Stories about solo-travel in comfort and style

Welcome to my travel blog. This blog is not necessarily – or not only – about where to go and what to do where; it is rather intended to reflect upon how we perceive travel in order to create lasting memories and positive take-aways for our daily lives.

Through my blog, I want to share tips and my experiences on how to travel more comfortably. Mainly, I want to share thoughts, impressions, and reflections on my travels as a solo-traveller. That does not mean that this blog is exclusively meant for people who travel on their own; to the contrary, I would love to reach a wider community of people who simply enjoy exploring new things and perspectives.

I will publish a new blog every other Sunday. If you like, you can subscribe to get each new post hand-delivered to your Email inbox.

Misnomer or sanctuary?

01.03.2026
Hotel gyms and why they matter

When I think of auntie Catherine’s living room featuring a stationary bike, I would not necessarily call that room a ‘gym’. However, this seems to somehow be okay when you have a hotel. Having that kind of ‘gym’ immediately entitles you to a surcharge of at least 50 EUR on your rooms per night. Better yet: you put up a mirrored wall next to that single stationary bike, so that it photographs as two stationary bikes in a spacious and inviting room, rather than the closet that it really is. It also appears to be mandatory to have that closet somewhere in the basement and an awkward backroom elevator or semi-outdoor staircase leading down to it to move your hotel up the starred ladder.

But not all hotel gyms are let-downs. There are indeed hotels that do have a decently sized, well-equipped fitness room. The hard part is to identify them when you book.

It is almost a science to spot the optical illusion of the mirrored closet in the pictures on the hotel website or booking platform; if you care about your gym time even on a trip, you’ll likely have figured that out a while ago. I can’t say I am nailing that science yet, but I can definitely spot a misnomer in a second these days.

If you are travelling to a city destination and not staying in a five star or chain hotel, very likely, the ‘gym’ won’t be great and not feature more than that single stationary bike, one treadmill (mostly facing a blank wall) and a cross-trainer aka elliptical machine. If it has a rower, you hit the jackpot. It will also help to be short because most of these fitness rooms have extremely low ceilings, and I often wonder whether anyone over 1,80 m tall will hit their head when stepping onto the treadmill. If you are lucky, that basement room may have a few weights, but those would serve most people for a warmup set and, in any event, there won’t be space for doing anything other than a biceps curl with this rather basic set of home workout tools.

In such settings, you are probably better off just getting your 20.000 steps in by doing some robust sightseeing on foot.

There is also the variant of ‘next-door-access’ to a real commercial gym. This can be fabulous or the most traumatizing experience in your gym career as happened to me last time I went to London.

My God. I wouldn’t call myself feeble or overly self-conscious, shy or hesitant, but that gym intimidated me and made me feel uncomfortable to the core. I don’t know about other ladies, but the fact that this testosterone cage was exclusively filled with loudly grunting gym-bros, had not been cleaned in a decade, featured ‘unisex’ toilets/bathrooms/showers or whatever it was (the sign on the door frightened me too much to even have a peek inside) was unbearable.

I have never felt so out of place and unsafe in a gym than there; and the worst part: it is advertised as ‘belonging’ to the hotel. A four-star hotel mind you. Turns out, it was a commercially run place for which the hotel gave you a ‘token’ (attached to a large wooden brick so you wouldn’t steal it!) to enter and made you walk around the building in the freezing cold for access. However, lockers (yes, I wore a puffer jacket on the way there) for where to put your jacket weren’t accessible to the hotel guests because that would have required a padlock. So, great thinking there, Mr. hotel manager, you have really done the research or maybe I just need to improve my skills at reading the fine print.

At the other end of the spectrum, I have been to several very nice ‘next-door gyms’. Spotless, clean, and well-equipped. One of the best next-door gyms has been in my favourite beach destination, where, honestly, going for a run along the promenade was much nicer, but I was curious to try out this gym and found myself walking right into a real-world men’s health magazine. Quite an unforgettable experience! And people were welcoming and nice and even though I did not necessarily ‘fit’ with the crowd, I did not feel looked-at, intimidated or out of place.

The premium option in the world of hotel gyms though are the ones that are so great that even locals have a gym membership at the hotel; often, you’ll find that option in generous spa/wellness areas of larger hotel chains. I have had great experiences in the Middle East. In Dubai, it even came with a stunning Burj Khalifa view.

But rather than giving you a run-down of the different options and kinds of hotel gyms that exist, I wanted to tell you why I find hotel gyms necessary or important. There are several reasons. For one, I love my gym routine and if I am, for instance, travelling for business and the trip lasts an entire week or longer, the thought of skipping the gym is a terrifying one for me. I need my workouts to stay alert and feel good or to relieve the stress of the day or mentally wind down after a long day of meetings and sitting.

Second, hotel gyms are a kind of refuge for me when I don’t necessary feel like solo-dining but don’t also want to exclusively be stuck in the room or sit in the lobby getting hit on by middle-aged creeps. Getting a workout in and then rewarding yourself with a hot shower and in-room dining is so much more fulfilling than just stuffing your face with a club sandwich and watching the news on tv.

Third, and this would go for summer vacations mainly, if I have been lying on the beach all day, I have the urge to move. I cannot just get out of bed, go for breakfast, to the beach, back for dining and back to bed. Plus, most desirable summer destination will have excellent food options and burning a few more calories before enjoying dinner has never hurt anyone. Of course, you can swim and go for long walks in some places, but not everywhere. For example, when I went to Crete, the sea was too rough to swim and the area around the hotel not the most inviting unfortunately. Have a look at that blog post if you are interested. The ‘gym’ in that hotel, however, was a complete joke. It consisted of a few pull-up bars out in the open and to address perceived ‘female’ needs the hotel offered yoga classes in the mornings. Needless to say: I attended neither. But that holiday was also one of those where I missed the gym the most. It could have compensated for a lot and filled an emotional void.

I wonder whether other people feel like I do or whether you would find it crazy to go to the gym during a holiday or business trip? In my opinion though, it really depends on how long the trip lasts and what your purpose really is. If you just want to recharge your batteries and do absolutely nothing – which we all need once in a while – then, forget about the gym. If all you want to do is walk around Rome, Paris or London, you also likely do not need a treadmill (although you might worry about your upper body gains). But if you travel solo and loathe successive solo-dinners, you may actually appreciate this little sanctuary to re-charge your batteries in a different way. And, more often than not, this is how I feel about a hotel gym, as a sanctuary.
Travelling light

15.02.2026
It’s time to embrace being basic

Am I the only one or do other people also admire the art of travelling light? I am always amazed by people who can go on a week-long trip with a carry-on suitcase and still look somewhat put together. I don’t know how they do it. It’s aspirational. I, on the other hand, have no problem bringing a full-sized suitcase and a carry-on on a three-day trip (yes, Milan 2025; it was great). And believe it or not, that amount of luggage doesn’t cater for all options, weather situations or a change of coats. I simply do not manage to pack efficiently; it is as simple as that. While in real life, I am content with little and get overwhelmed by too much stuff and cluttered spaces, packing a suitcase is somehow in a different orbit. I can actually remember the last time I managed to travel with carry-on only, and that was to London in October 2024. Because, you guessed it, the trip was hardly 48 hours and the weather in London in October will always be cold and rainy and all you need is a pair of rainproof shoes, a jumper and not much else.

But currently, I am staring my aspirational choice of a “no check-in baggage” ticket option right in the eye; and I am determined to make it work. We all need to challenge ourselves from time to time and get out of our comfort zone (the comfort of being overly prepared in my case). I tell myself that it will be for only two nights and that I can do it, but somehow, I am still having doubts. In my defence, I need to also let you know that I have a small carry-on trolley and not the maxed-out kind that many other travellers use. I find it sleeker, handier, and in all honesty, I often travel on the smaller planes where the large ones just don’t fit, and the airline makes you check them in at the gate. And then what? Shall I carry my laptop, camera etc. in my hand from that point on? Definitely not. So, even though I find it difficult to pack less, it was a conscious choice to buy this ticket fare.

Not because I am excessively cheap, but because I thought that bringing an actual suitcase on such a short trip would be completely ridiculous. And if there is one thing I hate, it’s to look ridiculous. At the same time, I also hate being inappropriately dressed. It’s a real struggle for a person who likes to make a bella figura at all times.

One of the factors that makes this experiment of hand-luggage only travel somewhat easier is that there is no time for … wait, no; the hotel doesn’t have a gym. That was one of the compromises I had to make when looking for an aesthetically pleasing and affordable hotel option. It’s a shame of course, but what can you do? So, discounting an entire gym outfit, including chunky trainers will definitely come in handy when trying to minimize the number of things I am going to bring. Maybe one of these days I should tell you about my love-hate relationship with hotel gyms. It’ll be a fun blog to read, I promise.

But it is not necessarily the gym that I miss. Sometimes, I would just love to go for a nice morning run to see a place in the silent hours before it will all be flooded with traffic or flocks of tourists. I get jealous at the morning runners in Paris or on beach promenades. There is just something so scenic and calm about running along the river banks; joining the regulars and covering so much more area than you ever could on a walk. Let’s just say that for now, I will put that plan on the back burner and see how and if I have space left in the end. Unlikely, you are probably thinking. And I am sure you are right.

Ever since I booked this trip, got my museum tickets, and chose a hotel, I have been mulling over the question of what a woman actually needs on a weekend trip. Will I take a chance on the hair dryer? Improbable. So that will need to come. What about shoes? That’s a difficult one. Although – unlike what my work colleagues seem to believe – I am not a reincarnation of Emilda Marcos (aka your average luxury fashion influencer). I do, however, strongly believe in dressing for the occasion.

In my case, this will be an urban environment, likely featuring cobble stone streets, and long-distance walking for two days. I don’t believe in wearing trainers out in daily life and Converse seem, well, not elegant enough for the place I am going to. Likely I am looking at three pairs of shoes here: one for walking, one for dinners out, and something comfier to wear on the plane? In any event, I recommend bringing more than one pair of shoes. If ever they turn out to be uncomfortable and you get into a blister situation, you want to be able to change your shoes, believe me. I was once so desperate and in pain that I ended up buying a new pair of moccasins in Paris (as in: the first ones I could find), and that isn’t really a great plan because in the grand scheme of things you probably neither need nor want the ‘first best option’ pair of shoes in your closet later on.

With clothes, I am surprisingly much lower maintenance. I have embraced being the basic girl when it comes to outfits, because I find them more age appropriate ever since I crossed the 35 divide and basic outfits are much easier to combine. The same three or four pieces can go a long way in terms of different outfits. Since I must be extra minimalist here, I’ll content myself with one pair of dark denim – because they are both day and evening appropriate and can be dressed up or down, depending on the context.

Toiletries and makeup are a no-brainer since I have my pre-assembled a ‘travel bag’ in a drawer and I can simply grab my gym kit for makeup. However, there’s always the miscellaneous stuff: a hairbrush, chargers, a journal, my agenda, spare glasses, sunglasses, an umbrella, and a foldable shopping bag because in most European countries, you no longer get a bag in the shops and supermarkets – or they are made of paper, which will be pointless once it starts to rain.

Even though nobody likes to talk about these mundane items, they do take up real space. So, to all those: “Why are you bringing so much stuff” interrogators, please let me know how you deal with these items when you travel. I am genuinely curious and would really appreciate some comments or ideas.

And in the end, I need some space, as in ‘ma’ or empty space, because I might just buy a little something.
Uninspired from the heart

01.02.2026
Beating the winter blues

I realized it was nearly two weeks since my last post and, I am not going to lie – I have no travel story to tell you this time around. At the same time, I’d hate to not post, because I have made this commitment that I would post something every other week and here we are – earlier than expected somehow.

January and February are not my favourite months. The weather is atrocious and sometimes disabling (when roads are icy and getting around becomes a problem) and I therefore tend to have no plans to go anywhere; this holds true even more so after the recent travel debacle I told you about two weeks ago. If you will, I am in a state of travel hibernation and to go full disclosure: I did not even unpack my carry on until a week after I returned. Yes, you heard that right. I don’t know whether that’s a form of denial or simple laziness. Uninspired I would call it, but only a psychologist would be able to give you an accurate answer to that one.

During the hibernation months I am usually on auto pilot: gym, work and not much else. Maybe because I am constantly feeling tired and cold, or maybe it is because it appears that nighttime lasts about 15 hours a day. Everything is slow and full of effort somehow. I tend to prepare and eat the same meals until I get terribly bored of them once March rolls around and I otherwise take great comfort in my routine and hibernation. The only place I am willing to push the boundaries is the gym, really; my highlight of the day.

But of course, I am thinking about travelling at this time of year and taking baby steps towards it. Well, ok, maybe some concrete ones, too, as I did book a flight for a trip as soon as the weather allows and I am currently reviewing my options in terms of hotels, museums etc. Frighteningly enough, I find that these days all museums seem to have time slots and advance ticket sales for three months down the line. That doesn’t sit terribly well with my resolution to be more spontaneous I must say. But at the same time, I also don’t want to find myself in the situation where I go somewhere special and find that I completely failed to prepare, being left without tickets to a museum I really wanted to see. It wouldn’t be the first time, mind you, but in life we learn, or at least, we should learn from our mistakes. In this modern world, being spontaneous has unfortunately become quite a luxury.

I don’t want to give away too much at this point, but the place I am going to is somewhere I have never been before, and I am very excited about. It’s going to be a short weekend trip, as my 9 to 5 doesn’t allow for much more at the moment, but I really hope I will have ‘enough’ time to see and experience some world class art, culture, and food while still soaking in the local atmosphere. The other question is whether I will be able to pack light for a change …

I am hoping it won’t be too touristy at this time of the year and that I’ll be able to find places to eat that aren’t over-hyped tourist traps. Sadly, this is a problem I frequently encounter during my travels. Being somewhat limited in my radius for reasons of travelling alone as a woman and not being overly comfortable to wander the unknown at night, I sometimes find that accessible options are tourist traps, and that’s a real shame. I suppose excessive online reviews and countless repetitive copy-cat style travel vlogs seeking out places ‘because they are viral on TikTok’ don’t help. If I already see thousands of TripAdvisor reviews, I am a lot less likely to want to try a place to be perfectly honest with you. It’s maybe stupid, but it just doesn’t sit right with me because I think no local will ever step foot in such a place and that in itself makes me doubt quality and authenticity. Feel free to call me a snob. I’ll take that as a compliment.

Another thing that makes me very excited about going to this place is that I am trying to retrace a few of my grandma’s steps. She bought me a pair of golden earrings in one of the artisan jewellers in this city. Sadly, they have fallen victim to a burglary, including the little case they came in, but I vividly remember the writing on the small black box and how special this souvenir was for me. I must have been ten years old or maybe twelve. If you have read one of my first blogs back in summer 2025, you will know that my grandma has very much inspired my love and courage for solo-travel.

My main trouble seemed to be to find an aesthetically pleasing hotel. Scrolling through the pictures on the platform I tend to use, I see lots of dated décor and colourful plush options that give me the hives just from imagining the dust mites having the time of their lives. There is an equally shocking abundance of curtains and wallpapers with overladen colourful patterns and colour-schemes that appear to be in a sort of screaming war with each other. It does not seem to be so easy to find calm and clean lines at an affordable price point; but what I find more puzzling is that the pictures I see of nightmare-worthy décor fetches top ratings from former hotel guests. Clearly, we are not on the same wavelength here and I need to just try out something that seems to be more my own vibe. I think I found a place that satisfies what I am looking for, and if it is beautiful and an overall good fit, I will let you know in a forthcoming blog.

So, if you are also feeling the winter blues, just enjoy the downtime. Spring will come soon enough, and travel will be more fun again. I promise.
Cancelled

18.01.2026
When travel plans go pear-shaped

Over Christmas and New Year, I stayed with family. I had a chill time and the weather was great. By the time I was meant to return, however, the Netherlands were hit with a cold front and lots of snow (for their standards) and the airport more or less came to a halt. My flight was cancelled again and again for days and I even got to spend Serbian Christmas at home as well, which had not been in the plan. I could tell you many details but I won’t. I don’t want my blog to turn into complain-dot-com; the things as they happened are in the past, much time and money was wasted but it’s over now and I do not want to recount it. And besides, many people were much unluckier than me when it comes to flight cancellations and the particular circumstances they found themselves in. I need to be grateful for having dodged the worst, and I truly am.

What I do want to share with you are some lessons learned, and I hope they can be helpful for you, too. Although I call myself a seasoned traveller, I found myself in situations I had badly prepared for and in the future, I will have to make some adjustments, because I won’t always be as lucky as to be at a relative’s home when flights get cancelled for multiple days.

I now understand that I will have to be more alert when packing my hand-luggage and not use it as the ‘just dump what doesn’t fit into the suitcase’ type of bag. No, I now understand what my brother (an experienced business traveller) used to preach about hand luggage: toothbrush, PJs, an essential change of clothes, basic skincare set and basic travel medication. But in addition, I realized I also need a couple of days’ worth supply of prescription medication (and not just the ‘more or less enough’ plus one for the strict number of days I would be away – that really wasn’t smart and caused some serious hassle) and a power bank – because airports and taxis don’t have outlets and airlines think that instead of employing ground personnel, we can all do everything on our own in their unhelpful apps and telephones have endless battery power.

Maybe there is such a thing of being over-prepared, but, honestly, I never thought that I would need to be so prepared ‘just going home for Christmas’. Turns out, it doesn’t matter what the reason of your trip is; whether you go see relatives or would be able to get a toothbrush from the reception desk in the hotel you are heading to. If you are stuck in the airport for hours or days or being driven back and forth, you’ll need it. And in the unlucky event they ‘just’ lose your check-in bag, or it arrives late, you can thank me later when you have made some smart adjustments to the way you pack after reading this blog.

At least I had my infamous Tupperware and did not have to eat any of those sad looking pizza slices, greasy croissants or colourful doughnuts for 10 Euros each.

To keep things crisp and catchy, I am going to end this week’s blog here. I first need to recover from the most uncomfy travels ever before I have something beautiful to share with you next time. So, take care and pack well! Hope to see you back here soon xx
Travel resolutions

04.01.2026
It is that time of year again. Resolutions. While I haven’t really seen the dreaded influx of new-years-resolutioners clogging up the gym floor, I know that many people consciously make plans for bettering themselves this year (and every year come 1 January.) Some people vow to finally lose the weight (and I am no stranger to that myself), some finally decide to hit the gym, or quit a long-lingering vice to ‘become healthier’. But setting new year’s resolutions doesn’t always have to do with bettering ourselves physically. It can also be focused on organizing one’s travel plans for the next twelve months. And this year, I have decided to play it slightly differently. In fact, I decided to organize them less.

It’s not like I ever really sat with my calendar and planned out the year. I have always been the ‘organized mess’ type of person. I go by gut feelings and general direction, rather than daily to do lists because life has taught me that only few things are within our hands to plan ahead and in detail. I also tend to get bored of sameness and rigid schedules or regimes, and that’s a good thing, because it keeps me hungry to explore what else life has to offer.

And even though I like my routines, I need to break out of them once in a while because otherwise I would go mad. So, when I speak about organizing my travel plans, I rather mean thinking about where I want to go, how often I can afford to travel within a twelve-month period and where I will likely go. Once I have thoroughly thought about it, I will book at least one trip that will be fixed in my calendar to have something to look forward to. It’s like a goal with a plan rather than a lofty ambition of ‘I want to travel this year’. I book a flight and a hotel and pencil it into my agenda. It creates a fait accompli in my head and gives me something to dream about during the drab, dark and rainy days of winter. If I feel particularly adventurous, I will book the non-refundable rate to make it that little bit more concrete and non-negotiable. Most of these travel anchors in my agenda will be sunny destinations, or well-travelled cities I know will breathe some life into my nine-to-five reality. Booking something relatively far down the line, like in September for instance, amplifies my excitement and I normally prefer to aim for that time of year when it comes to this one definite trip.

But this year, I decided to be more adventurous and the only fixed trip in my agenda is connected to a medical check-up in the first quarter of the year, while the rest of the pages in my 2026 agenda will remain unchartered territory for now. For the first time in a while, I am not going to rush to get a good deal on my favourite summer destination. I decided to chill out a bit this year and really take it month by month. Baby steps they say when it comes to other goals, such as lifting PR weights or losing a set amount of weight. In 2026, I will try this approach. And who knows, maybe I will get inspired beyond my usual limits.

Because, let’s be honest, more often than not, my pre-planned trips are city breaks to places I have already been to. Not terribly exciting for a travel blogger you might think, but not necessarily wrong either. Perhaps a little uninventive but at the same time, I genuinely love the places I keep returning to and it’s not like I have seen all there is to Paris or Milan within a 48-hour dash into the centre of town. If there are places that work for you as a solo traveller, that you enjoy and look forward to visiting periodically, why not? You also return to your favourite café or restaurant, don’t you? The kind of traveller and person that I am, I am not looking to become that insta-girl affixing 80 flags to her profile or checking off a bucket list of countries just to prove I am a worthy of calling myself a travel blogger. It is in fact very unlikely that you will see much more than Paris and Milan and maybe a bit of the rest of Europe on my blog or Instagram in the next decade. Because travelling solo isn’t easy; travelling solo when you are female and handicapped and hence without a driving licence, is harder. It’s not like I wouldn’t enjoy a road trip through Spain; it’s just that these kinds of trips aren’t in the cards for me as long as I travel solo.

Does that mean I will no longer venture beyond my comfort zone? No, of course it does not. Because I might just wake up tomorrow and decide to go to Australia. But trips like that require actual planning ahead and I am not sure I am ready for it yet. On the contrary, a weekend trip to a city nearby always works out somehow, even if it will mean working harder to meet a certain deadline a few days ahead of time to be able to take that Friday or Monday off.

Much about my travels is about getting a break from my everyday routine and 2026 will be no different in that regard. It is about breaking out of those habits and about getting new ideas. It’s that different perspective and input that I am chasing in my travels. Just this time around, I want to be a bit more spontaneous and go with the flow rather than planning out several trips at once. Let’s see how it will turn out, but I am very excited for a bit more spontaneity this year.
London and I

21.12.2025
And where to eat delicious Peking Duck

London and I have a very difficult relationship. It’s been a rocky road. At the same time, I have very strong bonds and deep friendships with people who live there, and this is the main reason I started coming to London again in the recent years; because in other regards London feels like a distant relationship that ended in unfinished conversations. But as with all failed relationships, things happen for a reason and to teach us lessons in life. And in the end, all lessons take us forward and let us grow. London and I were just never meant to be, no matter how thankful I am today for the lessons I learned.

When I come to London now, I of course choose to see its pretty and glamurous side only. And pretty it can be!

I really must give it to London; it can be so charming and over-the-top. Nothing really compares. December is for sure one of my favourite times to see London, probably the favourite time. The crisp air and overheated stores, the sumptuous décor and iconic Christmas lighting give it that very special touch. I can’t help but find it exceptionally Christmassy; it just has this very special allure.

Strolling down Regents Street or browsing through glossy, high-end things at Selfridges, I simply love it. Have you ever been to Fortnum and Mason’s Food Hall? Or the one in Harrods? It’s breathtaking. Not that I am into Christmas pudding, but the sumptuous packages just captivate me so much. No one overdoes Christmas quite as well as the British!

I think it is the mesmerizing atmosphere that fascinates me the most. While I normally find the dark days in the Northern hemisphere depressing, they make London extra special for me. You can be out and about in a busy street in the dark at 3 p.m. and it is charming and nostalgic, even when it rains.

When I go to visit London now, I am very selective about the parts of it I want to see. I only stay in the boroughs arranged around Hyde Park, because they remind me of the good times we had. Hyde Park was always there for me. We hung out a lot, and it never judged. I started running in Hyde Park, 20 kg overweight from countless late nights in the library over the years, in red leggings I found in Zara on sale. It sends shivers down my spine when I think of that outfit with the blessing of hindsight, but my skinny student budget only went so far.

Hyde Park connects all my favourite places in this city, starting from the Greek Cathedral of Hagia Sofia in Bayswater where I used to attend Saturday evening prayers to High Street Kensington on the other end. I still love taking the double decker buses just for sightseeing along its bounds and I would even dare to go as far as to say that I miss Hyde Park.

Watching its enormity from a double-decker bus is so much prettier and chill than squeezing into the tube sniffing commuters’ armpits and pushing the bounds of my germaphobia.

When I come to London now, I never stay long. Because, in keeping with its personality, it remains unattainable for most, and I like to keep it classy. After all, I have moved on since student days and like to stay in comfort and style. I come to spend quality time with the people I love. As with any harsh environment, the bonds you forge in it are there to last a lifetime. My friends and I, we went through a lot together and I must see them once in a while to replenish on love.

This time, my best friend and I treated ourselves to a wonderful Peking Duck experience at the Min Jiang Restaurant in the Royal Garden Hotel on High Street Kensington, overlooking my trusted old companion, Hyde Park. It was delicious and definitely on another level compared to our student days when we could hardly even afford egg fried rice in China town.

These days, I always make a point of stopping at Whole Foods as well, one of my absolute favourite supermarkets in the whole world. It’s just a quirky habit of mine to visit supermarkets abroad. Whole Foods Kensington is huge, it’s amazing and just extra. I simply love it. If you don’t really know London, or don’t know what part of town to see besides the tourist classics, I highly recommend High Street Kensington. It is classy with a variety of shops, cafés and restaurants, and home to all the major high street brands without being as crowded as Oxford Street. You’ll find all the British staples, such as Marks & Spencer, Holland & Barrett and Boots, too but don’t have to elbow your way through on the pavement. Caffé Concerto used to be one of my favourite places to go for a birthday treat. It’s changed a bit since, but the cakes still look delicious in the display.

While London and I definitely grew estranged, I am still very happy to return every once in a while, and you can rest assured that I will continue to share some insights and recommendations in the future whenever I go.

I am not affiliated with or sponsored by any of the restaurants, shops, and hotels mentioned or otherwise featured in this blog post.
Advent

07.12.2025
The spirit of Christmases past

Those of you who will have grown up in a Westernized society will inevitably think of Charles Dickens and his Christmas Carol, – or the Muppets’ take on it, I don’t know. You’ll most likely picture Santa Claus who supposedly lives on the North Pole or in the Finnish wilderness somewhere; and he must be fat, because who would trust a skinny Santa? I never understood why he is said to live on the North Pole by the way. Maybe you think of a more northern European version of Saint Nicholas (who actually was a native of Asia Minor but never mind) dressed in a bishop’s robe or, at this time of the year you are more focused on the New Year and your Santa is basically the Eastern version, Deda Mraz. When you think of advent and Christmas time, German Christmas markets come to mind: Christstollen, Lebkuchen, Spekulatius and, of course, Glühwein.

This time of year, there’ll be opulent Christmas trees with shiny decorations all around the world (my favourite version of those were in the Malls of Hong Kong) and the humbler versions that are traditional in Austria for example, skinny trees, sparingly decorated with straw ornaments and baubles in red and gold.

But the advent I want to talk to you about today is different. It has to do with Jesus and the Holy Land.

Not too many years ago, when I used to live in the holy city, I got to experience advent in a very different kind of way and it was very special to me in its own right, because it was so unlike everything I knew thus far. Decorations were amazing (in my opinion) and absolutely over the top.

The Christian quarter of the old city of Jerusalem was shining bright, and so were the churches and Christian institutions, restaurants and cafés. But what I loved most about Christmas time in Jerusalem (apart from the weather, of course) was the fact that you weren’t overloaded with Christmas sweets and chocolates and kitschy songs since September that made you wonder what Christmas is actually about.

It does not mean that I don’t also love the shiny trees in Hong Kong, Christmas markets in Germany, or light installations in London; I do. But what I am trying to share is a more spiritual outlook on Christmas, I guess. European Christmas traditions are beautiful. No doubt about that. But for me, they are more about making a particularly dark and, meteorologically speaking, horrible time of the year special, joyful and kinder on the soul. They are less about Christmas in my book.

I was fortunate enough to also visit Bethlehem and the shepherds’ fields in Beit Sahur. Small, hilly, difficult to navigate, and far removed from the vision of the manger I had crafted in my head as a child listening to the priest reading the gospel during Christmas mass.

The church of the nativity is beautiful, but so unpretentious when compared with the overladen churches of the West. It was all so different, but somehow, I needed to see this to understand.

Nothing was shiny and little was golden, and there weren’t any Lebkuchen around, of course. And I thought to myself in my simple mind: but isn’t it just that? Mary and Joseph having a hard time in the chaos of this city?

Look, I am not here to give a sermon or go all religious on you, but the little thought I’d like to share with you this advent is that it doesn’t need to be perfect. Whether you are not so gifted when it comes to decorating your house (like myself) or have it all figured out since mid-November; whether the tree you are going to buy will only arrive on 24^th December, as it used to be traditional in Germany, or whether it’s a plastic one you just got out of a box. It doesn’t matter.

No matter where you are and no matter what it is you are struggling with, Christmas will come and it will be magnificent, because love and hope and light prevail. Always. You just have to look for it and let it do its magic.
My favourite cafés in Palma de Mallorca

23.11.2025
Over the course of the last year, I have been visiting Palma de Mallorca on a number of occasions; not exactly for leisurely travel but that does not mean that I did not get a chance to explore parts of life in the capital of the Balearic Islands. It wasn’t about sightseeing or shopping, but about daily life. Regaining strength after a life-changing surgery, I could only walk. Not far, not much, and with many breaks in between. But when I think about it, doing exactly that would also be the perfect starting point for any solo-traveller exploring a new city.

While Palma is blessed with many benches and opportunities to sit down and enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather, such as on the central Passeig des Born, weeks and weeks of walking also requires some more interesting stops and longer breaks, just as any tourist exploring the city by foot would need and be interested in.

This is how I came to sample a number of cafés within the inner city of Palma. I have visited the city in late spring, early summer and autumn, which gave me plenty of opportunity to revisit certain spots I uncovered as a tourist or find new ones altogether when rest was my priority.

If you love coffee and café culture as much as I do and have a soft spot for a good matcha latte, too, here are some recommendations of where to find a nice vibey coffee spot in Palma. For this blog, I have decided to keep it modern, and I won’t be talking about cultural heritage and traditional cafés and coffee houses. If you are interested in that, check out my earlier blog. This time, it is about contemporary coffee culture, the kind of café that I like to frequent anywhere in the world, just with a uniquely Spanish touch. I am talking about places where you can rest and unwind, people-watch and get inspired or simply savour a beautiful, quiet moment in your day.

Of course, my list of cafés of choice is based on extremely subjective and unscientific criteria. It’s about gut feelings and vibes and not much about those can be objectively measured. Taste is subjective by definition and so are feelings of well-being and comfort. Similarly, some people like their coffee strong while others don’t. And if you like filter coffee, I suggest you skip this article and revisit my blog another day. Spaniards like their coffee strong, and so do I.

Likewise, this is not an article about the 5 most instagrammable cafés or hidden gems or anything like that, because for starters I don’t think any place in central Palma remains hidden and beyond that, there are really only four places I want to recommend this time around. I think I have said it before, but I am a creature of habit and once I like something, I go back. And if a place did not impress me the first time around or ruined my experience by having me scan a QR code or having a disappointing rest room, I am not really willing to come back and give them a second chance. So, even though you will only find four cafés listed here, I did visit many more. They just did not make the cut, because I take my coffee and customer experience very seriously.

My absolute and unrivaled favourite on this list is Dome. There is much to be said about this café as it really ticked many of my high-maintenance boxes. I love the modern, stylish design combined with traditional vibes of the place. It’s a perfect blend of contemporary café culture and Spanish gastronomy, excellently managed.

The café con leche is strong and generous and the matcha beautifully served. Seating is comfortable with street views that offer a calming environment for a relaxing coffee moment or cozy stop on a rainy autumn day. It is frequented by both tourists and locals which makes it vibrant and contemporary, and staff are kind, attentive and friendly.

Another place I have been returning to more than once is Menut. It is young and vibrant with a bit of a boho touch; the matcha latte was outstanding and I can equally recommend the cortado and café con leche. If you are interested in a bite, Menut is your place, too.

The only drawback about this café is the outdoor seating situation; it’s not exactly cozy or picturesque on the rather busy Jaime III junction but at least you have beautiful palm tree views on the Passeig de Mallorca, which kind of makes up for the noise from the street already.

I would say it is a great place for a break when you are out and about, well placed between the seafront and the centre of town. It is maybe less of a destination for a lazy morning or a spot you’d do some work at.

For a more laid-back coffee moment, I recommend El Grano de Café which is located in a quiet street near the Mercat de l’Olivar. It is a chill cool café with beautiful indoor seating and reasonable outdoor seating, both of which offer excellent people-watching opportunities. I can’t say it is my favourite coffee in town, and it definitely is ‘watered down’ a bit for the more global taste (Spanish coffee is generally stronger I find), but I still like this place very much. I think it is the chilled location and overall vibe that make me rank it quite high up there. Service is a bit slow as they seem somewhat sparingly staffed, but who cares? You are there for coffee, not in an emergency room. No one is saving lives here and we are not on the run. Just sit back and relax. If you are into hanging out in cafés, you’ll like this one.

Last but not least in my list is Hotel Cappuccino on Plaza de Cort. The café con leche is excellent and the view into the square is very pretty; however, you do need to spend more for your coffee than elsewhere, that just comes with the ambiance, as it is one of the more luxurious hotels in town. For me, it’s absolutely worth it. My old-school personality very much appreciates the atmosphere of the hotel and only because it does not fit within my vibey coffee spot criteria, do I rank it lower on my list. For me, it is more of a Sunday outing kind of place that you intentionally go to, rather than a café you’d stop at along the way.

None of my recommendations are sponsored. They are the result of my genuine opinions and impressions. I have paid for all my coffees myself.
Ticking all the right boxes

09.11.2025
My top 3 travel essentials

There are three things that come in a box and/or cube format that I absolutely cannot live without when I travel. These are a Tupperware (yes, I am that kind of person), my Tumi travel cubes and my Max Mara cube vest. Of course, the last two items also come in more affordable versions these days, but I am not exactly crazy about shopping and this is why I like to invest in quality pieces that last me many years to avoid the hassle (and expenditure) of constantly having to repurchase the same things.

Would I flaunt a Tupperware the size of a cornflakes box on the breakfast table, unashamedly filling it with everything on display? Hardly. But I still find it ok to discretely pack something healthy to eat into it before heading out to the airport. And this takes me to exactly my point. Those of you who travel a lot will know that not only is the airport food and drink scene helplessly overpriced, but the main problem is the kind of food on offer. All of it is sweet, ultra-processed and devoid of any protein or greens. This is why I pack my Tupperware. I pack it for a trip with healthy snacks or even a sandwich, not because I am cheap, but because I do not feel like eating rubbish or nothing at all just because the choice will be poor. And it is something we already know in advance, it is foreseeable, and therefore, I plan ahead.

Mind you, my Tupperware habit has also saved a diabetic colleague on a business trip when the travel time unexpectedly extended by three hours and he did not have any food on him. Just saying.

Second on my list is my beloved Tumi travel cube. It is now 14 years old and still going strong. In its ordinary life, it keeps my office attire neat and wrinkle free in my gym bag five days a week. On its more exciting outings it helps me organize my outfits and assists me in being less of a mess when packing. While it did come with a hefty price tag, I do not regret this expenditure one single day.

To the contrary, I am so grateful that this accessory has never let me down. If you are interested in a great quality travel cube that keeps its shape (which I think is the one quality that keeps it in a class of its own compared to other brands), you might want to consider investing in one. Maybe there will even be Black Friday offers; it may be worth looking out for that.

Last but not least I need to mention my Max Mara cube vest I repurchased again after several years in Milan last spring. It has been my single most worn piece of clothing ever since; summer or winter (not much of a difference where I live) and particularly when travelling. I don’t know about you, but I often find that the air cabin temperature is way below 20 degrees Celsius (according to google that is 68 degrees Fahrenheit) and I find that to be very cold.

This is where the vest comes in so handy. It weighs next to nothing but keeps me so incredibly warm. You can stuff it in whatever overpacked bag you bring as a carry on because it also takes up so little space. You can wear it under another jacket to, for example, bring a trench up a notch to being as warm as a winter jacket. This is particularly helpful when you cross the weather divide and do not want to schlepp around a winter coat but also don’t fancy coming down with the flu the day after.

All in all, this vest has been a lifesaver for me on several trips and will continue to be just that for years to come.

And there you have it. My three most reliable boxes I bring on every trip.

Granted, they are not the prettiest arrangement when seen in their raw state, but they are unbeatable when in action.

Especially the Tupperware, I dare you to try on your next trip. You can thank me later.

As always, none of my recommendations are sponsored. I am not affiliated with any of the brands.
The dark side of tourism

26.10.2025
Since my recent surgery a few weeks ago, the doctor only allows me to walk, so I walk. But the tricky part is that walking in the lion’s den of mass tourism isn’t so easy. You have to be early, very early to avoid the crowds. As my walking radius and general state improved a little bit, I have seen a lot – too much if you ask me – of tourist behaviour that makes me question my own frequent travel habits. Is it still okay to travel to popular destinations? I honestly don’t know. Already visiting Dubrovnik this summer – a destination my family has been holidaying in since the 1950s – was unpleasant this year. Hundreds of tourists rolling through the ancient streets, buying trinkets made in China and seeing nothing beyond a façade featured in Game of Thrones.

I wondered whether any locals are actually still living there or whether all apartments have been snatched up and converted into holiday apartments. Most restaurants have unfortunately already downgraded to selling pizza and burgers only – with pictures of course – and waiters addressing every customer in English by default.

I wonder whether it is normal to order a full English breakfast outside of the UK or what goes through someone’s mind when they decide to lay their baby on the table in a restaurant at lunch time. Luckily, I left before finding out what the purpose of that was (besides filming a TikTok) because the other scenarios I could come up with were too unpleasant to imagine. And what’s up with Aperol at 10 a.m. or shady business deals done on a bistro table? Let me tell you, if your business partner or estate agent asks you to sign papers in a café, you should run, not sign.

Another ‘favourite’ of mine are those who feel so much at home, they forget they are in a foreign country. Since when is it okay to address people in your own language when abroad? No, Mallorca is not a part of Germany and ‘Danke’ isn’t Spanish, just in case anyone was still in doubt.

Not only do the masses of people make it unpleasant to walk around after 12 a.m. (with a COVID-style surgical mask of course because people seem to find it okay to cough into a stranger’s face on the street) but they kill any sort of uniqueness of the places they go. In quite a few cases, It also does not seem that they were looking for it in the first place. Thrown out of a tour bus or only following the crowds of others on the main street, they do not look left or right, and I wonder what it is they see apart from the screen of their mobile phones and the same high street shops they have at home.

But if you care to find the things you don’t have where you live, you got to get up early. Then, you will be able to admire the beauty of the architecture and soak up a bit of the original charm of where you are. You’ll see people going to work, stopping for a coffee; you’ll see the waitress usher in and greet the regular, who has trouble moving about with his simmer frame, waiting for his friends to take a morning coffee and catch up. You’ll catch a smile and see beyond the masses of rowdy, noisy tourists buying counterfeit bags around the main tourist attraction sites supporting all sorts of illegal activity and unpleasant vibes with their impulse buys without the glimpse of reflection about their significant contribution to this dark economy.

It makes more and more sense to me that many popular tourist destinations are photographed at the crack of dawn or even at night: Venice, for example. Just because there is no more Venice to see once the hoards descend from the cruise ships and flood the tiny streets of Europe’s most popular destinations. Maybe I have too much time on my hands now that my main task in life is to go on recovery walks. Maybe. But what I see makes me think about my own tourist behaviour and whether less isn’t more.