December 2024 Update

And another eternity has passed since I’ve sent out one of these end of the month updates. Oops. Well, happy New Year from London, anyway.

I’ve spent a whole of 59 days back “home” in Utah this year (and most of that was in one block from early-February to mid-March), otherwise, I’ve been on the road either in other states working as a temp dental hygienist, or overseas running tours and working on development projects with tourism ministries.

Needless to say, my 2024 has been a blur, about to go off the rails at any moment…

And I still don’t know when I’ll be headed back to the US for sure in 2025. PS: Is anyone okay over there? 😂

Upcoming Group Trips for 2025

Socotra & South Yemen
March 29, 2025
15 Days
Start/Finish: Cairo, Egypt

Socotra-only
March 29, 2025
9 Days
Start/Finish: Cairo, Egypt

South Yemen-only
April 5, 2025
8 Days
Start/Finish: Cairo, Egypt

Syria
April 23, 2025
9 Days
Start: Amman, Jordan
End: Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanon
May 2, 2025 (details TBA)
10 Days
Start: Beirut, Lebanon
End: Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanon & Syria
April 23, 2025 (details TBA)
19 Days
Start: Amman, Jordan
End: Beirut, Lebanon

Tajikistan- Fann Mountains
June 28, 2025
July 28, 2025
August 2, 2025
August 18, 2025
September 13, 2025
7 DaysStart/End: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan- Pamir Highway
August 27, 2025
12 Days
Start: Dushanbe, Tajikistan
End: Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan- Combo Fanns & Pamir Highway
August 18, 2025
21 Days
Start: Dushanbe, Tajikistan
End: Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan (tentative)
September 1, 2025
10 Days
Start/End: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
(email me to be added to the email list)

Kazakhstan (tentative)
September 12, 2025
10 Days
Start/End: Almaty, Kazakhstan
(email me to be added to the email list)

Mongolia (tentative)
September 25, 2025
10 Days
Start/End: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
(email me to be added to the email list)

Nepal (tentative)
October 8, 2025
14 Days
Start/End: Kathmandu, Nepal
(email me to be added to the email list)

How 2024 Unraveled

Working Away January in Colorado

Grand View, Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado

January kicked off with me heading four hours over the border and to Grand Junction, Colorado to go temp in an office out there. I didn’t mind it, it’s in a pretty area. I was doing 12 hour days, so only had the weekends to get out to explore around Colorado National Monument, Grand Mesa, and the Palisades.

February back in Utah

February brought me back over to Utah, where I mostly worked on blogging and made the decision that I would move out of the shitty living situation I was in (more in an attempt to not get sent to prison for how much I fantasized to make one of my roommates mysteriously disappear) when I returned from the Syria and Lebanon recce trip that came together mid-month.

March & April in Syria & Lebanon

After arriving in Lebanon and navigating the bureaucracy necessary to get permits for filming with a drone in Lebanon, Pia from Discovery Beyond Borders and I hopped across the border into Syria.

Basically what we did in Syria and Lebanon, was create the itineraries we’re offering in both countries (which was a lot of fun to build).

Following, Lebanon, I was to head back to Iran– which didn’t happen due to visa issues, which pushed me back to Turkey and then ultimately, back to Salt Lake.

South Carolina in April & May

After a whole two days home, I was on a flight bound for Myrtle Beach to help renovate a house. Did I do much in Myrtle Beach aside from just that? Not really.

Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan in June & July

Tajikistan Travel, Tajikistan Travel guide, Karakul, 10 reasons to visit tajikistan, tajikistan travel, tajiksitan travel guide, pamir highway, pamir, tajikistan

Again, after about 36 hours in Salt Lake, I managed to move into a new place down the street, repack my bags, and head for New York for a week to work on my expedition website with my friend Melanie a bit before continuing on Tajikistan to run the back to back Fann Mountains and Pamir Highway Expeditions.

It was the rainiest, and therefore the greenest I’d ever seen the Fann Mountains this year.

The Pamir Highway included a stop at Zorkul, which took an unexpected turn when we were chased away by local military near Shaimak. This area, once a key strategic point during the Great Game, still seems to hold its geopolitical significance today. After they intercepted us and sent us up to Murghab, where we faced with a small headache-inducing trip to the military base to prove we had all the necessary permits (the region’s police-state tendencies seem to be ramping up again).

Eventually, we crossed the border into Kyrgyzstan without too much trouble, making our way to Tulparkul and finally Osh.

I eventually headed back over the border to Tajikistan and spent most of July in the Khorog area before catching a flight from Dushanbe to Almaty to get back home to grab my car and start a dental hygiene gig in Colorado through October.

Colorado & New Mexico in August, September & October

I headed back to Salt Lake again to have only about a couple of nights home before making the drive to Denver to go work over there for almost three months.

Of course, this included a little road trip down to New Mexico to explore the Bisti Badlands for Labor Day weekend.

World Nomad Games in September

Kok Par, Kok Boru, Buzkashi, World Nomad Games, Astana, Kazakhstan

My time in Colorado was interrupted briefly by a trip that culminated rather quickly, sending me back to Kazakhstan- this time to the capital city of Astana to cover the 2024 World Nomad Games.

Turkmenistan in October

After wrapping up the dental gig in Colorado on October 19th, I was bound back to Salt Lake to repack in a single day and then fly to Turkmenistan the following morning (via a night in London).

The Turkmenistan tour went off without a hitch, and I will likely be running it again in 2025 sometime. When? Still TBD.

Back to Kazakhstan for all of November

Kyzylkup, Tiramisu Mountains, Mangystau, Kazakhstan

Because I was rejected a visa to Iran, I had to balk my plans to work with a trekking company out there and change my course to cross the Temir Baba border from Turkmenistan into Kazakhstan.

I managed to formulate a plan on the fly, working with various tourism departments across the country, starting in Aktau & Mangystau Region before heading east to put together projects in Almaty Region, Oskemen & East Kazakhstan, and finally Shymkent & Turkestan Region.

I eventually had to leave Kazakhstan as my 30 day visa-free entry was going up and headed to across into Uzbekistan to Tashkent to catch a flight over to Lithuania.

December Lithuania & Belarus

Brutalist KFC Minsk, Minsk KFC, Belarus KFC, Brutalist KFC, KFC, Solidarity, Minsk, Belarus

My final trip of the year was to two new countries for me- Lithuania and Belarus. After a few days around Lithuania, me and two friends headed to the border with Belarus to take advantage of the visa-free land border entry for European passport holders.