7 things I hate about traveling

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Even though I am always highlighting how amazing traveling is and how much I love it, how it is the best way to learn and educate yourself, not to talk about all the great experiences and memories traveling gives you, let alone the fact how I can’t keep calm unless I have a travel to look forward to, there are still some things I really don’t enjoy about traveling. As a traveler you learn that there are certain things that are more unpleasant, unforeseen, and sometimes very unexpected that you just have to deal with. In the end it is in these stressfull moments where your boundaries might get pushed further than you ever thought possible, you will learn more about yourself and also learn how to handle difficult situations better. I tried that a couple of times now just a few weeks ago –  first in the airport in Cuba, and then three weeks later in the airport in Copenhagen. I’ve come up with a little list of things I definitely don’t enjoy when traveling, but hey, life isn’t always a bed of roses, neither is traveling, and sometimes you have to take the bitter with the sweet.

7 things I hate about traveling

♥ Packing. I tend to feel a tiny wave of stress coming over me when I have to pack. Especially if i am going away for a longer time. I am always in doubt about how much to bring, what kind of clothes to bring, what I am going to wear, what occasions I need to bring clothes for, and what kind of weather the clothes have to suit. Usually it always work out someway, the best way is just to try and give your packing some extra thought and think about what you really feel like wearing, what is smart to bring, and it will all work out.

♥ Airports. Checking in. Carrying bags. A lot of people. Delays. Missed flights. Cancelled flights. Important documents and passport and passport to keep track of. Waiting time and a lot of it. A high level of stress. Need I say more? Airports will never be my favorite in this world. The only thing good about them are the planes that hopefully take you to a great destination.

♥ Flights. Short flights are no problem for me, I especially like the Berlin-Copenhagen route I am a frequent flyer on. 45 minutes in the air, and bam, you are there. It is the long flights that are my problem. Little to no leg room, bad air, mostly bad food, and the point of boredom you reach that you thought wasn’t possible. Then you try to sleep for a bit until you wake up ten minutes later because your neck hurts or you foot or hand is in some kind of cramp. The way your body feels and hurts after being squished into inhumanely little space for way too long. I was lucky enough to fly business twice on long flights, and if I was just lucky enough to be in business class on all my long flights, I would never complain again ever in my life. Being able to sleep in a bed with a big, nice blanket during a whole flight and landing feeling fresh and rested is simply amazing.

♥ Traveling time in general. Whether it is with bus, trains, flights, the time it takes to wait around, go from and to the airport, this time is annoying and can seem very long. Usually when I am going to somewhere I am always so excited, so the traveling time doesn’t seem that long, but going home, it can seem like it will never end. I wish somebody could invent a machine that would take you to your desired destination with a single click.

♥ Jetlag. Regardless if you simply can’t sleep, you wake up at crazy hours in the morning, or you are trying to stay awake but you are so tired you just want to sleep, jetlag is annoying. Especially when traveling east jetlag gives you a tough time. They say that every hour of time difference will take you a day to get over. Who has time for that kind of stuff?

♥ When things don’t go as planned. It can be a missed flight, a cancelled flight, a misunderstanding, forgotten stuff, unforeseen happenings, or simply something you looked forward to but turned out to be a big disappointment. As I wrote in the beginning life isn’t always easy, things don’t always turn out as you thought they would, and even though this can be tough sometimes, the best way to see it is as a challenge, take it and turn it into someting you can learn from. An example is when my boyfriend booked tickets for the 22nd of March from Cuba instead of the 22nd of February, and we were stranded in Cuba with no money, no phone service or internet, it hopefully taught him to be more carefull and make sure he books the right dates when buying flight tickets in the future.

♥ Unpacking. As if it wasn’t depressing enough to come back home to the real world after being away, you also have to unpack your luggage, start washing a lot of dirty clothes and put everything back where it belongs, plus put your suitcase back to where ever it is kept. Unpacking is annoying and far to often I’ve left my luggage in a corner for many days until I finally pulled myself together to unpack it.

Another important thing to keep in mind when traveling is also that you or nobody can predict how it is going to be. You can’t predict how the weather is going to be in your destination, you can’t predict if your flight is being cancelled, and you can’t predict if you will like a new place you are visiting or not. You just got to go with the flow and relax, because you can’t predict or control everything when traveling. And that is also part of the beauty.

With this being said, I know I would be able to write another list with things I love about traveling, which would contain a lot more points and reasons why I love traveling than this one.

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Three places I want to have lunch at in Berlin

Living in a lively city that never sleeps like Berlin and where something new opens up everyday, I have a never ending to do list with cafes and restaurants I want to try. It is literally like every time I manage to visit one of the places from my list, the same day I find out about a new place that I then have to add to my list and that is why I call the list never ending.

Here is my top three places I want to have lunch at in Berlin:

Yummy fresh juices from The Store Berlin

The Store Kitchen in Soho House BerlinThe Store Kitchen

About two months ago Soho House opened the doors to a brand new and renovated concept store, beauty salon, work space, and a cafe – all in one. The Store is beautiful, everything in there is completed and thought through from staff, the brands and labels they carry, and the healthy juices and salads guests can enjoy while sitting in the beautiful couches or chairs that are available at The Store. I have been there to get my nails done and to drink their organic slow juices, which are amazing. Next time it will be for lunch and I will bring my laptop, because The Store also seems like a nice place to do some work online.

The Klub Kitchen in BerlinThe Klub Kitchen (picture @thelukasbossert)

The Klub Kitchen is another recently opened restaurant also located in Mitte. Everything there is like it is supposed to be – good interior and decoration – white and simple, and good food – healthy and green. The Klub Kitchen offers different salads, a vary of dishes like eggs and noodles, plus fresh juices. Not only is the Klub Kitchen a place to grab a nice lunch, they also serve breakfast and they have my personal breakfast favorite granola and yogurt.

Chipperfield Kantine

This place has been on my list for more than I would like to admit, and I’ve also walked by the beautiful concrete house that holds the Kantine many times, so now it has to be! Chipperfield Kantine serves simple, sustainable food, often with classic dishes like risotto, soups and salads, and according to their tagged pictures on Instagram it definitely looks like they also know how to bake good cakes.

Cheap ways to travel

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All through high school my friends and I always loved traveling together, and we did it quite a lot. We were in Flensburg, Dublin, London, and Oxford on school trips, and then we did our own trips to Barcelona, Berlin, and Prague. When you are in high school it would be a lie to say that your bank account is in an amazing state, but somehow we still managed to go away, travel, and have a lot of fun!

Cheap ways to travel

♥ Being able to travel doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money.  If you just keep following points in mind, it is actually possible to escape real life for a couple days and replace it with time in a more exotic place.

♥ Pick a cheap destination – first of all it is very important to chose a place that is cheap to go to and cheap to stay in. Here it is worth considering if transport opportunities to go there are cheap, and how much money you will have to spend on food, drinks, sightseeing and stuff like that in the given location. There are hundreds of cool places in this world, that are just as cool and beautiful as for example popular London, New York, and Paris, but cost they half to stay in and visit, so it is worth thinking outside box here. What about trying Eastern Europe?

♥ Find cheap transportation – Flying is always easy and nowadays it is not hard to find amazingly cheap plane tickets. What you just have to remember is that many of the cheap airline companies often fly to the smaller airports that tend to be located quite far away from the city center. Make sure you figure out before buying tickets if it is really worth buying the cheapest flight tickets, because you might have to spend a lot of time and money getting on a train afterwards. If you are traveling with friends also look up buses and trains. It is always a lot of fun going somewhere with your friends, so a long bus ride is not that bad if you are not alone.

♥ Couch surfing/AirBnB/Friends – When I was traveling with friends we always got private rooms in hostels. I’ve also spent several nights sleeping in dorms in hostels, which is also a must try experience when traveling young. Accommodation does not have to be at a five star hotel, and traveling this way will give you authentic experiences, it will be easier to meet new people from around the world, you might even be lucky to make new friends, which is always the smartest way of traveling cheap, because for the next time you will be able to hustle your way in and staying for free with your friends. I am so happy that I have many friends around the world. That means there is always somebody to visit and a good reason and excuse to go. This is also the best way to see places if you are lucky to have a native by your side.

♥ Buy food in supermarkets – instead of going out to eat all of your meals while traveling, go to supermarkets, deli’s, and kiosks to pick up food and snacks. This will save you a lot of money in the end. Buying food in cheaper alternatives doesn’t mean it has to be boring – be creative and bring the food to a park, a canal, a lake, or another sight seeing spot and do a picnic wherever you want. This will make great memories and you will get to see a lot more than by just sitting in a restaurant.

♥ The same with beer and alcohol – of course you want to go partying and have a good time when traveling with your friends, but this can also be tough on your wallet if you are drinking drinks in a bar. Warm up before going out and buy alcohol and beer from a supermarket.

♥ Check out free alternatives to things to do at your destinations – museums and main sights can be quite high priced in entrance, so here it is worth it doing some research from home to figure out what you can do instead, what is free, what is cool, and what is important to see. Many traveling blogs write long articles about top things to do for free in different travel destinations – I did one on Berlin here. If you do your research right, you will have tons of things to do and see.

So the conclusion is, traveling doesn’t have to be expensive if you just think outside the box and come up with creative solutions and alternatives.

An easy way to be happy 

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An easy way to be happy in your life is to learn to remember and notice the good stuff. And by the way when isn’t it a suitable time to list the things that are good and make you happy and grateful? Instead of always thinking about the stuff you didn’t get done and the stuff you should have done, focus on what you did do, completed, what you are thankful and grateful for, and what you are looking forward to.

On the days where I am feeling a little blue it is not that easy to find things to be happy about, but then it is okay to start small and be grateful that you are healthy, you have a bed to sleep in at night, and food on the table.

♥ I am happy because my parents are coming to visit me in six days.

♥ So is my dear friend that I miss a lot.

♥ I had such an active and productive day and got all my stuff done. To do list? I don’t know what that is, mine is empty at least.

♥ I made it to the gym.

♥ My boyfriend bought a juicer so now we can make healthy juices all the time.

♥ The sun is shining.

♥ My apartment is nice and clean.

♥ My bed has new and fresh bedsheets on.

♥ My fridge is filled with fresh berries, fruits and vegetables.

♥ I started a new project translating kids books about the body, organs, and diseases from German to English. Even though it is a bit difficult sometimes I remind myself how much I am learning from doing it.

♥ That I had kobe meat last night at my boyfriend’s favorite restaurant.

Five good places to eat in Barcelona

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Brunch – Brunch & Cake

The best way to start your day in Barcelona is to start off with brunch at Brunch & Cake. Brunch & Cake is the cutest little white decorated café that offers great decoration, and great brunch and breakfast. The place offers classic dishes like poached eggs on waffles, sandwiches, omelettes, and fruit. The place is popular so you might have to wait for around 15 minutes to get a table, but it is all worth it. 

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Tapas – Can Cisa – Bar Brutal

In the El Born area there are almost too many great tapas restaurants so it can be hard to figure out which one to chose to do your Barcelona tapas dinner at. We heard about Bar Brutal from friends, so we figured it would be a safe choice. This place has more wine than you can imagine and great tapas dishes, so if you are out after a real Barcelona tapas experience, Bar Brutal definitely covers it.

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Café – Cosmo Café

(Picture judit_rms) For a place to chill and take a break in the afternoon we found Cosmo Café. This place was perfect for a smoothie, coffee, and a piece of cake. Cosmo Café works as a cultural café, so they had different little exhibitions from up and coming + underground artist. Cosmo Café shows that Barcelona also has a lot to offer when it comes to young and hip culture. 


Ice cream – Eyescream and Friends

Along the beach boardwalk in Barcelona, you will find a little ice cream store. You pick your favorite ice cream taste and they cut it up for you, put it in a bowl and create a face out of your ice cream with little chocolate eyes. Next step is to choose your favorite topping and sauce. Pick between fruits, cake, and chocolate. Then you have the cutest little “Eyescream” face to eat. Take it to a bench and enjoy the beach life of Barcelona.

Pizza – Nap – Neapolitan Authentic Pizza

This Italian pizza restaurant allegedly has the best pizza in Barcelona, so of course we had to try it. There is not a lot to say other than the pizza is amazing, and by eating here you feel like you are in Italy for a brief moment, which is probably the purpose of calling the place Neapolitan Authentic Pizza. 

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