Päivi had seen so many beautiful pictures of Beirut that her expectations were high — yet, strangely enough, she was not disappointed. Beirut stands apart from other world capitals in many ways. It is an exciting mix of different cultures: French and Arab, Christian and Muslim, settled and transitory. It has the reputation of being dangerous and yet we haven't felt so safe in many other big cities. You can walk around at any time of the day without the fear of being mugged or harassed. People are friendly and food is amazing. What more can you ask for?

We were visiting a friend and spent our days leisurely walking around the city admiring dilapidated but grand old houses, houses with bullet holes, and houses with only a facade left standing. The signs of war are visible everywhere — not least in the heavy police presence on the streets. We hadn't seen so many assault rifles for a while. When we arrived, there had been a demonstration and soldiers with commando masks were patrolling the streets. The next day we spotted two pickups armed with heavy machine guns carrying half a dozen soldiers with assault rifles. They were driving among other traffic in downtown area. Business as usual in Beirut.

Beirut for vegans and wine lovers

Like other Middle Eastern countries, Lebanon has a great variety of dishes available for vegan travellers. Staple foods include delicious Lebanese flatbread which can be enjoyed with various dips such as hummus and tahini. A more exotic and absolutely delicious option is muhammara, which is made from pomegranates and walnuts spiced with chili. Other appetisers (mezze) include stuffed grape vine leaves, tabbouleh, and mujaddara, a rice and lentil dish with sautéed onions.

Little corner stores serve delicious Lebanese pizza called manakish zaatar. Zaatar is a spice mix made of dried sumac berries, thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and some salt. Another vegan fast food delicacy is falafel with tahini sauce. It is crunchy and tasty even for die hard meat lovers.

Lebanese wine is worth tasting. Most wine is produced in Bekaa Valley at about 1.000 meters above sea level. The history of wine in Lebanon is cloudy but it likely dates from antiquity, long before the French came and colonised the country. Local red wines are characterised by sweetness and spicyness, and they are rather full-bodied than delicate. Cheers!

Visa and currency

For EU citizens, entering Lebanon is straightforward; no visa is needed. The only requirement is that you haven't visited Israel (or "The occupied Palestine" as the country is referred to in Lebanon). Coming from Cyprus, we were also asked whether we had a stamp of the occupied Cyprus territory (meaning the Turkish part) in our passports. That would have resulted in an immediate deportation. We hadn't neither of these undesirable stamps in our passports, so no questions were asked and we got in smoothly.

Lebanon has its own Lira (also called Pound), but US dollars are widely used. In April 2018, the exchange rate was 1:1.500. If you pay with dollars, you will get Liras back. Get rid of them before the airport as there are no currency exchanges and the currency is not accepted outside Lebanon. Prices were surprisingly high, at least in the capital. For example fruits and vegetables cost much more than in Cyprus.

Lebanon is still a developing country so be prepared to power cuts and bad maintenance. Cleanliness varies a lot depending on the neighbourhood, but garbage collection is clearly inefficient. Moreover, refugees sorting out the trash sometimes leave quite a mess behind. Still, Beirut has a charm all of its own and we are sure to return some day.

Cyprus is divided in many ways. In 1974, the Turks invaded — or liberated — the North Cyprus depending on which version of history you choose to believe in. After that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was born, while the rest of the country remained under the Greek influence. The difference between the two sides is huge. In the Northern part, life is modest while in the South consumerism has taken over.

Financial and expatriation crisis

The economic division of the South took place in 2012–13 during the financial crisis. The privileged got tipped off well in advance and managed to hide their assets, while the common folks lost all their bank savings above 100.000€. According to a few guys that offered us a lift, the crisis was triggered by the abundance of Russian mafia money combined with the local relaxed banking practises. The local administration is trying to meet the minimum EU requirements while preserving as much as possible their old, somewhat corrupt ways. Unlike in Greece, the crisis appears to be over, but it deepened the economic division of the country. At one extreme, there are the super-rich Russian residents who have bought EU passports from the government, and at the other imported Asian domestic slaves.

Another division can be seen between the huge expatriate community and locals. Many British and German people have moved to Cyprus hoping that the better climate would help to heal their mental and physical health issues, but the result is often the opposite. Like in the global expat scene, alcohol and drug abuse are common. Social isolation and abusive behaviour may lead to backstabbing, gossiping and angst. While expats blame locals to be ignorant and lazy, locals consider expats as a necessary evil that helps locals to accumulate wealth.

Hitch-hiking and living with expatriates

During our stay, we saw many different faces of Cyprus. When hitch-hiking through the South, we got lifts from foreigners and locals, the rich and the poor. All of them were very positive experiences. It was nice to be in a country where people are not afraid of strangers. On the other hand, the expatriate community was much like everywhere in the world — in a word depressing.

For a short 1-2-week holiday, Cyprus is a great place, but if you stay longer, you will soon start to see the social problems beneath the surface. For us, the best part of our visit in Cyprus were cheap flights to charming Beirut.

We toured around The Black Sea through those former Eastern Bloc countries we hadn't visited yet. One of the motivators for this trip was that Belarus had given up its outrageous visa fee of around 60 euro per person. Now the only nuisance left is that in order to get an entry stamp, you have to fly in and out of the country and pay for a so-called "medical insurance" at the border. While the insurance costs only a couple of euros, it still feels stupid to pay for nothing.

The capital of Belarus, Minsk, was very clean and organised. It reminded us of Yerevan thanks to the old Soviet style buildings and huge, broad avenues. Despite having a couple of million inhabitants, Minsk feels like a small town as most people live in suburbs and the city centre is empty in the evening. Belarusians lament that their city is grey and doesn't offer many recreational activities; people get lost in the everyday humdrum. Many progressive youngsters have left the country and those who are still there dream about moving abroad. We were lucky to meet with a few exceptional Belarusians who dare to think outside the box and search for alternatives.

Lovely Odessa, Ukraine

From Minsk, we flew to Odessa, Ukraine. The city had a notorious reputation in the Soviet Union era as it was the paradise of thieves and scammers. In fact, crowded marshrutkas (minibuses) and trams still offer many opportunities for those looking for easy money. We met a couple who had been unlucky enough to be pick-pocketed right upon arrival.

Our stay was peaceful with no unpleasant incidents. We enjoyed Odessa's dilapidated beauty and great seaside with lots of sand, which is exceptional as the Black Sea beaches are usually stony with large pebbles. (The sand in Odessa has been transported from elsewhere.) We met, again, some exceptional people who were engaged in interesting projects creating travel houses and rebuilding the war-torn areas of the country. Although the war has weakened Ukraine, it has also connected people. The young are optimistic about the future and also rather patriotic, at least compared to Belarusians.

Two very different beach towns: Constanta and Varna

From Odessa we continued by bus. Our trips were not great in distance but the roads were not in perfect condition so travelling took a lot of time. Most buses are small marshrutkas. They are jam-packed and there is no air-conditioning available. While the weather was quite cool in general, Moldova was tormented by a heatwave. We were travelling light having only jeans with us, which didn't feel such a great choice in the hot and humid marshrutkas where the temperature jumped to 40 degrees Celsius, although in much chillier Minsk they had been a blessing.

Despite the fact that both Romania and Bulgaria are in the EU, there was a passport control for all passengers in the Romanian-Bulgarian border. When we asked for a reason, the border guards looked sour and told us to ask the politicians. Everything else was like in the EU in general, particularly prices. Romania and Bulgaria are considerably more expensive than the neighbouring countries. For example the 3-hour bus trip from Constanta, Romania to Varna, Bulgaria cost more than 20 euro per person. With the same amount of money we later crossed the whole Turkey in 24 hours.

Romania's beach town Constanta is quite dreary and the streets are filled with rubbish. Compared to that, Varna felt like a heaven. There are beautiful old buildings and great sand beaches. In May, there were not too many tourists around, but it can get crowded during the European holiday months, which of course annoys locals.

Back to Georgia via Turkey

From Bulgaria we returned back to Georgia by bus through Turkey. The whole trip from Odessa back to Batumi was about 2400 km or 1500 miles. It meant quite a lot of sitting, but we enjoyed seeing other parts of the Black Sea coast, making new friends, and practising Päivi's basic Russian skills she has been recently acquiring.

It's been 15 years since we left Finland to wander the world. Azerbaijan became our 100th country as we visited Baku, which is within a short train trip from Georgia.

From Georgia to Azerbaidjan

There is a daily train service from Tbilisi to Baku. It leaves at 8:50 PM and arrives in Baku at 8:50 AM the next morning. The trains are Soviet style with three classes: first, kupé and platzkart. We favour platskart, because it is more spacious and less dusty. The trains have Soviet style toilets that are locked when the train stops at a station, and a samovar for getting hot water for tea and noodles. In Russia— just like in China— most of these old trains have been replaced by new, faster, and more expensive express or bullet trains.

The border formalities start within one hour from the departure. You don't need to exit the train as the officials come to check your passports and visas in the train. Normally the only question they will ask you is whether you have ever visited Armenia. The process is slow. It took a couple of hours before we were finally able to go to sleep.

Note that you can only buy a one-way train ticket on the Georgian side, and the ticket must be bought at a railway station in cash. If you return to Georgia, you have to buy the return ticket at Baku railway station where they accept credit cards. Tickets from Georgia are about 20% cheaper than from Azerbaidjan.

Baku

Baku is a mix of Soviet Union, Middle-Eastern, and European cultures. The city is very quiet, which felt weird after Georgia where people make much ado about nothing. Most people in Baku seem to work in the city centre and commute to suburbs, which means that the city is quite empty in the evening. It is the same in Minsk, Belarus. There are also other similarities between these two cities. Both are about the same size (Baku 2,2 million inhabitants, Minsk 2 million), they are quite clean, there are big streets and boulevards, and like in all former Soviet Union countries including Armenia, there are pompous parks with pompous statues.

The Baku city center can be easily walked around within one day. English is not widely spoken but you can always find someone to help if you get lost. It also helps that Azeris use Latin alphabet unlike the neighbouring countries Russia, Armenia, and Georgia. As there are not too many tourists around, you will attract attention and people will try to do their best to help you.

We like to visit local supermarkets on our travels but in Baku we were slightly disappointed. Prices seem to be regulated so that various chains have the same prices. For vegan foods the selection is very limited. You can find Russian eggplant spread, ikra, everywhere but that's about it. The prepared food sections have only super salty pickles available. For bread, there is the Armenian flatbread called lavash, a local round white loaf, and some Russian white and brown bread wrapped in plastic. It was nice to notice that local bread was not poisoned with excessive amount of salt like in Georgia. Fortunately it was the apple season so we didn't have to starve!

We were missing three microstates in Europe on our travel bucketlist and decided to fix the situation by visiting two of them: San Marino and Malta.

Exclusive San Marino

San Marino is the smallest and oldest republic in the world. It has only some 30 000 inhabitants living in and around one little mountain. The historical centre of San Marino is located at the top of the mountain and it's more like a museum and tourist attraction. Rare stamps, euro coins, fragrances, chocolate, and weaponry are sold to visitors, most of whom seemed to come from Russia and Asia.

Getting to San Marino by public trasport is easy. There is a shuttle bus from Rimini railway station and it costs 10 euro a roundtrip. The trip takes only 40 minutes so there's no need to stay in San Marino overnight, unless you want to burn excessive amount of cash for sleeping and eating. Rimini is a much more affordable option and the weather is warmer there. We enjoyed our stay in Viserba, a beach resort neighbourhood of Rimini.

Rainy Malta

Malta is a beautiful island but very touristy. Even in November there were lots of British pensioners and Russian holiday-makers. The popular tourist area, Saint Paul's Bay, reminded us of some of the most touristy neighbourhoods in Thailand. There were a lot of hotels, restaurants, and bars that were all crowded by farangs.

We were a bit unlucky with the weather in Malta as it was raining heavily for all the time we spent there. The British tourists and expats were bravely wearing shorts and t-shirts while locals wore winter coats. The worst was waiting for a bus while it was raining cats and dogs. Malta has an affordable (1,5 euro per trip) and seemingly modern public transport but the schedules are like in Africa. If you need to go to the airport, it's better have at least 4 hours for the trip.

We have been travelling more than five years with our new Finn-Savotta backpacks, Savotta LJK12 and Savotta 906, in dozens of countries all over the world. The backpacks are still in one piece and in usable condition. There are some scratches and bumps in the aluminium structure and the fabric has worn out a bit here and there but nothing major. On the other hand, there were some minor usability challenges.

Santeri's sturdy Savotta LJK12 was designed for hiking in the wilderness. Santeri liked especially the adjustable carrying system, which made it easy to carry loads up to 30kg. However, international air travel proved to be challenging. One of the structural pipes of the backpack got stuck in a conveyor belt tearing the plastic cap out of the pipe. As advised by Savotta, we covered the pipe with duct tape. Another challenge was getting the backpack stand on its own without a tree or a wall to lean on. If the bottom compartment was not full, the backpack kept falling down.

Päivi's Savotta 906 backpack was lighter and less sturdy, but there were no major issues. Päivi liked especially the padded straps which prevented any kind of chafing. However, the fabric of the backpack was less durable than in LJK12 and it wore out particularly in the lower compartment producing little holes. Päivi's backpack also had the same problem of falling down just like Santeri's.

The true hero of the challenge was the little green rucksack 202 that was accompanied by LJK. Although one of the carrying straps got loose, it was quick and easy to fix on the road in Cyprus. The straps in our model are narrow and dig into Päivi's shoulders but fortunately this has been fixed in the new model. The little monster of a rucksack carried huge loads of vegetables and groceries up to 30kg almost daily. That kind of use would have been unbearable for any modern, anatomic backpack. Päivi had such a backpack when we left Finland. It broke into pieces in less than two years.

As a conclusion, the backpacks were sturdy enough for our heavy use. We were not able to break them and we are certain that they will outlast us as well with some little fixes every once in a while. Just remember to prepare your backpack properly for flights. Thank you for the challenge, Savotta.

Read also our initial impressions of the Savotta backpacks after the first year on the road.

Disclaimer: Although Savotta kindly provided us the backpacks for the challenge, we do not have financial ties to Savotta nor any other obligations to declare.

We have been living 3 years in Georgia, first in Tbilisi and after that in Batumi on the Black Sea coast. Georgia has one of the best immigration policies in the world allowing stays up to 12 months without visa-runs. However, finding an apartment is not that easy. We have checked over fifty old and new flats, rented three and did not buy anything, although the prices were tempting. The purpose of this blog post is to share our experiences in the real estate market and perhaps help you to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

A new tourist flat or a local apartment from an old building?

The first thing you need to choose is whether to go for a new or an old building. New flats are usually built for tourists and they are made quickly and cheaply. Furniture, appliances, and interior design are not made to last nor please the eye, and the kitchens are small or non-existent. The flats themselves are also small, typically under under 50m2. As tourist flats are empty most of the time and not heated, there can be plenty of mold in the furniture, fabrics, structures, and AC units. If you are asthmatic or allergic, you might want to take that in account. In local flats, you can sometimes find much better deals. They are more spacious and made for year-round living.

Another big difference between tourist flats and local flats is seasonal pricing. Tourist flats are rented for holiday-makers and priced accordingly. Even though most of them are empty around the year, the daily rent during the summer can be the same as a monthly rent during the winter. Owners have two different rents depending on the time of the year. Local flats, on the other hand, have fixed monthly rents that remain the same around the year. We have paid, for example, US $200/month for a 2-room local flat with a proper kitchen and US $300/month for a small, illegal mansard with a seaview.

Utilities in tourist flats are more expensive than in local flats. A monthly electricity bill in a condo can be 100 GEL (35 USD/32 EUR) even if you don't use any electricity, while in a local flat you pay according to your usage (measured with an electricity meter) directly to the electricity company. Our bill has been less than 10 GEL per month (3,50 USD/3,20 EUR). Tourist flats rely on electricity for shower, cooking and heating, while local flats use cheaper and more ecological gas. Gas cuts are rare compared to electricity brownouts, and announced beforehand. Our gas bill has been up to 80 GEL (28 USD/26 EUR) during the coldest winter months, while in the summer it has been around 10 GEL (3,50 USD/3,20 EUR). Especially in new condos, there can also be various other costs such as administration, lightning of the common areas, front desk, guards, and cleaning fees. There are no limits when it comes to inventing new fees.

Investing in real estate in Batumi, Georgia

New "profitable apartments" are built and sold to clueless tourists by promising them a monthly rent income of a thousand dollars, easy bank loan, and fantasies about Batumi becoming the next Dubai. Today, the town doesn't look anything like the Gulf tourist hub, but marketers are convinced that the dilapidated former Soviet port can prosper by offering prostitutes, drugs and gambling for Muslims. However, another and perhaps more plausible reason for the current overproduction could be money-laundering and corruption as suggested by The New Yorker. Otherwise it makes no sense to build so many apartments simply to rot.

There are currently more than ten thousand flats either empty or under construction and most of them are incredibly cheap condos built for tourists. There's plenty to choose from, but it also means that the market is flooded and getting rid of the flat can be difficult. A notary told us that in 2017, there were only 700 notarised apartment sales. If the number is accurate, condos are practically unsellable in Batumi. If you hope to profit from your real estate investment by selling it, do a reality check and bear in mind that it is very challenging if not impossible to find any accurate statistics in Georgia. Even historical figures such as past tourist arrivals keep changing all the time.

Regarding rental income, it is worth taking into account the current travel ban for Russian tourists (the largest group of tourists travelling to Georgia), the coronavirus hysteria, and the ongoing war with Russia. Although there is a ceasefire, no permanent peace was made and Georgian nationalism is feeding the conflict and inciting racism against Russians as invaders. Also AirBnB is a lost cause for rental income in Georgia.

If you're planning to live in the flat full-time or part-time yourself, there are still a few things to consider. Real estate business and marketing doesn't appear to be regulated in Georgia. Consumers are not protected and there are no strict building standards like in Europe. Everything is made using the cheapest and lowest quality materials, and ultimately the buyer carries the risks and the costs. In apartment buildings, there are no shared or communal responsibilities so nobody cares about damaging other properties or disturbing their neighbours. Even elevators work with coins because that's the only way to collect money to pay for the maintenance. If you buy a condo from a building that will never be finished, you will lose your money. That has happened to some locals we have talked with.

Many new condos that we checked -- even the fanciest and the most expensive ones -- had cracks in supporting structures. On top of construction issues, Batumi is in the earthquake zone. Any stronger quake can level wobbly high-rises. For example in 1905, Batumi was hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

• New buildings may never be finished in which case you lose everything you have paid.
• There is no consumer protection in Georgia. You are on your own.
• Check support structures and pillars for visible cracks.
• Check that the whole structure is not tilted. (Yes, you see these in Batumi. It's a miracle they have not fallen!)
• New flats are sold as black frames (empty, just concrete), which means endless noise when your neighbours start finalising their flats one by one before moving in. Are you OK with that?
• All buildings -- old and new -- have significant risk of water, electricity, telecommunications, and gas supply interruptions and traffic congestion. Much of the current public infrastructure was built during the Soviet era and it will not be fixed before it breaks completely. That infrastructure cannot handle more people than those who are already living in Batumi. If even a small fraction of the newly built condos are sold, Batumi's infrastructure will fail.
• There is no shared responsibility in any building. Your neightbours and the constructor have no obligations to help you or fix any problems even if it's their fault. After you have paid, you carry all the responsibility.

We decided to rent rather than buy, which means more security and flexibility for us. There have been rumours that the immigration rules might change to a maximum 3-month stay in every 6 months to promote residence permits that require substantial real estate investment. If that happens, we will leave rather than waste money in Batumi real estate.

Renting can be tedious in Batumi

When renting, we met many real estate agents and apartment owners. Some were nice, ordinary people but if you're like us and don't speak any Georgian or Russian, they might be afraid of dealing with a foreigner and not answer your messages. The ones who do answer include unreliable and arrogant scammers who try to rip you off because you're a bloody tourist who deserves that. The local business culture is challenging to say the least. Most of the time you can't trust anything the agents or owners tell you, and they can be so moody that even getting to see flats may be difficult, and once you get there, the prices they ask are outrageous. Who would pay US $500–$800 for a tiny flat in a former Soviet town when you can get something decent in Berlin with the same money? They seem to think that if they ask for a sane rent and get their flat rented, then the value of the flat decreases so it's better to ask a sky high rent and have the flat empty!

One peculiar feature of the Batumi real estate market is that the same flats are often handled by many agents, and prices and conditions vary. The real number of flats available is always less than it seems to be, but on the other hand there are a lot more flats for sale or for rent than listed, and thousands more are being constructed. A local friend is the only viable option to find a flat outside tourist/holiday/short-term market, but finding one can be equally challenging.

When you rent a flat, you pay the first and the last month's rent when signing the agreement. If you leave prematurely, you lose the last month's rent which is the deposit. Otherwise you will not pay the rent for the last month. Many flats in Batumi are illegally rented, so if you want to leave earlier, you may use that for your advantage. Take into account that landlords never have money, especially when it comes to returning your money to you, or fixing something in the flat, so you may need to take the deposit back by staying an extra month, or you risk losing your money.

The rent and the possible deposit are always paid to the owner, never to an agent. The owner pays a one-month rent to the agent as a commission and the agent works for the owner, not for you. If there are multiple agents, then the agents split the commission by themselves. If you have any problems, the owner is the only one who is responsible. The agents will lose their interest after receiving their share. And one more very important thing. Don't believe the mantra "summer months are more expensive", if you are really going to settle down for a longer time. There are plenty of empty flats during the winter and the summer. The difference is barely noticeable.

• When you rent, you usually pay 2 months' rent in advance, the first and the last month.
• If your landlord uses an agent, they pay one months' rent to the agent as a commission.
• In condos, there are often extra fees for electricity, communal facilities, guards etc. These can be very expensive. Remember to ask about them beforehand.
• When something breaks, it's almost always your fault and you need to pay or buy the replacement, even if the thing was already broken before you moved in.
• Many flats are not registered for rental use and rented illegally.
• In Batumi, there is a tradition to build extra floors called mansards on top of existing buildings. These unsafe constructs were never taken into account when calculating the strengths of materials and safety marginals, and they may have been added illegally.
• Many landlords treat their flats as badly as they treat their tenants. Nothing is really fixed before it breaks completely. If you want to get something done properly, you need to buy and have it installed by yourself. Don't expect any help or compensation.

To put things into perspective, renting in Batumi was much easier than for example renting a flat in Kenya. Take your time, check the available options and be patient with agents and owners, and eventually you will find someone and something acceptable. And if you don't, you can always move to Tbilisi which is much less touristy.

If you didn't find what you were looking for in this blog post, leave us a comment and we'll do our best to help you. Take a look at these ghost apartments and hyperbuilding photos in Batumi and good luck with house hunting!

There is currently an economic turmoil in Georgia. While the local currency Lari (GEL) is nose-diving, food prices are skyrocketing and people are having hard time to buy even the most essential, basic food ingredients such as sugar, pasta, and cooking oil.

Stores are increasing prices to exploit the situation and government has counteracted by considering price control and planning to purchase a supply of 5,000 tons of sugar, 500 tons of pasta and 1,500,000 liters of cooking oil. Until then, there is an urgent need for immediate action to help the most vulnerable.

Sugar is the most important of the planned ingredients as it is a highly addictive food substance and consumed in large quantities in Georgia. To ease up the withdrawal symptoms, there is an urgent need to give sugar to those who can't afford it anymore. You can participate in the Sugar Aid Relief program by donating money for free sugar doses using your credit card or with WebMoney. All the donations are tax deductible in Georgia.

Details: SugarAidReliefFund2020GE
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK, USA (USD) 
SWIFT CODE: FRNYUS33 
Account number: 021087992 GEORG
Beneficiary’s bank:
NATIONAL BANK OF GEORGIA, TBILISI 
SWIFT CODE: BNLNGE22 
Beneficiary: MINISTRY OF FINANCE OF GEORGIA 
IBAN: GE65NB0331100001150207

For further information, visit www.georgiasugaraidrelieffund.ge. Thank you for your invaluable help!

Photos of Päivi & Santeri's 16th wedding anniversary in Batumi, Georgia on their never-ending honeymoon trip.

Georgian Revenue service is providing information on tax free shopping and the VAT refund on their website, but unfortunately in Georgian only. As the process is quite different than in other countries, we decided to share our experiences about it.

How to get a VAT return?

Before buying, make sure that the shop is eligible for tax free shopping. It is possible that the merchant has a Tax free sticker on their door or window, but they are not necessarily willing to make you the necessary paperwork. Georgian Revenue service is selling tax free stickers to merchants for 0.35 GEL each, and on top of that they pay 200 GEL/year for the status. In most cases, it is merely for marketing purposes.

When you find a real tax free shop and want to do your purchase, the shop will give you a signed and stamped paper called Value Added Tax (VAT) Refund Receipt. Filling out the form will usually take some time, as not many people ask for it and the salespeople are unfamiliar with the process. They might need to call their manager for help. When the paper is ready, you need to sign it in order to accept the rules. Then they will package your product into their shop's bag and seal it with tax free label. You may not open the bag or use the product before you leave Georgia. This rule is quite extraordinary. We have not seen a similar restriction anywhere else in the world.

Once the purchase is made, you must leave the country within 90 days by airplane as tax refunds are given only in the international airports in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi. At the airport, go to the tax free counter before checking in, present them the VAT refund receipt and the sealed product, and they will inspect your product. The process can be slow, so make sure you don't arrive at the airport last minute. After that, you will get another paper, which you need to take to a bank. The bank will give you the refund in cash in Georgian laris (GEL).

Tax refund is not 18% but 13,46%

The sum they will give you is not 18 per cent — the value added tax — as there are several fees that are deducted from the refund. Revenue Service takes 22.22 per cent of the refund and the bank 3 per cent. The rest, 13.46 per cent, is what you get back calculated from the tax free price, or 11.41 per cent when calculated from the purchase price including VAT. The refund calculation is available in your "Value Added Tax (VAT) Refund Receipt".

An example of a VAT refund calculation

In this example, the difference between the VAT and the refund is 7,69 GEL (4,54%). If you have questions, Georgian Revenue service can help you by email info@rs.ge with 1-8 days delay, but their answers are in Georgian only. However, questions may be presented in English.

Georgian tax free shopping rules in a nutshell

• The minimum purchase is 200 GEL from one shop at one time.
• You may not use the product before tax free inspection.
• The tax return is only partial, not the full 18 % VAT.
• You have to leave Georgia within 3 months of the purchase.
• You need a stamped and signed VAT refund receipt from the seller.
• The product must be in a plastic or a paper bag sealed by the seller.
• You must exit the country from an International airport (Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi).

We would love to hear about your experiences on tax free shopping in Georgia and are happy to answer your questions. Please leave us a comment below!

Statistics has always been Päivi's Achilles' heel. She has been struggling even with the most basic formulas and calculations mixing up averages, medians, and probabilities. To tackle her weakness, Päivi decided to get her 3rd PhD degree on statistics. Her first PhD was on Finnishness (Tampere University, Finland) and the second on Global Nomads (Tilburg University, Netherlands). The newest thesis is on Qualitative Statistics, which is a new, emerging research area thanks to the booming Artificial Intelligence research.

Qualitative Statistics versus Quantitative Statistics

Qualitative statistics -- as the name implies -- focusses on quality over quantity. This means leaving numbers, samples and spreadsheets aside, and instead analysing the research problem using qualitative methods. Let's take an example. How can we analyse, for example, how good a classroom of students are?

1. The quantitive method would approach the problem by calculating the average grade (the arithmetic mean) and use the number to define how well the students do.
2. In qualitative statics, on the other hand, we can focus on the word 'mean'. 'Mean' carries not only the meaning of 'average' but also of 'poor, shabby, or inferior quality or status' and even 'malice' and 'evil'.

So the question is, do we really want to define how good the class is by insinuating that they are not good? If we choose the latter, a more human approach is to apply the methods of qualitative statistics. This way we will be able to reformulate the research problem and focus on finding a more positive solution to the problem that is much more than just a number that is bigger than 0.

As the example shows, qualitative statistics is oriented towards problem solving rather than accumulating data. It is positive, and encourages new, constructive viewpoints beyond traditional statistical categories. Qualitative statistics has several practical implications, for example, in psychology showing the power of suggestion.

Päivi wrote her thesis for an Uzbek university in Uzbekistan. They allowed Päivi to complete her degree remotely, which expedited the process. Päivi's diploma arrived by mail yesterday (see the photo on top).

We want to thank the Supreme Professor Abdulaziz Hamid Akbar, the namesake of the third cousin of His Excellency the Supreme Leader Abdulaziz Akmal Ibragimov, for his kind co-operation. Katta rahmat!

The first of Santeri's six new musical pieces was published in our Batumi street dog video. The rest are listed below. It has been sixteen years since Santeri composed last time. We were living in Buenos Aires at the time. You can find those old songs in midi and mp3 format including musical scores from Downloads directory on our new Nomad & Travel Books website. The same website is also home for our new, mobile-friendly Travel Photo Albums with a cool new photo and album search functionality.

P.S. If you are gifted in maths and notice that the new songs are named unimaginatively by numbers, you might also notice that one of them is missing from the series. It is a Finnish in-joke about THL's (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) Director Mika Salminen rapping about his favorite subject. If you cannot resist the urge to listen to this song, you can find it from the same Downloads directory under the names 4.mp3 and 4.mp4.

Welcome to the milieu of our newest book

Our newest book, The Intuitionist: An Adventure in Selfhood, came out this week. It is set in Batumi, Georgia where we have been living for the past three years.

The Intuitionist tells the story of a South-African world-traveller Nathan and his quest for selfhood amid strange happenings of his new hometown. The book blends fiction and nonfiction into a dizzying mystery. Are things what they appear to be? Are we who and what we say we are?

For further information and ordering, visit book the Intuitionist: An Adventure in Selfhood or in Finnish kirja Intuitionisti - Seikkailu minuuden syövereihin.

Photos of our 17th wedding anniversary in Tampere, Finland on the never-ending honeymoon trip.

P.S. We have not returned to Finland permanently. This is just a pit stop.

We had our first winter in 17 years. Snow looked incredibly beautiful and we enjoyed the opportunity to see many of our friends and relatives in Finland and reconnect with our roots.

What makes Finland the best country in the world? We wrote a book about it during the long, dark nights of mid-winter. The book offers many valuable lessons that can help other countries, too, to become better and some day reach the ultimate level of a Nordic welfare society.

What exactly makes Finland the best?

The Finnish way of managing the pandemic and geopolitics are the key to what makes the country so great. The Finnish media has united to protect citizens and battle fake news and other critical views. Everyone follows the news in Finland and we know that TV is the most trustworthy source of information.

Defeating pandemics together

Finland has two overwhelming enemies: Covid and Russia. Fortunately, the Finnish vaccination rate is among the highest in the world. People are wearing face masks everywhere, even when driving a car alone or video chatting with others at home. Finnish people understand that the pandemic is threatening the lives of billions of people around the world and it has to be taken seriously. The mortality rate in Finland is currently the highest ever, even higher than during the World War II. This proves, beyond doubt, that those over 90% of Finns who obey cannot be wrong.

When a similar pandemic happens in the future, Finland will be fully prepared and the population will gladly accept whatever is required to protect their health and security. Finland will still be standing when weaker nations fall. As we say in Finland: "Let’s take care of each other."

Geopolitics, neutrality, and Finlandization

Finland has a unique but challenging geographical location just like Ukraine and Georgia. The country has a 1300km long land border with Russia. Earlier the country was afraid of Russia (this was known as Finlandization), but now the situation has changed. The Finnish Defence Forces have proven their military might by helping in the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

Finland is not poor like Ukraine and Georgia but has money for purchasing US weapon systems as a payment for NATO membership. There is therefore no doubt that Finland will be soon invited to join the NATO.

About the new book

Our new book is examining these matters in great detail and presenting their historical roots. The book was written in Finnish, but we hope it will soon be available in other languages as well. Would you like to help translating this book?

• Title Miksi Suomi on maailman paras maa?
• Title in English What makes Finland the best country in the world?
• Hardcover, 842 pages, ordering and prices
• ISBN 999-666-94-5285-1
• Published by Patriootti Kustannus Oy

Message us for an electronic copy.

Dear Mr. Niinistö,

I am deeply concerned about the current state of affairs in Finland. We left Finland in 2004 to travel the world. We have been living in 102 countries around the world, and travelled through countries devastated by the US, NATO, and Russia. The last three years we lived in Georgia, which is at war with Russia. There is a ceasefire agreement, but a peace accord was never signed. Russia – the second biggest arms exporter in the world right after the US– benefits from such instability.

Georgia is a tiny country, and like Ukraine, it has become a part of the hybrid war between Russia and the US. Georgia is but a small example of this increasing warfare. Other examples that we have witnessed include tensions between South Korea and North Korea, and Taiwan and China. In such proxy conflicts, the United States' track record is not better than Russia's. In the Balkans, we met people who had been attacked by NATO forces, in Nicaragua we talked with relatives of the people who had been assassinated by the US, and in Venezuela we saw the country in chaos after their president Chavez had been, according to the locals, assassinated by the US. More than a defence alliance, NATO is a weapon for furthering the United States' interests globally. In this game of geopolitics between the US and Russia, Finland is an insignificant pawn but a lucrative customer for arms exporters.

Was the current, unprovoked war in Ukraine really so unprovoked? In 2008, shortly after the Russo-Georgian war, several Finnish Foreign Affairs (MFA) officials noted to the US ambassador that Finns might become more concerned about their security situation should something similar [like in Georgia] happen in Ukraine, and that might push Finland to join the NATO enabling the US to drive Russia into a corner. For me, having good relations with one's neighbouring countries makes more sense than bringing a hostile military alliance to their borders. If I were Putin, I would simply nuke Finland before it enters NATO in order to prevent The Third World War and nuclear annihilation. As we all remember, The Second World War ended when the US nuked Japan.

Personally, I am peace-loving and believe that we are all one, even the Russians. I would love to see our small planet without any countries and borders as they merely turn people against each other. In the same spirit, I would encourage you to reconsider your position and further peace instead of more conflicts.

Best regards,

Santeri Kannisto

P.S. Our previous blog post was published on April 1, and it was indeed an April Fool's prank. We did not mean it to be taken seriously.

This wasn't our first visit to Albania. We had crossed the country on our previous Balkan tour ten years earlier but didn't get a very good impression then. Now everything was different. We stayed longer, tried different parts of the country from north to south, and fell in love with the Mediterranean coast. We ended up staying in Saranda close to the Greek border, a 30-minute ferry ride from Corfu. Saranda is a small former fishing village with approximately 15 000 inhabitants. It is big enough to have different kind of supermarkets and services and small enough for it being laid-back.

Renting in Saranda was straightforward. We came in May when the season hadn't started yet and found a very nice 1-bedroom apartment. In June the rents hike everywhere in the city, and the absolutely worst time is in July-August. Although there is too much supply, locals try to keep the price levels up. As a result, many hotels and apartment buildings are empty. The prepandemic year 2019 was the best ever for Albanian tourism. Many new businesses started at that time and the existing ones made big investments. Then came the two bad years and businesses had to scale down. Some went bankrupt, others survived somehow.

Saranda has a small beach boulevard, and the mostly empty tourist part of the city is great for walking. There is also a small public beach right in front of the city center. Water is not very clean but locals do swim there so it's probably not too bad. The weather in summer is hot and humid with occasional thunderstorms.

We also visited Shkoder in North Albania, which is nice in a way that it is just a normal Albanian city and not living merely of tourism. The capital, Tirana, is also attractive despite its Soviet look and feel. It reminded us of Yerevan, however the Albanians tend to be more relaxed and open — they even smile to you! What we also loved was the Albanians' service-mindedness and honesty. They want you to enjoy your stay and do their best to help you in every way they can. What more can you hope for — except perhaps that you could stay longer than 90 days!