In September last year, I had papers accepted to two renowned conferences in two Balkan capitals: Zagreb and Sofia.
The conferences were just a few days apart, so I immediately considered pursuing this in one long trip. And, of course, for my commitment to #GreenMSCA & #GreenAcadeMiles – a land-based, low-carbon, eco-friendly trip.
(After all, how often do you get to travel through 8 countries for a work trip?)
Let’s dive into this long thread.
🧵1/30
For the first conference in Zagreb, I was departing from Prague. I found a travel itinerary through Graz and Zidani Most that even @seatsixtyone – the respected authority in European train travel – didn’t have listed on his blog. So, for a moment, I was afraid there must have been some kind of bug on this journey. But as everything went smoothly, I can recommend this itinerary.
I left Prague at 8:44 by the Railjet 75.
🧵2/30
Just a few days before my departure, Central Europe was struck by unprecedented weather and floods, causing various disruptions on the region’s railways. But as you can see from the pictures, the weather improved significantly, and none of the disruptions touched any leg of my journey.
(After all, isn’t air travel much more prone to the vagaries of weather?).
🧵3/30
Direct Railjets connecting to Graz depart Prague eight times a day, passing Brno and Vienna. The carriages are well equipped with power sockets and solid Wi-Fi.
I used almost 6 hours of this journey to prepare my presentations.
For those who haven’t tried it, I think trains are the ideal place to prepare academic presentations. Whenever you are stuck, you can just look out the window and immerse yourself in thinking while enjoying the countryside.
🧵4/30
We arrived in Graz on time, so I had time for a late lunch.
Whenever I have a chance, I plan longer breaks around lunchtime. I don’t mind having a 2-hour break at all. This is for 1) having a meal, 2) having a break from work, and 3) stretching legs while exploring the place (and quite frankly, Graz is a fantastic town to wander/wonder around).
…and yes, 4) a time reserve may come in handy when a delay occurs.
🧵5/30
I changed to a local train in the direction of Ljubljana. I could not make a reservation for this train online, but there was no real need – there were plenty of seats. There were no tables, so I continued working on my presentation with a computer on my knees (usually workable for a couple of hours).
The socket worked just fine, and the Wi-Fi was surprisingly stable and fast (with over 10 Mbps of download and 1Mbps upload).
🧵6/30
At sunset, we arrived at the Most Zidani station. I don’t think I’ve ever visited a station with a more liminal feeling. It is situated in a deep valley at the confluence of two rivers and the crossroads of important railways.
I had about an hour to wait for my Zagreb train, so I wandered to the lively bar, where I couldn’t resist a bottle of Slovenian beer. After all, everyone at the station seemed to have been empowered with alcohol to endure this liminal feeling of the station.
🧵7/30
By this point, I’m already tired of working on my presentation, so I only listen to audiobooks in the dimly lit carriage of the Villach–Zagreb train. I paid for a seat reservation on this train, but there was no real need – the train was half-empty.
We arrived about 15 minutes late to Zagreb. Not bad for such a long trip!
🧵8/30
#ESEM conference was – quite as usual – amazing. They have a long tradition and belong to my favourite ones since they have no parallel sessions, long coffee breaks and even longer lunch breaks.
I presented an introduction to my #RomaniChords project that I only started (=>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtRa3Ezdq8I)
By the way, plenty of participants arrived by train at this conference too, especially those from Austria, which is well-connected with Croatia.
#GreenAcadeMiles #GreenMSCA #RomChords
🧵9/30
The ESEM is not yet over, but I already need to hit the road.
Sadly, there is no decent rail option between Zagreb and Sofia. Decades of underinvestment, complex cross-border coordination, and differing national priorities have left many routes, like this one, fragmented and discontinued.
The only way by train would be through Budapest and Romania, which would not only be time-consuming but also depressing as I would be returning to where I came from.
🧵10/30
There are reasonable connections by night buses, though. A Flixbus departs daily at 20:20 and reaches Sofia in about 12 hours.
Sadly, these would not be a good option for me as I cannot sleep much on night buses. After such a trip, I feel very much jet-lagged and it takes me a couple of days to recover. I prefer day buses as I can use them productively. In other words, I don’t lose a day on buses, but I can lose a couple after taking a night bus.
🧵11/30
Eventually, I decided to split my journey and travel by afternoon bus from Zagreb to Belgrade and the following day from Zagreb to Sofia.
So, no jet lag, plenty of effective hours for getting things done and, as a bonus, a visit to another amazing European capital.
🧵12/30
My Flixbus leaves the Belgrade station at 14:00, so I joined a morning conference slot before leaving Zagreb.
The journey goes seamlessly, except for the border check between Croatia and Serbia. I found it very annoying, yet I didn’t know then that this border check was the fastest I’d gone through during the trip (yes, stay tuned for more frustration).
🧵13/30
I worked many hours on the board of various Flixbuses, so I’ve already learned how to transform a tight Flixbus seat into a full-fledged academic office (I may write a #TravelHack about it later).
I continued working on my presentation for the conference in Sofia.
A technical note – Serbia is not a part of the EU’s roaming. Hence, it’s worth downloading an offline map (and generally cutting any communication over mobile data as it may be pricey).
🧵14/30
We arrived an hour late in Belgrade, probably due to the border check. I found a cheap hotel near the Branko Bridge that cost 25 EUR. It was absolutely sufficient for what I needed – to sleep before the next leg of my journey. The en-suite bathroom was a fantastic bonus for the price.
I enjoyed a night wandering around this amazing and – I think somewhat underrated – city.
🧵15/30
My bus leaves tomorrow at 14:30, so, having plenty of time before setting up on the road, I allowed myself a sluggish morning, mostly hanging out in Belgrade’s parks and listening to podcasts and audiobooks. I was so busy getting rest that I didn’t even take any photos of Belgrade. So, I’m attaching a picture from my previous Balkan train trip in 2018 (the mood was quite similar to back then).
🧵16/30
The bus station in Belgrade is lovely and lively, but I recommend allowing yourself plenty of time to find your bus.
There’s a strange policy of paying 220 RSD (in cash!) to access the platform for a bus you already paid for. I didn’t quite understand this [Kafkasque] rule, so I eventually found my way to my platform, precisely how the buses go (not recommended, though).
My bus is operated by the TransJug company and departs on time.
🧵17/30
The bus is half empty, so I got a free seat next to me – this, of course, makes working on the board ways more enjoyable.
The bus is equipped with USB chargers. There is no Wi-Fi, and since we are travelling through Serbia, I didn’t dare switch on the mobile data.
But I was counting on that, so I immersed myself again in preparing my presentation for the Sofia conference.
🧵18/30
Another border check took more than one hour, and we were twice asked to leave the bus and show our passports to Serbian and Bulgarian customs officers.
One young man from our bus was asked to show the contents of his backpack. He did so without protesting (likely knowing that it would only make things worse).
Despite this stalling at the border, we arrived in Sofia at 22:15, just about 15 minutes late. The metro and shops were still in service.
🧵19/30
In Sofia, I presented my project #RomaniChords for the #GLS aka #GypsyLoreSociety, this time from an anthropological and Romani-studies perspective. Here’s the link for the video => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lihBLvy256U
By the way, I appreciated the organiser’s idea to distribute refillable bottles with the conference’s branding. It didn’t fully replace the one-off bottles (and likely increased the participation fee), but it was a nice gesture.
🧵20/30
Time to get back on the road!
The first thing to do is to find the right station (there are two in Sofia, be careful).
My 9:00 am bus is there already at 8:00, and my co-travellers are stretching their bodies in the bright morning.
This is not an ordinary bus but one for real bus lovers (or people who cannot [afford to] travel otherwise) – it starts on the Black Sea coast city of Varna and, in 44 hours, it ends its journey in Dortmund, Germany.
🧵21/30
My working space is very tight this time. My companion is of a larger stature, so she is not particularly happy to see that I embarked as she lost much of her space.
Power sockets are on the window’s side, so I cannot really use them.
There is absolutely no Internet signal. So, I delve into work I can only do in such a tiny space – graphic assets for my film #HopaLide while listening to podcasts.
🧵22/30
Soon, we would pass the first border check between Bulgaria and Serbia. This went swiftly, although we needed to leave the bus and walk through the checkpoint.
This check was joint with a short break for refreshment and cigarettes (an obligatory part of all my Balkan fellow-travellers for all breaks)
🧵23/30
The journey through Serbia went quite swiftly, but it stalled again at the EU border between Serbia and Bulgaria, this time somewhat literally.
The bus stayed in one place for two hours without moving a single meter. Meanwhile, it got dark and started raining. The passengers began to riot because they couldn’t get their cigarettes due to the guarded border area.
🧵24/30
I recalled the #ESEM presentation of my Durham ex-colleague and friend, Budhaditya Bhattacharyya, about “everyday bordering” (based on Nira Yuval-Davis and colleagues’ article from 2018).
Citizens of Schengen countries, like myself, rarely experience “bordering” in their lives. It was definitely the most frustrating part of the journey, and it reminded me of my giant privilege of being an EU citizen.
🧵25/30
We made it to Budapest at 23:00 with about 3 3-hour delay. Although it was just one stop on my bus line, it took more than 14 hours.
After such a long bus ride, I was happy with my decision to split my journey and stay overnight in Budapest.
I found a cheap place for 33 EUR per night. It was well equipped for the price and just a 10-minute walk from the train station, where I continued the following day.
(The photo is again from the 2018 train trip).
🧵26/30
The next day, a train was waiting for me at the station in Keleti pályaudvar, which I know very well, as I have taken it hundreds of times – Metropolitan, connecting Budapest with Bratislava and Prague.
Bonus tip: if you want to have the cheapest price, book through the Hungarian site =>
🧵27/30
The train is operated by three carriers, so it appears on the line with different types of wagons. These are the Slovak ones, and I like them most because they are the best to work in – amazing tables and super room for legs. Power sockets and Wi-Fi are a matter of course.
I continued working on graphic assets for my film and almost didn’t want to get off in Bratislava – as if not ready for resettling for casual office work, that is, work in an office.
🧵28/30
Petr Nuska