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Road trip po Črni gori s kombijem - vsi člani BlueMarble Vagabonds v narodnem parku Prokletije
Balkan
Sandra

Montenegro With a Van: 2-Week Travelogue Style Itinerary

Vividly green forests, breathtaking views of majestic mountains, the captivating Bay of Kotor, curvy roads, and pristine nature. Traveling through Montenegro with a van feels like finding a wild paradise! This is our 2-week Montenegro van trip itinerary written in a travelogue style.

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Stuff You Love:

Chichen Itza - cover photo for One Month Mexico Itinerary
Intineraries
Sandra

ONE MONTH MEXICO ITINERARY

Mexico is a vast country that covers a land area of almost 2,000,000 square kilometers. So let’s be real –  unless you are planning to

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Hiking in Ushuiai cover photo - the river, muddy meadow and snowy mountains in the distance
Adventures
Sandra

HIKING IN USHUAIA – DOs & definite DON’Ts

Hiking at the end of the world? C’mon, admit it, there’s a super cool edge to it.

And besides, we Slovenians are known to be a “hiking nation”, so when our new friends from the USA invited us to go hiking in Ushuaia together, saying “nope” was not an option. No matter the circumstances.

And that’s perhaps where things started to go wrong.

This is a story about our hilarious hiking in Ushuaia and all the DOs and DON’Ts you should(not) repeat.

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Traditional houses in Prekmurje region, Slovenia
Slovenia
Sandra

YOUR GUIDE TO PREKMURJE REGION, SLOVENIA

A river that winds lazily across wide plains. White storks nesting on chimneys. Picturesque churches and unique architecture. Lush green hills, lined with vineyards and mighty castles sitting among them. Thermal waters for relaxation and the juiciest Slovenian dessert. Welcome to Prekmurje region in Slovenia!

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CUBA – FIRST IMPRESSIONS (Cuba Travelogue 1/5)

An old car in front of a colonial building in Havana

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we will receive a tiny commission if you choose to click through and make a purchase. But don’t worry, clicking on them won’t cost you a penny more – it just means we can keep creating free content for you – and that our furry companions can keep living their best life with all their fancy toys.  


2020 NOTE: 

When starting this blog, I wrote a couple of travelogues – so, if you’re interested in them, by all means – keep reading! 😉 But later I focused on badass travel tips to help you plan your adventures and travel stories. Check out our homepage if you wanna know more!


 

Our first impressions of Cuba?

Hm, a mixture of surprise and disbelieve? But not in a bad way 🙂

We landed in Cuba an hour before scheduled (so used to delays in SE Asia, that even landing on time seems weird), there were absolutely no queues, (again, Asia), our luggage arrived quite fast and nobody cared who we are and why do we have only one-way tickets (we were advised beforehand to buy the onward ticket as well which we did, but we didn’t need to show them).

The forms, which we dutifully filled out during the flight weren’t read; not even once. And, it was also the first time that at the arrivals there was someone waiting for me with the sign  ‚Senora Stanisa‘ – kinda cool, I’m telling ya’ 😛 We were picked up by a “casa particular” owner’s friend, who is in her spare time a taxi driver for her neighbor.

 


For those who do not know – the ‚casa particular‘ is the most common accommodation in Cuba (besides hotels); locals rent out a room in their apartment (and the government gets high provision, duh) and usually, breakfast is served as well. You’ll find everything you need to know about casas particulares in this article.


 

But let’s get back to the cab…

It’s hard to describe the condition of the old Lada Niva (a Russian car), which was probably imported in the golden time of the communist regime. In Europe, you wouldn’t even be allowed to have such “car” parked in front of a car dealership shop, let alone have it marked as ‚road-worthy‘.

To sum it up, the car did have a sturdy metallic frame, four wheels, and an engine – but this was more or less it. In my naive optimism, I tried to buckle up – of course, there were no seatbelts, I don’t know what I was thinking!

 

Only a few turns from the airport and we arrived in… the past.

 

All of the photos that you see from Cuba cannot replace the moment when you have a feeling that you have just driven into 1950.

Old trucks, American Chevrolets, driven by old grandpas who wear straw hats and smoke cigars, and spotless cabriolets, draped in all shades of pastel, festooned with ancient upholstered seats, out of which the latest Latino music hits can be heard.

Old colonial buildings, adorned with countless fabulous facades, mixed with the grey Soviet-style blocks give the impression that the whole place is shrouded in the fog of the past.

Even though we prepared ourselves for such a sight, you can’t help yourself  – you half expect that someone will shout: “Haha, this was just a joke, it’s not real!” and the mirage will disappear.

 

But no – welcome to Havana. 😊

 


Want to read more travelogues? Then check these out:


 

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Books about travel and self discovery

20+ BOOKS ABOUT TRAVEL AND SELF DISCOVERY YOU SHOULD READ THIS YEAR

There’s one thing that can transport you to the other side of the world even quicker than a plane.

A book.

You open it, you read a few lines and the magic happens.

The world around you dissolves and just like Dumbledore himself would have taught you how to Apparate, you find yourself far, far away.

But not only travel books take us on the journey – they can transform us like the journey itself.
I asked fellow wanderlusters about their favorite books about travel and self-discovery and we’ve come up with a pretty cool list.

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Hiking in Ushuiai cover photo - the river, muddy meadow and snowy mountains in the distance

HIKING IN USHUAIA – DOs & definite DON’Ts

Hiking at the end of the world? C’mon, admit it, there’s a super cool edge to it.

And besides, we Slovenians are known to be a “hiking nation”, so when our new friends from the USA invited us to go hiking in Ushuaia together, saying “nope” was not an option. No matter the circumstances.

And that’s perhaps where things started to go wrong.

This is a story about our hilarious hiking in Ushuaia and all the DOs and DON’Ts you should(not) repeat.

Read More »