Since my last stream of posts (aside from the previous post which I realised I had ready and waiting in the drafts folder for months), I moved from California to Pristina, Kosovo. After being home for majority of the last year and a half, I was suffering from coastal withdrawals so for my second weekend living here my best friend, her colleague, and I went off on a weekend adventure to the Albanian coast for an eco camping experience and adding number 44 to my country count.
There are so many amazing little towns to explore throughout Tuscany and deciding which one is no easy task – we landed on San Gimignano largely because of our time constraints (we only had the weekend). And well, it’s pretty darn picturesque. However, it is an itty bitty town so there aren’t loads of things to do within the city walls so we ventured out to a local winery and we were not disappointed!
After a day in Rome all to myself, I headed to the Termini and hopped on a train to Florence to meet a close mate from our grad school days in London. Both having studied abroad in Italy during our undergrads, we’d done our fair shares of meandering from northern to southern Italy. I hadn’t been to Florence since 2008 so was quite excited to have a refresher. Here’s what I’ve gotten up to in Florence over the years…
Continuing on from Kotor, Montenegro I hopped on a two-ish hour bus (just depends on how long the queue is across the border) to Dubrovnik. You’ll want to stay awake for this drive – the road hugs the curves of the hills and affords you a spanning view of the sea. From the bus station, you can take another quick bus that lets you off outside the city walls by the Pile Gate. Continue reading “Dubrovnik, Croatia”
As I previously said, official bus routes and schedules are difficult to find online in the Balkans, so prior to my journey to Kotor I popped over to the bus station in Pristina and secured my bus journey. I left on the 19:00 bus from Pristina, which got me into Podgorica at half 3…in the morning (I like the time saving aspect of overnight buses, but I can imagine the views during the day on this bus journey are spectacular as you drive up and over a massive mountain). The Kosova man sitting next to me who spoke English warned me that the last time he made this journey, he could swear the bus station wasn’t open. GREAT. So, I’m picturing myself sitting outside a bus station in the middle of the night, by myself, freezing my bum off, with rabid dogs running about. Continue reading “Kotor, Montenegro”
I recently returned from an absolutely lovely holiday. I did my obligatory visits to England, Italy, and Belgium, but the best part was finally exploring round the Balkans! As with most my trips to Europe, I used London as my home base – friends flats to store my bigger suitcase and dirt cheap intercontinental flights make it ideal. My main aim was to make it to Pristina to visit a dear friend of mine from my grad school and the cheapest I found was a flight from London to Skopje, Macedonia via Wizz Air (Tirana, Albania was also an option as there are buses from pretty much any point A to point B you might need). The flight cost me a whopping $35.
This past weekend my mum and I popped up to Seattle for a little adventure and to see one of my first London flatmates tie the knot! Since both of us had been before, I won’t lie…we spent a good deal of the time shopping. That being said, I love me some Seattle. Here’s the low down.
I had someone comment asking about safety as a female whilst traveling solo – a very valid concern. I’ve been fortunate enough to only have one close call in my years of traveling, but here are some of the things I cover and consider before and whilst traveling alone (I hope most, if not all, are common sense and common place and, but just in case they aren’t…).
This is one of my breakfast go to’s – it’s fairly simple and has everything you need to start your day off strong. Oh, and it’s undeniably delectable. Continue reading “Oatmeal Egg White “Pancakes””
I realise many people have qualms about traveling solo. And I get that. It’s daunting and has the potential to be a little lonely.
Here’s the thing: traveling solo is absolutely brilliant (this is backed by thorough personal research) and has a plethora of benefits you just won’t get from traveling in a pack. I’d like to enumerate a few of the top reasons I highly recommend traveling alone.
whistle+wander 