Category Archives: Travel

The Blind Traveler

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

About two-hundred years ago, during the golden age of the British Empire and exploration, there lived a man named James Holman. Holman was born into the new English merchant class; his father was a pharmacist. During those days, there were … Continue reading →

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I Should Be Writing My Armenia Book

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

This essay represents a failure, not complete for I remain optimistic but certainly a success deferred. I should be writing my Armenia novel. Each passing day, it gets a little harder. My parenthesis utopia is moving deeper into the past, … Continue reading →

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A Parenthesis Utopia

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

One of the difficult lessons I learned from COVID and beyond (because the world won’t be the same, at least not for us) was how futile efforts at utopia are. When COVID hit in February 2020 I was living in … Continue reading →

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My Last Night in Yerevan

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

The quiet hum of Ashtarak highway reverberates in the background; the wind rustles the trees, new leaves – excited to show them off after a long cold winter. The city, away down into the valley buzzes with life: restaurants and … Continue reading →

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Springtime In Yerevan

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s springtime again in Yerevan. The crisp early-morning air smells like croissants and coffee and cigarette smoke over cologne or perfume wafting from a wandering passerby on a labor of purpose. A bustle of movement, new-construction around which deliveries – … Continue reading →

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Armenia Saved My Life

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

“That is why I love America,” he said to me this morning, eyes watering. “A land where immigrants are welcomed and can free themselves of the shackles of the past – of the old country which we love so much, … Continue reading →

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Caravanserai

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I am not a normal travel blogger; not a travel blogger at all really. I frequent the lost places, and sometimes I write about them. It is an uncommon world we live in, that is what the great lockdown has … Continue reading →

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Stepping Stones in Time

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Time marches on, leaving stepping stones to remind us of where we have been, show us where we might be going and reflect upon whether or not things turn out as we expected. This is the job of writers. Some … Continue reading →

Posted in America, International Affairs, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Merry Christmas From Another Lost Place: This One Ancient and Cold

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

A while ago I wrote about a Christmas in the Sahara; a lost place far from the hubbub of the holidays in places cold and clean. A Muslim place which did not consider Jesus or His condescension to meet us … Continue reading →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #7 – Influence)

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

They wept like anything to see Such quantities of sand: “If this were only cleared away,” They said, “it would be grand!” I was walking through an ancient monastery yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, in a place lost in time and history. … Continue reading →

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