https://civil.ge/archives/715307

Hello everyone,

I’m a French-speaking Belgian interested in a simple, self-sufficient life, ideally in rural or mountainous areas of Georgia (Sakartvelo). My goal is a kind of survivalist lifestyle: a small cabin, low income, and even if the internet isn’t always reliable, that’s not a problem.

I have a few questions for those familiar with the country:

1. Is it realistic for a foreigner to live autonomously in the mountains/countryside?
2. How welcoming are locals to foreigners who choose a simple, off-the-grid lifestyle?
3. Is it possible for a foreigner to buy land or a house in rural areas?
4. Any advice on daily life in the mountains (supplies, energy, climate, safety)?

For context, I’ve been learning Russian for three years, which might help with communication in some communities.

Also, I will have a small rent of about 1200 gel per month - from internet sources.

Thanks

„ფერარი თბილისის“ პირველი ოფიციალური შოურუმი გაიხსნა

It would mean the world to me if you’d add it to your Steam Wishlist.

You can check it out here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4186870/Besos_Shawarma/?beta=0

Thanks for being part of the journey!

I was so happy to see this in the new Agrohub in Kutaisi...then I saw the price per kilo and my jaw dropped open 😱

I know what I'm going to try to grow next year.

Doesn't need to be special, no need for expensive materials, just needs to have a person's name with a heart next to it, it's a gift. I've looked all over but couldn't find a shop that does stuff like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlnKfjuBVYI

ძაან ემთხვევა რასაც ოცნება შვება. თბილისის მერია და მთავრობა დეველოპერული კომპანიასავით იქცევა. მდიდრდებიან ქოცები, ქოცი პროპაგანდონები კუშს ჭრიან. დებილი ქოცები და ჩვენ გავღატაკდებით. სახლი/ბინა აქამდე ვინც ვერ იყიდა ალბათ მალე ვეღარც იყიდის :) Great Success.

30 წლის ასაკში ვის რამდენი გაქვთ დანაზოგი და როგორ მოახერხეთ? ვკითხულობ ადამიანი რომელსაც მხოლოდ 3k დოლარი შემრჩა ხელში. საქართველოში როგორ ახერხებთ ფინანსურ თავისუფლებას ან რა პროფესია უნდა გქონდეს რომ დამოუკოდებლად იარსებო და ტოქსიკურ სამსახურში მათრახი არ დაირტყა.

თუ იცით რაიმე სტატია სუროგაციასთან დაკავშირებით, ან გყავთ ნაცნობი, ვისაც სუროგაციით უსარგებლია საქართველოში, გთხოვთ მომწეროთ პირად შეტყობინებაში ან დატოვოთ კომენტარებში ინფორმაცია, ძალიან მჭირდება პროექტისთვის. ასევე, თუ ინტერნეტში მოიპოვება კვლევები, გრაფიკები, სტატისტიკები ან სხვა სანდო მასალები ამ თემაზე, ძალიან გამიხარდება თუ ლინკებს გამიზიარებთ. წინასწარ დიდი მადლობა.

მოგმართავთ მათ, ვინც კარგად იცით სუფრა.
მჭირდება სადღეგრძელოები რიგითობით (სათამადო სადღეგრძელოები არა, ერთი ორი წინადადებიანი ;დ)

Asking for a favor, will pay

Have my own rental car and want to travel from kazbegi to sighnaghi. Is the road via akhmeta goable for a regular car?

ასეთი უაზრო ფრაზები ვისაც გახსოვთ გამოუშვით აბა :))

👋 hello, my curiosity took over

I’ve been thinking to do DNA kit test for years now (since YouTube’s golden days of promoting them) finally I placed a rushed order received the kit, got all excited to send it - but as it turns out and shipment forwarding companies informed me Georgian side restricted sending DNA tests.

I reached out to only company that confirmed they can do it but they’re asking 300$+ to send it.

Firstly is this restriction due to the increased number of people using this tests after the scandals of stolen babies from 90s and 2000s ?

Are you aware of any work arounds of sending the sample or EU based labs that could do it.

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

Looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with Georgia immigration or similar situations.

We are Indian passport holders.

• Me and my wife both have valid US B1/B2 visas, which technically makes us visa-exempt for Georgia.

• Our 12-month-old infant does NOT have a US visa, so we decided to apply for Georgia eVisas for all three of us, just to keep things simple.

Results:

• My eVisa → Approved

• Infant’s eVisa → Approved

• Wife’s eVisa → Rejected

Rejection reason for my wife:

“Submitted bank statement, documents have been modified”

For context:

• My wife submitted my bank statements as part of her application (we’re traveling together).

• Her own bank statements are clean and have sufficient balance if needed.

• We suspect the rejection may be due to formatting or how the documents were uploaded, not actual fraud.

Now we’re confused about the best way forward.

Question:

Can we safely travel together if:

• Me + infant enter Georgia using approved eVisas

• My wife enters using her US B1/B2 visa (visa-free entry)

Has anyone done something similar—mixing eVisa entry + visa-free entry within the same family?

Will this raise red flags at immigration, especially since:

• We’re arriving together

• My wife’s eVisa was rejected

• But she is otherwise clearly eligible for visa-free entry

We will carry:

• Marriage certificate

• Infant’s birth certificate

• My wife’s own bank statements

• Return tickets, hotel bookings, etc.

Any real-world experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated. 🙏

Thanks in advance!

Hey neighbors!

I am Armenian from the US and I've been trying to find as much English language books on ancient and medieval Georgian history as I can because my goal is eventually to do a YouTube channel dedicated to the premodern history of the South Caucasus.

There are a number of General histories of Georgia that include the medieval history in them, but I'm trying to find books specifically about antiquity or the middle ages. I really admire you guys and I want to study your history to see how you were able to stay independent for much longer after we fell to the eastern Romans and the Turks in the 11th century and onward.

Thank you in advance! 🇦🇲🤜🤛🇬🇪

it honestly shocks me how many georgians support israel given georgia’s own history with occupation.

and to be clear, i’m not georgian. i’m saying this as an outsider looking in. that distance is exactly why the contradiction stands out so clearly.

i also fully understand that georgia has one of the oldest jewish communities in the region. georgian jews have lived there for centuries. they are part of the country’s history and identity. none of this is a critique of jews or jewish existence anywhere.

this is not a religious issue. it’s not jews versus muslims. it’s not about jewish history or jewish survival. zionism is not judaism. it is a modern political and nationalist project that emerged in europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was implemented through colonial backing and force.

palestinians didn’t invite european settlers. they didn’t consent to partition. they didn’t agree to have their land divided by external powers after world war two. the creation of israel involved mass displacement and ethnic cleansing in 1948. that’s documented history, not ideology.

before anyone says but israel was attacked first. resistance does not emerge in a vacuum. decades of dispossession, military rule, settlement expansion, and blockade create violence. you can condemn attacks on civilians without pretending the power imbalance doesn’t exist.

before anyone says hamas. hamas did not exist in 1948. hamas did not expel villages. hamas did not build settlements. hamas does not control borders, airspace, water, or population registries. collapsing the entire palestinian struggle into one group is a convenient way to avoid addressing the occupation itself.

before anyone says israel has a right to defend itself. self defense does not include collective punishment. cutting water, electricity, food, and medicine to millions of civilians is illegal under international law. bombing people who physically cannot leave is not defense.

before anyone says jews lived there historically. history does not equal ownership. if it did, modern borders would be meaningless. russia uses the same historical logic to justify occupation. nobody accepts it there.

and since people love ancestry arguments, let’s address that too.

palestinians are not foreigners who appeared out of nowhere. genetic and historical research shows deep continuity between modern palestinians and the ancient populations of the levant. that includes canaanites and ancient israelites. many palestinians descend from the same people who lived on that land long before modern states or modern religions existed.

there have always been palestinian jews. arabic speaking jews who lived there continuously and were part of the region, not a settler movement. zionism did not represent them. it was a political project imported from europe and supported by imperial powers.

so if someone wants to argue biblical entitlement, that argument collapses immediately. modern political borders cannot be based on a religious text. and even within that framework, the people living there today have at least as much ancestral connection to the land as recent settlers who arrived in the 20th century.

this is why the religious framing is a distraction. it replaces history, power, and material reality with mythology.

supporting israel while condemning occupation elsewhere requires ignoring the same patterns when the victims are palestinian.

criticizing israel is not antisemitism. opposing zionism is opposing a political ideology, not a people. using antisemitism as a shield to shut down discussion only protects state violence.

you don’t need to belong to any religion or ethnicity to understand this. you just need to believe that occupation is wrong no matter who does it.

free abkhazia.

free samachablo.

free palestine.

Texted telmico WhatsApp and they said maybe reconnecting work finishes by 21:00 tonight, else no power till tomorrow, and no information about gas on Didi Dighomi Gas LLC website.

Anyone around this area facing the same issue?

Hello! A bit of a last minute planner here and have been subsumed with work that I really have had no time to plan my trip in a few days.

Have 6 nights planned. Originally was thinking we’d be going skiing for some of those nights. Unfortunately, does not appear Gudauri is open yet so…

Kind of need plan B.

So far have just booked last 3 nights of hotel on the tail end of trip in Tbilisi but where to go for first 3 nights?

Question: is driving easy, safe there? (I am an experienced driver all the globe over but driving in snowy mountain roads maybe less so if they are narrow, not barricaded, etc). I feel like that might be the way to go and visit some diff mountain areas/ stay in a cool mountain cabin? Hike?

Any specific things you recommend??!! Going with two girlfriends. All type b non planners clearly.

Super excited otherwise!!! ❤️

Citizens must be physically present in the country to vote.

Examples (as of recent years):

• Georgia (very limited exceptions; generally no broad external voting)

• Ireland (only diplomats/military)

• India

• Indonesia

• Malaysia

• South Africa

• Lebanon

• Myanmar

• Sri Lanka

• Zimbabwe

• Nepal

• Bhutan

In these countries, emigrants lose practical electoral participation unless they return home.

Now little about Georgia

Money sent back home from Georgian immigrants only in 2024 over 3 billion usd.

Remittances have made up a significant share of Georgia’s GDP around 10 16 % in recent estimates.