Thoughts and travel tales

It’s been very hectic lately. I’m trying to balance everything: translate, write, see my friends, go snowboarding, attend the quiz, fight the Romanian bureaucracy... :D

However, I didn’t want to leave you without the weekly post, so here are some old unpublished stories of mine on travels, lifestyle, and choices.

World Nomads postcard [November 2012]

I’m writing from home now – the beautiful city of Braşov, Romania – and have just returned from a very intrepid trip in the Caucasian countries of Georgia and Armenia.

Somewhere between nearly being left in the middle of the road with limited possibilities to get a ride to a city 111 km away, not being able to read or speak Armenian (or Russian for that fact), and finding myself forced to constantly select between marshrutkas, shared taxis, or taxis, part of my heart stayed in Armenia and still sighs at the sight of the rocky yet mild mountains curving down its borders.

Superb Armenia, we will definitely see each other again! ;-)

/if you’re wondering about my favourite countries, Armenia is in my Top 5/

Digital nomads [February 2014]

My laptop, my smartphone, and my Kindle [and – of course! – an Internet connection] suffice: I run a translation agency and my father is helping me a lot by managing the administrative issues of my company in our native town of Braşov. Yes, I can translate from anywhere in the world (although I like to savour my travels and I frequently turn to outsourcing when I’m on the road). I can also write from anywhere in the world. And last, but not least, I can also study from anywhere in the world: I just log into my Blackboard account and I’m online, discussing Scottish History with my teachers and fellow students. My only concern is that my boyfriend is still a full-time employee and his holiday leaves are limited. Consequently, we take advantage of every national holiday possible and stick his free days to every available weekend… that is, until he also gets this incredible freedom I’ve been enjoying for years.  

/if you’re wondering about how we manage to travel for 2-2.5 months every year/

My favourite shoes [January 2015]

I’ve wanted them since forever. I saw a similar colour winking at me through a shop window while finding a way out of the labyrinth of Vecrīga. I wanted to return and buy them at one point, but somehow I couldn’t find my way back to them. ‘It was not meant to be’, I’d lessen the disappointment inside.

I would later on find them gazing at me through the glass of another shop, this time in my hometown of Braşov. But the colour wasn’t right this time.

And then, one year and a half ago, I’d find them online. The colour, the size, the price, they’d all fit. I made the call to order them and the lady shyly asked ‘Are you the girlfriend of the gentleman who called from Braşov? They’ve already been ordered. But please, do not tell him that you know and try to act surprised when you get them.’ Ha ha – I was going through a rough time in my life at that point and I remember how these shoes, in my favourite colour, made me smile.

I wouldn’t part with them all through the summer and autumn; they’d accompany me to Northern Dobruja, Scotland, Apuseni Mountains, and again the Danube Delta. I believe however that the sands and heat of Iran defeated and tore them a bit.

I wore them last on Christmas Eve, as it was the hottest in the last 40 years in Romania and I thought they’d go well with my orange top. Hmmm… and now, as it’s snowing cats and dogs, I keep looking at them and hope to mend them and wear them again when spring returns. Just because I care so much!

/yes, I love clothes and shoes and colours!/

On the road [May 2015]

Loving the voyage more than the actual destination. I’ve always said it and supported it. Does this count?

I admire passionate people and it feels good to be part of a group. When you’re willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of a journey, it is passion alright. This also implies that you are going to savour every encounter, open your eyes to the new foods, let your ears remember the adventures you’re on and, in the end, good or bad, learn from them all.  

In my life and through my experiences, passion and love went hand in hand. I can’t cook worth a dam, but putting my soul into it adds a flavour that even chefs can’t reproduce. It’s the same with travelling; the more you ride, the humbler you get. It’s when you realise that every being you meet can surprise you in a way that’ll stay with you throughout your years. 

/♥ the road

P.S. My cooking improved./

On ancestry [April 2017]

I am a typical Transylvanian girl: Romanian father, Hungarian mother, I've spoken both languages since as long as I can remember, I have a multitude of relatives in Hungary, but I consider myself Romanian. All the way. I do take pride in that part of me that screams ‘bilingual and bicultural’. It goes back more, I reckon, far beyond those many trips to the neighbouring country or my ever-growing love for horses. Nomadism pulsates inside of me.  I am said to have both Cuman and Hun traits. And somehow along the road I met my life and travel partner whose ancestry seems Tatar. Yet we are part of the same nation – a silly blonde with blue eyes and her dark-haired rider with Asian eyes. Talk about curiosities and the variety in our country’s faces.      

/our recent DNA tests show a different side to this story – Finnish influences for Marcel and probably Danish for me… J to be cont’d/