Time for a new adventure!
Well, I hope I'm not massively tempting fate (a la my last aborted Georgia trip back in March 2020, right as the Pandemic was declared!), but it's looking like I'm heading to North Macedonia on Wednesday after a near 2 year hiatus from running trips. These are exciting yet very nervous times. I'm keen to resume operating my overseas trips again butt I feel a lot of trepidation about heading overseas again, but I'm going to try. I really hope things go well, but there are no certainties during these current times. Financially I really needed to resume operations; not having a proper income the last 2 years have wiped out the savings and I have to start again...... it is what it is, I still have the business and I still have my health, there are many others that have been a lot less fortunate than me and I'm greatful I made it this far...... Anyway, enough of the violin playing, let's get into it.
Normally I would be heading to Japan right now, but Japan is still shut down for tourism (things were starting to open up, with business and student visas being granted and then Omicron hit and Japan shuttered their borders again) so I had to get creative and come up with some different destinations that had a better chance of being open. Later I'll be headed to Uzbekistan and then Georgia, but I'm starting in North Macedonia this time, with a couple of 10-day (6 days of cat skiing followed by a couple of days siteseeing in Skopje).
Originally I put this trip together back in 2021 but had no takers (very understandable). North Macedonia has kept their borders open this entire time during the Pandemic and the infection rate has remained pretty low. They've had 3 waves of COVID so far, with the highest daily new infection rate around 1,500 cases a day. Right now, they are sitting on a 7-day average of 360 new infections. They were starting to trend up slightly after the holidays, but yesterday came down a little to only 246 new cases. Will Omicron hit? Probably, when, I don't know. Could be this month, could be next (and that is a concern), but at least the hospitals aren't currently overwhelmed with Delta cases already, so hopefully they will be prepared for if/when it happens.
To travel to North Macedonia, overseas visitors from the US can get a visa on arrival and then the COVID restrictions for arrivals are either: a) be fully-vaccinated (not boostered) OR b) Negative PCR test (72-hours or less prior to departure)/Antigen test 48-hours or less) OR c) documented recovery from COVID in the last 45 days or less. So, still somewhat easy to enter North Macedonia. I'm double-vaxxed and boostered, so hopefully that will keep me safe from any serious symptoms of COVID.
I'm leaving Granby on Wednesday 5th and have to fight my way over Berthod Pass in heavy snow to get to Denver where I will stay overnight near the airport. Then I fly to Washington DC, then Vienna and then Skopje, arriving around 2:10pm on Friday 7th Jan. I'll stay overnight in Skopje on the 7th and then hit the road to the ski area of Popova Sapka, our base for the next 7-nights, with 6-days of cat skiing with our guests. This first group is all from the US, with most from NY state and 1 from Boulder, CO and another one from CA. I have 6 guests in the first group in a 14-person cat. Should be plenty of room. I have a second group starting on the 19th Jan.
So far Popova has been having a great season, with good conditions in early December and commencement of cat skiing a little earlier than usual. It has warmed up this week unfortunately and they have lost some snow, but hopefully we have a storm coming from the 5th onwards. Fingers crossed! This will be my first time in N. Macedonia and I'm excited to ski some powder again and be guiding (tail guiding really, plus photographer and videographer!) in some exciting looking terrain.
I'll be blogging live again, really looking forward to writing and documenting our new adventures, especially since this will be an all new trip, but thankfully with experienced local partners which makes my life a lot easier. I can't wait to meet the local people and experience their food, culture and hospitality. Please follow the adventure and I'd love to hear any questions or comments you might have. Expect plenty of photos and video's to come. I'll be there until the 30th Jan, so plenty of reports to come.
Cheers everyone, hope all goes well and here's to a return to international travel and writing about it again. Wish me luck, no doubt I will need some. Stay safe and well everyone.
- Matt
Well, I hope I'm not massively tempting fate (a la my last aborted Georgia trip back in March 2020, right as the Pandemic was declared!), but it's looking like I'm heading to North Macedonia on Wednesday after a near 2 year hiatus from running trips. These are exciting yet very nervous times. I'm keen to resume operating my overseas trips again butt I feel a lot of trepidation about heading overseas again, but I'm going to try. I really hope things go well, but there are no certainties during these current times. Financially I really needed to resume operations; not having a proper income the last 2 years have wiped out the savings and I have to start again...... it is what it is, I still have the business and I still have my health, there are many others that have been a lot less fortunate than me and I'm greatful I made it this far...... Anyway, enough of the violin playing, let's get into it.
Normally I would be heading to Japan right now, but Japan is still shut down for tourism (things were starting to open up, with business and student visas being granted and then Omicron hit and Japan shuttered their borders again) so I had to get creative and come up with some different destinations that had a better chance of being open. Later I'll be headed to Uzbekistan and then Georgia, but I'm starting in North Macedonia this time, with a couple of 10-day (6 days of cat skiing followed by a couple of days siteseeing in Skopje).
Originally I put this trip together back in 2021 but had no takers (very understandable). North Macedonia has kept their borders open this entire time during the Pandemic and the infection rate has remained pretty low. They've had 3 waves of COVID so far, with the highest daily new infection rate around 1,500 cases a day. Right now, they are sitting on a 7-day average of 360 new infections. They were starting to trend up slightly after the holidays, but yesterday came down a little to only 246 new cases. Will Omicron hit? Probably, when, I don't know. Could be this month, could be next (and that is a concern), but at least the hospitals aren't currently overwhelmed with Delta cases already, so hopefully they will be prepared for if/when it happens.
To travel to North Macedonia, overseas visitors from the US can get a visa on arrival and then the COVID restrictions for arrivals are either: a) be fully-vaccinated (not boostered) OR b) Negative PCR test (72-hours or less prior to departure)/Antigen test 48-hours or less) OR c) documented recovery from COVID in the last 45 days or less. So, still somewhat easy to enter North Macedonia. I'm double-vaxxed and boostered, so hopefully that will keep me safe from any serious symptoms of COVID.
I'm leaving Granby on Wednesday 5th and have to fight my way over Berthod Pass in heavy snow to get to Denver where I will stay overnight near the airport. Then I fly to Washington DC, then Vienna and then Skopje, arriving around 2:10pm on Friday 7th Jan. I'll stay overnight in Skopje on the 7th and then hit the road to the ski area of Popova Sapka, our base for the next 7-nights, with 6-days of cat skiing with our guests. This first group is all from the US, with most from NY state and 1 from Boulder, CO and another one from CA. I have 6 guests in the first group in a 14-person cat. Should be plenty of room. I have a second group starting on the 19th Jan.
So far Popova has been having a great season, with good conditions in early December and commencement of cat skiing a little earlier than usual. It has warmed up this week unfortunately and they have lost some snow, but hopefully we have a storm coming from the 5th onwards. Fingers crossed! This will be my first time in N. Macedonia and I'm excited to ski some powder again and be guiding (tail guiding really, plus photographer and videographer!) in some exciting looking terrain.
I'll be blogging live again, really looking forward to writing and documenting our new adventures, especially since this will be an all new trip, but thankfully with experienced local partners which makes my life a lot easier. I can't wait to meet the local people and experience their food, culture and hospitality. Please follow the adventure and I'd love to hear any questions or comments you might have. Expect plenty of photos and video's to come. I'll be there until the 30th Jan, so plenty of reports to come.
Cheers everyone, hope all goes well and here's to a return to international travel and writing about it again. Wish me luck, no doubt I will need some. Stay safe and well everyone.
- Matt