So what have I been doing? Why the silence?<\/p>\n
I’ve been traveling…<\/strong><\/h4>\n…IN MONTENEGRO<\/strong><\/p>\nMy trip started in Montenegro, where I spent a couple of days exploring the south of the country. I must admit, I was a bit nervous when I set off\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI knew almost nothing about Montenegro and hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t planned anything besides my flight. I had no idea what to expect: do the locals speak any English? How far is the city centre from the airport, and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to get there? What are the people of this country called? Monte-negr***?<\/p>\n
This was going to be the ultimate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153winging-it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d trip. Never have I been this badly prepared. But you know what? It turned out not to be a problem at all. I smoothly found my way to the lovely town of Kotor and stayed in a charming hostel where I met some truly inspiring people. I learned about the history, culture, food, language\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand even how to catch a bus\u00e2\u20ac\u201dright there on the spot. I was marveling at everything, because I had zero expectations going in.<\/p>\n![\"hiking](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/montenegro-780x520.jpg\")
<\/a>hiking in Kotor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI spent my days wandering through medieval towns and gaping at majestic mountain landscapes. I reconnected with myself during a solo picnic on a pebbled beach, and had a true \u00e2\u20ac\u0153YOLO moment\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when I jumped into icy waters with no one around to tell me whether it was safe or not.<\/p>\n
All I can think about now is going back\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith a car, more time, and maybe a friend.
(And in case you were wondering, the inhabitants of Montenegro are called Montenegrins<\/em>.)
\nyou can read about my flash visit to Kotor.<\/p>\n…IN ALBANIA<\/strong><\/p>\nNow I know Albania isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153top of the bucket list\u00e2\u20ac\u009d destination for most people, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d always been curious about it. Once again, I crossed the border with next to no expectations.<\/p>\n
Albania\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overwhelmingly stunning scenery, mostly organic food, and incredibly welcoming people completely took me by surprise. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a rugged land with an edge. Everything I attempted\u00e2\u20ac\u201dno matter how banal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dturned into an adventure. Cycling to town, buying a loaf of bread in a corner shop, catching a bus… suddenly, all of it felt like exciting challrnges.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the easiest destination for a female solo traveller, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t too hard either.
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153WOW\u00e2\u20ac\u009d out loud as often as I did in Albania.
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a country that fascinates and mystifies.
Another place I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to return to.<\/p>\n![\"slanted](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/albania-780x520.jpg\")
<\/a>slanted slopes of the Albanian “Alps”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n…IN KOSOVO<\/strong><\/p>\nDue to an unexpected turn of events, I suddenly found myself in Kosovo. I spent 24 hours in the city of Prizren, trying to get a feel for what makes Kosovo unique. Though I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough time to figure it out, I did enjoy a sunny day by the riverbanks and a lively night in this charming city.<\/p>\n![\"snacks](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/kosovo-780x520.jpg\")
<\/a>snacks in Prizren<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI attended TBEX, a travel bloggers conference<\/strong><\/p>\nTBEX is the most renowned conference for travel bloggers, taking place in North America and Europe every year. This time, it was hosted by the city of Athens\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pass up the opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and visit Greece for the first time.<\/p>\n
So off to Athens I went.<\/p>\n
The sessions at the conference taught me a lot about the ‘art’ of travel blogging: both the technical and the social sides. More importantly, it was a chance to connect with colleagues and people in the industry.<\/p>\n
I met a wonderful community: creative individuals with strong drives, looking to grow and to inspire.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"at](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/tbex-780x780.jpg\")
<\/a>at TBEX in Athens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"athens\"](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/athens-780x232.jpg\")
<\/a>sunset over Athens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhat’s next?<\/strong>
\nA PARTNERSHIP WITH VizEat<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to announce a new partnership with VizEat<\/a>,, a revolutionary way to share a meal with a local\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether you’re traveling or at home.<\/p>\nIt’s a concept that I think will excite the traveling foodies among you. The idea is simple: book a home-cooked meal with a local host in the country you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re visiting. Your host joins you for dinner, creating a cosy opportunity to get to know each other (and to get the inside scoop on the place).<\/p>\n
It works the other way too: you can welcome travellers into your own home, sharing stories, food, and friendship.
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited to try it out and share the experience with you.<\/p>\n
![\"vizeat_logo-def+line\"](\"https:\/\/travelcake.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/vizeat_logo-def+line-555x265.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA TRAVEL DREAM COME TRUE<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this post at the airport, waiting to board a flight to a destination that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on my dream list for years.
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m off to… Iran!<\/strong><\/p>\nI can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to experience firsthand what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really like there\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto meet the people, roam the bazaars, and immerse myself in the remnants of ancient Persian myths and culture.
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be blogging all about it when I return.<\/p>\n
WE’RE MOVING AGAIN!<\/strong><\/p>\nAlthough we loved living in Bali, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to try something new. So… we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve decided to settle on the other side of the world.
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re moving to Latin America<\/strong>!<\/p>\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll share more details before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait that long, make sure to follow Travel Cake on Facebook<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0or sign up for the free monthly newsletter to get the inside scoop.<\/p>\nHave you been traveling recently? Where have you been? Any travel plans coming up?\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nThe post “What I’ve been up to and what’s next”<\/a> first appeared on Travel Cake<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s been awfully quiet on Travel Cake these past few week. So quiet in fact, some of you have been wondering if maybe I’d left the blogging scene. If you’re following on Instagram or on Facebook you’ll already know that’s not the case. So what have I been doing? Why the silence? I’ve been traveling… […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[38,11,111,20],"country":[],"class_list":["post-1977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-backpacking","tag-europe","tag-middle-east","tag-off-the-beaten-track","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4598,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions\/4598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=1977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
My trip started in Montenegro, where I spent a couple of days exploring the south of the country. I must admit, I was a bit nervous when I set off\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI knew almost nothing about Montenegro and hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t planned anything besides my flight. I had no idea what to expect: do the locals speak any English? How far is the city centre from the airport, and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to get there? What are the people of this country called? Monte-negr***?<\/p>\n
This was going to be the ultimate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153winging-it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d trip. Never have I been this badly prepared. But you know what? It turned out not to be a problem at all. I smoothly found my way to the lovely town of Kotor and stayed in a charming hostel where I met some truly inspiring people. I learned about the history, culture, food, language\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand even how to catch a bus\u00e2\u20ac\u201dright there on the spot. I was marveling at everything, because I had zero expectations going in.<\/p>\n I spent my days wandering through medieval towns and gaping at majestic mountain landscapes. I reconnected with myself during a solo picnic on a pebbled beach, and had a true \u00e2\u20ac\u0153YOLO moment\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when I jumped into icy waters with no one around to tell me whether it was safe or not.<\/p>\n All I can think about now is going back\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith a car, more time, and maybe a friend. …IN ALBANIA<\/strong><\/p>\n Now I know Albania isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153top of the bucket list\u00e2\u20ac\u009d destination for most people, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d always been curious about it. Once again, I crossed the border with next to no expectations.<\/p>\n Albania\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overwhelmingly stunning scenery, mostly organic food, and incredibly welcoming people completely took me by surprise. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a rugged land with an edge. Everything I attempted\u00e2\u20ac\u201dno matter how banal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dturned into an adventure. Cycling to town, buying a loaf of bread in a corner shop, catching a bus… suddenly, all of it felt like exciting challrnges.<\/p>\n It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the easiest destination for a female solo traveller, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t too hard either. …IN KOSOVO<\/strong><\/p>\n Due to an unexpected turn of events, I suddenly found myself in Kosovo. I spent 24 hours in the city of Prizren, trying to get a feel for what makes Kosovo unique. Though I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough time to figure it out, I did enjoy a sunny day by the riverbanks and a lively night in this charming city.<\/p>\n I attended TBEX, a travel bloggers conference<\/strong><\/p>\n TBEX is the most renowned conference for travel bloggers, taking place in North America and Europe every year. This time, it was hosted by the city of Athens\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pass up the opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and visit Greece for the first time.<\/p>\n So off to Athens I went.<\/p>\n The sessions at the conference taught me a lot about the ‘art’ of travel blogging: both the technical and the social sides. More importantly, it was a chance to connect with colleagues and people in the industry.<\/p>\n I met a wonderful community: creative individuals with strong drives, looking to grow and to inspire.<\/strong><\/p>\n What’s next?<\/strong> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to announce a new partnership with VizEat<\/a>,, a revolutionary way to share a meal with a local\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether you’re traveling or at home.<\/p>\n It’s a concept that I think will excite the traveling foodies among you. The idea is simple: book a home-cooked meal with a local host in the country you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re visiting. Your host joins you for dinner, creating a cosy opportunity to get to know each other (and to get the inside scoop on the place).<\/p>\n It works the other way too: you can welcome travellers into your own home, sharing stories, food, and friendship. A TRAVEL DREAM COME TRUE<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this post at the airport, waiting to board a flight to a destination that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on my dream list for years. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to experience firsthand what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really like there\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto meet the people, roam the bazaars, and immerse myself in the remnants of ancient Persian myths and culture. WE’RE MOVING AGAIN!<\/strong><\/p>\n Although we loved living in Bali, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to try something new. So… we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve decided to settle on the other side of the world. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll share more details before the end of the year.<\/p>\n If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait that long, make sure to follow Travel Cake on Facebook<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0or sign up for the free monthly newsletter to get the inside scoop.<\/p>\n Have you been traveling recently? Where have you been? Any travel plans coming up?\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The post “What I’ve been up to and what’s next”<\/a> first appeared on Travel Cake<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been awfully quiet on Travel Cake these past few week. So quiet in fact, some of you have been wondering if maybe I’d left the blogging scene. If you’re following on Instagram or on Facebook you’ll already know that’s not the case. So what have I been doing? Why the silence? I’ve been traveling… […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[38,11,111,20],"country":[],"class_list":["post-1977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-backpacking","tag-europe","tag-middle-east","tag-off-the-beaten-track","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4598,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions\/4598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelcake.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=1977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
(And in case you were wondering, the inhabitants of Montenegro are called Montenegrins<\/em>.)
\nyou can read about my flash visit to Kotor.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153WOW\u00e2\u20ac\u009d out loud as often as I did in Albania.
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a country that fascinates and mystifies.
Another place I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to return to.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\nA PARTNERSHIP WITH VizEat<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited to try it out and share the experience with you.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m off to… Iran!<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be blogging all about it when I return.<\/p>\n
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re moving to Latin America<\/strong>!<\/p>\n