I fall deeper in love with my mothers home village every time I go there. Being there, surrounded by fresh air, nature, calmness and positive people just makes your brain go wild and think freely. It’s like a meditation for my brain and I end up somewhere else, but still complete connected to everyone around me. It’s hard to explain! The phone is also less used which honestly, I find to be the best feeling ever. I rarely come upon such easy going, simple and selfless people in my life. They posses a lot less items than us, yet they seem to have everything they need. They probably have fewer years of school than us Bangkokians, yet they seem 100 years wiser than us. It’s true happiness. I’m really glad I’ve had time to go there so often lately to see my grandparents!
Golden sunsets in Isaan!
Super zoom. But I had to show you the level of mutualism and happiness here!
So many doggies around the streets. Normally everyone let their gates open for the doggies to roam around. So cute. Puppies everywhere and they are all being fed and taken care of.
One happy Diego!
My neighbour got this from her tree and came to offer us some. So fresh, sweet and yummy. It wasn’t even refrigerated, but still super nice.
I brought along Diego this time, as the cold season is here and he can roam around in the garden freely and not in any risk of heat stroke. I think it’s the happiest I have ever seen him. He ran around for hours and got cuddles wherever he went. That being said, he was quite the rascal to other dogs, and there was no way he was letting them in to play on his property without ether playing with him or fighting with him… He also encountered his first meeting with a chicken and I have to say he seemed very surprised and curious to what this creature was.
Happy New Year everyone! Just got back from a long 3 week holiday in Norway and I am feeling ready for a fresh start.
For this year I won’t be making specific New Year’s resolutions other than trying to stay as healthy as possible. Mentally, physically and focusing on what I put into my body. Hopefully I get to tick of some new travel destinations of my bucket list too. Hoping that you all get everything you wish for, for 2018.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for Christmas before. I can’t believe I haven’t been back for two years. It’s gonna be amazing. Great food, family times and cold weather. And finally tickets booked! Yay yay yay! Was planning to maybe go to Spain again, but not anything certain yet. And finally my mom will come back to Thailand again for a month- we’ll all fly back together. Also Tom is trying to get tickets to see Chelsea so if we get them, there might be New Years in London. My gosh, and Wonderfruit and Maya Festival before. 2017 will end in a great way! <3
We only stayed in Lisbon for 3 days, and this might be too short and unfair of a statement for me to make. But Lisbon is now my favorite city in Europe. It’s trendy, artsy and full of culture. For any food lover out there, Lisbon has some amazing restaurant and dining concepts.
Time out market was one of them. A hip food court with international dishes and stalls serving wines and beers from Portugal. I always get so surprised at how affordable it is to dine out in southern Europe. I wish I had some photos from the Time Out Market, you’ll have to click here for pictures. They’re building one in Miami now, so please Bangkok. Let’s get one here too! Unfortunately AND of course fortunately ,we got a new camera in Portugal but the RAW format is not compatible with our Lightroom so I’m missing so many photos.
Loved my fresh pressed coffee and Bocadillo in the morning.
Portugal is famous for their delicious sea food, so of course we had to try out one of the best seafood restaurants (called Sea Me) in town. Make sure you make a reservation beforehand, we learned the hard way… let’s just say it was the longest we’ve ever queued up for a restaurant. But it was so worth it. And do pair it with Portugal’s famous green wine “Vinho Verde” It’s light, sweet and bubbly and so easy to drink. That’s the only wine I drank during my stay there. I also don’t have any photos from this place… the food and drinks were just too good to waste any time.
Casa da Índia. This is where the locals eat traditional Portuguese food. You have to come here for lunch. It’s packed and the service a bit slow, but a great way to experience the laxed lifestyle of this happy people. I can vouch for the Piri Piri Chicken and Picanha.
We were lucky enough to be invited to the Navigator to see their eucalyptus nursery and the beginning of how their office paper is made. Navigator is the world’s premium office paper best seller founded and produced in Portugal.
The city seems flat when driving in to Lisbon, but you’ll be surprised at how steep the streets of Lisbon really are. It’s so beautiful to walk around and get lost there, and just a small tram journey away lies the stunning district of Belém. This is where Jeronimos Monastery and the famous Belém tower is located.
Whenever I find kinder ice cream or pistachio, gotta buy it! Always ends up melting in my hands though…
This should be a scene of Game of Thrones!!
Stunning Jerónimos Monastery in Belém
You can stay in the centre of Lisbon too, and still get to see some historical architecture. This is Rua Augusta Arch.
Photo from Bica Duarte Belo, you must take a stroll up here if you’re in the city. The locals claim that this is one of the most beautiful roads in the world.
We stayed at a loft apartment in the middle of Lisbon that we rented from The Blue House Lisboa. Perfect location and great value for money. They have loads of apartments that could fit your needs, travelling solo or as a family.
I’m already looking forward to my next trip to Portugal, where Lisbon is one of the cities I definitely want to revisit!
Caught up in the hustle of travelling around Europe and getting back home I totally forgot about the posts that were promised, but hey, let’s start with Norway!
It doesn’t matter how long or short my stays in Norway are… it’s always going feel like home, and leaving is always just as hard. It never feels like I’ve had enough time here.
Travel partner number uno!
I think the hardest part is missing my family, but also my childhood home, all the memories I was brought up with, the familiar sights, smells and flavors. My friends. The feeling of a system that truly works. Strict rules and stiff prices set a side, I consider myself quite lucky to come from and having been born and raised in this beautiful country. I always find it more exciting coming here on holiday, especially when bringing Tom along, as he’s a tourist, meaning I have to think of amazing places to show him. My dad was the best when it came to taking us around all of Norway as kids, so I’m pretty much reliving and showing off my childhood memories to Tom. But I also get the opportunity to explore the unseen, which is awesome. Also, experiencing things as an adult gives you a totally different perspective than when you were young.
Our cabin in the woods. One of my fave places during the summer months. So isolated.
So far I’ve taken Tom north to Tromsø for dog sledding and searching for the northern lights, we’ve also walked the streets of little Bodø before travelling on Hurtigruta to beautiful Lofoten. Lofoten during winter time is amazing, but you have to rent a car to drive around the island to get the most of it. And make sure to figure out when the sun rises and sets, because you’ll only have around 4 hours with a clear view. Last year we did the most beautiful road trip I can think of, driving up to Åndalsnes past the famous “Trollstigen” and “Troll wall” before setting up tent in the stunning Geiranger Fjords, we also witnessed the gorgeous Seven Sisters Waterfall while exploring the fjords by boat. We continued by chilling out by the beautiful lakes of Stryn and made a little detour to camp out around Jostedalsbreen to go kayaking and glacier walking in “Styggevatnet”. You need to save up a bit if you want to do several planned activities in Norway, but trust me, it’s all worth it! We also made a trip to Bergen, Voss and the famous Borgund Stave Church. You can see more photos and how to do the same roadtrip here. I love travelling around Norway.
Love the architecture of Oslo
This year around we decided to try spending more time with friends and family as last year, we managed to book our trip while nobody was home. We started off in Oslo visiting my aunt and catching up with friends and family there. We normally only go for a couple of days, but since we planned a 1 month trip this year we managed to squeeze in almost a full week in Oslo. Oslo is a fantastic city during the summer months, and there’s so many nice places to eat and drink.
Oslo vibes
I also love how the weather and distance makes it perfect to walk everywhere. This time we visited Taco Republica for Oslo’s best tacos and they were extremely tasty, we were also introduced to amazing burgers at Kverneriet (Burgers) in Majorstuen, both of them must-visits if you’re a food lover like myself! The list of great bars and places with craft and draft beers are endless. Oslo makes beer drinking fun! I think our favourite place must have been Kulturhuset, I can’t remember how many beers they had on draft, but I can promise you they have something for your taste and something you’ve never tasted. The upstairs is lined up with games like shuffle board, table tennis and foosball tables- in other words PLAYTIME. Just how I like it!
Preikestolen with Sandra<3
We found a great deal for tickets to Stavanger as well, and were so lucky to crash with our lovely Norwegian friend Sandra (which we actually first met back home in Bangkok). We rented a car from the app “Nabobil”, highly recommended if you want to rent a car at a good price and drove up to hike the Pulpit Rock. The ferry leaves every 30 minutes, not far from city center and is a 45 minute ride followed by another 30 minute drive before you reach the starting point and parking. The hike up and down will take you a total of 2 hours if you add some speed to it, but the average time is 4 hours so keep that in mind if you are travelling as a family or haven’t been trekking much before. Stavanger is such a pretty city so make sure you have some time to walk around the old town, enjoy a nice meal at the water front or just walking around the streets for shopping and photos. It’s very picturesque!
Love this shot from Pulpit Rock!
Trekking and nature is a must when visiting Norway.
I’ve already started planning for our trip home for Christmas and New Years. Can’t I haven’t been home for two Christmases already. Insane! Crossing my fingers for a white Christmas. <3
Preikestolen aka. Pulpit rock in Stavanger. Too scared to go for our regular leapkiss pose, hehe.
Hello from Norway you all! We’ve been home for almost 10 days and I’m loving it. So great to be back home during the summer. We’ve had some rain, but the moments of sun has made me forget all about it. We started off in Oslo to visit friends and family there, followed by a flight to Stavanger to hike up to Pulpit rock. We were so lucky with the weather. Now we’re in my hometown Levanger, in lovely Trønderlag. I leave you all with this photo for now and promise to make a small “how to travel Norway” post for you guys before we leave to London on Wednesday! See yas! <3
