It turns out that five years have passed since the first post in this channel.

During that time, I've been bounced around quite a bit across different countries. And I can tell you that the brightest and warmest memories are all about people. No matter how much I love mountains, seas, and amazing architecture, I find myself reminiscing more often about random locals who invited me for tea in Beslan or coffee near Niš. Or how passersby in Egypt asked me to take their photos, or how a local girl in Tanzania gave me a whole tour of the city. Or how an airport check-in agent in the US sang the Soviet national anthem—which he'd memorized while studying at RUDN back in the 80s—and how a guide from Almaty helped me find emergency housing.

Even though the world has become much more hostile and turbulent since then, I want to believe that people can remain kind and wonderful through all times.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting.

Special thanks to those brave enough to travel somewhere together with me. Or even let me crash at their place abroad.

PS. In my first post, I really hoped this channel would be more interesting than a coffee maker's. Now I'm just hoping they don't start embedding ChatGPT in them anytime soon :)