I recently re-read pages of an old diary I had almost ten years ago. In the process, while I took note that a lot of things have changed and my life today is drastically better than I would have imagined it to be back then. I realised that something fundamental hasn't changed. I am still [...]
Category: Blog
Why moving to a small town in the Netherlands was the best decision for a while
"I will never move anywhere smaller than Helsinki." I can still hear myself say that sentence no longer than a year ago. Yup, a city girl through and through, giant metropoles always make my heart skip a beat and city holidays win against beaches anytime. Helsinki already felt a bit too small at times, and [...]
15 things I did in St Petersburg
Maybe you read my last post about my general impressions of St Petersburg. Maybe you didn't, in which case you can head there right now from here. In just one week, I feel that I saw so much in this city that one post isn't enough to tell it all. So here's a second one, [...]
A story about Saint Petersburg
I guess there are many reasons people may have prejudice towards Russia, the biggest being politics, history, and hear-says (media <3). These probably all contribute to the fact that not so many pick it as a holiday destination. Add the extra struggle of a visa application (and its cost), and why would you want to [...]
What I’ve heard about places to visit in Bali
Often, when you travel you only hear the best tips of things to do when you get to your destination and talk with locals or people who have seen more of the place than you. But then you have already made some bookings based on the research you've done online so you can't change your [...]
Life update
Hi. What's up? For me, a lot of things. So I'm writing this update about what's ahead for me and how that's going to affect what I do here. First, the biggest new is I'm moving to the Netherlands to do a MA in Media Studies, majoring in Social Media and Society at the Rijksuniversiteit [...]
Is traveling solo dangerous?
When I tell people that I'm traveling by myself, I often get comments on how brave I am or questions about whether I feel safe. I find that funny, because for me, that was the least of the issues when planning a solo trip. Wherever I have been, I have never felt unsafe, alone or [...]
Working out while traveling
If you enjoy working out, and especially if you’re traveling for a longer period of time, you might start missing your home gym at some point. Fortunately, you still have two legs, two arms and a body wherever you go, so even when traveling, exercising is possible. I personally have quite an intuitive take on [...]
Southeast Asia 2019: My budget
This post is the second (and last for now) part of my blogposts on traveling and money. In the first one, I talked about how you can travel for cheaper and find good deals. Go check it out. This one won't be about traveling on a budget, but about my travel budget for the seven weeks [...]
Traveling on a budget
So many times, I hear people say how they would love to travel but they can't because they don't have the means. Well, my friends, I come bearing good news: traveling is not as impossible as you might think. Money is such a personal topic that it's hard, and actually not even correct in my [...]
Ellimaija 