Hello and welcome to this edition of our Blog, from Čardačani, in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina, written by an immigrant (me), as I am neither a tourist or a citizen here.
The grass in our garden is back to being green, having been rather scorched to brown over the past few months. The chilly and overly wet days we have had, has been a boon.
The crazy thing though, is that we now crave the sunshine rather than the overcast skies we have 🤯.
Humans are not an easy species to please it seems.
The Short Break
This time next week, (well Friday 2 September), Tamara and I will be bouncing our way back to Banja Luka by bus after a short 5 day break on the Croatian coast at Makarska. The journey there should take approximately 5 hours (taking into account a border crossing).
The last coastal break we had was at Neum, the town on the second shortest coastline in the world. That trip was also our first that was organised with a local Tourist Agency. It was a really good experience, hence using that agency again this year. Last year we stayed in a hotel, this time however, we are self catering in an apartment some 500 metres from the beach.
You can take a walking tour of Markaska if you like ⬇️
Can’t wait to get there to be honest. There’s something about the sea, don’t you agree? And the Adriatic has the warmth and the cleanliness to die for.
The Social Change
In the past I have made no secret about my desire to wean myself off social media addictions, whether they be Facebook, Instagram etc etc.
It really is too much, and the pressures of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) are always there.
Establishing this blog has been a massive help to me, as it gives me a great sense of satisfaction, and is totally not algorithmic in any way. Thanks for being part of that. I am now starting the second phase of weaning off social platforms by strangely enough starting another account.
This one however, is not algorithmic and has no ads. It has a much less intimidating interface and actually is calming.
My aim is for this to replace, overtime, Instagram and Facebook.
I am starting with a simple “365 challenge” for myself, posting at least one image a day on this new account.
Here’s a small photo dump to show how it can replace Instagram
Let’s see how this goes. If you would like to see what Vero is like, click on the image above and maybe join me and create a new more tolerant and interactive community, at a pace we determine, not a multi million dollar advertising company.
Oh, and there are some hugely talented photographers from Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦, publishing on Vero as well. Just use #bosniaandherzegovina to discover them.
The A.I. image
My good friend, Christian Payne (@documentally), who is also on substack, (check him out), is a thought leader when it comes to all things storytelling and tech. I can’t wait for his weekly newsletter to update myself, and truth be told, to get inspired.
Recently, he discussed the use of A.I (Artificial Intelligence), to create images from text.
He showed a few examples he had created and directed readers to an online app, Midjourney.
Now, I am not too tech savvy, although I do see myself as a passionate amateur. So if you wanted to give it a spin yourself, you should be OK.
I did give it a go.
I inputed “Bosnia, misunderstood, heart shaped country” and the image above was created.
That’s how (on this occasion), A.I. “sees” Bosnia and Herzegovina.
What do you think?
The Digital Nomad
The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is hoping to encourage more digital nomads to spend time in Herzegovina. As part of this plan, they are inviting applications for five digital nomads to spend a month in Herzegovina, with all their expenses paid!
The Archive
Somewhere off the beaten track near Banja Luka that’s so worth discovering.
The Magnet
And Finally
If you want to read back editions of the newsletter, listen to previous podcasts (we have quite an archive now), or catch other content, all this is available on the web interface, just like a regular blog.
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Tamara and I appreciate your faithful readership, your comments, and your generosity!
THANKS SO MUCH ❤️
the picture ai is rather odd and depressing, it does not show Bosnia Herzegovina in a good way, so many lovely places to show rather than that
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