October 2010
3 posts
My First-ever Guest Post →
A guest post about a trip to the Jungle Beach near Unawatuna that I wrote for http://solotravelerblog.com
“Unawatuna is the Samui of Sri Lanka: the very definition of the “beaten track”. One night out and one day in make me crave an adventure, but I’m so exhausted after my never-ending flight from Istanbul that I persuade myself to stay put. I dedicate the day to reading on the beach...
To Sri Lanka via Sharjah: Muslim Encounters
Reposted from: http://tinybackpacker.com
I’ll let you in on a secret – the trip to Sri Lanka is actually the beginning of my solo backpacking experience. Last week in Istanbul I was accompanying my mom to an international psychotherapy congress. Couple days ago I put her on a plane to Kiev and went in the opposite direction.
Being finally in Sri Lanka feels like waking up after a long...
Day 1: Istanbul in pictures...
First thing that strikes about Istanbul is it’s neatness. Think Frankfurt. Hell, think Munich! Second thought: these people are obsessed with their plants! From construction sites around the airport to squares of Sultanahmet – everything is surrounded by most elaborate flower beds and the grass is bright green everywhere! It’s October for Pete’s sake! Didn’t they just have five hundred days...
September 2010
4 posts
4 tags
new logo
Three is a Charm! Apparently...
Ok, perhaps I’m bored. The time has slowed down to a sadistic crawl. Apartment is sublet, storage room is cleaned and closets reorganized. Jabs are done. Documents are in order and budget is triple-checked. (When will I be gone, already?!)
So I moved this blog. First to Blogger. Now to WordPress. I promise, this time it’s for good. 8 more days and I’ll be forced to do...
5 tags
Beauty Tips for Girls on the Road
Leaving one’s favorite shoes, outfits and beauty products behind doesn’t mean that one should give up looking pretty. For starters, one might run into someone cute. And then feeling good about one’s appearance shouldn’t stay back at one’s home along with the rest of one’s crap. So let’s see if there’s anything one can do…
I have to...
Travel Budget For Budget Travelers
Heights, wild dogs and running out of money - these 3 things scare the living shit out of me. Heights are somewhat of a mystery, though my mom believes that some idiot nurse dropped me (on my head?) in the maternity ward which resulted in a broken collarbone that went undiscovered for years. With dogs it’s rather straightforward: an overgrown mutt attacked me from behind as I was strolling to...
August 2010
1 post
What (Not) to Pack
To pack or not to pack is not the question. If you love traveling, you’ll have to try to like (or at least not hate) packing. From the beginning of your trip till the moment you get back home, organizing your shit and keeping it neat will be your main chore. The amount of fun on the road will depend on the ease with which you pack, unpack and re-pack your possessions. Spontaneous trips,...
July 2010
2 posts
3 tags
It’s Not Only Fine Backpacks That Make Fine...
My new backpack has arrived! And oh, what a long journey it was: a relationship of 1.5 years had ended before the damn thing crossed the ocean… But at last it’s here - and I’m happy.
…Shopping for a backpack is not easy. Backpacks are to backpackers what boobs are to women: they come in different shapes and sizes and your entire style is defined by them. Adding to the resemblance,...
6 tags
My Name Is Lena and I’m a Downshifter...
My name is Lena and I’m lucky. I have done pretty well in one of the most random lotteries of all: parental one. Besides the luxury of being fairly good-looking, skinny and healthy (no allergies, no broken bones and a digestive system that can process nuclear waste), I owe to my dad my boundless curiosity and an over-anal(ytical) mind to my mom.
When I was a little girl my mother told me that...