Part 2 of the little parts of Germany - Moelln

The year 2013 came to an end we took the chance to stop by a little town called Moelln. These days the place is very famous for a person called Eulenspiegel, even though his existences is not proven! But it should be known better for its historical influence of which you can read more on wiki (link above). There are not many tourists around the area, which is a shame, because it certainly offers everything you need, from map to nice cafes and shopping opportunity as well as a beautiful surroundings. But it is great at the same time, because not often do you find such small treasures worth visiting while other people would give it a miss.

Part 1 of the little parts of Germany - Lauenburg

Happy new year to everyone! The new year has started and with that a new wave of motivation. I am not referring to resolutions, but to having had a break and being able to visit again some of the small parts of Germany and simply being home.

Aldwych Tube Station (Strand) - Tour by Transport for London (TFL)

Last month I had the great opportunity to visit the disused Tube station Aldwych in the London City Centre. The history around the transportation in London is huge at the moment due to its 150th anniversary and of course always has and always will play a major role in the development in the city. The recently completed development of the London overground just shows what happens with the areas that are now connected to the overall transportation network. The house prices are rising and the areas are being more heavily developed thanks to new investments coming from the private sector. Usually the opening of a new station in London promises a greater return in investment due to higher demand of housing in the areas.

Generally speaking you want to live in an area in London from where you can get easily to your destination. The city government is aware that there are still missing links between the west, south, north and east. Thanks to the overground this has improved a lot. And thanks to the overground the traffic on the underground has been fairly stable instead of increased as it has in all these years. Traveling on the London Underground during rush hour is no fun at all and the stress from the offices that people carry around brings a certain level of tension on board. Surely I got used to it over the years, but it is annoying nevertheless.

Life without traveling

Today I have spend the first day of my holidays as relaxed as possible. I wish I could say I am writing from some exotic, interesting country or in some places I have never been before far away or nearby. Well, I wish might be the incorrect term here. I have chosen to spend my holidays in London, not because I can't afford to travel, but because I have a new-ish goal in my life. Something I have not thought of being an option any time soon neither that I would do it alone. For my goal to become reality I need some more pennies on my account. And in order for that to happen I need to stop traveling for a while.

You might have noticed that my recent blog updates have not been much about traveling if I have updated it at all. So far I seriously struggle with sitting here and not doing anything. I am even reading my work emails, thinking that it is such a waste of time to not do anything with my free time. I do have some plans for my free time, but they are rather on the small scale. Such as sorting finally out the little amount of paper work I have and bring some of my stuff to charity.

I didn't think it would be so hard, given that I have done a bit of traveling in the past and there wouldn't be any reason for me to run off again. But every time I see a documentary, watch a movie, read an article from different places, the urge to go there and see if for myself is surfacing. So many things around me remind me of the world that is out there and still to be explored for me.

This is not me complaining about the current situation, it is what it is and I made the decision myself. But to imagine a life without traveling at all is really hard for me and I am sure as a fellow traveler you know exactly what I am feeling.

I have to remind myself to look at the bigger picture and for what I am sacrificing the part I like the most in my life. It might give me the option to focus on other things I always wanted to take up and do, explore a bit more of the close surroundings, seeing friends more frequently. All the little things I have not paid attention to in the past simply because I was content with everything I had and there was no need to change.

Now you might wonder why I give something up I love so much (even if it is just for a short period of time) and what made me so happy, for something that will tie me down and burden responsibility on to me.

As you know, we are not getting younger and looking a bit ahead into the future it made me realise, that at one point I will no longer be able to work and travel, I will need to have the finance for my travels without working, simply because I might not be able to work anymore one day. So I am starting now to make the required preparation to avoid this in my later life.

No one will know what will happen in the future and it is possible that there will be things happening in my future that change everything I am planning.

I will still post from time to time, but more random things from my life and maybe I have the odd trip here and there but not as frequently as in the past. I thought I just put it out there, that a life without traveling is simply not the best I can imagine.

I am so excited already when the times comes for me again to plan my next trip around this time next year. With this said Happy Travels everyone!

Being part of advertising - A different kind of lunch break

A while back a colleague asked me and some others from the office if we could do her a favor for her friend and take part in the promo video for the Naver App LINE which we were more than happy to agree to. On a sunny day we met her friends during a lunch break and they took the few snaps from us. They then have added later one some other parts from shots taken around the city. Overall it was a rather fun lunch break.

And here is the result:

Plovdiv – A day trip in Bulgaria

It was a sunny Sunday with mild temperatures when I woke up in my cosy hotel bed. Today I decided to visit Plovdiv, the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe. I have checked the day before the transportation links and bus time table. From wiki travel I knew approximately what to expect and what I wanted to see around the area.

The trip from my hotel to the Central Main station in Sofia was only 15 minutes with two train stops, I am just glad that the city is not crowded and that there is plenty of space on the train. Comparing it to London, this feels almost like a country side. 

The bus would take around 2 ½ hours and 14 Leva one way. The staff at the station spoke basic English so I was able to find the correct bus stop and getting my ticket.

Spinning again in the time machine – Bulgaria (Rila Monastry)

It took me a total of 20 minutes to find a start on this entry and even now I am not sure what I can tell you about this small trip, but I will try my best to give you the details of my experience.

Work had send me over to Bulgaria again and I pokered a bit to stay the weekend and get my return flight booked on Monday. Luckily it seems my previous work performance paid off and my boss agreed to it. So it happened that I had two full days to spend in Bulgaria.

I won’t give you this time the details of the actual trip over since I have done so already in my previous entry and nothing much has changed since.

The many faces of London - Holi Festival

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine texted me and asked if I wanted to come along to the so called Holi Festival, as well known as Festival of Colors. Until that day I didn't even know that we celebrated such Festival in London.

One of the reason I want to go to India is to celebrate one of the many events that take place there every year. So I took the opportunity and went with them last Saturday together to the Battersea Power Station where the event would take place. 

Interesting facts about the location click here

Canada East Coast Trip – Research and Conclusion

The last 16 days just flew by and it all seems so far away now even though it just happened. I start already to think of the next trip, but first things first. The phase of the research for Canada drove me a bit mad. Traveling in Canada without a car is not impossible but very complex depending on where you want to go.

 

When it came to the decision on what to see and to do within such a short time frame I decided I stick with the East Coast and next time I will visit the West Coast. To manage both sites of Canada in just two weeks is impossible if you are not flying from one site to another and leave out a few places.

Why the East Coast first? To be honest I have no idea, maybe because I knew people in that area and because it probably doesn’t make a difference since I am planning to visit the West Coast as well.

 

 

Halifax – The beginning, middle and end of a journey

Traveling is a journey that will never end, no matter what your destination, route or goal. Small journeys along the big journey called live will end eventually. 

I arrived in Halifax, my last stop in Canada after a 3 hour car trip. In the morning Nelson Shuttle came to pick us up at 6:45 am; it was a quick and pain free trip with a little nap in between.

Upon arrival I checked into the HI Hostel in the Barrington Street, one of the few Hostels in the area. So far I have really enjoyed the Maritimes and hope it will continue in Halifax. I didn’t plan anything for my stay here and hoped that something would come up eventually. And it did!