Welcome to A Baby Boomer in Bosnia, where I explore the fascinating culture, history, and everyday life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this heart-shaped, but much misunderstood country.
I’m David, your host, sharing stories, insights, and conversations from my life here in the north west of the country.
Whether you’re tuning in for the first time, I’m so glad you’re here.
In this first episode of "A Baby Boomer in Bosnia", I share my fascinating journey from the United Kingdom to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Having first visited during the 1990's conflict while working with a mobile radio station for the British troops, I returned and ultimately settled in Bosnia.
Now retired, I reflect on my over 25-year-long adventure, exploring the country's beauty, culture, and slower pace of life.
I discuss my experiences, anecdotes, and personal insights into living in a place that captivates me daily.
I also touch on my connections with my family abroad and the rewarding community I'm building through my podcasts and YouTube channel.
Thank you for tuning in to A Baby Boomer in Bosnia. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and that it gave you a little more insight into life and culture here in this fascinating part of the world.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing to the podcast on your favourite podcatcher, so you never miss a new release. And, if you have a moment, a quick rating or review would mean the world. It really helps others discover the show.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or ideas for future episodes.
Until next time, take care, and as always, Hvala for listening.
Enjoying the podcast? If you’d like to support the show and help me continue sharing stories and insights about life here in the Balkans, consider becoming a member of my podcast community
Your support means the world and helps keep the episodes coming.
Transcripts
Baby Boomer in Bosnia - Episode 1
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[:
me. I first came to Bosnia in:
lict in the area that started:
back. But back I did come in:
But during that time, I continued my work here in the country. but transitioned from being a man in uniform to a civilian, and therefore I was able to leave the security of the base and to find out what really was going on the other side of the wire, if I can use that phrase. And it was then that I realised, I'd seen this beautiful country from the back of a Land Rover or from out of a helicopter window.
. And I started to meet some [:
Once you get bitten by Bosnia and Herzegovina, that's it. You fall passionately in love with it. A lot of people ask me what I think about the country here. Describe it in a word or a phrase. And the phrase that I like to use is, Bosnia and Herzegovina is like The Hotel California. You can check out.
e time my project finished in:
eak German, good German, how [:
And if you're [:
So I prefer to be here than in the United Kingdom. And there's so many reasons that are beneficial to me that my, my pension from the UK stretches a lot further here than it would back in the UK. in England, so that's one good reason to be here. But as I say, I find it very exciting to be here, and I'm learning something every day.
lly enjoy the warmth and the [:
And just after I've woken up, because I can walk to my front gate and I look across the valley, the river Vrbas valley, and I can see the foothills of the Kozara national park about 30 kilometers away. It's a beautiful sight and when the sun is coming up in the morning, it's just like gorgeous. But at night, the colours in the sky and the way that.
ay. My son is about to leave [:
And my Second daughter, like the middle one, she's been living for years in the U. S., started off in Brooklyn, New York, and has now settled into life in what I think is a wonderful place Maplewood, in New Jersey, and I send them photographs, and I say, Dad, that is idyllic, and it then makes me wonder, yeah, it is, and
ad some podcasts before, and [:
And I've decided that I just want to document, document my life. And maybe my grandchildren I have six, lucky old me that they might get hold of this audio and they'll find out what their grandfather did, thought, his emotions, and how he got into the situations that he got into and how he got out of the situations that he got into.
se let me know how you found [:
I've closed my other podcast down and I'm also on YouTube where I have A channel called "it is what it is", but once again, I've gone back to basics and not worrying about, I need to have perfect thumbnails or click baity titles or anything like that. I'm too old for that now. And I know that other older people prefer to have authenticity.
Rather than trying to be what they're not. So if you're looking for me on Instagram or any of the other social media platforms, I'm not there. I used to be, I used to be posting two or three times a day. I've been in media for the last 30 years and now it's just got too much for me. In fact, it has, I know this sounds cliched.
I'm enjoying the start again [:
And I like that better than just running after views. So that's me, David, from Bosnia. From the United Kingdom, living in Bosnia. I'm in the start of year six of my temporary residency.
And you can say, David, but you didn't, you say you were there for 25 years yet. Some of that time I didn't need visas cause I wasn't in, was with an international organization here. Then I was working away. So every time I came back, I was within the visitor allowance, but I then misread the situation or.
And I actually overstayed my [:
nyway, this is from dollarbill:
I recall the news in the:
ure of both? And I'm looking [:
Don't jive with what you read. In the international press. So if you're listening to this in the United States or in the United Kingdom or Canada or Australia, New Zealand you might not get the answers from me that you think you, you might do because once you've been here you have the opportunity.
ngs that happened here in the:
In a way, why they did happen, and I am now a great researcher in my own way into what happened before that conflict. So back in the days when it was the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, and then back before that to World War II, and the things that happened here. And then through. The time back to the first world war and then before that the 480 years, especially in this part of the region where the Ottoman Turks were before that, as Christianity arrived here before being pushed out by the Turks, and it's all fascinating, and it is like a jigsaw puzzle.
n Balkans, have been a, as a [:
hed fighting the Scots in the:
want. So if you found this, [:
It's a free website, so it doesn't have all the whistles and bells, but it'll have enough. information for you to look elsewhere to find where my blog is, where my YouTube channel is. And if you feel like supporting a pensioner with this project and there's ways you can leave a small tip or even become a member of this, what I hope will be growing podcast community where there'll be extra special things on offer.
agery as well. There you go. [:
If you want to check me out on Google maps, just look for the city of Banja Luka. It's the second city in the country. And then there's a smaller town about 15 kilometers north called Laktaši. And then you just look for the village of Čardačani. It's not too far away from Laktaši so that might be something that will keep you occupied for an hour or two.
And if you find it on the map Yeah, send me an email, david at an Englishman in the Balkans, that's all one word. com, david at an Englishman in the Balkans, that's all one word, by the way, dot com, and I promise to send you a laptop sticker and a fridge magnet. Okay then, that's it from me for this episode.
