There has been a lot of traveling necessary in the last few months for me.

Well, the main goal, unfortunately, was not to go visit a new place or a landmark and return home with good photographs. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, not at all.

Let me try to explain something "specific" for Bulgaria.

So if one lives in the biggest cities, they generally do not have to travel far to get some proper medical aid. Probably that is true only if one lives in the capital city, Sofia, as writing that, I realize I know people who travel from Plovdiv, the second biggest city, to the capital city to meet with a specialist.

The villages and the towns in Bulgaria, unless their population is in the thousands, practically have no local medical professionals. Every medical facility in the countryside, emergencies included, are understaffed and recently I heard on the news that the average age of the nurses is above 55. Their salaries are notoriously small and all young nurses logically prefer to do the same job somewhere at a Western European country.

Frankly, I don't know how this crisis could be resolved. This issue has been "developing" for decades and I am sure its roots are related to the low levels of respect and the high levels of corruption. We even have a joke: "I know what kind of an engineer I am so I am afraid to go to a doctor.". Judging by the advertisements on TV, where every other ad is either a drug or a supplement, people generally try to self-care/self-treat... Anyway.

I've mentioned that before, I don't live in the capital anymore. This life has its Pros but in terms of medical Cons, for any kind of general medical aid I have to drive either about 60 or 30 km. My dentist, for instance, is about 90 km away. The public transport isn't good enough, as it covers for only one of those "destinations" so I have to drive. If I call those "trips" then it seems that the bigger part of my recent trips are... medical. Of course, that includes not just me but my partner as well.

The closest medical professional is my GP, who is "only" about 10 km away yet I don't visit her quite often. GPs in Bulgaria generally provide Referral Letters (I think this is the term for UK, the USA term would be the "Referral Authorization", issued by a PCP). The other services by the GPs are the mandatory vaccines and the yearly check-ups. Free (mostly) for the insured. GPs here are quite busy, as in order to have a "free" medical consultation, one must have that Referral Letter.

So, long story short, have I become a "medical traveler"? Is there such a thing? I guess, now, by writing about it, it becomes a thing :)

However, as I said above, I am not complaining.

Even if those are repetitive trips and definitely not on the positive scale of sentiment sometimes, I still see new things and places, and meet new interesting people. Or I see old places under new light and weather conditions.

If you still have any doubts, here is a series of side-hustle-landscapes I took around a Bulgarian mountain. Late evening to the sunset. My favorite part of the day...

I would like to hear from you how is your corresponding medical aid organized for you if you live outside of a big city.

Of course, if you have the time and the desire to share :) Stay safe!

LightCaptured is a proud SteemAtlasian.

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Copyright: LightCaptured

All the photographs, digital art and text in my posts, unless specified otherwise, are my own property and created by me.

Have a great day!

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Here is an uncomplete list of some of my equipment I use on a regular basis:

Cameras
	Canon EOS 5D Mark III
	Canon EOS M5
	Canon EOS 550D
Lenses
	Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
	Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
	Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
	Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
	Canon EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM
	Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM
	Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
	7artisans 35mm f/1.2
Strobes	Dynaphos Speedster
Flashes	Metz
Tripods and Mono-pods	Manfrotto
	Benro

The divider I use in my posts I have created in Adobe Express.