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.
Among the lush valleys and undulating hills of Loei province lies the Tai Dam village in Chiang Khan, Thailand. Named for the black robes worn by both men and women, the Tai Dam — known as “Black Thai” in English — are an indigenous Vietnamese tribe that were scattered by war. Today, their descendents practise time-honoured traditions in their new home in Northern Thailand.
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.
Teaching in China is something I’ve always been curious about. Before Luke and I accepted our teaching jobs in Taiwan, we’d also been made an offer from a school in China. At the time we simply chose the opportunity that came up first, but that’s always left me wondering what teaching in China would actually be like.
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.
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.
