Mexico has proved to us that no matter how much you travel, there’s always more to learn. After 3 years of travelling together, including a year living abroad, as well as running a travel blog, Luke and I had come to think of ourselves as reasonably experienced travellers. Well, our first week in Mexico has shown us that no matter how experienced you are, you always have more to learn.
25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin – an urban jungle hotel that breaks the boundary between the concrete streets of West Berlin and the lush green zoological park. For lovers of both city streets and the green outdoors like me, the 25hours Hotel is an impressive mix.
Our Berlin green travel guide, for travellers who want to experience eco-friendly and sustainable Berlin.
When we arrived in Berlin, the first thing we saw was abandoned buildings and graffiti everywhere. This wasn’t the green metropolis I had been imagining and expecting at all. Then I realised, I had barely scratched the surface.
Berlin is a city that’s constantly being reconstructed, redesigned and re-purposed. You won’t meet a Berliner who doesn’t say: “You should’ve seen Berlin one year ago – it’s changed so much.” We heard that phrase over and over from different Berliners.
Looking for cheap travel destinations in Europe for a winter break? Let me tell you how much it costs to travel in Bulgaria.
We booked our flights and set off on our winter adventure to Bulgaria after learning that there’s good skiing for bargain prices and that the cost to travel in Bulgaria is low. We weren’t disappointed by Bulgaria and travelling on a budget — even while skiing — was very doable. I have to be honest though and say that although the cost to travel in Bulgaria was good, it was even cheaper to travel in Macedonia.
Sofia was our first stop in Bulgaria. We’d planned on just passing through on our way to go skiing in Bansko, but as we slowly started to discover more and more historic sights and vegan restaurants, we slowed down.
Sofia isn’t a city like London, Paris or Rome though. It’s history is a cultural mesh of Eastern and Western influence. Churches, mosques and Soviet buildings all share the same small space of the city.
Responsible travel means making environmentally, socio-culturally and economically aware travel choices. Knowing how to plan a responsible travel trip can seem like an absolute mission though, especially if there’s not a lot of time to read and research or you’re not sure where to start.
If you bring up the topic of responsible travel, more often than not people wrinkle their nose or shrug it off. Over time I’ve learned that this isn’t because they don’t care about the environment, wildlife and local people, it’s because it’s hard to know what choices are best.
Bitola wasn’t really part of our Macedonia travel plan. Actually, we didn’t really have a proper plan, which is what caused the mess in the first place.
After arriving in Skopje and working our socks off to catch up on freelance work, we jumped straight on a bus to Lake Ohrid – which is known as the place to go for travellers in Macedonia. We had four beautiful days in Ohrid, wiling away hours around the lake and exploring monasteries.
Then it was time to move on, except we had nowhere to go.
Looking for slow travellers to follow on Instagram? These slow travellers are all about experiencing local culture, getting their hands dirty out in the wild and taking it slow on the road. These slow travel bloggers and photographers have Instagram accounts that make you want to get out there in the world and experience local culture for yourself.
Lake Ohrid is truly the jewel in Macedonia’s crown.
When we first made it past the town centre and scaled up the hillside through the old town, we looked out in wonderment over the lake and distant mountains. Lake Ohrid isn’t just any lake, this UNESCO World Heritage site is one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes. It is beautiful.
Matka Canyon is the ideal day trip from Skopje for anyone who loves nature, cool rocks and hiking. It’s hard to believe that this incredible canyon is just 15km away from the busy urban streets of Macedonia’s capital city.
Skopje was our first and last stop during our slow travels through Macedonia. We weren’t sure what to expect from Macedonia’s capital city and before arriving all we’d heard was that it was a bit bleak and wasn’t the best for vegan travellers.
We were pleasantly surprised by Skopje.
A holiday in Macedonia hadn’t been our travel plan. But when the temperature in neighbouring Bulgaria dropped too low for us to bear, we made an unplanned detour to holiday in Macedonia. It was one of the best travel decisions we’ve ever made.
Macedonia is an incredible holiday destination. From the capital city of Skopje with its towering classical statues and buildings to the beautiful and serene Lake Ohrid and the pretty ski slopes of Mavrovo.
We’re Charlie and Luke — UK travel bloggers, adventurers and storytellers. We travel slow and write about sustainable travel. We want to make responsible travel choices and help you do the same. Get to know us.
