Nomad Life - If You Stare at the Stars, You'll Step in Shit

The cultural pressures of socialism versus capitalism, craftsmanship, and making friends abroad.

Dec 05, 2021

This edition of The Storied Scrolls features a new Nomad Life chapter, “If You Stare at the Stars, You’ll Step in Shit,” a story about the cultural pressures of socialism versus capitalism, craftsmanship, and making friends abroad.

Let’s break the wax seal and unroll the scroll…

If You Stare at the Stars, You'll Step in Shit

CHAPTER 12 of Nomad Life

Grape bloom coated my fingers and clumped under my nails. It felt chalky and sticky at the same time, like I’d dunked my hands into a barrel of honey, then twirled them around in talc. I stepped carefully to the next plant in the vine row, placing my foot through a gap in the native grasses and wildflowers teeming with insects. Bees and other winged creatures buzzed through the warm autumn air, which was clear and had a fresh, almost tropical aroma rising from the baskets of fresh grapes that hung on the arms of a dozen grape pickers, including Shelby and I.

Back in 2019, we spent two full days helping vineyards in the Vipava Valley of Slovenia harvest grapes. I have stayed in contact with one of the winemakers over the years. When I messaged him in late 2021 that we had returned to Ljubljana, his response was, “Welcome home :).”

Near the end of our stay, we rented a car and drove to the Vipava Valley…

Where in the World are Zack, Shelby, and Skutull

Current location: 📍Ljubljana, Slovenia

What we’ve been up to: Learning how to cook pasta from an Italian chef.

What’s challenged us:

Scrambling to figure out our living situation after lockdowns in Austria prevented us from arriving in Vienna on schedule.
Finding a way to get a Covid booster shot without flying back home to the USA.

Top travel tips learned:

Use your embassy: One of our Slovenian friends suggested we contact our embassy for help getting Covid boosters. Unsurprisingly, the US government was useless and didn’t help us at all, but I still thought this was good advice to keep in mind more generally.
Get rid of coins: It’s easy to find places to exchange currencies in Europe, but I learned the hard way that most exchanges only accept bills, not coins. I have a stack of $10 worth of Croatian Kuna coins that I have no idea what to do with.

Miles traveled: 24,429 (0.98x 🌎)

Days nomadic: 275 (0.75x ☀️)