travels.
To help parents or adopted persons plan their journey, our panel will discuss:
Register Here!
Joint Council | (703) 535-8045 | info@jointcouncil.org |
117 South Saint Asaph Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
TUESDAY; April 1; 7:00 PM CT
If you are thinking about or planning a trip to your child's birth country, there is more to consider than travel.
Learn from adopted people and adoptive parents who have taken that trip. Along with practical advice, they will share their personal experiences and feelings to help you understand the lasting impact a homeland tour may have on your child.
Our panel will discuss:
Questions?
Email Mandi and Shane >
Co-sponsors
Join the discussion
I'd like to invite you to the Georgian world of my friend Meghan Johnson
Worth and Reposted from: http://thesoulshines.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/megi-in-kazbegi/
Megi in Kazbegi
“MEGI!” So begins every conversation with Khvicha, the taxi driver with whom I’d trust my life. ”Meghan” seems to be tough for many Georgians to grasp, so I usually introduce myself as “Meg,” which turns into the Georgian name “Megi.” Thus, I am now Megi... (read more)
All photo credits for this blog entry: Amy Yu Mao, or Khvicha.
Worthy and Reposted from: Amanda Mouttaki
There is an assumption that in order to travel the world you must be independently wealthy or have really good connections. The truth is neither of these things is true. Having a global lifestyle is a choice (in most cases) that families and individuals make. Some people choose to have a large home in the suburbs with all the “nice things” in life, while others opt for the loft apartment in the city. Still others choose a modest home, with other life luxuries like new cars or “toys”. Then there’s those who instead choose to travel. This is us. One of the major reasons we are able to move to Morocco in a few weeks is because we don’t have a mortgage or credit card debt. If we had either (or both) of these things it would be difficult, if not impossible.
So many people have asked me how we financially are able to make this move and I’ve shared some of our plans but essentially we have very limited debt and we have location independent jobs (we can do them from anywhere). There are a lot of ways to make an international move and/or a global-mobile lifestyle possible. Before taking the jump I highly consider reading this post I wrote on 4 Tips to Start Planning an International Relocation. These tips really helped us get started. But, our way certainly isn’t the only way. Here are many many more.
1) Limited Savings
What if you only had $900 in savings? Would you take the jump and begin a traveling life? Talon Windwalker and his son set out and have been on the road for the last 800+ days! He shares some unique ideas for earning money while traveling and keeping a global lifestyle in motion.
2) Using Saved Money
Several years ago I remember watching a segment on TV about a family who was biking from Alaska to Argentina and immediately thought “wow how awesome is that?!” M was 5 years old and my mind immediately wandered to thinking how it might be possible. Nancy and John began their journey with a chunk of change saved up but also got creative along the way. If you’ve got a mortgage and other life expenses but still want to take on a global adventure I highly recommend reading how they did it!
3) Digital Nomads
Want to be a digital nomad? I just recently heard this term used to describe someone who fills the role of a freelance digital commuter. Yay this is us! I’ve been working from home for the last two years, and once we’re in Morocco (and traveling about) this will certainly be us. If becoming a digital nomad and/or blogging as a means to create a global lifestyle is something you want to explore, the Bohemian Travelers have an excellent post about how they do this. I also love that they provide a glimpse at their travel expenses.
4) Saving Money To and During Travel
Long before we considered moving internationally we began getting questions about how we could afford to travel so often. As I wrote above, travel is a choice that we’ve made – it’s important to us and therefore we assign it as a priority when budgeting. The Traveling Praters have run up against this question too and share some of their answers – most of which are the same answer as I would give! There are so many ways to save money before and during travel, if you maximize these savings you can afford to travel more often.
5) Use a Mortgage to Your Advantage
But, what if you do have a house and mortgage…I have to be honest this isn’t something I’ve even thought about or considered having never owned a home. With 2 Kids in Tow has spent the last year traveling and have leveraged the value in and of their home to make this possible. I’m not sure if all or some of the options they have used are available to US homeowners but they are clever and certainly worth asking a lender about!
6) A Global Lifestyle Does Not Usually Mean No Work!
Will we be working when we move to Morocco and travel on that side of the globe? Absolutely! There are very few people who make long-term travel a choice who do not work. Many people wonder how they can possibly work overseas when they have never done so before. Jennifer of Edventure Project sums this up really well when she says, “we converted existing skill sets and developed a few new ones to things that could be done remotely.” This really is the key to overcoming this hurdle. This is also a really great article to check out if you’re a writer or dream of being a traveling writer!
7) Real Budget Travel is Possible when Flexible
If anyone hates the word budget it’s me. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of person. This however, is not realistic when planning to travel internationally. The safety nets just disappear and having and maintaining income is incredibly important. Keryn of Walking on Travels did a round-up post of several traveling families with their recommendations for a budget vacation. The takeaway? Budget travel is a relative term. I have to admit I laughed to myself when she talked about a news article with a “budget” vacation starting at $4500. One of the biggest expenses is going to always be “getting there” which is where flexibility has to come into play. For example we really are hoping to visit Eastern Europe while we’re in Morocco. Tickets from Marrakech to Prague are running over $600 per person. But we can get a flight into Milan, Italy for about 100 euro round-trip…guess which destination wins??
8) Saving for Travel
So you’ve decided you’re really going to do this travel thing. Now it’s time to start trimming the budget and setting aside some money. I shared that we have a “safety fund” that we’ve put money into. This is important to us. It’s not a requirement. If having some money set aside just in case or to get you off the ground running is a priority, this post from Walking on Travels will give you some real (and easy!) ideas to get started today.
9) Creating a Budget
It’s one thing to think about a budget, or even to write it down, or even just assume it will be similar to a household budget you have at home. But, I really think when living internationally and/or traveling full-time it’s a different ball game. Heidi of Wagoner’s Abroad provides a really good down and dirty breakdown of their budget categories and expenses when they first moved to Spain. I think this post is an excellent place to start planning your budget.
10) Occassional International Travel
I say occasional but what I really mean is internationally travel every year or every other year. If you’re not looking to move abroad or travel nonstop but simply want to take a trip every year or two this post from Kids on a Plane provides some great advice for how to save for this type of travel. You’ll have a bit more wiggle room and flexibility (you could always decide you don’t have it in your budget to take the trip). This is the type of travel we have done for years and these tips are a great way to get started.
It's been a fantastic summer of travel, and now time to look forward…here's the news…..
Gift of Identity Grants
A new fund has been set up to provide grants for international adoptees visiting their birth country. The first grants (up to $5000 each) will be given out for summer 2014 travel. Deadline for application is September 15, 2013. Gift of Identity is a 501(C)(3) non profit organization, and the only organization to provide grants to international adoptees traveling to their birth country.
Early Bird Discounts
Register for summer 2014 Ties programs by August 30, 2013 to receive a $100 per person discount. Summer programs are open in Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, the Philippines, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Korea, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam (and possibly Nepal).
Winter Program Availability
Ties programs to Vietnam, Cambodia and India are still taking registrations, but airline space is becoming very tight. If you are interested in travel to these countries, please prioritize making your plans to avoid last minute hassles.
Humanitarian Aid & Service Projects
World Ties is a 501(C)(3) non profit sister organization to The Ties Program. For nearly two decades, Ties families have provided humanitarian aid and done service projects around the world—helping people in their (or their child’s) country of birth. There is not a separate World Ties website. Rather, information is on each of our country pages on a tab marked “Project Kindness-World Ties.”
Thanks to Sarah Goth, Pinterester Extraordinare,
www.pinterest.com/thetiesprogram
New! Journeys of Discovery focus on culture rather than adoption
You’ve asked. We’ve listened. While our traditional Ties programs (with an adoption focus) are exactly what some families are looking for, others have asked us to create non-adoption focused trips. Our first Journeys program will be over Thanksgiving 2013 to Guatemala, and is open to families who have adopted from all countries. More to come.
www.TiesJourneysOfDiscovery.com
Autumn, Winter and Spring Speaking Events
Looking for a speaker for your upcoming event, or want to plan one for a group you participate in? We do a variety of workshops about birth country travel, but also on topics like "Teens and Tweens: What I Would Tell You If I Could Find The Words" and "From Lifebooks to Facebook--Traveling Thru MySpace." See our Resources page for workshop information.
www.adoptivefamilytravel.com/resources/workshops-2/
That's the news!
Becca Piper
AP x 4, Bereaved Parent x 1
Founder & Co-Director, The Ties Program--Adoptive Family Homeland Journeys
Founder & Co-Director, World Ties--Home of Project Kindness
Co-Director, Journeys of Discovery--Global Journeys WITHOUT an adoption focus
Proud Board Member--Gift of Identity Fund....finally, funding for international adoptees on homeland journeys
Best Georgian kitchen ever. Thanks Nana and Ana Elashvili.
Greens with pomegranate garnish. Heavenly!
Potatoes, cabbage, beets, yogurt/mayonnaise, eggs and greens. Name? "Awesome" that is what I call it.
I don't remember the name of this dish. But beef and radishes. Delicious.
Borsch two servings, yes please!
Fabulous Georgian dinner. Thank you Nana.
Baked persimmons with creme and walnuts.
Pastry with creme.
Reese in Tbilisi, Georgia September 2004.
Just in case I find myself wandering about Tbilisi without a phone again.
Birthday Dinner for Giorgi Kiknadze.
Reese in Tbilisi, Georgia September 2004.
