An American in Tiblisi
Writing the Second Act: How Travel Fuels Personal Transformation
In the literary world, the "Second Act" is where the protagonist faces their greatest challenges, undergoes their deepest trials, and e...
The Vake Vibe: Finding a Home in an Unexpected Neighborhood
When travelers speak of Tbilisi, they often wax poetic about the leaning clock tower of the puppet theatre, the crumbling brickwork of ...
Steam, Sulfur, and Soul-Cleansing: Lessons from Tbilisi’s Ancient Baths
If you walk through the Abanotubani district of Old Tbilisi, the first thing you notice is not the architecture, but the air. It carrie...
A Culinary Hug in Carb Form: A Beginner’s Guide to Georgian Flavors
When John Matthews first touched down in Tbilisi, he was a man seeking solace, his heart still heavy with the gray silence of a New Jer...
From New Jersey to Tbilisi: Embracing the “Spectacularly Unplanned”
There is a specific kind of silence that settles in a house after a lifelong partner is gone. For John Matthews, a successful writer fr...
How A Man Healed Himself, Away From Home, Away From Comfort, Yet Calm
When John Matthews stepped off the plane in Tbilisi, Georgia, he wasn’t chasing adventure. He was running from absence,
