Over the course of my blogs, I will be weaving personal stories throughout the narrative and as a visual aid that is both hilarious and intimate, I’ll be using avatars of the many characters that I’ve met on my travels with the aim of  familiarising you with some of the wonderful people that made these journeys so memorable.

Bobby Bossman. A triple threat of boardroom wrecking ball, intellect, and business savvy. Equipped with a dark sense of humour and platinum cards on near every airline, Bossman rubs shoulders with presidents and kings, spraying anyone who doesn’t appear to be doing their job. A mover and shaker in the business world and suspected CIA operative, Bobby is also my father in law.

 

The Belgrade boys.

This is Vlada. Quiet and unassuming, he is our brother and an all-around beautiful man with a gentle heart and big love of his dogs.

 

Marko is Vlada’s brother and a wonderful soul that always smiles. He also knows far more English than he cares to admit. Shy and very funny.

 

This is Alex. The Serbian Justin Bieber. He is a ladies man and a chivalrous gentleman. He is a much-loved charmer and dear brother that happily drops everything for his family.

This is Nikola. Nikola plays the triangle for the police band in Belgrade. He came over one day, hit on my missus, and never left. He has a twisted sense of humour that we adore and has become our family as much as anyone.

Anton, or “National Anthem” may stand at only four foot tall but he is one of the best young singers in all of Serbia and funny as hell. On our last trip, we became lifelong friends, proven by his frequent voice messages via facebook addressing his undying love for me…make of that what you will. (Also, just joking about his height, but we do call him midget)

You’re my brother, you’re my sister. We are family

In my Serbian series, I refer to “Brothers & Sisters” even though we’re not blood-related. Many are, of course, related to my fiance, but overall this made the writing part far easier and also reflects the level of acceptance I received. “Brate Moj!” “My brother” is commonly used to greet good male friends in Serbia and we found the convention of calling distant cousins, brothers and sisters, made interacting with her larger family so much less daunting. Maybe this isn’t common, or maybe it is, but we found the manner in which it conveys closeness and affection quite beautiful.