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“I'm sure bungee jumping is crazy and a real like adrenaline rush. But if you've never walked through Somalia with $15,000 in your backpack, you have never lived. You think you like adventure sports, but that is real, real pumping adrenaline.”  In this episode, American journalist Eric Czuleger takes us on a journey into the twilight zone of almost countries, the places in the world that are fighting for recognition: Kurdistan, Kosovo, Somaliland, and a tiny island called Liberland that has an insane story you will not believe.  We’re going to follow him into the throes of a political rally, dance in the streets doing shots, get hired as an ambassador, ride on a jet ski with a president and lots more. It’s a wild ride. But there’s a serious side to Eric’s story too. Before he became a writer, he worked as a geopolitical intelligence analyst (like stalking your ex on social media, he says, but your ex is terrorism). Every day he was forced to watch the violence and hatred that misplaced patriotism can create. He wanted to understand why. What was it about countries that makes us want to draw a line in the sand and point a gun? He decided to find out. Eric was sick of watching the world tear itself apart, he wanted to learn about the new ways that it was coming together. He wanted to watch a country being born.  CONNECT The book of this story is called You Are Not Here: Travels Through Countries That Don’t Exist.  Connect with him on Instagram @eczuleger / Twitter(X) @eczuleger  Eric has also written two science fiction novels: Eternal L.A. And Immortal L.A. Check out his speculative fiction podcast howl: strange short fiction for a strange short existence SOCIAL Follow us Instagram and Facebook @armchairexplorerpodcast. Want travel tips and advice? Questions about this episode? Request a story? Message me! Sign up for the monthly newsletter at armchair-explorer.com  CREDITS This episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Jenny Allison did the guest booking and wrote this episode, along with host and producer Aaron Millar. Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Theme music written by the artist Sweet Chap (on ig @the_sweet_chap). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices